Sunday, June 12, 2005

Amiga Games Video

I’ve put together a slideshow of some of the greatest Amiga 500 games [WMV]. The Amiga (“without a doubt one of the most revolutionary and greatest computers ever”, some say) was released in 1985 and became popular in the years following. The games shown here are from the 80s and early 90s, created by a variety of programmers, graphic artists, and musicians. Even though the Amiga arguably had the greatest graphics of its time, games didn’t rely on impressive visuals alone; back in the days of 2D, playability was a necessary focus. And because the medium of video games was still in its infancy it saw more creative ideas than it might ever again see.

The games appearing in the video are (in chronological order):

• Another World: Smooth animations and an immersing story make this one of the Amiga highlights.
• Cadaver: An atmospheric, isometric puzzle game starring a little dwarf in armor.
• Defender of the Crown: The mother of all Amiga strategy games. (It seems nobody ever really understood the jousting mini-game.)
• Elvira - Mistress of the Dark: A puzzle adventure.
• Golden Axe: You can play a dwarf, an amazon warrior, or a blonde barbarian in this slash-em-up. Part of the fun was when you would fight your friend in two-player mode.
• Great Giana Sisters: This was the most famous jump’n’run on the Commodore Amiga, and a game which faced legal trouble because of its close resemblance to the Mario Brothers series.
• Hostages: In the demo, you can see how the game creators often couldn’t deliver full-screen animations and had to resort to smaller in-game windows surrounded by “alibi” illustrations.
• International Karate +: This game was fun for its ultra high-speed (and the occasional easter-egg animation in the background).
• Ikari Warriors: A classic, mindless shoot’em up.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: This was back when Lucasarts (former Lucasfilm) still released commercial adventure games. This kind of game is pretty much dead today because the genre doesn’t sell well (I remember Grim Fandango as one of the last of its kind by Lucasarts).
• It Came From the Desert: Set in a classic 50s “outer space invasion” setting, this had both amazing graphics as well as some thrilling shock effects. The mini games, like the hospital escape game, were fun as well.
• Kick Off: This was the most beloved soccer game back on the Amiga.
• Klax: This game made its way from the arcades and acted as quasi-successor to Tetris (pure playability in an abstract setting).
• Lemmings: The little suicidal blue and green Lemmings which you needed to guide through the level posed a challenging new game idea. All action was applied indirect.
• Live and Let Die: One of the different James Bond incarnations available, Live and Let Die featured several different fast-paced games.
• Loom: A musical adventure game that came complete with a story told on cassette. Your character, 17-year old Bobbin Threadbare, learns magic spells by listening to the sound of the environment; spells can then be applied to other objects, which made up the puzzles.
• Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge: This was the first in a series of split-screen racing games with incredibly fast & smooth animations graphics.
• Maniac Mansion: The classic Lucasfilm adventure game in which you could choose three persons from a cast of characters, to finish the game in different ways depending on who you choose. Not all objects are always helpful (a game item with the sole purpose of confusing you would be called “red herring”).
• Marble Madness: Roll a ball through futurist levels and find the goal quickly (but don’t get eaten or fall over the edge).
• Moonstone: A medieval fighting games with gory details.
• M.U.D.S.: A sort of alien Olympics.
• Nibbly: Just another Nibbles clone in which you’d navigate an ever-growing snake through a screen-sized maze.
• North & South: A cartoon recreation of the American civil war, full of brutally funny mini games, and best enjoyed with two players.
• Nuclear Reaction: A puzzle game with “no graphics.”
• Ports of Call: A trade simulation created by two Germans and set in the world of ships, harbors & bribery.
• Rainbow Islands: A cute cute platform game.
• Rick Dangerous 2: Probably the best jump’n’run game – while it’s particularly hard, no screen was ever impossible or unfair.
• Rings of Medusa: A fantasy strategy game with great graphics.
• Rock’n’Roll: A fun, mouse-based action game in which you guide a little ball through complicated levels.
• R-Type: One of the many Amiga shoot’em ups.
• Shadowdancer: You’re a ninja with his dog, and you need to kill all enemies. (So much for the plot.)
• Shadow of the Beast: Game studio Psygnosis, who also made Shadow of the Beast, was known for amazing graphics and often mediocre gameplay – their addictive “Lemmings” being one of the few exceptions. Shadow of the Beast had ultra-smooth colors and parallax scrolling, but it was next to impossible to finish without cheating.
• Shufflepuck Cafe: Play shufflepuck against aliens with different character and skills in this mouse-based game.
• Sidewinder: A very balanced, entertaining shooter.
• Silkworm: Yet another side-scrolling shoot’em up. In two player mode, one of the players would navigate the helicopter, and another the vehicle at the bottom of the screen.
• Sim City: This wasn’t so much a game as it was a toy – you could play forever with no particular goal in mind. You act as mayor and city planner, setting up buildings, streets, and power plants. These days, game designer Will Wright is working on Spore.
• Super Cars: You see the race-track from above, and you steer your little car through several action-packed rounds.
• Take’em Out: Just a simple, fun sniper game.
• Turrican 2: Turrican was a series of platform-based shoot’em ups with great artwork. The music by German composer Chris Hülsbeck is especially noteworthy.
• Vyrus: Another shooter.
• Wings: It’s World War II, and you’re a pilot flying different missions to success. One game here showed off the limited 3D graphics the Amiga was capable off (other games with 3D graphics were Elite and Hunter).

The music for the clip was taken from Thought Pyramid: Impression and Kid Dumonceau: Future Legend, both licensed under Creative Commons.

Also see more Amiga games on video.

Amiga Games Video by Philipp Lenssen | Comments (13)

>> More posts

Advertisement