Uniquely Amiga in 2023

[gsoravil]

I was one of the unfortunate ones who had several Commodores but missed the Amiga scene in its heyday. (They were basically MIA in my area.)

I'm looking for everyone's recommendations on classic Amiga software that you would show someone looking at the scene for the first time in 2023. Basically, I'm trying to get others into the scene. While I'm aware there are some great IPs that started on the Amiga, most have been ported. Ports are not going to be compelling, so PLEASE I'm asking we avoid titles that have been ported off of the Amiga (unless the Amiga version is superior for some reason).

Games are preferred as they are far more universal, especially ones with depth (e.g. RPGs or Adventures as opposed to platformers/shooters), but anything is welcome if it's likely to be interesting to an Amiga outsider. Think someone who's open minded but needs honest justification.

Thanks everyone.

Greg

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by gsoravil

I'm asking we avoid titles that have been ported off of the Amiga (unless the Amiga version is superior for some reason).

The sad truth is that most good Amiga games were ported to other platforms, for obvious reasons (publishers wanted to milk the game for all it was worth, and the PC market was potentially much larger). However in some cases they were not ported very well (eg. Defender of the Crown, The Faery Tale Adventure).

There were also games ported to the Amiga where the Amiga version was better (eg. Marble Madness, Head Over Heels). Then there were games that were better on the Amiga because they were running on an Amiga (eg. Lemmings, The Settlers, Silkworm).

Finally there are games that were ported to other platforms very late, which were 'remastered' to suit the more powerful modern hardware. I think you should ignore those conversions because they are not really the same game.

I only have experience with a tiny fraction of the games produced for the Amiga so I may not be the best judge. Searching the Hall of Light for original Amiga games with no conversion returns 1483 entries. Note that some of these are duplicates, data disks or PD/Shareware, and in general they are lower quality than commercial games that have been ported (because poor quality games tend not to get ported). You should be able to narrow the search down to eliminate some of the 'bogus' entries.

However I think it would be a mistake to limit yourself to just these games. You and others who missed the Amiga scene may not have played many of the games that were ported either, or if you did it was a long time ago and you might still enjoy playing them on the Amiga.

[gsoravil]

Originally Posted by Bruce Abbott

The sad truth is that most good Amiga games were ported to other platforms, for obvious reasons (publishers wanted to milk the game for all it was worth, and the PC market was potentially much larger). However in some cases they were not ported very well (eg. Defender of the Crown, The Faery Tale Adventure).

There were also games ported to the Amiga where the Amiga version was better (eg. Marble Madness, Head Over Heels). Then there were games that were better on the Amiga because they were running on an Amiga (eg. Lemmings, The Settlers, Silkworm).

Finally there are games that were ported to other platforms very late, which were 'remastered' to suit the more powerful modern hardware. I think you should ignore those conversions because they are not really the same game.

I only have experience with a tiny fraction of the games produced for the Amiga so I may not be the best judge. Searching the Hall of Light for original Amiga games with no conversion returns 1483 entries. Note that some of these are duplicates, data disks or PD/Shareware, and in general they are lower quality than commercial games that have been ported (because poor quality games tend not to get ported). You should be able to narrow the search down to eliminate some of the 'bogus' entries.

However I think it would be a mistake to limit yourself to just these games. You and others who missed the Amiga scene may not have played many of the games that were ported either, or if you did it was a long time ago and you might still enjoy playing them on the Amiga.

Thank you Bruce. I appreciate your thoughts.

Amonngst all my friends, I really only have one close friend that's still a heavy gamer, that also grew up in this same era and that is open to Amiga due to also having had a Commodore 8-bit growing up.

Within the genres he plays, he's played through nearly every worthwhile title on the various popular platforms, which means he's played nearly all the ports for the genres he likes. It's a struggle to find titles for us to play together on the Amiga.

We did play through Bloodnet AGA, which was a great game, but we both knew the whole time we were playing an inferior version.

We played Another World, but that was really only because that's not his genre and therefore he hadn't played it. He liked it as much as he could, I'll give him that.

I know he's played Defender of the Crown, but I'll ask about Faery Tale. I'll also rummage through that Hall of Light page to see if I can find any leads on anything I missed. Again, I appreciate it.

Hopefully your leads or someone else here can lead me to at least a couple titles that make the Amiga compelling to those of us that don't have nostalgia to draw from.

