The Awful Highlander Game and the Tragedy of Canvas Software | Kim Justice

We look into the legend that Ocean's awful Highlander game was made bad on purpose, and in so doing uncover the rather sad story of a failed development studio by the name of Canvas. Enjoy!
Some game footage taken from the excellent RZX Archive: / rzxarchive
Archive footage courtesy of Mark R. Jones: / mlucifersam
My Twitter: / kimxxxjustice
My Patreon: / kimblejustice
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My Facebook: / themegaweeviews
My 2nd channel: / @kimandsophia8079
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#retrogaming #highlander #ocean #zxspectrum #canvas #documentary

[@Kim_Justice]

If you liked this then think about having a gander through my social media, and get yourself on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/KimbleJustice

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Kim Justice what’s the theme music you use at the beginning? I recognise hearing it from the eighties but I’m not sure what it is, tomorrow’s world?

[@guitarHero1885]

seriously - the film series is worth watching - 2 is crazy, like they just ignored the premise of the original! then 3 picks up where 1 left off and the rest of the films from there completely ignore 2! with some imagination they can be very enjoyable (provided you like sword fighting and using your imagination) :) this series may very well be the sort of fodder that makes for great kim justice analysis.

[@guitarHero1885]

barbarian for st - the best decapitation in gaming history. (it always happened to me) :')

[@razerow3391]

I dont think its Asperger's syndrome...

[@the.internet]

What a shame that that young man took his own life. A brilliant mind that, as you say, was fantastic at something which resulted him lacking in some social aspects. What a shame that he couldn't get the help he needed. Amazing that he left a small legacy which you're able to talk about and reflect on today. I love your work Kim and so glad you're motivated to bring us more of these documentaries!

[@ryanyoder7573]

As a developer and once a game developer in the 90s I enjoy your detailed look at these early game development companies. Nice job.

[@sobo5476]

I will put this as 1 of your best videos. It could have been a really simple "shit game, this is why" but you went a bit deeper and told a really good story that hits a lot of different areas.

[@realityisdigital]

5:47 I feel like taking the Highlander logo off and making this into a Lord of the Rings Tie In....here it's Frodo Vs Pippin.

[@spiderjerusalem100]

Highlander's a great movie. I'm genuinely mad.

[@TheMadAfrican1]

Same here. I had to skip that part of the video I was so annoyed.

[@PixelsAtDawn]

A fascinating, if tragic, story of a developer I don't think I was really aware of whilst all this was going on, even though I had a few of their games. Thanks for adding this to the retrogaming canon Kim.

[@CountDrunkula]

Unrelated comedy around a game vs amazing insight around the industry. I'm humbled by the quality of this. And I'm a cheeky comedy boi!

[@thecornettmultiverse]

I would dare say that executives from the AAA space SERIOUSLY need to watch this. THIS is what they're driving their talent toward.

[@Clipperwhiz1]

Agreed.

[@eightcoins4401]

Its pretty clear they dont care about talent as long they get alot of money quick. Its why almost every game is a crappy online experience with more microtransactions than gameplay by now

[@billiondollarman3847]

Fantastic review, not just the game but the whole backstory of development. So indepth and poignant you are a very talented Kim Justice in your video editing and story telling. This was so much more than a just another bad licenced speccy game.

[@MrAndyB]

You need to have a word with your Mrs. Highlander is a great piece of Neo-Noir cinema in my opinion. Amazing soundtrack obviously too.

[@Highlander1518]

Agreed. Sophia is so wrong with this one.

[@JohnnyOrgan]

@bigevilworldwide1 He didn't mention the sequels. But please...Enjoy your rant

[@TMAS01]

Highlander is fucking brilliant on all levels. That is all.

[@Highlander1518]

I'd go as far as saying Sophia's 'review' is borderline ignorant. To be honest, I think Kim should've re-watched Highlander before doing this review. Saying it was 'a film with silly accents and long sword fights' doesn't really do Highlander any justice whatsoever.

