CodyJarrett's Amazing Top 20 Amiga Games

[CodyJarrett]

In this thread I am going to pick my favourite 20 Amiga games of all time! This isn't easy, as there are many more that I want to include, but I'm sticking to 20. The following are all probably pretty standard choices...


No 20 - Exile (Audiogenic)

Although it can be traced back to the BBC and later the C64, Exile found a home on the Amiga. It's an arcade adventure, which is characterised by its greatest feature - the physics model. Objects are pulled by gravity, are affected by inertia and bounce off surfaces. The main character flies above a planet and into a cave system with his jetpack, shooting creatures and solving puzzles. What is also great is that the character doesn't die - he is just sent back to a previous teleport point.

Overall: A unique blend of ideas makes this one of the Amiga's most unique games.

[Twistin'Ghost]

Good choice...I always found this to be an absorbing game and capable of captivating my interest for long periods of time. Almost a genre-buster.

[CodyJarrett]

Yup, it's not often that we see games like Exile.

I prefer the original to the AGA update - you can see more of the play area.

[Tim Janssen]

I have missed both ECS and AGA Exile on Amiga. The only version of Exile I have played was on the C64. It looked and played like games that were common in the early Eighties. After a bit wandering and bumping around I soon got bored. What's so special about this game?

[CodyJarrett]

It's the exploration, the real world physics and the uniqueness of the game which does it for me.

Also, I like games which create little worlds and games which little guys in jetpacks. Who wants to be glued to the ground? :)

[Drake1009]

I liked the idea, but have never really played it since I never got below ground, or whatever you need to do. I don't know how.

[Twistin'Ghost]

The physics are quite mesmerizing.

[Peanutuk]

I enjoyed the Demo on an Early issue of AP and played the AGA version much later. I enjoyed the game but it gets unfathomably hard at points.

have you completed it COdy?

[CodyJarrett]

No, but I should make a serious effort to do so sometime...

[stainy]

I got really far, nearly having all the keys...got under ground, got past the monkey part etc... can`t quite rememeber what happened after that..
Has anyone got it working with any of the emulators?? all I get it the game working, but when I move, the scenery shifts about all weird. ?:nervous

[CodyJarrett]

No 19 - Zeewolf 1&2 (Binary Asylum)

Zeewolf is a prime example of the mixing of two games to come up with a third. It's Desert Strike meets Virus, with the mission structure and helicopter and weaponry action of one and the 3D graphics and control system of the other.

The mouse it definitely the best control method for the game, although it takes some getting used to. You don't get games like Zeewolf on any other platform! The sequel is more of the same, with some improvements.

[Peanutuk]

I remember being rather disspointed by the sequel as it was basically the original without any major improvements. I guess this may have been testimony to teh declien in the Amiga's fortunes.

Nevertheless it is an excellent and novel game. I found that it pays to play it continuosly from the first time you encounter it. I dont often play it for half 'n hour now and then but for a day or two.....untill it gets too hard!

Definitely the best chopper game on the AMiga - Desert Strike felt very constricting (well...it was a console game) and Virus I'm afraid I've never played but it certainly looks (and feelS?) similar to Zeewolf (actrually was it the same progammer?).

[CodyJarrett]

It's nice to have console-style games like Desert Strike on the Amiga sometimes.

Zeewolf was by some ex-Amiga Format guys, Virus was by David 'Elite' Braben.

[Peanutuk]

...........but for a period it seemed that their were an avalanch of console ports which really didnt set the world alight. This to me was a death blow to original AMiga games - console conversions were the film conversion of the mid-nineties!

Desrt Strike:- any games that limits you to the extent where you have to quit if you have 2 instea of three rockets is anything but 'nice' :mad

[CodyJarrett]

I'm sorry! :)

[Peanutuk]

:)

[birdy-scc]

Originally posted by Peanutuk

Desrt Strike:- any games that limits you to the extent where you have to quit if you have 2 instea of three rockets is anything but 'nice' :mad [/B]

The whole trick with this game is to keep enough missiles, so that you CAN beat it!

[Peanutuk]

You could cal that a 'tatical' element but really........if I wanted to be limited in such a way then I would fly a real one (well...........you get my drift). In a computer game I want to at least be given some slack, and I dont see what's enjoyable about playing a level for 15-20 minutes only to find that you cant take a final target out because your one missle short!

Anyway, just a grumble of mine, there are plenty of worst cases of the above. and Desert Strike is an alright game.

[stainy]

I wouldn`t put Zeewolf in the same bracket as those Desert Strike games....
Zeewolf was a loverly game though, tough to control at first... but once gotten the hang of! superb!

[Peanutuk]

Zeewolf has flair, imagination and fun, everything an original Amiga should be. Desert Strike is limited, stage-ridden, console fodder. D.S. is imaginative for a console but compared to an oriignal amiga game like Zeewolf, it pails.

[birdy-scc]

It depends what you want from a game. I haven't played Zeewolf, so I can't really compare, but I can still play DS today and enjoy a nice bit of strategic blasting.

[Peanutuk]

Unfortunately my AMiga Mouse has been broken for some time so I haven't really been able to play it as I would like. That's all about to change though :)

[CodyJarrett]

No 18 - The Settlers (Blue Byte)

Taking over where Populous left off, The Settlers zooms in on the action and includes more resource management and other extras.

A lot of care has been put into the game, especially in the small details of the people, buildings, trees, water and other things in the world. All this detail makes the player care about the world that they are creating and its occupants.

There's even a two player option with two mice. The Settlers was the first in a series which is still popular today.

[Peanutuk]

but I've heard plenty about it and the screen shot looks very inviting.

Great thread. Keep it up!

PS - Have we ever had a poll for the top 20 games, on eab? Maybe something to do at teh end of this thread

[Tim Janssen]

At last a game I have played on my Amiga! The Settlers must be one of the most absorbing games ever. I once had a copy of this game but I had some trouble finding out what to do.
-so I erased it from disc. *snif*
I still recall the intro of this game which was very, very good.

[RCK]

Yes, Settlers really rocks...

the two player mode (two mouse) + computer was excellent !
and the music tune unforgetable...

[Drake1009]

I never played it much on the Amiga but I remember a lot of time used playing 2 player in the settlers on the PC. 1 mouse, and one joystick which made the game almost impossible to control.

[stainy]

Never played it either, it was one of those games that were always on the fringe of being played, but never managed it..:(

[Walker]

A screen from the coolish intro:

[Walker]

.... and another one:

[oldpx]

The first settlers was great, much better than it's sequels ;)
But I doubt there can be 17 games better than it :cool

[Akira]

I loved the VTOL jet you could fly in Zeewolf 2! :D

I wonder what the other games are, Settlers at 18? Finish the feature already :D

[Peanutuk]

There were some great improvements in Zeewolf 2 which in my mind weren't implemented fully. Still great game.


COme on Cody!!!

[Shatterhand]

as I was out for the last month, I'll comment about the 3 games so far

Exile for me seems and feels to be one hell out of a game, but all I did was wandering without knowing what to do. I never understood what I was suposed to do in that game, and the fact |I didn't have the manual didn't helped me to much.

Zeewolf 2 is indeed a great game. Not one I would put in the top 20, but a game I played a lot on my amiga, and had lots of fun with it. Never played the original.

The Settlers is really one of the most absorbing games ever, tooking me away a long period of my life :) . Still it's not my fav amiga strategy game (I won't tell which one is, as maybe it's still in that list, although I doubt it)

[Peanutuk]

You pop picker........

[CodyJarrett]

Number 17 - Paradroid '90 (Graftgold)

This is a 1990 jigged up version of Graftgold's own C64 shoot-'em-up and disregarding any comparisons with the original version, this is a top Amiga shoot-'em-up.

Your robot glides around spaceships which are overrun by rogue droids and although it is weak, it has one special feature - it can take over other robots for a period, utilising their skills and weapons. This is what makes the game varied and fun.

Some droids are just cleaners - weak and fast. Others are heavily armoured, but slow. The most powerful all-round has a built-in alarm to warn others of its approach!

