Cryo Interactive Entertainment

Background

Cryo Interactive Entertainment was a French game company that was started in 1990, when a small group of employees from Exxos left their parent company ERE Informatique and changed name.

In 1992 Cryo was registered as an official company and since this time they published a variety of high-acclaimed games.

In 2002 Cryo filed for bankruptcy, and their assets were absorbed by North American co-publisher DreamCatcher. Some of the developers went to launch Atlantis Interactive Entertainment.

In October 2008 Microids retrieved all intellectual rights for Cryo games.

1st Logo (1991)

Logo: There is a purple triangle depicting the anabiosis chamber with face inside. The word "Cryo" in a decorative (and very abstract) yellow font slides in from the bottom-left corner to the center, and "PRESENTS" in the futuristic white font appears at the bottom-right corner.

FX/SFX: The name sliding in and "PRESENTS" appearing.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only appeared on Extase, the first game produced by the company.

Editor's Note: This is the only logo from the company not to feature the female Android in any way.

2nd Logo (1992)

Logo: In a blue box, We see the female Android from Extase, which appears in a shell looking right to the bottom. The word "CRYO" in an orangy/brown color appears below.

FX/SFX: The logo is wiped in simple manner.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on the original, floppy disk versions of Dune and KGB for DOS.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1992-1995)

Logo: We see the Female Android again, wearing a spacesuit with light playing, looking right. There is a red planet (presumably Mars) on the screen. The face slowly pans and turns to look on us, then it freezes and fades through black to the famous logo with a woman's face in a blue cryo-tube (or a spacesuit). "CRYO" is seen below in the Dungeon font. The logo is taken into a box.

Variant: On MegaRace and Dune for Sega CD, the logo is tinted sky blue, due to color limitations.

FX/SFX: The spacesuit rotating.

Music/Sounds: A wind-blowing sound ending with weird fading spacesynth. The quality of the sound depends on the platform.

Availability: Seen on the CD-ROM versions of Dune and KGB and strangely, on Lost Eden. The blue version was seen on MegaRace and Dune for Sega CD.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1993-1995, 1998)

Logo: The same action as before, but the red planet is replaced with Earth below. When the picture changes, it shows enhanced box and "CRYO" is written directly on it, this time in Times New Roman font. The name casts shadows.

FX/SFX: Same as the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds: Re-imagined windy soundtrack with two fading alien synth notes, the second one being longer.The logo was silent on Commander Blood and it's sequel, and of course, Super Dany.

Availability: Seen on Commander Blood and its sequel. Still version appeared on Super Dany for SNES and MegaRace for 3DO. Blue-colored still version, similar to the next logo, was seen on Dragon Lore.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1995-1999)

Logo: We start in a close-up of the Female Android's face inside the space suit, turned left. There is a starfield around and a planet is seen. The face pans to the right, with light playing on the glass, and then the box zooms in, with "CRYO" below in white.

Later Variant: In later games, "INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT" in stacked words, was added below.

Variant: On Ubik, the logo already starts formed, and then plays in reverse, turning into the opening cutscene.

FX/SFX: Panning of the Android, made in good quality.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th logo.

Availability:

The original version was first used on Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure and later appeared on Hard Boiled, Dreams to Reality (and it's PAL-exclusive PlayStation port Dreams)
The later "INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT" version appears on Egypt,

Seen on Atlantis: The Lost Tales, MegaRace 2, Hardline, The Raven Project and other games. The first game with it was .

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1999-2002)

Logo: Once more we start with the Female Android in a space suit. Then two comets are shown, orange and blue, swirling in the skies. The view changes to the face, then to comets again, and to her right eye. The Android opens her eyes. Then the comets collide and create the "cryo" word surrounded by two still images of the comets.Sometimes "INTERACTIVE" appears below.

Later Variant: On some later games, a re-animated version is used. This version begins with a segmented shell, which opens, revealing the Female Android's face (features changed) inside.

Variants:

Sometimes, the "INTERACTIVE" version appears still.
On Hellboy, the logo popped up still with "CRYO STUDIOS NORTH AMERICA" below it.
A much more longer version exists, which was likely used for promotional uses.
On The Guardian of Darkness, the logo is sped up. Despite this, the music remains in standard speed and so cuts out when the logo ends.

FX/SFX: Great animation.

Music/Sounds: A nice sounding soundtrack with synth elements and cymbals. The soundtrack is adjusted in the later variant with several time changes and minor rearrangements.

Music/Sounds Variants: On Asterix & Obelix Take on Ceasar, the music is lower pitched.

Availability: Common.

The standard version appears on Woody Woodpecker: Escape from Buzz Buzzard's Park!, MegaRace 3, Aztec, Odyssey: Search for Ulysses, Roland Garros French Open 2001, Gift, Atlantis III, The Mask of Zorro, and other games.
The "Interactive" version appears on 360 - Three-Sixty, Azec and The Guardian of Darkness.
The still version appears on several games, including Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar and the European version of Test Drive 6 with the last half of the music, while the version without music appears on China, Frank Herbert's Dune, and games for the Game Boy Color.
The later variant appears on Agassi Tennis Generation 2002, Mystery of the Nautilus and Universal Monsters: Monsterville.
For unknown reasons, the logo doesn't appear at all on Egypt II.

Editor's Note: None.