[@katrus]

The TV show wasn't bad. The sequels were largely unneeded, though.

[@judasgoat4230]

Nah, Highlander is a classic movie, join the cult

[@vitalgreenspace]

This is currently my favourite KZbin channel. Thanks for making such brilliant content

[@boyflea]

nice journalism! Glad to see a fleshed-out story about this, and man: the Wakelin covers make more sense now: (ooo Athena... forever burned into my mind, despite never playing the game). Ally noble is lovely btw and still in the biz, met her when porting football games to mobile about 10 years ago... the industry keeps changing but the story of greed and no quality-control still sound pretty relevant. It is a shame some do get caught out and find themselves apparently with no options, but at least videos like this show how the human side can be affected and - we would like to think - there are more sympathetic options and support nowadays. Highlander was a ridiculous film btw, made my brother buy all the Queen albums: dark times... ;) love your work and thanks for the great video.

[@michaellaverty7349]

As someone who never even played any of these computer systems and games, it's fascinating watching these stories and learning about the highs and lows of this period in gaming history. Another awesome doco Kim, thanks for putting out so much good content.

[@1984Brandon]

It is interesting one of my best friends said like in 2009 there was a proposed Highlander game. The whole idea was you make a character and learn different sword techniques through out the ages, like starting as a Gladiatrix then a Samurai, depending on choices you choose and create fighter with a personalized style. I don't really follow the Highlander series myself but I would have thought as a Free Roaming Sandbox game done properly it would have been good. I guess it got lost to the cutting room floor.

[@ChrisSmout]

Nice balanced and informative review from Ms Justice, perfect for a Monday evening. Great vid!

[@cptmachine]

Thanks for sharing Kim, I love to hear about all the business behind the micro computers I was nearly aware of with my C64 and small game collection.

[@rushbury]

Nice documentary. Ian Weatherburn was one of the most intriguing characters in the zx spectrum story.

[@VVc0w]

Great vdeo Kim, very sad. Gift from the Gods was one of the first games that I ever played, think I'll give Highlander a miss, though I like the film a lot

[@ian_b]

That was an unexpectedly dark ending. My condolences to all those touched by the tragedies described.

[@desther7975]

Moral of the story: Don't judge a game by its cover art. Good cover art may well be masking utter shit. I've noticed something similar in music albums, incidentally.

[@kevinpoulton]

I am one that highlander is one of my favourite films of all time

[@uselessDM]

Ian Weatherburns life reminds me of the famous quote from Blade Runner: The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Ian.

[@TwiddleFingersDB]

Glad you're back, Kim! :D

[@mikerohlfs2836]

There were 4 movies we rented constantly, Aliens,Predator,Hellraiser,and Highlander. If you were 13-15 when those were out ,and a boy, you were set.

[@satan3959]

Makes that half-assed Chase HQ port on the C64 look like an amazing game in comparison, and that was a HORRIFIC conversion. However, their horrible port of Green beret on the C16 even gives this one a run for its money

[@1970cgb]

Gimme the prize ,rocking Queen track

[@Commanderziff]

Jesus... I mean it's easy to see how someone could dislike/hate later pieces of the Highlander franchise, but the ORIGINAL? There's someone out there who hates the ORIGINAL Highlander movie? How does something like that happen?

[@pedroschurmann3345]

Sad story... Great video as usual Kim👍

[@kandigloss6438]

I found the video more interesting than depressing, nice work.

[@glenhayman8722]

loving the chip tune queen in the background good on you for that

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

"No one sets out to make a bad game." Except Beat Takeshi. He definitely wanted to make a bad game. On purpose. Because he hates you. And me. And everyone.

