1994 - Last Great Year for Amiga Games? - 10 Years of Amiga Gaming Part 9: 1994

[kad3t]

Working on this video was eye opening. While there were still quite a few amazing games released on the Amiga, there were just not as many as before. Clearly Amiga peaked before and was on a downhill track. Still slow perhaps, but faster and faster with each next year. It doesn't mean that the gamers didn't get excellent titles to choose from, after all some of these were considered as being in top 10's of their respective genres, but the choice was more limited than in the former years. So, let me know what you think about 1994 on the Amiga?

[ Show youtube player ]

[gimbal]

Quality over quantity though, those are some real corkers in the video.

[ImmortalA1000]

1989 is probably the best year for Amiga for me I think. Dragonstone looks interesting, not an RPG kind of person but on the face of it that does look like something a console owner would have liked.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by gimbal

Quality over quantity though, those are some real corkers in the video.

Thanks! 1995 is in the preparation stage and sadly there wont be as many games in it but I felt there weren't as many good ones. Those that will be featured will be pretty good though.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by ImmortalA1000

1989 is probably the best year for Amiga for me I think. Dragonstone looks interesting, not an RPG kind of person but on the face of it that does look like something a console owner would have liked.

Yep, Dragonstone has very strong early Zelda vibes. So, not a full fledged RPG but an action title with some light elements of RPG in it.

1989 was a good year indeed. For me it's still 1993 but it can be whatever to whomever as what made the best year for Amiga is not only games but also our own experiences and mental state we were in. Meaning I think I've felt free as a teen and not worrying about anything around 1993 so I had all the time in the World for gaming. And the games that came out then, were just was stuck my cords. I think.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by kad3t

Yep, Dragonstone has very strong early Zelda vibes. So, not a full fledged RPG but an action title with some light elements of RPG in it.

Have you played it to the end? The last levels, especially that fire temple, are competely awful.

[alkis21]

1994 had A LOT of great games, in my opinion. Several quality AGA releases that made me happy to own an A1200, especially platform games. My favorite ones were:

Aladdin AGA
Banshee AGA
Beneath A Steel Sky
Benefactor
Brian the Lion AGA
Bubble and Squeak AGA
Cannon Fodder 2
The Chaos Engine AGA
Chuck Rock 2
Disposable Hero
Fire and Ice
Fireforce
Fury of the Furries
Marvin's Marvellous Adventure AGA
Mortal Kombat II
Morton Strikes Back
Naughty Ones AGA
Pierre Le Chef is... Out to Lunch AGA
Quik the Thunder Rabbit
Ruff 'n' Tumble
Second Samurai AGA
Sensible World of Soccer
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
Superfrog
UFO: Enemy Unknown AGA
Wembley International Soccer AGA

My only regret was that in an era when adventure games thrived on the PC, this was a very poor year on the Amiga. I'm not a fan of Darkseed, and KQVI was not very good on the Miggy.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

Have you played it to the end? The last levels, especially that fire temple, are competely awful.

Never completed it sadly, but I see now that it's perhaps for the best. But many of the great games are awesome all throughout and then weaker at the tail end or have an unsatisfying ending.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by alkis21

(...)

Brian the Lion AGA
Quik the Thunder Rabbit

(...)

I could never get into these two. Don't know why really.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by kad3t

Never completed it sadly, but I see now that it's perhaps for the best. But many of the great games are awesome all throughout and then weaker at the tail end or have an unsatisfying ending.

When you continue with 1995, you may run into more games like that. Without actually having attempted to qualify it in a reliable way, I have the theory that starting in the mid 90s, several companies rushed their last Amiga games out, not actually finished, due to the panic of the market disappearing fast.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

When you continue with 1995, you may run into more games like that. Without actually having attempted to qualify it in a reliable way, I have the theory that starting in the mid 90s, several companies rushed their last Amiga games out, not actually finished, due to the panic of the market disappearing fast.

It looks like it judging by the list for 1995 that I've prepared already.

[dreadnought]

There were a few notable (but mostly niche) titles this year, such as like Robinson's Requirem, The Clue, Dreamweb, K240, Captive II, Plus some mildly popular ones such as Power Drive, Chuck Rock II, or Jungle Strike.

But the only real platform-wide AAA hits were BtSS, UFO/Sim City 2000 AGA, and MKII. The rest was just an okay-ish fare that might matter to Amiga fans, but nobody else will remember Brian The Lion or Microcosm.

But, at least we had Franko: The Crazy Revenge. Take that, Super Metroid, Doom II, and System Shock!

[jotd]

don't go near 1996 http://hol.abime.net/1613

[TCD]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

But, at least we had Franko: The Crazy Revenge. Take that, Super Metroid, Doom II, and System Shock!

Damn, I forgot that System Shock came out in 1994. Same as Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession. Good times for RPG nerds

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by TCD

Damn, I forgot that System Shock came out in 1994. Same as Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession. Good times for RPG nerds

Oh, by 1994 PC was a RPG powerhouse and with each year more and more amazing titles were released. Also why I haven't felt remorse after moving to it from PC around 1996-ish...

[wongojack]

Originally Posted by kad3t

Working on this video was eye opening. While there were still quite a few amazing games released on the Amiga, there were just not as many as before. Clearly Amiga peaked before and was on a downhill track. Still slow perhaps, but faster and faster with each next year. It doesn't mean that the gamers didn't get excellent titles to choose from, after all some of these were considered as being in top 10's of their respective genres, but the choice was more limited than in the former years. So, let me know what you think about 1994 on the Amiga?

[ Show youtube player ]

I've been catching up on your videos, and I really enjoy them. Thanks for putting these together. I couldn't help but notice that sometimes the music is about the same volume as your voice which makes it hard to understand all your excellent comments. I'm not video expert, but maybe there is a way to adjust the audio mix? I can't remember if you have subtitles/captions, but that would also work.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by kad3t

Oh, by 1994 PC was a RPG powerhouse and with each year more and more amazing titles were released. Also why I haven't felt remorse after moving to it from PC around 1996-ish...

Indeed. Under A Killing Moon also was released in 1994 on 4 CDs. When I played the game for the first time I couldn't believe the mix of 3D and movie clips. It was really an interesting time in gaming

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by wongojack

I've been catching up on your videos, and I really enjoy them. Thanks for putting these together. I couldn't help but notice that sometimes the music is about the same volume as your voice which makes it hard to understand all your excellent comments. I'm not video expert, but maybe there is a way to adjust the audio mix? I can't remember if you have subtitles/captions, but that would also work.

Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm still new to this whole YouTube thing. I mean, it's not my first channel, but the original that was abandoned 12 years ago was only about classic game intros with no commentary... But I work on improving everything constantly so hopefully, it should get a little better with each next video.

Hopefully

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by TCD

Indeed. Under A Killing Moon also was released in 1994 on 4 CDs. When I played the game for the first time I couldn't believe the mix of 3D and movie clips. It was really an interesting time in gaming

Oh, Under a Killing Moon was a game changer... It was one of first full motion video games, a beginning to an interesting genre of games that was as captivating as it was short lived. Still, it's an interesting idea on a video for PC games. But that's something off topic for this forum, I suppose.

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

The rest was just an okay-ish fare that might matter to Amiga fans, but nobody else will remember Brian The Lion or Microcosm.

At the time I lived in Germany and all magazines were hyped about those 2.

Originally Posted by jotd

don't go near 1996 http://hol.abime.net/1613

Never seen that. Is it good?

BTW, the same year you could get this... and check instructions....