The main downside is the annoying transfer game when you want to move to a new droid, but this can be disabled in the menu.

Long live Graftgold and Paradroid!

[Peanutuk]

I've never played this. But some seem to think that its an unforgivable game, and a travesty of the original. Having never played eitehr I can't say. I might dig it up and play it on my A1200 - if it works on it.

Keep it up Cody - this is a top thread.

[Drake1009]

I quite like that game too. But I never was good at the transfer game. Menu? Maybe if I knew exactly what was going on in the game it'd be easier for me to figure out.

[CodyJarrett]

You can press something like F1 or F2 at the credits section before you enter a game. This brings up a menu with some options.

[Walker]

Some pics from the great Paradroid '90 game:

[Walker]

#2

[CodyJarrett]

Number 16 - Hunter (Activision)

Hunter was a bugged game. Sometimes on walking up to a grenade you would be told you could not enter it. Other times sharks and submarines would travel through the land as if it was water.

But the makers of Hunter had a vision where your character could travel round a landscape, using weapons and collecting objects - and in 3D. It would be pretty boring if you had to walk everywhere, so you can jump into numerous vehicles, including cars, boats, bicycles, helicopters and hovercraft.

You won't get lost because of the small size of the map, but even so there is a loneliness about the world in which your little man inhabits. There are problems with Hunter, but it all came together to create another unique game.

[Drake1009]

Never got to play Hunter much. But the lack of massive amounts of people did give it a sort of atmosphere which was actually a good thing.

Actually many of the early 3D games had a sort of atmosphere like this. I remember the feel of Sentinel when I tried it on an A500. Not that I could figure out how to move right, but still. It was a cold strange eerie feeling.

[Peanutuk]

Game wise, I think Hunter not much cop. the time I spent playing it consisted of wondering around and finding people and vehicles, and that was the reason to play - just to become involved in the world.

I think that is why its favoured so much. As a game - where you have to do thinks to make other things happen - I couldnt give a monkeys. But as an experience it's great, even if it is akin to morid drinking or beating yourself up, especially when yoru reduced to walking miles to find a car.


Actually, its all faintly reminiscent of a music festival......?!?!?

[Codetapper]

Originally posted by CodyJarrett
Hunter was a bugged game. Sometimes on walking up to a grenade you would be told you could not enter it. Other times sharks and submarines would travel through the land as if it was water.

Those bugs were caused by 24 bit memory addressing and self modifying code which doesn't cause a problem on a real A500. I haven't seen any of those bugs in the WHDLoad version and my brother and I have heavily played this game (completed all missions, Action and the other one and made a save game just prior to going back into HQ to complete the whole game! :)

There is real excitement and tension trying to work out whether you have enough energy to get to something on the map which may be an crapped out old track low on gas or a high speed chopper! The time limits are very good too, not so easy that they are pointless but not so tight as to be impossible.

I think this game is brilliant, top 10 stuff myself :)

BTW, in the title pic there is a plane. Has anybody seen it? The hovercraft is rare but does exist but I have never been able to find the damn plane! Anyone else found it and if so, knows where on the map to get it?

Also you mention submarines, I have never seen one! Enemy boats and sharks - yes, subs - no... Anybody know if they exist?

[CodyJarrett]

This title is from an earlier magazine version which was leaked to pirates, so maybe we shouldn't take it as an indication of what is in the game.

I've never seen the plane either, so I don't think it exists. You can sometimes see the periscope of a submarine in the water (and across the land - I don't think there are any checks for this sort of thing). However, you can't pilot the submarines.'

Something like Midwinter 2 allowed you to jump into submarines and descend into water, but it was much clumsier than Hunter.

Here's the Amiga Power review of Hunter:

http://www.cartwright33.freeserve.co.uk/ap/huntrev.htm

[Walker]

Hunter in action:

[Walker]

OK, let's see what this baby can do....

[Peanutuk]

Ill think Ill play it now.

[Akira]

Looks like a VERY interesting game!!!
Cody: will you finish this list before xmas? :P

[CodyJarrett]

Don't worry, I'll finish before Xmas!

Number 15 - King's Bounty (New World Computing)

King's Bounty can be tracked back to Chaos. This was a wargame played on a grid with wizards and monsters and two phases - moving and fighting. This is how the battles in King's Bounty work.

It is also an early version of New World Computing's later PC games, Heroes Of Might And Magic, which are essentially more sophisticated versions.

Your character roams around a land, collecting treasure, hiring armies and fighting battles in his quest. There are lots of monsters which you can hire and varied scenery, as well as quests to kill certain criminals, each more dangerous.

All pretty simple really, but engrossing.