[@otaking3582]

The "make it intentionally bad" thing doesn't even make sense if you stop and think about it for two seconds. A percentage towards the licensees is just that - a percentage. Assuming that they gave Canon 99% of the profits, 1% of £1000 is still more than 1% of £10. And before people say "Well the profits wouldn't actually happen until after the break-even point", then that's even *more* reason for it to not make sense, since being able to pay off your expenses obviously wouldn't "cripple the company"

[@jasonstreet2835]

Great vid Kim, keep em coming....

[@steempy1973]

This is awesome, I've wanted to hear about this for a long time..

[@werdna_sir]

14:41 - "What, Lorraine? What?"

[@theambivalentps2bloke60]

Love your content Kim! Any chance you could do a video on Netflix’s Bandersnatch? I’d value your opinion on this movie more than anyone else tbh

[@artemismeow]

Im pretty sure she did one. :/

[@artemismeow]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqWqXqWcjNqWgq8

[@Kim_Justice]

Yep, as mentioned I already sorta did it :)

[@theambivalentps2bloke60]

Ok, that’s made my evening! 😁

[@Highlander1518]

Highlander is my favourite film of all time. The game looked terrible, despite never playing it. I’m sorry but Sophia is completely wrong about the film. People forget that Christopher Lambert could hardly speak a word of English before falling into the role of Connor MacLeod. And let’s not forget the amazing soundtrack that was done by the greatest band of all time, Queen. It’s a shame that the 2008 Highlander game never materialised.

[@Highlander1518]

@bigevilworldwide1 Not pretending. I do think Highlander is amazing. Sure, its a little rough around the edges but it was made in '85 with a fairly low budget. It's an original concept which manages to fuse so many different genre's into one film and it works. I tend to dismiss the discrepancies of a Frenchman playing a Scotsman and a Scotsman playing an Egyptian - suspension of disbelief and all that. It kind of annoys me that people have to mention the casting choices, Lambert was chosen because of his timeless and majestic look...and I can see why. You have to remember that this is a film about immortals, so the accents may come off a little 'weird' but I put that down to the fact that immortals have been around for quite a while. For example, Ramirez is 2,437 years old! There was never an official soundtrack for Highlander. Queen wanted to make a 'fully fledged' Queen album which doubled-up as a soundtrack album at the same time.

[@madblank]

Music from Thanatos at the end if I'm not mistaken. Liked that game a lot.

[@robinbrowne5419]

Lol Kim. I know. Why ANYBODY would want to play these horrible crappy wannabes of a game I'll never know. But the problem is that many people including us have played them. So I don't know. :-)

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

Great story, well told

[@big_ry82]

Your girlfriend is wrong...

[@rolingthunder8612]

at least canvas saved US gold from being swallowed up by the dumpsterfire that is World Cup Carnivle.

[@thechurchofsupersampling]

Yeeeeeagghhhhh Shhhhhhh Oh thats Palace. I miss Psygnosis. Tony Rainbird was my boss back in the day as well, i imagine you can guess the company. Not dev stuff.

[@amigoamiga9254]

That's a rather tragic tail

[@dAda313]

You should make a video about David Icke :)

[@joseagripino8664]

Great intro :-D

[@sarat6488]

okay but we need more of your gf's commentaries

[@chloedevereaux1801]

ramirez is spanish not egyptian......

[@Highlander1518]

Other way around. He’s Egyptian. During the film, in the year 1541 he finds Connor MacLeod. Ramirez at that point in time was Chief Metallugist to Charles V of Spain. So Ramirez resided in Spain at the time, but he wasn’t Spanish.

[@AudieHolland]

The movie ain't that bad. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX-ui3SKj62KkKs

[@defblaztduboise8869]

no sets out to make a bad unless it is on purpose or you are goat simulator lol

[@iwanttocomplain]

F-bombs aplenty! Limit your colourful language to increase effect.

[@Hoofa66]

Was that you doing your girlfriends voice?

[@velvetvandal]

What is Sophia talking about, Highlander is great! And besides, what else are you gonna do with Clancy Brown except get him to chew scenery?