[TCD]

Ambermoon
Lionheart
Turrican II
Chaos Engine
Shadow of the Beast (more as a tech demo)
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
Fire & Ice
Pinball Dreams & Fantasies

That's just some that I can think of at 7 AM

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by gsoravil

Within the genres he plays, he's played through nearly every worthwhile title on the various popular platforms, which means he's played nearly all the ports for the genres he likes.

Which platforms, and how long ago?

[sokolovic]

Originally Posted by gsoravil

I was one of the unfortunate ones who had several Commodores but missed the Amiga scene in its heyday. (They were basically MIA in my area.)

I'm looking for everyone's recommendations on classic Amiga software that you would show someone looking at the scene for the first time in 2023. Basically, I'm trying to get others into the scene. While I'm aware there are some great IPs that started on the Amiga, most have been ported. Ports are not going to be compelling, so PLEASE I'm asking we avoid titles that have been ported off of the Amiga (unless the Amiga version is superior for some reason).

Games are preferred as they are far more universal, especially ones with depth (e.g. RPGs or Adventures as opposed to platformers/shooters), but anything is welcome if it's likely to be interesting to an Amiga outsider. Think someone who's open minded but needs honest justification.

Thanks everyone.

Greg

Along those already mentionned there is also Ruff'n'Tumble, Beast III, Black Crypt, Mr Nutz, Slam Tilt, Hired Guns

[gimbal]

Elf would be a rather unique Amiga game, a quirky and pretty platform puzzler with a gnarly game over sequence that even has a toggle for it to turn it off What were they thinking. Unfortunately it is an old platformer that tends to rely a little too much on leaps of faith. I could forgive that back in the day, but it hasn't aged well for me.

Zeewolf would probably be something to look into.

And maybe Ghost Battle. I don't like the game at all but it definitely has a style that screams "Amiga!".

Hunter for some early day open world 3D gaming.

Black Crypt, definitely. It is not my favourite dungeon crawler but it does look and sound really cool. And it pits you against a formidable boss pretty much immediately, I don't know of any other game on the Amiga which did that.

Worms Directors Cut. Only Amiga

Cadaver exists for the PC I think, but unlike Gods I kind of wonder if anyone actually ever played it on PC It is an Amiga game in heart and soul and needs to be played on it. Wonky controls and UI need a lot of getting used to though, it's from the era where every game played completely different because there were no industry standards yet. Which would be exactly the appeal to go try out the older games.

Captive, another game which must be played on the Amiga. And if you like punishment then maybe also try out its sibling Knightmare.

Chuck Rock and Chuck Rock 2. Both have ports for other platforms but nah man - they're Amiga games.

Escape from Colditz is an odd corker. An escape room type of game where you have to escape from a prison. Really difficult, but unique.

Deep Core might be worth a look, a rather unique water effect sold this game at the time.

Wrath of the Demon. Sigh. It plays like ass but the visuals are astounding and no other platform comes close to the Amiga version. The intro alone has the ultimate creep factor.

Valhalla Trilogy. A little moon logic here and there but still very excellent puzzlers. And the dude even talks to you.

[giantclam]

Alien_Breed_3D_II:_The_Killing_Grounds

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by gsoravil

I was one of the unfortunate ones who had several Commodores but missed the Amiga scene in its heyday. (They were basically MIA in my area.)

I'm looking for everyone's recommendations on classic Amiga software that you would show someone looking at the scene for the first time in 2023. Basically, I'm trying to get others into the scene. While I'm aware there are some great IPs that started on the Amiga, most have been ported. Ports are not going to be compelling, so PLEASE I'm asking we avoid titles that have been ported off of the Amiga (unless the Amiga version is superior for some reason).

Games are preferred as they are far more universal, especially ones with depth (e.g. RPGs or Adventures as opposed to platformers/shooters), but anything is welcome if it's likely to be interesting to an Amiga outsider. Think someone who's open minded but needs honest justification.

Thanks everyone.

Greg

Amiga audio is pretty unique. Has a crunchy 8bit sampling soundchip which is like a Poor man’s Fairlight. As well as samples, unique softsynths existed that create synthetic tones that are still relevant to today’s music.

