What games should be in a new Amiga book?

[andrew_rollings]

Suggestions for 'must-includes'?

See this thread for more details.

Thanks
Andrew

[Shoonay]

To what number are we limited?

[andrew_rollings]

Originally Posted by 5h00n4y

To what number are we limited?

The book will be 256 pages, of which around 230 or so will be available for games, at one game per page.

Andrew

[Ironclaw]

Easy, just look at one of those many threads created here about the best games on Amiga.

[eLowar]

I see a "The 230 Most Notable Amiga Games" thread coming.

I vote (surprise ) for the Starflight series.

Starflight: http://hol.abime.net/2106/screenshot
Starflight II: http://hol.abime.net/2107/screenshot

The two original games were PC games and as I understand moderately popular in their own right, but the Amiga conversions (each of which was released about 2 to 3 years after the original) were vastly superior in visuals and game play (mouse+keyboard vs. keyboard only being the main cause), while still being faithful to the original.

I'm fully aware that, while they are my favorites, they're not the most notable, but I'm sure others will mention plenty of those, so meh.

[Shoonay]

Oh man, so many great/unknown/fun/playable/outstanding games...
Lemmings series, Yo!Joe!, Mortal Kombat series, Vroom, Franko, Centurion, North & South, Devious Designs, Toki, Gobli(ii)ns trio, Jaguar XJ220, Reunion, Dune 1&2, Theme Park, Battle Squadron, Dyna Blaster, First & Second Samurai, Another World, Fire Force, Civilization, Brian the Lion, Unreal, Wrath of the Demon, (Super) Stardust, Shadow of the Beast trio, Syndicate, Lotus trio, Doman, Turrican trio, Alien Breed series, Hired Guns, Desert Strike, Banshee, Apidya, Agony, Secret of the Monkey Island 1&2, James Pond trio, Pinball Dreams & Fantasies, Slam Tilt, Heimdall 1&2, R-Type 1&2, Populous 1&2, Soccer Kid, Ishar trio, Death Mask, Super Frog, Chaos Engine, Cannon Fodder series, Push Over, Atomix, Worms, Legion, Kajko&Kokosz... Damn, even Liga Polska Manager!

[s2325]

No, not Doman & Franko, please.

[Shoonay]

You should read the nostalgic interview with the maker of Franko&Doman, once PPA gets back, I'm sure you'll change yer mind!

[s2325]

I know that interview - his pathetic words about graphics & memory problems.

[Shoonay]

Damn you Franko_and_his_gorgeous_graphics haters!

[StrategyGamer]

Total Chaos
It is a fantastic game!
It runs in 640x512 pixels with 256 colors. That is 400% higher resolution than lores games like Civilization.
It has the best gameplay of any strategy game of any computer of any time.
The friendly digitized speech is nice.
Easy to start. Just place on HD and go. No 'installer' needed.
The game is still being updated by Team Chaos. The latest sequel was released in 2006 with an update in 2007. All the other games listed so far, while being great games, are also dead games. They have not been updated in over 10 years.
The most user-configurable Amiga game of all time! I think that is why we still play it. If it gets boring we just reconfigure it into a totally different game.
Great fun at parties! Hi Cindy


Hired Guns
Ok, its not as easy to install as Total Chaos but it still can be installed with the included installer and does not need WHDload.
It only runs in 1/4 the resolution of Total Chaos but the cool thing about Hired Guns is the 4-player-simultaneous action!
Probably the best 4-player game ever released for the Amiga.
Excellent gameplay with great soundfx!
Best machine gun sfx of any Amiga game ever.


Super Obliteration
The unique thing about this game is that it has a 2-player-simultaneous mode. Lots of games have that right? But in this game, each person controls part of the same character! 1 person runs and jumps while the other rotates the gun and fires!
Great graphics and great fun! A bit to short though.

[ppill]

Check out the Amiga Hall of Fame threads. Should be a good starting point.

[Graham Humphrey]

Are we sticking to commercial games here?

[killergorilla]

I don't think we should stick to just commercial games as the amiga had a lot of great pd/shareware games which really had an impact.

