Old Amiga and console games

DoddTheSlayer

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Topic edited because of question mark over legality.

Anyone remember the old Sega megarive Nintendo and Amiga games. What was your favourite ?
What were your favourite games and game consols ?
 
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I have used emulators since 96. It was not only for nostalgia but I also wanted to check a few games that I had missed, games that others were nostalgic about. One of the first games I solved on an emulator was Legend of Zelda. I never had the chance to play it when the game was new. I also finished a few games that I used to have when I was young but couldn't understand back then, such as Alex Kidd in High Tech World on Sega Master System or WonderBoy II on the same.

If any emulator brought me alot of joy, it's ePSXe (playstation).
When it comes to game series I often like to play them in order. When I decided to try Metal Gear Solid I began by playing the first two games (Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2) on BlueMSX and then Metal Gear Solid on ePSXe. I am VERY happy that I did. I eventually bought a PS2, a PS3 and a PSP to play the other titles in the series. The same thing with the Final Fantasy series. I played FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX on ePSXe before playing FFX, FFX-2 and FFXII on PS2.
Sometimes this have worked the other way around. After I played Silent Hill 2 I played Silent Hill 1 on ePSXe. Despite it's age I enjoyed SH better than SH2!

Another favorite is MAME (Multi Arcade Emulator). I like sidescrolling Beat-Em Ups and the Arcade version was often better than the console/computer ports. This was true with Final Fight, Golden Axe, Double Dragon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles etc. Since these games often support more than one player they are great to play with friends as long as one have an extra joypad available. Naturally I was able to try out all the games that I couldn't play when I was young.

Two "odd" emulators that brought me a lot of joy have been DOSBox (DOS Emulator) and ScummVM that emulates many classic adventuregames. These two emulators have made it possible for me to play DOS games that just doesn't work in Windows anymore. I used Amiga up to 1998, and there were many DOS titles I wanted to play but couldn't, until these emu's came around. DOSBox allowed me to play games like Dark Forces, Eye of the Beholder III, WaxWorks, Elvira 1 & 2 etc. ScummVM allowed me to play a huge amount of adventuregames such as Simon the Sorcerer, Day of the Tentacle, Zak McKracken etc.

Unfortunally I have failed when it comes to the huge SNES RPG's. I came far into Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana II and Tales of Phantasia, in each case I failed to finish the games before I gave up. I did finish Shadowrun on SNES though. I have decided to play Final Fantasy "III" (VI in japan) next summer, but it will probably play the PSX remake instead of the SNES version.

Nowadays I use my PSP for emu's. It's great to have a SNES/Genesis/SMS/NES in your pocket. Savestates makes it possible to save anywhere in the game, which is great when it comes to playing games "on the go".

Despite the fact that I have a PS2, I still wait on the PCSX2 emu. There are a few titles that I want to play through but I would like a savestate function before doing so.
 
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Sorry. Wanted to change the topic to a discussion just about the games and the consols because of the question mark over the legality of using roms and emulators.
There is mixed information about this and so i am asking the staff here to change the title of this thread.
 
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Done.

My favorite title for the Atari 2600 was Moon Patrol, my favorite SNES titles were Mr. Nutz, Wolfenstein 3D, Shadowrun, Mechwarrior, Super Mario Land, Illusion of Time, Secret of Mana and Super Turrican 1 and 2.
I also had a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, but I generally liked the SNES games better (especially the SNES Shadowrun version), except for the Sonic games.
I never had an Amiga, though a friend had one. My favorite games there were World Games, Powerplay, Hillsfar and the Turrican games.
 
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I'm a c64 and Amiga Veteran.

My c64 favs:
Uridium
Elite
Paradroid
Wizball
Breakout
Laserzone
Temple Of Apshai
...

My Amiga favs:
Amberstar & Ambermoon
Pinball Fantasies / Dreams
Civilization
Colonization
Pirates!
Settlers
Sim City
Supercars 1 & 2
Cannon Fodder
Stunt Car Racer
Dungeon Master
Alien Breed
Bards Tale 2
Chaos Engine
Test Drive 2
Dune
Hired Guns
Klax
Lotus 2
Speedball
Stunt Car Racer
Syndicate
Xenon 2 Megablast
...
 