[Peanutuk]

~~~~~Personally, I wouldn't dream of including this in a top 100 nevermind a top 20 but I guess its down to personal choice.

when was this released? 1980's?

[oldpx]

King's Bounty was cool. I played it after Heroes III and found many similarities between them. Actually the gameplay was nearly the same but heroes games are just greatly improved versions of King's Bounty. However I insist settlers deserves a better place

[Walker]

Like Cody said; it's a very simple game, but I find it a lot more entertaining than most of the newer ones.

Let's look at some screens, shall we?

First, we have a battle field:

[Walker]

Every army needs an ogre, don't you think?

[Drake1009]

Arr now I'm thinking of some other game which was also a lot like that but with better graphics. Never got to play it much as it forced my poor TV to play in NTSC so I couldn't play it on the real thing. And the emultion just doesn't feel right.

[CodyJarrett]

King's Bounty was 1991.

Yeah, The Settlers should probably be above it, but the difference between a game at number 18 and number 15 is nothing.

[Peanutuk]

Dont say that!

[Tim Janssen]

Cody,
I have checked your list and have to admit I’ve never played any of the Amiga games you mention (except for Settlers which stayed only a few days on my discs).
Back in the days when I was an avid Amiga user I always neglected polygon and strategy games on Amiga. I found them either too slow or too complex.

Here is my motivation for your list of games. Note: I copied all my games on a monthly copyparty. With only a few limited discs in my posession I had to make choices.
- Exile: Never found this game on the copyparty *snif*;
- Zeewolf: I think this game was released towards the end of 1994. In these days all my Amiga-sources were turning to PC and the copyparty was no more. -Never had the experience to enjoy the game :( ;
- Paradroid ‘90: Skipped it because I didn’t like the C64 original;
- Hunter: Despite rave-reviews I skipped the game because it featured polygon-graphics;
- King’s Bounty: This game already looked outdated when it was released during Summer 1991. During this time many great shmups and platformers were released and I preferred these above Kings Bountyon my discs which cost al my pocketmoney.

[Drake1009]

Ahh now I found the name of the game I was thinking of. Celtic legends also had a bit of the same elements over it as Heroes of Might and Magic and their less known predecessor Hammer of the gods had.

As I said I hadn't played it much but there are things which at a glance can easily be compared. Do anyone have a version of this game which will run PAL output?

[oldpx]

I played Celtic Legends on my PAL A500+ if that's what you mean. It has save game problems with winuae but it may have been fixed since 0.8.8r8

[Drake1009]

Could you upload your version? I don't know what it is mine is doing but it seems to go into NTSC mode which is fairly annoying. I don't really remember if it was during one of the crack intros it did it or when the game itself loaded but it made it darn near impossible to play on my A1200. Or could it be some compatibility problem perhaps?

[Djay]

i agree with your list so far, glad to see you haven't just gone for the BIGGEST amiga releases....

maybe they are yet to come....

settlers was fantasic game, wasted too much time on this one.
only played exile on c64 , same with paradroid 90 (never really got into it thou). hunter was a classic, but i never stayed to the missions, just went on hovercrafts and stuff...

are we only dealing with commercial releases?

[CodyJarrett]

I'm only doing commercial games at the moment, but I can do another PD/shareware/freeware games one too!

Number 14 - Super Tennis Champs (Audiogenic)

The amazing thing about the Amiga was the quality of free games available - and the best place to find them was on the cover of the Amiga Power magazine, because they hand-picked the best. Super Tennis Champs started as Tennis Champs, which was written for the magazine (the author probably received money for it). Later it was bought and sold commercially by Audiogenic, with an added 'Super'.

It's a very console-style tennis game, with most of the options you could wish for. One-player mode isn't wonderful, but it's the two player option which is the best. The multiplayer really makes the game.

[Walker]

Let's see.... Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg....

[Walker]

Eat this!

[Peanutuk]

Does anyone have the version with the Pulp Fiction charcters in it?

[oldpx]

Could you upload your version? I don't know what it is mine is doing but it seems to go into NTSC mode which is fairly annoying. I don't really remember if it was during one of the crack intros it did it or when the game itself loaded but it made it darn near impossible to play on my A1200. Or could it be some compatibility problem perhaps?


Drake, I could not find my version but it was identical to the skid row one on the pe2000 and of course I'm uploading it. There was a key that made you switch between pal and ntsc modes. It worked with my A500+ but all the keys including the pause key seem to crash the game on WinUAE. It's likely one of the F keys or the number keys. I remember it only worked on battleground screen.

[stainy]

Hey, it looks very much like Super Tennis for the SNES, now that was the best tennis game ever !! this looks totally like it!

Can anyone up it to the zone, so I can have a look see please ??

[Walker]

"Super Tennis Champs" is in The Zone!

[Drake1009]

Thanks for the advice Burseg. I'll see if I can get around to trying it out.

[Shatterhand]

Hey, I didn't know this Tennis game either, it seems to be very good indeed. I'll take a look at it

[Peanutuk]

The game, as Cody said, was issued on the cover disk of Amiga Power. Audigenic, seeing what a great game it was, bought the rights and convinced the programmers to add a few rudimentary touches to it.

the programmers originally sent the game with Pulp Fiction charcters in it - the two gansters [played by John Travolta and Samuael L Jackson] which featured on the cover of AP in which it was reviewed; much to there embaressment ,as they later found out that the characters where removed.

So, I was wondering whether anyone had a copy with the characters in it? Prusumably only the programmers have it? - or the software company?

A bit of a find if you do have though!

[CodyJarrett]

I don't have a copy of the game with the Pulp Fiction characters, but maybe we could contact the programmers...

Number 13 - North And South (Infogrames)

Based on French comic, 'Les Tuniques Bleues', North And South is a comedy wargame based on the American Civil War. You have to move your troops around a map of the US in order to capture key areas with railtracks or the port to earn more money and therefore more troops.

There are a number of arcade sequences, the best of which is when two armies meet. The game then changes into a real-time battle, with cannons, cavalry and infantry.

Another great multiplayer game then. The only problem is the lack of controller options.

[Tim Janssen]

At last a game I have in my Amiga collection! North & South must rank as one of the most addictive wargames that has ever graced the Amiga and was one of the first games I have played on the machine.

I remember playing this game with my little brother all those years ago.
In any battlefield-match we reached a point when one of us had only one or two armymen left. None of us would take the risk to sacrifice the last army men in a battle so the combat sequences seemed to took on forever. The match often ended when one of us grabbed the others joystick and lead the only armymen to death by letting the horses drown in the water. A game of North & South often ended up in a physical fight between my brother and me.;)

What I still not understand is why the arcade sequences were so difficult! The combination of the tight timelimit and extremely sensible joystick controls make it a nerve-breaking experience.

[Walker]

Where do you want to go today?

[Walker]

I have seen this screen at least 10 000 times.....

[CodyJarrett]

Number 12 - Hired Guns

Taking Dungeon Master and Captive much further, Hired Guns showed that Scottish wizards DMA Design were one of the best teams in the business.

The setting is futuristic, which is a welcome break from the fantasy stuff that games like this usually feature. You've got to go on missions in various areas filled with creatures, including killer puppies and sharks.

Your team members are controlled using four split screens, which can sometimes make the game quite frantic.

A great selection of weaponry rounds off this excellent game.

[Jim]

I used to love North & South for the gameplay but it was full of some crazy humour !

The battlescenes were the nearest you could get to when you were 5 years old playing toy soldiers. The arcade scenes were a bit too difficult but did vary the game more.

Top tip: Click the photographer's bum on the start screen !

[Drake1009]

I liked Hired guns on the PC. Played it a darn lot and was amazed with there actually being sound in the Amiga version.

BTW it seems they're making a new Hired guns for the PC. I sure hope they do the job right. It was a good bit of time since I heard of it. There was mention of some horrible color schemes. But seeing as that was on Somethingawful it might still be good.

[CodyJarrett]

Hired Guns for the PC was canned a long time ago. I don't think it would have been much like the Amiga game, anyway.

[Drake1009]

Hmm I thought it would have been funny to see a newer version of the game with 360° rotation instead of 4 viewpoints.

And the inventory stuff was also great. I used to play the old pc version a lot with a friend of mine. We used to argue over who got the mouse. The joystick control was well implemented though.