This was done with an Amiga hooked up to a modular synth, whilst midi controlling a drum machine:

Vogue Renege - Wicked Game
[ Show youtube player ]

[shelter]

Capital Punishment was Amiga only as far as I know.

[Locutus]

Originally Posted by shelter

Capital Punishment was Amiga only as far as I know.

Also a terrible game

[CCRider]

Originally Posted by gimbal

(...)
Chuck Rock and Chuck Rock 2. Both have ports for other platforms but nah man - they're Amiga games.

The Mega Drive version is better in every imaginable aspect and some.

Heck, the stupendous Matt Furniss soundtrack is worth the admission ticket alone.

[chip]

Take a look also to the demoscene

http://janeway.exotica.org.uk/search.php

[shelter]

Originally Posted by Locutus

Also a terrible game

I honestly don't remember but I think me and my friend played it for a while. That being said. I think it was because game releases for the Amiga started to lack.

[Megalomaniac]

A few great ones have been mentioned already, but there are more.

Battle Squadron, Apidya (though I don't really enjoy it myself), Stardust and Project-X 93 are all hugely impressive shooters. Bob's Bad Day is another one I love, and impressive with its faux Mode 7 visuals.

Alien Breed feels like the dawn of a new age, where UK action games were designed for a 1Mb Amiga from day one, though 92 plays better.

Moonstone and Wings get mentioned a lot, though I haven't spent much time with either.

Things like Wizkid, Super Skidmarks, Mega-lo-Mania and D/Generation aren't technically stunning, but have that glorious "it couldn't've originated in the arcades, or on a console, or on a PC - only on a computer where zany free-thinking can succeed" vibe

Shadow Fighter and Fightin' Spirit are much better Amiga exclusive beat 'em ups than Capital Punishment, and they run on an A500. They're not among the best Amiga games or the best 'generation four' beat 'em ups, but they prove what could be done in the Amiga's perceived weakest genre.

[gsoravil]

Originally Posted by Bruce Abbott

Which platforms, and how long ago?

Commodore 64 and PC mostly, but that also includes a lot of the console stuff that could be played via emulation.

Unfortunately I don't have a definitive list.

[gsoravil]

Originally Posted by TCD

Ambermoon
Lionheart
Turrican II
Chaos Engine
Shadow of the Beast (more as a tech demo)
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
Fire & Ice
Pinball Dreams & Fantasies

That's just some that I can think of at 7 AM

Both of us had been unaware of the Thalion lineage. I had found Albion on the PC a few years ago (pre pandemic) and we played that. Later we discovered Amberstar and Ambermoon. I was looking very forward to Ambermoon and it still being an Amiga exclusive. We opted to start with Amberstar, which we're almost done with. Unfortunately, Ambermoon is no longer an exclusive (ugh). We're still going to play it - in it's original form (it's been installed, waiting for us to complete Amberstar). Though if I'm honest, I feel like the port killed the one remaining worthwhile Amiga exclusive that fits the types of games he likes. I'm really hoping this thread proves that wrong.

[gsoravil]

Based on the responses so far, I think I'm going to put together two lists -- one for myself to play some titles that are still Amiga exclusive and one for us to play as a team w/titles in genres that are interesting to him. That would be RPGs and deep adventures. He would never play anything like a run and gun, platformer, or pinball. I myself like platformers. He liked Another World due to the puzzle aspect, but made me the full time player controller, lol. Thus he liked Bloodnet AGA. I know there was some isometric adventure we played on Amiga that was pretty good. I love isometrics, so maybe there was some contagious enthusiasm on my part.

[gsoravil]

Any up/down votes or additional comments for any of the adventure and/or RPGs mentioned so far? (or any other suggested titles) I would like to focus on what might interest my friend first and foremost.

[Megalomaniac]

Black Crypt is the obvious classic Amiga-exclusive RPG, historically interesting as the first game by Raven Software of Heretic / Hexen fame. Head Over Heels is an old Spectrum game later adapted for the Amiga (straight to budget) but makes people's lists of favourite Amiga games all the same. Escape From Colditz is an arcade-adventure that people love, and don't forget that Exile from Audiogenic never had a PC version.

For point 'n' click adventures, to be honest pretty much all the great ones had PC versions too, and mostly originated on the PC. Amiga versions often had better music but inferior graphics - and usually needed a hard drive to be appreciable, though that can be emulated nowadays.