When a massive leap in technology comes along, it tends to leave an indelible impression on you. You’ve probably experienced plenty of those moments – for us, our first tentative forays online stand out, as does the moment that DVDs made VHS tapes look like relics. The jump from 8-bit gaming hardware to 16-bit machines was just as huge, and for many of you that first experience would have been with an Amiga computer. Those formative experiences might account for the well-known devotion that Amiga fans feel for their favoured platform.
Whatever you wanted out of games, the Amiga did it better than the computers that came before thanks to its custom chips. Denise enabled the machine to generate colourful and detailed graphics, while Paula’s strong support for samples allowed musicians to really flex their muscles. Partnered with a fast Motorola 68000 CPU and vastly more memory than the 8-bit machines, the Amiga expanded the possibilities for original games and allowed for conversions that could look and play more like their arcade counterparts. Of course, all of that raw potential would be for nothing if it weren’t for the likes of the Bitmap Brothers, Bullfrog, Team17, Cinemaware and Sensible Software turning out great games.
To celebrate the Amiga, we’ve picked a selection of games that we feel define the platform. We’re only looking at games designed for the original and extended chip sets – AGA games will wait for another time – but that still leaves us with plenty of fantastic games to choose from. So read on to find out what we’ve chosen, and be sure to let us know if your favourite made the cut.
STUNT CAR RACER
MICROSTYLE • 1989
■ If you want a great Amiga racing game, Geoff Crammond’s classic is likely to be the first game out of anyone’s mouth. Moving away from the realistic circuits he’d portrayed in Revs, Geoff Crammond created outlandish courses featuring steep banked corners and enormous ramps that enabled players to pull off some impressive stunts, with a solid physics simulation underpinning the action.
While launched on the 8-bit platforms before it came to the Amiga, it’s easy to see that the 16-bit hardware was highly beneficial for the game. The extra colour was nice, but the faster, smoother 3D performance conveyed a