[Andrew]

I love Hired Guns! I had the demo off one of the Amiga Format coverdisks. I'll never forget the time I first fired that shotgun, what a sound! A great game!

[oldpx]

If it was ever made for the pc, it would lack the originality of the first game. As akira said in another thread, they think 3d is cool but it's not.

[Akira]

Yes, 3D is not cool, it's just another method of displaying game graphics, but if used in the wrong way, it can be the shittiest method. A good 3D game is hard to find IMO!

Being that Hired Guns has a sort of 3D view, it might be benefitted from a full 3D view, for ambience, but how would the enemies and backgrounds look? Not as nice as the 2D ones.

2D graphics = art

[Drake1009]

You forgot a thing Akira.

3D = mathmatics

But done right it can look fairly well though 2D could be better.

[oldpx]

3d graphics haven't completed their evolution yet. When geforce was out, it was the first gfx card with a seperate cpu that processes polygons. It was said that the games would have a lot more polygons, the characters would look more realistic etc, things happen slower than I expected and now, I can't play wolfenstein in 32 bit mode with my GeForce2 gts. I'm stuck to 800x600 16 bit mode for it gets so slow on anything over that. My point is, graphics are getting better but no one can make me pay 400$ for a geforce3 just for a bit improved graphics. I feel cheated and I will feel cheated a year after I buy another video card. In a few years, we will see supermegahyperuber realistic graphics but I'll be sitting in a corner waiting for the time to come until then.

Also being *realistic* may not be cool at all. It's all about fun and if you don't feel something is wrong with the graphics, that's okay even if it's absolutely unrealistic. I admit there are some 3d games that I like but it's not because they had good graphics but they are well designed. A few years ago I was playing might and magic VI. It's a RPG that had a software renderer, it had some good 2d graphics and used photographes as character portraits. It was fun to play and I got addicted to it for a few months then I finished it, then MM7 came. It was basically the same engine with direct3d rendering, effects etc and it sucked because it's storyline was awful and the character portraits were rendered 3dsmax images. Couldn't they see how a 3d model's face looks DEAD??? It was like playing with barbies... dead plastic people

[Akira]

Yeah Drake, I forgot that :)

This fetish this have with "realistic looking" graphics is terrible. As you say Burseg, they are as realistic as walking corpses! 3D graphics have NO expression.

Compare a game like Waku Waku 7 on the NeoGeo, to a game like Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. Can you get the level of character the NG game has on the 3D DC game? No.

Besides, as you say, game sare suposed to be FUn and FANTASY, not to mimic LIFE.

I don't want a De La Rua simulator on my PC :P

[Drake1009]

You can always avoid the titles. I don't really care much wether the graphics are 3D or 2D. I like 2D graphics and 3D though it still looks cruddy on my Geforce 1. I buy a game for the gameplay and originality. Unfortunately it's been a long time since I saw a new 2D game which was original or playable:( But the 2D games I have are very playable and easier to keep control over. Example would be the Oddworld games. I bought both. Now I saw clips from the new Oddworld game from the X-box. Sure it looked nice and everything. Had plenty of effects. But question is. How playable is it now that you don't really have the overview of the area any longer? I'm guessing "Not very"

If there's one thing 3D games are bad at it's incorporating puzzles and such. You don't have the overview and usually it turns into a scavanger hunt for a corner you didn't look into to find the clue.

[CodyJarrett]

Hey guys! Stop dragging my Top 20 thread down into a 3D vs 2D match!

[oldpx]

You are right, so what's no 11? :)

[Drake1009]

Yeah Cody. This dragging will stop when you feed us a new game to talk about.

[Akira]

Originally posted by CodyJarrett
Hey guys! Stop dragging my Top 20 thread down into a 3D vs 2D match!

Well finish it already, you are at 17th and it's thursday already! :P

[CodyJarrett]

Number 11 - Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software)

With Cannon Fodder, the little men of Sensible Soccer left the football pitch and headed for the battle field and Sensible Software cemented their legendary Amiga status.

It's hard to describe what's so good about Cannon Fodder, but everything feels right. The controls are spot on and it's satisfying to unleash a volley of shots towards the enemy soldiers. Lots of little details help make the game memorable too, from the bodies floating in the river to the little dances that your victorious soldiers do at the end of a level.

And if the long loading times annoy, then use the WHDLoad install!

[Tim Janssen]

WAR has never been so much fun
WAR has never been so much fun
Killing in the sun, so much fun

[Drake1009]

CF was definately a classic. Way too much time spent on that game without actually getting very far. I'm still stuck in the "Those vicious vikings" mission.

[Steve]

Superb game. I completed all 25 levels of it. Pity about the sequal though. But I completed that one as well anyway. :)

[Peanutuk]

The last Sensi game not to be produced solely for the money.

re - Cannon Fodder 2, Sensible Golf.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 10 - Qwak (Team 17)

Unassuming and unheralded, Qwak appeared as a Team 17 original budget title and turned out to be one of their best games. It's quite like Bubble Bobble in that you must clear a screen of bad guys with your special weapon, which in this case is eggs, not bubbles.

A second player can join in for some multiplayer action. Together you must destroy the enemies by firing eggs at them - in classic difficulty curve fashion, later bad guys can take more eggs worth of damage. Every so often there are some big bosses to kill and sometimes a shower of spikey balls.

The music and graphics are perfect for this game. It's cute and it's difficult - it's eggcellent!

[Tim Janssen]

Back in 1993 I wasn't impressed by Qwak and I haven't played it often since.
Qwak is a game which must be played without using a trainer. The version I have does have an option for infinite lives, energy and a levelskip. Using this features makes the game… well, boring actually.

[Peanutuk]

Nothing new here at all. Are you really saying that this is better than Cannon Fodder? - one of the AMiga's most original games.

Anyway, I'm off to see Lord of the Rings now. He He.

[Drake1009]

@peanutuk
Well maybe LOTR for the Amiga is in the list. Then you can play that afterwards:D

I thought qwak was fun. Cute and good looking but not too original. There's a flaw in your review though Cody. The aim is not to clear the screen of bad guys but instead get all the keys. Actually if you complete a level without killing a single bad guy you get an extra bonus at the end of level which increases depending on how far up in the levels you are.

[CodyJarrett]

Grr! The difference between number 11 and number 10 is nothing! Why did I ever try to list the games in order? :)

Yeah, I forgot to mention about not killing the bad guys for bonuses, but you can only really do that on early levels.

[Drake1009]

Define early levels though Cody. I've managed to do it in level 15. I lost a bit of armor though.

[CodyJarrett]

Early levels are from 1 to 3452.

[Drake1009]

Hehe. Did you ever find out if there were an end to them?

[Peanutuk]

[LOTR was pretty good. Although thee was an unintentionaly funny moment when the king of the elves turned out to be the main ba guy in the Matrix. Frodo wakes up in bed in a strange place and the first thing he sees is him - "Hello Frodo . You are safe now". I wouldnt have felt too safe if I were him!]

Re Cannon Fodder - I wouldn't have put QWAK in the list at all. I was meaning to say that compared to Cannon Fodder it really shouldn't be in this list -OMHO.

Intereseted to see what the rest are!

[Shatterhand]

Cannon Fodder rlz and enough has been said about it..

Now it's a surprise to see Qwak in the 10th position.. that's a game I love, my sister loved, The One loved, and it seemed like everyone else thought it was just ok.

Qwak is just fantastic, with perfect gameplay, nasty level design, lots of nice surprises, and some of the best music ever by Allister Brimble

and just a small note, Qwak was actually developed by Jamie Woodhouse, who also made the excellent games Nitro and A.T.R. (Team 17 just published the game)

Oh yeah, and Qwak has 100 levels.

[Spadge]

Originally posted by Shatterhand
Cannon Fodder rlz and enough has been said about it..

Now it's a surprise to see Qwak in the 10th position.. that's a game I love, my sister loved, The One loved, and it seemed like everyone else thought it was just ok.

Qwak is just fantastic, with perfect gameplay, nasty level design, lots of nice surprises, and some of the best music ever by Allister Brimble

and just a small note, Qwak was actually developed by Jamie Woodhouse, who also made the excellent games Nitro and A.T.R. (Team 17 just published the game)

Oh yeah, and Qwak has 100 levels.

Jamie worked on the game with T17, a lot of the things that appeared in the game were suggested by Team17 in the first place. Whilst we did have a few totally external people, its unfair to say that we had nothing to do with it. The same could really be said of all our games since in those days (1990-1994, we didn't have any internal developers). And the music was by Bjorn Lynne, btw! :-)

Martyn Brown, Team17.

[Shatterhand]

Hmm.. thanx for correcting me and clearing up the things :)


