Apogee Software

Background

Apogee is a game development company created in 1987, famous in the late 80's for its numerous DOS games. It was the publisher of the 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. The Apogee name was resurrected in 2008 under a new company with the re-release of several classic games for modern handheld platforms.

Contents

1st Logo (December 14, 1990-December 15, 1991)	2nd Logo (June 10, 1991-March 1992)	3rd Logo (October 1, 1991)	4th Logo (March 1992-August 3, 1993)	5th Logo (October 10, 1993-May 1, 1995)	6th Logo (November 11, 1995-November 19, 1996; April 11, 2011-)

1st Logo (December 14, 1990-December 15, 1991)

Visuals: Scrolling up on a starry space background, there is "APOGEE" carved out of ice in a weird font.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: None.

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

2nd Logo (June 10, 1991-March 1992)

Visuals: Set in space with many stars, there is the words:

APOGEE
PRESENTS

above the planet Earth 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.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: 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.

3rd Logo (October 1, 1991)

Visuals: 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" flies in below from the right.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Paganitzu for DOS.

4th Logo (March 1992-August 3, 1993)

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

Variants:

On Word Rescue and Math Rescue, the starfield is colorful and has some galaxies.
Another version has 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 is no star-arc, the comet later flies in from the bottom-left to create the star-arc, then "PRESENTS" in a dark green-white gradient futuristic font appears below.
On Monster Bash, when the Apogee logo stops moving, there is a moon in the top-right corner. A star slides to the right, revealing a witch's silhouette as she chuckles and flies past the moon.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: Same as the 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.

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

5th Logo (October 10, 1993-May 1, 1995)

Visuals: The Apogee "star-arc" logo appears in space with a 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 a futuristic font.

Variants:

On Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage, the logo fades out and back in at the beginning.
Starting in 1994 on later games, the slogan reads ""APOGEE MEANS ACTION"™" instead.
A variant is seen on 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 the top-left hand and top-right hand corners twinkle.
On Wacky Wheels, the logo rises from behind a 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.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: Depending on the games:

Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage: A 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 later games starting with Hocus Pocus, a re-arranged Apogee fanfare with some twinkling sound at the end. On Wacky Wheels, a swoosh sound is heard when the slogan flies in.
Mystic Towers: A calypso remix of the aforementioned fanfare, ending with a sword clash and a bell toll.
The Boppin' variant has no drums.

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

6th Logo (November 11, 1995-November 19, 1996; April 11, 2011-)

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

Variants:

On Rise of the Triad, the logo flies in.
On current console and PC re-releases, the background is full black.

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: The re-arranged Apogee fanfare from the last logo.

Availability: Seen on later games published by Apogee before the brand's retirement. It has been retained on recent console and PC re-releases, which include Death Rally, Rise of the Triad, and Stargunner.