CRL Group PLC: Founded 1982 - Defuncted 1991
Based in King's Yard, London, this software publisher/distributor was headed by Clement Chambers and Ian Ellery. Its initials (CRL) stands for Computer Rentals Ltd. A detailed description of the company was accounted for in the online magazine: http://www.commodorefree.com/magazine/vol8/issue84.pdf


The company was best known for its Commodore 64 titles, and released software for development houses such as MCT and Delta 4.

They released a number of notable adventure games based on horror stories.
Dracula and Frankenstein were rated 15 certificate by the British Board of Film Censors for their graphics depicting bloody scenes; Dracula was the first game to be rated by the BBFC.
Jack the Ripper was the first game to receive an 18 certificate,
Wolfman also gained an 18 certificate.

CRL-published games that achieved critical success include Tau Ceti and Academy.

The 1984 game of the series Terrahawks was one of the first video games based on a TV show.


Known releases:

1982

Rescue


1983

3D Desert Patrol ·
Alien Maze ·
Bomber ·
Caveman ·
Crawler ·
Derby Day ·
Draughts ·
Escape from Manhattan ·
Galactic Patrol ·
Grand National ·
Jackpot ·
Lunar Rescue ·
One Day Cricket ·
Pandemonia ·
Test Match ·
The Omega Run ·
The Orb ·
Space Mission ·
Zaraks


1984

£.s.d. ·
Ahhh!! ·
Cricket 64 ·
Glug Glug ·
Handicap Golf ·
Handy Andy ·
Incredible Adventure ·
Olympics ·
Orpheus in the Underworld ·
Show Jumping ·
Terrahawks ·
The Magic Roundabout ·
Tritz ·
Whirlybird ·
The War of the Worlds ·
The Warlock's Treasure ·
The Woods of Winter

1985

Blade Runner ·
Bored of the Rings ·
Endurance ·
Formula One ·
Juggernaut ·
Space Doubt ·
Tau Ceti ·
The Causes of Chaos ·
The Rocky Horror Show

1986

Bugsy ·
Doctor What! ·
Dracula ·
Hercules1 ·
Pilgrim ·
Robin of Sherlock2 ·
Room Ten ·
Samurai ·
The Boggit ·
The Very Big Cave Adventure

1987

Academy ·
Ball Breaker ·
Book of the Dead ·
Cyborg ·
Death or Glory ·
Federation3 ·
Frankenstein ·
From Darkness into Light ·
I-Alien ·
IQ ·
Jack the Ripper ·
Jet-Boys ·
Last Mohican ·
Lifeforce ·
Loads of Midnight ·
Mandroid ·
Murder off Miami ·
Ninja Hamster ·
Oink! ·
Outcast ·
Plasmatron ·
Sun Star ·
They Call Me Trooper ·
Traxxion ·
Vengeance

1988

Ball Breaker II ·
CounterForce ·
Cyberknights ·
Discovery ·
International Soccer4 ·
Kellogg's Tour 1988 ·
NATO Assault Course ·
Purple Heart ·
Road Warrior ·
Sophistry ·
Thundercross ·
Time Fighter ·
To Hell and Back ·
Trigger Happy ·
Wolfman

1989

Inner Space ·
Lancaster ·
Professional Soccer ·
Search for the Titanic

1990

Hellhole

Unknown year

The Great Detective

Unreleased

Enchantress ·
Spearhead ·
The Blues Brothers ·
The Malinsay Massacre


Software

Fifth (1983) ·
Stargazer Secrets (1983) ·
Highway Code (1984) ·
3D Game Maker (1987) ·
2D Game Maker (1988) ·
Hi-Rise Scaffold Construction Set (Unreleased)


Platforms

Acorn Electron ·
Amiga ·
Amstrad CPC ·
Amstrad PCW ·
Atari ST ·
BBC Micro ·
Commodore 64 ·
Commodore Plus/4 ·
MS-DOS ·
Oric-1/Atmos ·
ZX Spectrum


Key people

Clem Chambers ·
Ian Ellery ·
Michael Hodges ·
Jared Derrett ·
Jay Derrett


1 Hercules was a re-release of a 1984 video game by Interdisc
2 Robin of Sherlock was a re-release of a 1985 video game by Delta 4 Software
3 Federation was a re-release of a 1985 video game called Quann Tulla
4 International Soccer was a re-release of a 1983 video game called Cup Final