I was sure the music was from Allister Brimble, looks like I was completely wrong :)

[CodyJarrett]

Number 9 - The Turrican Trilogy (Factor 5)

There may not be a great deal of difference between each Turrican game, but it's a case of not changing a winning formula.

The Turrican formula was all about large levels, numerous bad guys to kill and great weapons. There was a selection of different guns, two walls of laser, a smart bomb and the ability to change into an indestructible rolling ball which dropped bombs. Number three also added a swinging rope.

Also fondly remembered is the great Turrican music by Chris Hülsbeck.

[kriz]

aargh!! Turrican !!! Hehe playing Turrican (1,2,3) is great fun ..

Nice list you have made Cody! (And Qwak is a darn good game, one of my favourites aswell..)

[RCK]

I won't speak of Turrican here cause it's simply my all time favourite game :)
You should try this 32k pc (http://www.scene.org/file_dl.php?url=http://http.se.scene.org/pub/demos/scene.org/parties/2000/mekkasymposium00/32kgame/t32k.zip&id=109948) turrican clone :cool (incredible for 32k...)


=======
T 3 2 k - Created for the 32k Game Competition Mekka Symposium 2000
=======

Credits:
========

GAME ENGINE : Myth
TITLE SCREEN : TmbINC
C64 SID EMULATION + MUSIC: KB
GRAFIX (remade) : Arthus
DESIGN : Arthus & Kojote
TEXTURE GENERATOR : Ryg
GAME OVER MUSIC
(not included here) : Welli/Anubis/Rebirth/Voodoo

System Requirements:
====================

* Pentium II 300 MHz (engine is slow due to size improvements)
* W9x & w2k Direct X5+ (sorry, not on nt4)
* 75kb of Diskspace (decompresses to t.exe in c:\)

Features:
=========

- DirectX support
- Complete c64 6510 and 6581 SID emulation (with filter support)
- 6.8kb packed graphics
- ca. 21 screens level (2.9kb packed data)
- 5.7kb c64 code and music data (DMC4.0)
- SMP Support (puts the c64 emulation on the second processor if available)


Control:
========

CURSUR UP : Jump
CURSOR LEFT : Walk to the left
CURSOR RIGHT : Walk to the right
RIGHT CTRL/STRG : Fire

Your Mission:
=============

We guess you all know what to do ;)

Btw: The "R"-Pill is the "R"estart Pill, it allows you to restart
there
after dying.


FAQ
===

Q: Why not a cool gameover sound or at least more levels?
A: We decided to invest all bytes into one big turrican style level.
Expect more (and larger) levels soon (maybe at the party).

Q: The game doesn't run smooth on my machine
A: You should have at least 300 Mhz and a nice MMX capable processor
The game runs much faster in the optimized version, but size improvements
forced us to remove certain hash-tables and sorting algorithms to gain
some bytes




Special thanx to factor 5 for the turrican amiga game

[oldpx]

Wow! That's amazing :eek

[CodyJarrett]

Now it's a surprise to see Qwak in the 10th position.. that's a game I love, my sister loved, The One loved, and it seemed like everyone else thought it was just ok.

Shatterhand - going back to Qwak for a second, Amiga Power gave it 88% and 5/5*. So, some other magazines loved it!

[CodyJarrett]

Number 8 - Flashback (Delphine-US Gold)

Flashback is Prince Of Persia, except that the sword is replaced with a gun. It's in a futuristic setting, where your character has lost his memory and he must travel through numerous screens.

The animation and graphics are great - your character walks, runs, rolls and leaps over gaps. He pulls out his gun and creeps along slowly. He can also climb onto platforms and hang from them. It's the control method which really makes the game - it's a world away from other games where the game is practically uncontrollable.

[Drake1009]

Oh it's alive again.

I really liked Flashback. Great game. Pity there weren't many half good clones of it since this game was superb. Had the game industry had the same strategy then as they do now we'd have seen tons of these kinds of games. Or at least I hope. Instead now every company makes first person games though at least they've started to slow down a bit.

I'd say that apart from the ability to jump and grab onto ledges and stuff this is way more complex than Prince of persia. Prince never featured an inventory system or puzzles involving talking to people to get info and items and stuff.

[CodyJarrett]

Yeah, it's obviously a lot more advanced than PoP, but you can see the influence.

[Paul]

I liked this game too, I first saw it on an old PC. My version was a crack and had a strange bug when I played it on my A600. On level one at the 1st save, sometimes I could walk though the green wall on the left, then the screen changed blue with code on the screen then crashed:laughing

Anyway, never got past the start of level 2.:laugh I was useless. I think I have another go soon.

[Drake1009]

The first time I played Flashback was on a PC. It was great to play unfortunately I also had a crack. Only problem was that the crack was incomplete which meant that the initial copy protection was cracked, but there are time ingame like in 2nd level after your 2nd job where you should be teleported back. You're confronted with the copy protection, and here it isn't cracked. I believe I had an Amiga version which did exactly the same thing. Eventually I found a version which is cracked properly (I managed to complete it this time) though it seems to be a little strange, english text but the passwords are as far as I can tell from the french version.

[stainy]

Yeah you gotta love this game, superb stuff

this is one of the games I completed without cheating :)

not that hard though,as I recall

[Drake1009]

Not too hard nope, but still very playable.

[TikTok]

Of course, it was a bit more difficult if you got one of those cracked French versions that flooded the UK prior to the games official release ;).

[Drake1009]

How would the French version be harder than the english one? Because you couldn't use the passwords found in magazines?

[TikTok]

No, just because I can't read French :D

Actually, a lot of magazines foolishly printed the codes for the French version, thinking they were for the English one. Fools :laughing

[Shatterhand]

Flashback is a game I would put in my top 10 games EVER in any system

I've finished it a zillion of times.. I once managed to finish it in the HARD level without using ANY continues or passwords...

[Drake1009]

Wow that's quite a feat I'd say. I took some time to complete it with a good deal of continues because I kept making mistakes and didn't know what to do.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 7 - Stardust (Bloodhouse)

Recipe for a great Amiga game:

- Fantastic Asteroids gameplay
- Ray-traced graphics
- Nice sound
- Stunning tunnel section
- Lower price of about £20, distributed by post

Result?

- Nobody buys it (Except me!). Everyone buys WWF European Rampage instead. It's got a licence after all. Super Stardust is thus released as a full-price game under Team 17.

[Drake1009]

There was a good deal difference between super stardust and Stardust though weren't there? I never played stardust much. I bought Super stardust for the PC and that was what I went after when I wanted to play the Amiga version. I briefly looked at Stardust.

Great game.

[Andrew]

I never really liked Stardust. I used to find it really annoying. can't remember why, was quite a long time ago. but just remember never liking it.

[Akira]

You never finished it before xmas, cody! :D

Stardust is a great, great game. The fact that it has such a simple gameplay, yet quite men, put off a lot of people. It's not an easy game at all...

Id like to get Super Stardust CD32... hmmmm... I already lost Disposable Hero CD32... :(

[CodyJarrett]

I didn't count on having to go and see a certain 3 hour film six times over Xmas, so I didn't have time! ;)

[oldpx]

Super Stardust was better than the Un-Super one but both are good games IMO.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 6 - Knights Of The Sky (Microprose)

Wings is superb, but it's more of an action-based flying game than a simulation. However, Knights Of The Sky is a creation of the world of WW1.

You take off from your base and fly on missions across the map. If your plane gets shot up with bullets, then you sometimes have to limp back across the Flanders Front in your damaged aircraft. It's this involvement which makes it such a good game.

Generally the game is more personal than usual jet simulations, because in your slow plane you can see the ground and the other planes.

[Tim Janssen]

Ah, Knights of the Sky... one of the few fly-sims I actually enjoyed on Amiga. I haven't played it often because I had to disconnect my second discdrive to free up extra memory.
Somehow this game is regarded a classic by many people nowadays despite the low review-scores in 1991.

[CodyJarrett]

Low review scores? Not from Amiga Power! ;)

It received 87% on full price in issue 8, page 56 and 92% on budget in issue 31, page 86.

"Accessible and enjoyable to play, in a not-very-flight-simmy kind of way. Much more playable than you might expect, this way the surprise hit of the year in the AMIGA POWER office in 1991, and it's still our favourite flight game." 5/5*

[Tim Janssen]

I have two mags In my possesion who rewarded the game with a meagre score: Amiga Joker gave the game a score of 69% and Amiga Magazine (Dutch) gave it a score of 5 (out of 10).

Anyway, I have checked out some British magazines at AIM (http://home.hia.no/~jafrohol/magindex.html) and they give the game high scores.
Amiga Format gave it 88%, Amiga Computing 92% and CU Amiga also 88%. It seems you are right about the high scores, Cody.:o

[CodyJarrett]

Yup, as always!

I think critics have a bad time sometimes. The good ones try and help people make more informed choices about spending their money.

Companies would like customers to mindlessly buy their stuff, because it looks good in the adverts.

