The Oliver Twins
Double Dragon of Dizzy
Philip and Andrew Oliver built a mini-empire from their bedroom, turning the Dizzy platformers into a staple of 8-bit Britain.
Overview
Philip and Andrew Oliver began programming on a borrowed ZX81 in 1982. By mid-decade they were shipping games like Super Robin Hood through Codemasters and creating the egg-shaped hero Dizzy, whose adventures topped budget charts across Europe.
Fast facts
- Debut: Super Robin Hood (1986) on the Spectrum; ported widely.
- Franchise: Ten mainline Dizzy games plus spin-offs across Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, and NES.
- Workflow: The twins divided tasks—one focused on graphics and level design, the other on code—while sharing design duties.
Influence
The twins demonstrated that sustained franchises could come from bedroom beginnings. Their budget-priced hits kept the UK market thriving even as 16-bit systems arrived, and their later studio Blitz Games kept that spirit alive into the 2000s.