[@RAFMnBgaming]

"Clancy Brown is just chewing the scenery" Yeah, that's why you hire Clancy Brown.

[@Highlander1518]

HASEnoncorperated agreed. Clancy is amazing in Highlander.

[@antster1983]

Also the voice of Mr. Krabs in Spongebob Squarepants. He likes money, and so does Mr. Krabs.

[@mr.a8315]

Clancy never chews scenery, dude. He brings his A game to everything he works in. 😎🥂 Bad Boys (1983) Highlander (1986) The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Starship Troopers (1997) Spongebob Squarepants (voice of Mr. Krabbs) HBO's Carnivale (magic-realism, supernatural horror drama. It's better then The Green Mile)

[@JohnnyOrgan]

The Highlander movie is a classic, Kim. You should watch it again.

[@olschoolTonyCarter]

The tv series was a better though.

[@chrishopkins209]

Kim: “Highlander was the worst game that Ocean ever released” Transformers “Hold my beer....”

[@ccshade7294]

such a shame what happened. that ian was broken, and that canvas decided to go quantity instead of quality when they had so much talent on hand

[@scottbreon9448]

A lot of times rushed games are more the fault of the publishers rushing the coders than the coders themselves, I think this one is a rare exception where EVERYONE is EQUALLY to blame

[@scottbreon9448]

mPky1 There are SOME exceptions: Spider-Man 2 on the PS2 comes to my mind. But TV shows make even worse games in my opinion.

[@DarthPerkins]

"Interviewed while he was still alive" But Kim...the alternative is positively ghoulish.

[@shaolinpunkFTW]

A long time watcher here. Thanks for your amazing documentaries Kim, they are always super well researched, insightful and captivating.

[@ninjawacker5442]

A sad video indeed but still an important one. Great video as always. Being part of a UK indie development team, looking at the history of the British computer era is always really interesting as I grew up in those day.

[@BackyardEpicMovies]

Highlander is pure B-movie goodness with great music by Queen and Michael Kamen.

[@danielmorley4667]

The highlight was your girlfriends review of the film. Thanks for releasing this video, the last week has been one of the hardest of my life and this gave me a brief respite. Much appreciated.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Aww long time no view .... love the nastolgia early 80s vcr type intro. Like open university??! I'm glad you covered this top top game and do it justice.......I'll get my coat.

[@handsomebrick]

I see, so the rumor comes from Ocean knowing that Canvas will do a bad job, but hiring them anyway. But who knows, it's possible that Ocean sent projects to Canvas to weasel out of obligations, and quietly dropped them once people caught on to this trick.

[@MikeRox83]

It's so strange that Canvas was a studio I'd never heard of until some recent retro core "Battle of the Ports" videos.

[@inksyplays7375]

Wait so bandersnatch is almost a true story then I mean some dark shit happened and people did lose their minds

[@anavash]

At first I thought you were going to cover the Jaguar version! That's awful about the young developer. What a time to be alive for him he was on cloud 9. Success like that at a young age must be hard. Thanks for this doc I love them all. I didn't even know what a Speccy was until I found your stuff. :D No one really knows about the European side of games and South America (Your Sega Tec Toy doc was great!). It's all Japan and USA (Yank here.) I had no idea about USA Gold's story or Imagine or Psygnosis and it's amazing! I miss my Amiga 500! (Yes I had one and made music on it ha!) Cheers mate and be excellent!

[@mikemayberry7121]

You have some of the most interesting gaming docs on KZbin. I'm from the USA, and a big videogame history buff. Most things I know about the 80s British computer boom I've learned from Retro Gamer Magazine and you. Please continue doing insightful and well researched documentaries just like this. I really enjoy them.

[@thescopedogable]

well the sprite art was not that bad at least

[@ninjawacker5442]

Yeah, the graphics are not bad... Shame the game design was poor.

[@mlucifersam]

There's some fine animation going thanks to Mr Butler

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Rest well Ian....