Critics try and give a more balanced view of things. Of course everyone has an individual opinion on things, but if you find a magazine or a review which you agree with then it can save you a lot of money.

When Hollywood releases something as obvious and lazy as Pearl Harbor, most critics give the film a bad review. Then some person comes along and thinks the romance in the film is wonderful, reviews the film on the Internet Movie Database and says something like, "Don't believe the critics! This film is wonderful!"

The critics are the ones on our side!

[CodyJarrett]

Number 5 - Syndicate (Bullfrog)

Released during 1993, one of the Amiga's Golden Years, Syndicate was different from anything that was released before.

The player controls four cyborgs as they go on missions in a number of futuristic cities. What is great is that they can be equipped with weaponry such as mini-guns, shotguns, flamethrowers and rocket launchers - the sort of stuff that everyone wants to use in computer games.

Also, there is a great freedom to do what you want, which includes attacking anyone in the game, innocent or not. Mostly games will not let you have this sort of freedom.

While the one-way vehicle system and lack of visibility behind buildings annoys, there are enough wonderful things to make Syndicate an all-time classic.

[Djay]

SYNDICATE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oldpx]

It does. :cool Peter Molyneux is a gaming genius. Although in a different category, I think his games are far more entertaining than Sid Meier's.

[Muzkat]

Knights of the Sky and Syndicate- two of my favourite games...EVER! The first for being such an addictive yet still realistic flight sim, and the second for its detail, its freedom and the over the top violence.:D

[CodyJarrett]

Number 4 - Micro Machines (Codemasters)

Micro Machines is the stuff of multiplayer gaming legend, even though it isn't that great in one player.

You need to have two players who are pretty much equal in skill at this game, because simple mistakes can happen very easily.

It's a miniature vehicle racing game, but you don't race for laps. Each player must gain enough of a distance advantage to win a point - then each the race stops momentarily so that the cars start together again.

There are a variety of courses, the best of which are the sports car, Formula 1 and sand dune courses.

It's probably not to everyone's liking, though!

[RCK]

Micro machine is a great and very fun multiplayer game,
to enjoy the max of it, you should better play it with a 4 player console like N64 ;)

[Akira]

An EXCELLENT pick, Cody. I was thinking "I would put Micro Machines up there, but who else would?"... glad to see you put it :)ç
It's an awesome game that obviously shines in 2P mode. but I found the 1P mode to be quite enjoyable too!

Screw N64s RCK, this version is da bomb :)

[stainy]

Yeah, good choice, superb game... I remember thinking this won`t be much ( loading it ) but boy is it playable!!

[Steve]

I remember that Micro Machines was the fastest loading game I had for my Amiga. I remember it loading in something like 10 or 15 seconds. Very fast loading compared to other games.

[Tim Janssen]

For me Micromachines ranks as the number one Amiga two-player game along with Dynablaster. Especially the pool-table with its 90°-turns is great fun to race on.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 3 - Speedball 2 (The Bitmap Brothers)

It's not often that a game can seem so 'right' as Speedball 2. Whenever a sequel is released it inevitably destroys the perfect gameplay of the original.

Taking ideas from films such as Rollerball, Speedball 2 is a violent futuristic sports game. It's very frantic and has probably been the cause of many arguments and wrecked joysticks!

Great sound (especially "Ice cream! Ice cream!"), great graphics (Silver Bitmap Brothers-style) and great gameplay...

[Muzkat]

Very smooth and very fast gameplay- results in a furious and frantic game, but with you always feeling in control (at least partially)!

Great game, great choice!

[Drake1009]

Strange how I recall playing this a while back at a friend's house, but have never actually gotten around to playing it on my own Amiga.

[Tim Janssen]

Speedball 2 is the only sports-game I have ever enjoyed. -not that I have played it very often.
Somehow I have the feeling another Bitmap Bros-game will turn at the number one and/or number two spot of Cody’s Top 20. I mean, all their games on Amiga have turned into classics.

[oldpx]

Time for Cxxxx Exxxxx

I don't want to spoil something :cool

[CodyJarrett]

Sorry guys, the final two are PC conversions!

[Djay]

I agree with Tim, i played SB2 to death, completed on League, but broke a joystick doing it! :evilgrin

Shame about Chaos Engine, that was a fantasic game, infact most of the Bitmap Bros games are great! Apart from Z

[Drake1009]

I thought Z was fairly good as soon as you overcame the standard expectation for RTS games. The fact that you grabbed land (Litterally) was a nice touch. No need to build when you can just take right?

But still it wasn't quite up to par with the rest of the BB games.

[Mangar]

I agree with Cody with Speedball II.. That game is definately in my top 3 along with Wings and Black Crypt.

Pinball Fantasies and Secret of Monkey Island would round out my top 5.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 2 - Ultima 6: The False Prophet (Origin)

[Here's my review of Ultima 6 from the Amiga Games Database!]

I recall reading an interview with the creator of the Ultima series, Richard Garriott, where he said that a question was asked regarding one of the games. The question was, "Can you bake bread in it?", to which someone replied, "Ultima is not about baking bread". As Richard said, this is missing the point of the Ultima series - the point of Ultima is freedom and if you can bake bread from different ingredients that you find in the world, then it shows the depth of that freedom. You don't have to do it, but you can if you want to. This isn't gaming on rails. Richard Garriott (and all other fantasy writers) were influenced by JRR Tolkien, who created a world within a book. The Ultima games are an attempt to do the same within a computer game.

I don't think that the first three Ultimas (and the Ultima prototype, Akalabeth) are particularly interesting. The plots are first to kill a bad guy, then his lover, then some sort of machine. By Ultima 4, the plotline started to be more inventive. You have to discover eight virtues, which will become the basis for your actions in all the other games in the series. Your character is an avatar and is supposed to be the living embodiment of virtue. Number 5 in the series saw you rescue the King, Lord British, after his kidnapping and the stopping of a corrupt official who took his place. After Ultima 6, which is the subject of this review, Ultima 7 Part 1 and Part 2 dealt with corruption on a society wide level, Ultima 8 saw the character transported to a new, smaller world (with more arcade-style action) and 9 made the leap into full 3D, but required a monster PC. Ultima 6 was the last Ultima on the Amiga, although it is possible to play the two parts of Ultima 7 in an interpreter. There were also some spin- offs, including the superb Ultima Underworld 1 and 2, which featured early examples of texture mapped graphics and superlative gameplay to match.

So, sandwiched between Ultima 5: Warriors Of Destiny and Ultima 7: The Black Gate is, not surprisingly, Ultima 6: The False Prophet.

The world is viewed with 32 colour graphics, which are not up to the standard of the 256 colour original PC version. However, this is no big loss, as the world is not realised by pretty graphics, but by the sense of being there which is created. The actual view is a small grid of squares - the rest of the screen is made up of the inventory and icons. Although the movement in Ultima 6 is from one square to the other, it does not feel like a turn-based game, as you keep going without any delay between moves. Battles are played more like a turn-based game, which gives you ample time to plan moves. Crucially, the battles are on the same view and scale as the rest of the game. Ultima 5 had two views, a far-away view to move between cities and a close-up view inside the towns. Ultima 6 always has the same view. This makes it feel like you are actually making an epic journey from one place to another and gives a fine sense of scale. When you are deep inside a dungeon, fighting monsters, you know that you still need to make it out again and journey back to the castle, where you can rest and sort out your possessions, ready for the next quest. You know that it isn't going to take just a couple of clicks on the mouse.

At the start of the game you are heading back to the land of Britannia from Earth through a moongate and find yourself almost sacrificed by numerous demon-type creatures. Saved by your old friends, you withdraw to Lord British's castle fighting three of the creatures that followed you. Luckily, they are weak, so dispatching them is easy. A chat with the King tells you that these creatures are called Gargoyles and that they started invading the land and taking over the shrines that represent each of the virtues that you discovered in Ultima 4. This is not good for the land, as each of these is associated with a nearby town.

You are given a key to use for exiting the castle. From here, the world is your oyster and the exploration and discovery element of the game comes into play. You are given clues from different people on places to go, but essentially you have a single quest to achieve to complete the game - this is to stop the Gargoyles. This breaks down into sub-quests where you must free each of the shrines. These quests divide into further sub-quests and so on. Some quests are not all that important, but are interesting or beneficial to complete.

