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Firebird

History

Firebird was the main label of Telecomsoft, the software arm of UK phone company, British Telecom. Elite was their biggest hit although their versions of the Acornsoft original didn't start appearing until mid 1985. Elite was published under the "Gold Edition" branding, a premium product line which was soon superseded by Telecomsoft's other premium label, Rainbird. Other Firebird sub-labels included "Hot" (full-price), "Super Silver" (mid-price), and the "Silver" budget range which started off at £2.50 but was soon reduced to £1.99 to compete with other budget publishers like Mastertronic. The budget range was relaunched as Silverbird in 1988, but lasted less than a year before being sold off by MicroProse when they bought Telecomsoft in early 1989. MicroProse continued to use the Firebird and Rainbird labels for several years. The most notable hit from the MicroProse Firebird era was Rick Dangerous, developed by a group of former Gremlin employees called "Core Design" who would go on to create Tomb Raider.

Note

The figures for Months in the Top 10 and Months at No. 1 are based on the All Formats chart only.
Columns are sortable, sorting by the cover column will sort by chart appearance date.

TitleTop 10No. 1Rank
Cover(s)Elite

FIREBIRD GOLD / ACORNSOFT / SUPERIOR SOFTWARE

7116
Cover(s)Thrust

FIREBIRD SILVER 199 / SUPERIOR SOFTWARE

7222
Cover(s)Ninja Master

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

5144
Cover(s)Olli and Lissa

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

4072
Cover(s)Booty

FIREBIRD SILVER

4 < 1 90
Cover(s)Back to the Future

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

10252
Cover(s)Park Patrol

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00257
Cover(s)Arcade Classics

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

< 1 0270
Cover(s)The Happiest Days of Your Life

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

20296
Cover(s)I, Ball

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

< 1 0388
Cover(s)Druid

FIREBIRD

< 1 0400
Cover(s)Bubble Bobble

FIREBIRD / TAITO

< 1 0406
Cover(s)Decathlon

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00439
Cover(s)Micro Rhythm

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00463
Cover(s)War Hawk

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

< 1 0503
Cover(s)Bombscare

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

20509
Cover(s)Rick Dangerous

MICROPROSE / FIREBIRD

< 1 0537
Cover(s)Kai Temple

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

30581
Cover(s)Mickey The Bricky

FIREBIRD SILVER

00584
Cover(s)Micro Rhythm Plus

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00718
Cover(s)Don’t Buy This

FIREBIRD SILVER

< 1 0724
Cover(s)Harvey Headbanger

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00790
Cover(s)Kick Boxing

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00813
Cover(s)The Wild Bunch

FIREBIRD SILVER

< 1 0841
Cover(s)Gyron

FIREBIRD GOLD

00858
Cover(s)Starstrike II

FIREBIRD GOLD / REALTIME GAMES

00881
Cover(s)Booty

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00883
Cover(s)Savage

FIREBIRD

< 1 0913
Cover(s)I, Ball II

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

00918
Cover(s)Chimera

FIREBIRD SUPER SILVER

00931
Cover(s)The Sentinel

FIREBIRD GOLD

10969
Cover(s)Star Drifter

FIREBIRD SUPER SILVER

001002
Cover(s)Bird Strike

FIREBIRD SILVER

001035
Cover(s)Cylu

FIREBIRD SILVER

< 1 01038
Cover(s)Torpedo Alley

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001115
Cover(s)Space Shuttle

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001126
Cover(s)Earthlight

FIREBIRD

001155
Cover(s)Mr. Freeze

FIREBIRD SILVER

001234
Cover(s)Spiky Harold

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001286
Cover(s)Snake Bite

FIREBIRD SILVER

001396
Cover(s)The Hacker

FIREBIRD SILVER

001532
Cover(s)P-47 Thunderbolt

MICROPROSE / FIREBIRD / JALECO

001610
Cover(s)Thrust II

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001717
Cover(s)Winter Sports

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001720
Cover(s)Collapse

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001801
Cover(s)Samurai Warrior

FIREBIRD

001803
Cover(s)Gold Digger

FIREBIRD SILVER

001857
Cover(s)Shark

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001863
Cover(s)Vectron

FIREBIRD HOT

001934
Cover(s)Duck!

FIREBIRD SILVER

001955
Cover(s)Runner

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

001997
Cover(s)Star Firebirds

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002008
Cover(s)Run Baby Run

FIREBIRD SILVER

002092
Cover(s)Rebelstar

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002096
Cover(s)River Raid

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002155
Cover(s)Acid Drops

FIREBIRD SILVER

002193
Cover(s)Willow Pattern

FIREBIRD SUPER SILVER

002244
Cover(s)Gogo The Ghost

FIREBIRD SILVER

002443
Cover(s)Byte Bitten

FIREBIRD SILVER

002446
Cover(s)Short’s Fuse

FIREBIRD SILVER

002468
Cover(s)Thunderbirds

FIREBIRD SUPER SILVER

002478
Cover(s)Microcosm

FIREBIRD SUPER SILVER

002479
Cover(s)Raging Beast

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002488
Cover(s)Buccaneer

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002500
Cover(s)U.F.O.

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002555
Cover(s)Ultima Ratio

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002557
Cover(s)Mission Genocide

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002563
Cover(s)Sidewize

FIREBIRD

002571
Cover(s)On Field Football

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002573
Cover(s)On Court Tennis

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002574
Cover(s)Flying Shark

FIREBIRD / TAITO

002589
Cover(s)Tank Busters

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002592
Cover(s)BMX Kidz

FIREBIRD SILVER 199

002595
Cover(s)Virus

FIREBIRD

002617
Cover(s)3D Pool

MICROPROSE / FIREBIRD

002660