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Amiga was my first computer. I still fondly remember when I first got it and played Marble Madness and Defender of the Crown. These games are the foundation of my love of computer gaming. I tried uncounted games in those days, finished almost none. The ones that stand out in my memory are:

- Lemmings
- Civilization / Colonization
- Elite
- Barbarian (stupid game, really - but I played it to death when I first got the Amiga)
- Bards Tale I and II (my first CRPGs)
- Faery Tale adventure
- Populous
- Speedball
- Starglider II ( a great concept even today with it's seamless transition between space and planet surface fighting).
- Various adventures (Loom, Zak McKrakken, Monkey Island)
 
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I liked hotseat gaming on the Amiga. Supercars II was the best game for this, but the Lotus series from the same devs was also pretty good, as was North and South.

SP favourites were Pirates (only surpassed by the PC version once Gold came out), Wing Commander (the Amiga didnt really have the muscle for this, but rather play it with a mediocre frame rate than the unplayable turbo mode of a PC that is too fast) or Stunt car racer (also fun in MP with a null modem cable).
 
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Seeing that the thread converted from emulation to nostalgia to Amiga/Consolegames, I thought I should make another post.

I grew up with C64 and Amiga but surprisingly I find it difficult to remember games that I liked that is today best played on Amiga. Thanks to my failure to produce good tips on Amiga games despite my long history with it, I will return later to comment on Commodore 64 and then on console games. I had a look at HiddenX list and he mentions some games which I would really encourage to play the PC version instead, such as Syndicate.

Part of my problem with the platform is that I generally prefer RPG's and adventuregames, genrés of which PC was king.

One major thing bad with Amiga versions was reduced graphics due to a 32 color palette and an insane amount of discs to shuffle. At first this wasn't a problem since the PC ports were awful but later on it eventually killed the Amiga (as well as the Amiga lacking upport for Chunky Pixels during the DOOM era). Adventure/RPG titles such as Monkey Island, Rise of the Dragon or Eye of the Beholder II is today better to play in the DOS version. The PC version with it's 256 color palette simply looks better. Look at Space Quest IV as example. Actually, the Macintosh version was sometimes even sharper due to being produced in a higher resolution... On a positive side, the Amiga often had better music than PC during the soundblaster era when PC games generally used horrible midi instruments.

Cut content was another problem in Amiga versions of multi-platform games. One of my first favorites was Golden Axe, but the Genesis version is superior, primarily for having a whole extra level that wasn't present in the Amiga version (not counting that the Genesis version got 2 sequels).


But what games do I remember besides that?

Well, I find it difficult to mention cargames, sportgames and shooters since I frankly wouldn't play them today at all. I guess this is my problem since the Amiga was filled with them.

I actually enjoyed Turrican. The second game in particular. The best thing with the game was the awesome music. I still have the 7 minute intromusic in my mp3 player. Try to find any 16-bit console capable of even producing a song like that, I dare you.

I could mention Moonstone, but frankly, that game never worked for me. I usually got a GURU Meditation when trying to play it.

Two games worthy of recognition are It Came from the Desert and it's sequel Antheads. Those games actually looked better on Amiga than PC with better music as well.
 
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Hmm, I can think of a few titles where the PC version had cut cinematics (Supremacy victory cinematics, Eye of the beholder 1 end movie) as well.

Most good amiga titles were undoubtably action games of the kind that mostly are played on consoles nowadays. The platform did have good strategy games though, Perfect General, No Greater Glory, Warlords (better than the PC version), and Gold of the Americas are a few that spring to mind.

Speaking of old Cinemaware titles (It came from the desert and Defender of the Crown) I also recall Wings, an arcade ww1 flight game that lacks a PC version.

Moonstone was a kickass game and the DOS version looked good as well, but I always got killed halfway through and had to restart. Lost Patrol (which I think has a crappy PC port) suffered from the same problem. It was fun to lead your little squad to safety through the Vietnamese jungle though.

With VGA graphics and sound cards the PC overtook the Amiga tho. And frankly most pre-VGA RPGs are hack and slash affairs as per M&M II/Goldbox series...
 
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Let me say a few things about Commodore 64. The major problem with C64 was the lack of memory which didn't really allow for the kind of games I enjoyed. Sierra titles such as Kings Quest and Police Quest took up too much RAM. The majority of the games I played on C64 I wouldn't play today, even for the sake of nostalgia. Much like Amiga, games I used to play is simply better on other systems.

There was one company in particular though that I loved on c64 though; "System 3". This company produced several titles that pushed the system to the edge with great graphics and great music.