In fact, the castle itself is a little world. There are rooms, bookshelves, books, telescopes, chests, kitchens and numerous other things to see. You even have your own room to come back to. Under the castle are the sewers of the capital city Britain. Here you can start to build up your character's skills fighting reasonably easy monsters. You collect gold and other items from dead creatures, which can be used to buy goods in the shops of Britain.

Soon you will want to leave the castle. You can do so by descending into the sewers and finding an exit or using the key that Lord British gave you on the front gate and drawbridge control rooms. Interestingly, many players have got stuck at this early stage!

Britain, the major city, has shops, houses, fields and people going about their daily business. There is a night and day cycle, so, in the evening, darkness begins to fall over most of your screen. You'll need a torch here or you can camp out and sleep until daybreak. Inns offer safe beds to sleep in too. This cycle is part of what makes the world feel so real, but it would have been even better to have seasons with different weather such as snow and rain. The day-night gameplay means that the people of the world will be asleep if you, for example, try and buy something from a shop in the middle of the night. Some planning is needed in this case!

From Britain, you can head off on a number of roads to other towns or head off across the wilderness. There are forests, lakes, seas, mountains, swamps and deserts across the land. In the mountains you can find dungeons, which offer an opportunity to fight monsters and find treasure.

You head off with a party, which includes three other members, and can recruit further adventurers to your cause. This allows you to carry more and also means safety in numbers. It is also possible to send individual members of the team off alone, which is sometimes useful.

You can walk over the world, but there are other forms of transportation, which naturally cost some money. You can travel over the sea in a ship, which is a good form of transportation. There is also a small boat, but this is only recommended when a ship is too large for a channel. Horses are available on land and you can travel via moongates too (if you can work out how to use them properly).

Of course, the world of Ultima 6 can never be fully realised on the humble Amiga of 1992 to which it was ported. It requires mighty processing power as there is far more going on than just the smooth movement of sprites around the screen. It is not recommended to run the game on an A500 without a hard disk drive. Hard disk installation is essential and much benefit is gained from a fast processor. An 030 is good. A 1.3 GHz Athlon, running the game under emulation, is quite fast!

The game also cheats to a certain extent. There would have been no way to program Ultima 6 to keep track of every monster and person in the world. Sometimes it is obvious that things and people are disappearing when you move away from them the logic of the reality isn't maintained at times. You can sometimes see cracks. Also, you can often search through someone's house in the middle of the night, in their presence, and they will not stop you. Sometimes they will shout "Thief!".

The interface does a reasonable job of controlling the game, but isn't as easy as more recent games or later Ultimas. The idea is that there is a separate button for each action. Click on 'Pick Up' and then on an object to grab something into your inventory. Click on 'Talk' and then on a person to speak to them. Simple and not too bad to use. A nice feature is that you can assign an action to the right mouse button. So, for example, you could assign 'Pick Up' to it and then after that every right click will pick an item up. This is very handy.

The conversation interface is neat - someone says something and you have to find the keyword to trigger their next bit of speech. You can turn off the option to highlight these keywords, but I don't see the point. Everyone responds to words such as 'name' and 'job' as a default. If you want, you can type something like "What is your name?" - the result will be the same as typing 'name'. So, it's another example of the wide range of options in the game.

The whole game is one of exploration and adventuring. Only after playing it for months and to the end will you discover everything it has to offer. The end has a nice twist on the plot too. I really can't recommend this game highly enough.

[oldpx]

Excellent choice!!! Ultima VI is one of my all time favourites though ultima 4 was more entertaining. After your review I understand I could like Ultima VI more if I had a HD at the time I played it.

The version I played was uncracked and required a scecific keyword to open the gate of the Lord British's palace so you could get out. He also had important things to say but refused to talk until you said required words from the manual. I remember enabling the cheat mode and modifying Lord British's conversation triggers to make him speak. I was able to get out of the castle as well maybe by using the same method. The very first (and last) game I cracked :D

If you like it try Ultima 4 - Sega Master System version. It's the best one around.

[oldpx]

Also excellent review. That database will surely rock :great

[CodyJarrett]

Sorry Burseg, I wasn't very clear - the review is not from the database for the EAB, but rather from Angus Manwaring's 'Amiga Games Database'

http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html

You can find my reviews at:

http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/Profiles/AdrSim.html

However, the EAB database will have about 2,000 Amiga Power mini-reviews.

[Drake1009]

Ahh yes, Ultima.

I liked Ultima V a lot when I got that for my C128 and got totally immersed in the world. I remembered the Rune alphabet and everything. Now if only I could understand english back then:rolleyes

Ultima has to be one of the most complete RPGs I've seen (And seeing as how I've never seen Final fantasy I don't know if it's beaten yet). I was actually looking forward to a remake of Ultima 1 they were making in 3D. That is. right until I lost the link...oops (hmm incredible what you can dig up with google. http://www.peroxide.dk/ultima/ )

I never got the bread joke because I didn't know the background, but in the FAQ for the remake it said

Q: Can I bake bread?

A: The question is, would it be an Ultima if you couldn´t? ;)

Is it based on that question you mentioned or is the question the reason why you could actually bake bread (And kill Lord British in Ultima IX)?

Ultima definately deserves a place in the top 20 and I'm glad to see it on the 2nd spot. If only I had more time to devote to playing games now I could actually try to play one of the games again now that I understand them.

[CodyJarrett]

Yeah, it's what I was talking about - the depth of the game world.

[oldpx]

Too bad Ultima IX Ascension lacks such depth. It was the last Ultima and Lord British is no longer working with origin. :sad

[Drake1009]

I thought Ultima 8 lacked depth. Ultima 9 was at least in Britania again. It lacked something called good programming though. Filled with bugs and memory leaks. I could play the first day fine, then suddently it would just get so slow that the game would run frame by frame effectively making the game unplayable.

[oldpx]

Ultima 8 is the only one I could not run at all. I tried it under Win98, Win2k and WinMe. Yesterday I downloaded it again and my attempt to run it under XP resulted with a BSOD. :thumbs_do

Ultima IX does not run with reasonable frame rates with nVidia cards.

[Drake1009]

Hmm well if it's my Nvidia card which is to blame for the framerate then I guess there's not much to do about that. I had thought it was more because of memory leaks since after it would slow down like that I'd need a reboot to even get the rest of the computer running at a decent speed. After exiting the game it'd run a marathon on my harddisk for the better part of 3 minutes afterwards.

You aren't missing much with not playing U8. There wasn't even day/night in that game. It was the same twilighty feel to the game all the time.

[oldpx]

I had a Riva TNT when I first played Ultima IX and I was aware of the problem with nVidia cards. When I got my Geforce 2, I thought it would at least twice the faster with acceptable frame rates but alas it's slower than TNT!

I'm going slightly off topic but I have to ask. I remember discussing a DOS emulator for windows on eab (to run old DOS games) but I don't remember it's name and cannot search the word "DOS" for it's shorter than 4 characters. Anyone got a clue?

[Drake1009]

You could search for the word Emulator (See how many hits that would land you with:rolleyes ).

I don't recall any dos emulation discussion here, well not for windows anyway. Linux maybe.

And as for the GeForce2 being slower than your TNT. Well maybe you could expect that. My GeForce1 in my 533 machine still runs games better than a friend of mine's GeForce2 in a 1 Ghz machine.

[§ane]

I thought U8 was cool, it differed a lot from it's predessors, and i prefer not to compare them, it was a game of it's own.

For me the only thing that let it down was the amount of bugs, some so severe they can hinder your progess in the game, I never did finish it because of this sole reason. It'd have to be the buggiest RPG game i've played, next to Elder Scrolls: "Daggerfall".

For those wanting to run Ultima VIII under windows a patch is available at the following site.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~rsd/U8inWindows.html

