Angel Studios

NOTE: Not to be confused with the Utah-based film and TV studio of the same name.

Background: Angel was a California-based game developer. They completed their first game in 1996. Take-Two acquired the studio in 2002 and merged it into the Rockstar family under the name San Diego.

1st Logo (1996)

Logo: On a black background, a lens flare is seen shining with the words "angel" and "studios" swinging in. The lens flare reveals an angel drawing in gray and blurred. "Interactive Entertainment" then fades in below.

FX/SFX: The lens flare.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only appeared on Mr. Bones for Sega Saturn.

2nd Logo (1997-2000)

Logo: Against a black background, a purple spark is seen flying around as the name's words swings in. The angel, this time not blurred and the shadows purple, fades in as the spark reaches its hand. The same text "Interactive Entertainment" from before, but in a different font, wipes in from the left to the right.

FX/SFX: The purple spark, the words swinging in.

Music/Sounds: Short humming and a xylophone-like note.

Availability: Extremely rare. It appears on Midtown Madness, after the 2nd Microsoft Game Studios logo.

3rd Logo (2000-2001)

Logo: Against a black background, we see a transparent halo coming down from the bright light from above, as many flares rise up. The flares go through the halo, causing a pulse with many more flares. The pulse expands to the edges of the screen and the halo drops in a little bit of white and places on the middle of the screen. We zoom out of the halo as a blue, lined, rounded box with the stacked words "Angel S T U D I O S" fades in. The box shines.

FX/SFX: The flares and the pulse.

Music/Sounds: Humming chorus, followed by the splash sound and the female announcer saying "Angel".

Availability: Ultra rare, as this logo was only used for a year; it appeared on the PlayStation 2 version of Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open, Midtown Madness 2, Smuggler's Run and Midnight Club: Street Racing.

4th Logo (2001-2002)

Logo: Against a black background, multiple outlines of the rounded box zoom out as the "Angel S T U D I O S" words from the previous logo are drawn in. The lines inside the box are wiped in as the halo's outline zooms out multiple times and then the logo turns full color. The slogan "PURE FUN" and the URL are wiped in.

FX/SFX: The formation of the logo.

Music/Sounds: Sounds of car break-in and zooming in, followed by the same voiceover from the previous logo.

Availability: Like the previous logo, this one was short-lived, as Take-Two would later acquire the studio; it was seen on Smuggler's Run: Warzones for Gamecube, Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory, and Transworld Surf.