EDIT: Oh and make sure Total Chaos isn't in the list

The following games have to be included! In the UK at least these games were extremely well known even with people who didn't really know anything about the amiga, they stood out from the crowd and cannot be excluded imo.

Shadow of the Beast
Lemmings
Elite
Defender of the Crown
Speedball 2
Sensible Soccer
Sensible World of Soccer
Worms

[rkauer]

Not even a complete list, but the games I always loved:

- Total Chaos AGA (for all the reasons mentioned before);
- Sensible Soccer;
- Super Skidmarks (where you can drive a green cow, with a caravan hooked in and honking at loud).

BTW: I play TC almost every day since I downloaded it many moons ago. Highly configurable and funny.

[Calgor]

But what criteria would be used to make the games list? Most popular? Technically good use of the hardware? Groundbreaking/original game play design? Or all of the above?

I am listing some games, but also why they should be included. Will add to the list if I remember any. Am trying to list universally liked games (tho there will be a few who hate some).

Not necessarily my favourite games, but I think you would need to include:
Defender of the Crown (great cinematic type play, cinemaware know for this one)
Speedball 2 (great 2 player action gameply)
Shadow of the Beast (that multi-multi-parallax stuff)
Xenon II Megablast (the music megablast by bomb the bass)
Turrican (the sequels IMHO built on the first one)
Worms (original design?)
Cannon Fodder (original and fun, great intro too)
Lemmings (original, phrase has even reached popular culture)
Secret of Monkey Island (not played this one, but every1 seems to like it)
Stunt Car Racer (great 3d action, and awesome engine sound)
Elite/Elite 2 Frontier (don't know much about this one)
Sensible Soccer/SWOS (seems to be number 1 sport game, even though I like kick off much better)
Populous (original amiga god game, tho I think powermonger is better)
Total Chaos (so configurable, said best game of its type on any platform)
Dungeon Master (great early RPG game, Eye Of The Beholder1/2 is better but interface seems to be based on it)
Microprose Formula One Grand Prix (great speed on a normal amiga, and was considered best F1 game at the time - possibly on any platform?)
Alien Breed (seems to be popular, don't know which one)

[killergorilla]

Calgor, I'd probably agree 100% with your list really.

With the exceptions of Dungeon Master and Total Chaos because I've never played them and never heard much about them.

So about 90% then

[Thalion]

Not to forget:

Ambermoon
Amberstar
Eye of the Beholder Series
Wings

[paranoid]

Maybe it would be more productive to point out some lesser-known or personal favorites? I mean, you could poll 100 people and end up with 90% of the same titles that were best-sellers anyway.. (Granted, if they were very good to begin with they'd be popular, but something to shoot for anyway..)

For flight sims, Wings is probably most popular, but I loved F15 Strike Eagle II (interestingly, also a video game that was practically identical) and Fighter Duel (great sim by a very small production company.. Might be their only game at all actually, well and Fighter Duel Pro..)

Firepower was a great modem game that later was sort of translated to the 3DO (split screen, not modem). A capture-the-flag as I remember it.

An interesting mention might be Heart of the Dragon. Supposedly actually used HAM for some screens (though the game did suck..).

Also, I always liked Speedball I over II.. I thought the sequel added too much actually and took away from the competition of Speedball I. In any event, if this book is by year, sequels probably don't figure in as much..

I'd also say that practically anything by Cinemaware deserves a good look at. Though most were somewhat popular already, I enjoyed their whole line and outlook for games.

[andrew_rollings]

Originally Posted by paranoid

Maybe it would be more productive to point out some lesser-known or personal favorites? I mean, you could poll 100 people and end up with 90% of the same titles that were best-sellers anyway.. (Granted, if they were very good to begin with they'd be popular, but something to shoot for anyway..)

Right, I can find the most popular games easily enough... I'm looking for the quirky games that aren't necessarily popular - but those with an interesting story behind them...

For example, in the Spectrum book, I cover a game called Super Trolley...
It sucks big weenie, but it's interesting because it was written as the result of a "Jim'll Fix It" show.

Another example: I remember a game called "Dynamic Debugger" that appeared in magazines for months, claiming it was going to be the first HAM mode game... I think it eventually slunk out as a standard (and crappy) normal mode game.


Andrew