I got it working with sound under Win2K using either SoundFX 2000 (http://www.softsystem.co.uk/page3.htm) or VDMSound (http://ntvdm.cjb.net/), both are DOS 16-bit SoundBlaster emulators. Although the game randomly crashes back to the command line every few minutes with debug output, which basically made it unplayable, others may have better luck.

[oldpx]

Thanks sane. I got the intro working. After that, I recieved an error which was probably about sound. I used the SoundFX 2000 but it's trial limit is 3 minutes per session and WDMSound failed under XP. Now I'll reinstall Windows 2000 and I think I can figure out the rest. :cool

Thanks again !

Edit: Working at last!!! I don't know if gameworld is deep or not but it looks cool. Actually the graphics are better than Ultima Online.

[CodyJarrett]

Number 1 - Civilization / Colonization (Microprose)

Yes! The game that has claimed countless hours from players... The extremely well thought out gameplay... The epic feel of the game...

The interface might be a bit rubbish - on the AGA version, I followed the hack that turns off the annoying screen fade. Also, I'd be more inclined to play the PC version of Civ 2 instead of the Amiga version now, because of the better interface. But, it's still the best Amiga game that you can play.

In a nutshell, you lead your civilization through thousands of years of development, researching, building, fighting and other stuff needed to run a civilization. It's not a game to play for a quick go, but once you get into it, you'll won't stop for hours.

The 'sequel' Colonization is a bit more zoomed in (on America), but it's still a Civ game...

[§ane]

So who's up for a game of Civ II Multiplayer? :)

[Dizzy]

Good work Cody.

This thread could be renamed to CodyJ.... Top 20 Amiga Strategy games :-)

This might be pathetic but I surely miss, one of the best strategy game ever made

Megalomania

This game rocks. It might not be as deep as Civ, but then it got the wonderfull sensi humor.;)

[oldpx]

Megalomania was released nearly the same time with Powermonger. A magazine wrote, it was such a lame game compared to Powermonger. Megalomania did not run with my A500+ but I had the chance to play the WhdLoad version later on. I wasn't terribly impressed :/. Actually It's an OK game but I'd rather not compare it with Powermonger :D

Powermonger would surely be in my list, somewhere near the top.

But this list is quite successful in my opinion.

[Drake1009]

I thought Megalomania had a good idea. But while you couldn't figure out what was going on it was somewhat hard.

[Shatterhand]

Bah, I didn´t like the last 2 games.. :/

Micro Machines is a fantastic game indeed, I was playing it other day with my friend in a dreamcast (using a mega-drive emu), and we even had Daytona Usa there!


Speedball 2 is great too, but the best fantasy sport game ever is Brutal Sports Football :)

[CodyJarrett]

These are the games that I also wanted to include! :)

Another World
Arcade Pool
Bubble Bobble
Carrier Command
Chaos Engine, The
Dune 2
Dyna Blaster
Elite
Fire And Ice
First Samurai, The
Fly Harder
Formula One Grand Prix
Gem'X
Gloom
IK+
Infocom games
Legend & Worlds Of Legend
Legends Of Valour
Lemmings 1&2
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
Mega Lo Mania
Midnight Resistance
New Zealand Story, The
Pang
Pinball Dreams/Fantasies/Illusions
Populous 1&2
Powermonger
R-Type 1&2
Robocop 3
Rodland
Ruff 'n' Tumble
SWIV
Shadow Fighter
Sim City
Space Crusade
Supremacy
Switchblade 2
Wizkid

[Technician Ted]

WHAT - NO SIMON THE SORCERER!?!?!?!?!?

[bgbennyboy]

No Monkey Island 1 or 2 either.
There is evil in this list that does not sleep........
Kudos for having Wizkid mentioned though!

[Drake1009]

Maybe Cody should embark on an epic called CodyJarret's Amazing Top 100 Amiga Games.

That ought to cover a bit more.

[bgbennyboy]

Even better, he should do a game of the week, every single week.
With it in the zone and a review and description of it.

[Ian]

That's the best idea I've heard around here for a while:cool

Some work would be needed, from RCK I think (Maybe a special 7 day life span for the game of the week), but it is a very good idea.

So many idea's, but I'll hold off until Cody (Or RCK) reply:)

[Djay]

Even better, he should do a game of the week, every single week.

yeah, great idea, we could all vote on a poll about the game too, like a readers review type thing (borrowed from a few mags)

[RCK]

Yep it's a good idea, will code it later, put this on my todo list please :D

[Miggy2TheMax]

Have you ever tried playing freeciv? The interface is very good and plus its free. The tile set is looking pretty neat now aswel. The best part is that its open source and free. Check it out at:

http://www.freeciv.org/

The best part is playing it over a network, thats when the game really comes into its own!

[minded]

I guess you that you dont like soccer games, right.

Because I miss Sensible world of soccer.

[andreas]

I never got the bread joke because I didn't know the background, but in the FAQ for the remake it said

Q: Can I bake bread?

A: The question is, would it be an Ultima if you couldn´t?

Is it based on that question you mentioned or is the question the reason why you could actually bake bread (And kill Lord British in Ultima IX)?
Maybe it's because those guys are from Denmark like you? :D;)
Remember that Laid Back song from 1990?

In all honesty, I never got the meaning of it. :p
It's such a haunting tune, but the lyric is plain rubbish. But that's just another story. :)

[Dastardly]

I really enjoyed reading this thread again :)

@Cody
Hey how about doing another similar thread (diferent subject though obviously)

[vujovic5ar]

SENSIBLE WORLD OF SOCCER '96/'97
the best soccer game ever , on any platform
the best game ever


Super Frog - superb platform game


Gods - I can't explain why

Benefactor - it's a classic

Worms

Project x

[Titler]

Nice to see some fellow fans of Ultima; SMS U IV was the version that got me hooked way back when, such fond memories... but anyway, good news (hopefully) for those who also loved the series. It continues still!

Ultima X Odyssey is due for release February 2004. The current boards for the game, and all available movies and screenshots can be seen here;

http://uxo.stratics.com/

(For those having problems with the PC versions, and for links to all available fan mods etc, look here btw;

http://reconstruction.voyd.net/index.php?page=project&type=fanpatch)

[Mojo]

civilisation?

civilisation?

civilisation?



..CIVILISATION???



http://www.scummbar.com/images/dep/screenshots_mi1_amiga/full01.gif
http://www.scummbar.com/images/dep/screenshots_mi1_amiga/full06.gif
http://www.scummbar.com/images/dep/screenshots_mi1_amiga/full20.gif
http://www.scummbar.com/images/dep/screenshots_mi1_amiga/full25.gif

you see, THIS is a game :)

[W.K]

Knights of the Sky? One word: "Wings". Enough said.

[Jontydog]

No Championship Manager either????? Excellent list otherwise m8. The games that took up my time on the Amiga were the original Champ man, Microprose Golf and Microprose Grand Prix

[CodyJarrett]

I love Wings as much as KOTS - I forgot to include it.

There were no football games in my top 20 as I don't like football.

[Muzkat]

Knights of the Sky? One word: "Wings". Enough said.

Wings was more arcadey then simulation, while KotS was trying to be more of a flight simulator. So it all depends on personal taste when picking between those two.

Bear in mind that I loved them both, completed them both, and both stole many hours away from my childhood. :spin

In fact, I think any "Best Games" list, or any game review, is all down to personal taste - it's all subjective.

[Titler]

*sniffs*

So much has changed in the last year and a bit, but now I see this thread has been bumped again, I might as well add that UXO has in fact been cancelled. Phhoooeey.

[crocked]

Personally I preferred KOTS but unfortunately never had someone to linkup against at the time. Liked Wings as well but preferred KOTS although it was more of a simulator. Never found a spiritual sucesor to that game actually. Both these games made you feel involved... Most games these days leave me cold.. No character

[W.K]

I played KOTS but compared to Wings it wasn't much to be honest. Even if Wings was more arcady it captured the feel of WWI aerial combat much more. Isn't funny how many WWI flight sims/games there were for Amiga? Blue Max, Wings, Kots, Dawn Patrol, Red Baron and many more I probably don't know of. KOTS didn't have the graphics that Wings had. Like most Cinemaware games you are fondly attached to them, but gameplay wise it was rather repetive in some ways and lacking compared to other games. Gotta love the graphics though :)

[Muerto]

brings back some good memories, and some fustration!

[EdeRyckman]

OMG!
Speedball II was fantastic

I usually dislike sports sims, but here it's great
fast-paced bloody action, many ways to score, team development and power-ups.
The best was playing 2 player :-)
Top tips:
- Get double-score multiplier on the slidy snails on the side walls
- Beat up on his center forward until the stretcher comes ... ice cream ... I scream
- Bounce the ball on the red "injure" sphere to light it up red, then send it down towards the goal, it knocks over the other players

Man, I have Speedball II, I just don't have any competent opposition anymore like I did 15 years ago. Just a G/F without those skills (other skills...)

Have a go, enjoy :)
-- Ed

[spiff]

Wise fwom your gwave

[DamienD]

Wise fwom your gwave
Altered Beast, classic ;)

[Dizzy]

Wise fwom your gwave

watching to much Elmer Fudd

http://www.desertratdemocrat.com/archives/elmer%20fudd.gif

[Fred the Fop]

Doo Diin din din dee hhmmm dmm humm din din dinnn doo dee da da da doo dee dahh dahh

(Altered Beast theme after the Wise form your gwave part)