Play Populous Online Free for Super Nintendo.
Populous hits different when it boots instantly in your browser. Released in 1989 on the Super Nintendo, this retro classic from its publisher is ready the second you press start — no downloads, no setup.
Populous is considered the first god game. Populous is a video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the Amiga in March 1989, then quickly the Atari ST and MS-DOS.
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| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| B (bottom) | X | Bottom face |
| A (right) | Z | Right face |
| Y (left) | S | Left face |
| X (top) | A | Top face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | V | Select |
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The Story Behind Populous
He developed the raise/lower terrain gameplay mechanic simply as a way of helping the peeps to move around. Peter Molyneux presented a post-mortem of the game's development and work in progress on a related personal project at Game Developers Conference in 2011. The team quickly repurposed an interstitial page from between levels and used it as the final screen.
Then, as a way of reducing the number of peeps on the screen, he decided that if a peep encountered a piece of blank, flat land, it would build a house, and that a larger area of land would enable a peep to build a larger house. After demoing the game to over a dozen publishers, Bullfrog eventually gained the interest of Electronic Arts, who had a gap in their spring release schedule and was willing to take a chance on the game. Initially Molyneux developed an isometric landscape, then populated it with little people that he called "peeps", but there was no game; all that happened was that the peeps wandered around the landscape until they reached a barrier such as water.
How Populous Plays
The game received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the game's graphics, design, sounds and replay value. With over four million copies sold, Populous is one of the best-selling PC games of all time. In addition, another expansion disk called Populous: The Final Frontier added a single new landscape-type and was released as a cover disk for The One.
This is done by using a series of divine powers. The most basic power is raising and lowering land. This is primarily done in order to provide flat land for the player's followers to build on (though it is also possible to remove land from around the enemy's followers).
Why Players Still Load It Up
Biff Kritzen of Computer Gaming World gave the game a positive review, noting, "as heavy-handed as the premise sounds, it really is a rather light-hearted game." The simple design and layout were praised, as were the game's colourful graphics. The game allows the user to shape the in-game landscape using the DS's stylus. In 1991 they developed and released a true sequel, Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods, and in 1998 a further direct sequel, Populous: The Beginning.
MegaTech magazine stated that the game has "super graphics and 500 levels. STart in 1990 gave "kudos especially to Peter Molyneux, the creative force behind Populous". Peter Molyneux estimated that the game accounted for nearly a third of all the revenue of Electronic Arts in that year.
Populous — Frequently Asked Questions
What console was Populous released on?
Populous was released for the Super Nintendo in 1989.
Can I save my progress in Populous?
It does — with a free account you can snapshot the game at any point using save states, then pick it up later from exactly that spot.
How many players does Populous support?
Populous supports 1 player(s) in this browser version.
Can I play Populous online for free?
Absolutely. The full game loads in the player at the top of this page and runs right in your browser — no installs, no plugins, no waiting.