[@EastyyBlogspot]

I did wonder if Bethesda bought Canvas Software and renamed it Nylon Software

[@bethanyharris5890]

I love your content kim, very in depth, well researched and the passion you have for your work is clear. It's a true injustice that you don't have more subscribers as you definitely deserve it

[@MikeHunt45]

Hi Kim, watched your shopping trip in Camden. Loved having a walk around (virtually) with yourself and the other half. Loved this too

[@MattHayesVinyl]

Another outstanding documentary. Thanks, Kim.

[@salaciouscreations4323]

They could have used the barbarian engine. Keep up the great work your an important content creator. The wife and child enjoy watching as well

[@AmigosRetroGaming]

Very interesting and well done! Quite a sad tale... BTW, I actually LOVE the Highlander film and wish it had been given a proper game!

[@CatWeazle21]

Another fab vid, thanks so much KJ!

[@willmistretta]

You know the Highlander series has it rough when I saw that title and thought, "Which one?

[@adamphillip5305]

Another great vid. Noticed you couldnt resist chucking The Highlanders tag team in there lol

[@simonlindsell1267]

Great, GREAT video...and that knockout punch at the end 😥

[@tony1kenobi202]

Your documentaries are always top drawer! Thank you!

[@bombjack1984]

Well that was a sad tale. Excellent documentary again Kim.

[@ridcullyshat8522]

Your documentaries are fantastic. So interesting and informative.

[@leegsy]

5:11 - This is why I loved watching videos like this. "Two men are locked in mortal combat" Lambo was in the movie Mortal Kombat, which of course is a movie based on a game that probably got its name from that line. Illuminati confirmed.

[@LucatheDingo88]

Wow, your partner sounded like she really really hated Highlander the Movie (rest her soul) I do recall my Dad really liked Highlander the Movie, it's somewhat Nostalgic in my family in the late 90's, as I recall it was one of the first movies by Dad bought when he purchased our family's first DVD Player, it was a very bare bones early DVD, no special features beyond the film, fullscreen, and picture quality barely better then a VHS tape.

[@Highlander1518]

Probably the 2000 DVD release. I think it had one interview on it (Christopher Lambert) and possibly the trailer for the film.

[@FarelForever]

I had a rough day, and this video really helped. Thanks Kim!

[@alexnewman3516]

Do you really think Jack Burton Big Trouble In Little China was that bad? I remember I had it on Amstrad, and I loved it... except it was hard as hell and I couldn't never finish it -- I think I reached Lo Pan just once.

[@Mark-pr7ug]

Several coders from that era suffered. The glitter and eye candy lifestyle soon dissolved when they fou d themselves struggling to pull off what was expected

[@heimomies]

I tought that this game was impossible to win but then I read a tip on some C64 magazine. Just put on autofire on joystick and do nothing. Your fighter wins the fights. It worked on C64 version.

[@davedogge2280]

I vaguely remember this back in the day but no one even pirated it, I don't think there was a sequel, there can only be one. I'll take my coat and hat and leave now.

[@ginge210873]

Amazing film

[@jiilaa_with_randomness]

What's the final song on the video? I know it, but cannot place it!!!! Anyway, cool video again. Cheers.

[@jesuszamora6949]

Horrible little story, and yeah, all too common. Kids stumbling into unimaginable success before they know how to handle it ends in tragedy too often.

[@raggersragnarsson6255]

A detailed deep dive into this terrible game and also the truly tragic end. Very sad indeed. Thank you for telling us its story in such detail.

[@thehelpfulhobbyist5355]

I'm impressed in you managing to research that far back to the 80's. I do agree that the Highlander was terrible!

[@veganmonter]

Oh my gosh! More of Sophia critiquing please! I loved her in the Spitalfield video.

[@thegreathadoken6808]

There's a very early fighter for the Amiga called Moebius, that you control using the mouse, clicking icons to do the moves! Highlander cannot POSSIBLY be worse than that...