Apogee Software

Logo descriptions by mr3urious Additional info by Brendan Richards

Background: Apogee is a game development company created in 1987, famous in late 80's for its numerous games. It was the publisher of first Doom edition from Id Software, as well as the inventor of shareware game distribution. After the release of Stargunner in 1996 the name was abandoned in favor of their publishing subsidiary 3D Realms, created in 1994. Apogee name was resurrected in 2008 with the re-release of several classic games for modern handheld platforms.

1st Logo (1990-1991)

Apogee Software (1990) Logo: Scrolling up on a starry space background we see "APOGEE" carved out of ice in a weird font.

FX/SFX: The scrolling company name and flashing stars.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on the Commander Keen DOS games in the chapter Commander Keen Episode I: Marooned on Mars.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1991) Apogee Software (1991)

Logo: On a black background, the words "APOGEE SOFTWARE PRODUCTIONS" in an italic serif font fly up from the bottom of the screen one by one. They are written in black with neon blue outlines. "Proudly Presents", in dark blue, flies in below from the right.

FX/SFX: The words flying in.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Paganitzu for DOS.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1991-1992)

Apogee Software (1991-1992) Logo: Set in space with many stars, we see the words

APOGEE PRESENTS

above the planet Earth in red with rays of sunlight at the top, and some light shining on the bottom half of "PRESENTS". "MEMBER SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION (SPA)" is shown below in white, along with a little blue, red-bordered square with "GLS" written in it at the bottom right.

FX/SFX: None, unless you count the fade-in at the beginning.

Music/Sounds: A weird sound coming out of the PC speaker, which varies depending on the game.

Availability: Seen on DOS games of the time, such as Crystal Caves and Secret Agent.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1992-1993)

Apogee Software (1992) Logo: This is the first design of the new logo, the word "APOGEE" in red standing on an arc, which ends with the star. The logo slides in from the bottom to the center of the screen and is against the starfield depending on the game that it was featured in.

FX/SFX: The logo sliding or moving up to the center.

Music/Sounds: Same as 3rd logo, unless computer owners of the time had a Soundblaster card (or similar) installed on their computer, in which case the Apogee fanfare, a sixteen note synth fanfare played with twinkling in the background, composed by Bobby Prince.

Variants:

On Word Rescue and Math Rescue, the starfield is colorful and has some galaxies. Another version had meteors flying around the logo, with Snake Logan standing on top of it, then he proceeds to jump off the logo to the right. This was seen on Bio Menace. On Major Stryker, the first Apogee game to use Bobby Prince's Apogee Fanfare, the logo is already formed, but there's no star-arc, the comet later flies in from the bottom-left to create the star-arc, then "PRESENTS" in the dark green-white gradient futuristic font appears below. On the game Monster Bash (released in 1993), when the Apogee logo stops moving, there was a moon in the top-right corner. A star slid to the right, revealing a witch's silhouette as she chuckled and flew past the moon.

Availability: Seen on DOS games of the time, such as the aforementioned Monster Bash.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1993-1995) Apogee Software (1993)

Logo: The Apogee "star-arc" logo appears in space with the big blue Earth behind it. The logo is on the bottom-right corner. Also, there is a slogan below, reading "THE HEIGHT OF GAMING EXCITEMENT" in orange futuristic font.

Variants:

On Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage, the logo fades out and back in at the beginning. On Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, the slogan reads ""APOGEE MEANS ACTION"™" instead. The sub-variant of its variant exists in Boppin', which has Yeet and Boik standing on the Earth, with Yeet happily waving at the viewer, while Boik is taking off his sunglasses and looking at Yeet, seemingly confused. On Duke Nukem II, the stars on top-left hand and top-right hand corners twinkle. On Wacky Wheels, the logo rises from behind the rotating three-dimensional floor textured with the main logo (sans the slogan), and the slogan ""APOGEE MEANS ACTION"™" flies in from the Earth and to the bottom-left.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Depending on games:

Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage: The dramatic remix of the Apogee fanfare. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold: The same Apogee fanfare as the previous logo, but a little slower. Duke Nukem II: A more metallic remix of the Apogee fanfare, titled "Fanfare for Duke II". On latter games starting with Hocus Pocus, a re-arranged Apogee fanfare with some twinkling sound at the end. On Wacky Wheels, the swoosh sound when the slogan flies in. Mystic Towers: The calypso remix of the aforementioned fanfare, ending the sword clash and the bell toll. Boppin' variant has no drums.

Availability: Seen on Apogee games from the era, including Duke Nukem II, Mystic Towers and Hocus Pocus.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1995-1996; 2008-)

Apogee Software (1996)Apogee Software (2011)

Logo: The improved 3D star-arc logo appears over the planet viewed from close space. There is also a star.

Variant: The name was used by 3D Realms to publish several old Apogee games on handheld platforms. There, the background was black.

FX/SFX: On Rise of the Triad, the logo flies in.

Music/Sounds: The re-arranged Apogee fanfare from the last logo.

Availability: Seen on latest games, which include Death Rally, Rise of the Triad, and Stargunner.

Editor's Note: None.