System 3 produced 3 titles which had very similar gameplay, combining an adventuregame with Beat Em Up style combat; Tusker, Vendetta and Last Ninja.

The Last Ninja is particulary praised and I personally consider the 2nd game to be the best one as it takes place in modern era New York. The Amiga port of Last Ninja and Last Ninja II were quite bad but the 3rd game is actually best on Amiga as far as I remember. These were the only adventure-style games that really did it for me on the C64.


Another great title on Commodore 64 was Giana Sisters. A blatant super mario ripoff which really was better than the original IMO. It was pulled from the shelves when Nintendo found out about it but it's still today a loved classic.

There are actually a remake called Giana Worlds available here. See a german video review on youtube. A second tribute called Giana's Return is available here. See a video here.
 
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Speaking of old Cinemaware titles (It came from the desert and Defender of the Crown) I also recall Wings, an arcade ww1 flight game that lacks a PC version.

Cinemaware also produced a weird gangster game which I never completed called "King of Chicago".
 
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Cinemaware also produced a weird gangster game which I never completed called "King of Chicago".

I finished that one, but it wasnt my favourite. Wings and DotC were the only Cinemaware titles I really enjoyed.

Thinking about it games that consisted of multiple simple mini games were very common back then. Pirates, the Cinemaware Titles, Midwinter I (the successors had more unified gameplay), California Games and the like... I cant say I really miss that approach to game design even if Midwinter was excellent for its time:p
 
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And finally a post about some sega games. The main problem I have with console games is that I never had a console up to last summer. I have to mention some though. Maybe more later.

Sega Master System
WonderBoy III: The Dragons Trap
Ignore the Genesis version (WB3 on Genesis is an action game). The SMS version is a free-roaming platform RPG. Calling it "free-roaming" can be a bit of a stretch, but from the first city you can go in any direction. You will eventually be blocked which force you to explore another path. Throughout the game you change your appearence to different animal forms which opens up special abilities that allows you to go where you couldn't go before. You continue to upgrade equipment and collect spells throughout the game. Besides that the music is really catchy and will stick to your head. Anyone who are interested in what SMS had to offer, this is the first game to try. The game was recently released on Wii btw.

Sega Genesis
Snatcher
Snatcher is a Sega CD game produced by Hideo Kojima (who made the Metal Gear series). Snatcher is an adventuregame and like Kojimas other games it have a rather complex mature storytelling and even some adult themes. It's difficultt o get hold of the original version. The game was censored before it got released to the western market and Sega CD was a commercial failure. This is one game that makes emulation worth it.

Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
The "Illusion" series actually started on Sega Master System but the first title later got a remake on Genesis. The second game on Genesis was called World of Illusion (which featured Donald Duck), then came Land of Illusion and Legend of Illusion on Sega Master System only. All of them were great platform titles, some of the best licensed games I played.

Earthworm Jim
These games are hilarious... they are crazy platform games with an absurd humor. The game got a few sequels, one known as Earthworm Jim 2 and one "3d" on N64.
 
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Earthworm Jim was also on DOS & Win95.

I didn't like the 3D Earthworm Jim game for Win at all.

There also was a small TV series about him.
 
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I actually enjoyed Turrican. The second game in particular. The best thing with the game was the awesome music. I still have the 7 minute intromusic in my mp3 player. Try to find any 16-bit console capable of even producing a song like that, I dare you.
I remember Actraiser II for SNES having incredible orchestral music. That was the only incredible thing about the game though, except for its difficulty.
 
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At the times when I got the Amiga, its graphics were leaps and bounds ahead of pretty much anything available for a similar price tag. PC's in that day still used to have monochrome displays...
To this day I wonder why commodore failed to further develop the Amiga - in its heyday it had enormous potential, but eventually it was the Mac that filled that niche. So while it may be true that eventually most of these games had better versions on the PC, that was not the case back then, at least not within a teenagers budget.
What I forgot to list above are the early sim games I loved. SimAnt and SimEarth to name my favorites. I also spent lots of time with various flight simulators and especially a submarine combat simulation, I can't recall their names anymore though.
 
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I think we should limit this conversation to games and systems that some of us actually OWNED, rather than talk about games that were illegally downloaded and played on emulators.
 
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A 2 or 3 years ago I talked to an representative of Commodore at the CeBit in Hannover ... - They still seem to have the rights of the Amiga, but don't plan to produce a new version of it.
 
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I don't remember anymore.
 
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