credit Photo: © Bill Bertram 2006
The system that launched a thousand games ... When it was unveiled 22 years ago, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga Commodore Amiga was instantly recognized as a groundbreaking multimedia machine. The computer’s consumer price point belied the Amiga’s prowess as a rendering tool for realistic audio and eye-popping visuals. Its usefulness in the field of animation – from Babylon 5 and early works by the creators of Wallace & Gromit to Andy Warhol’s http://www.detroitmona.com/still_famous.htm You Are the One – was equaled only by the smoothness and realism the computer brought to games.The heyday for Amiga games was the late ’80s and early ’90s. The computer’s custom chipset and advanced (for the time) graphics capability led to sumptuous 2-D titles in a variety of styles, and even some basic 3-D games. Here’s a look at some of the more innovative entries in the Amiga game canon. By Simon Carless Many thanks to the http://hol.abime.net Hall of Light database for granting permission to reprint screenshots from these classic games.
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Defender of the Crown (Cinemaware, 1986)
description Along with Shadow of the Beast from Psygnosis, Defender of the Crown was one of the games that truly sold the Amiga to drooling buyers in the late ’80s. Awesomely large sprites, beautifully drawn scenes and minigames galore powered this almost Risk-like tale of the province-by-province conquest of England to success. Way before the "Hollywood-ization" of the game industry, Cinemaware evoked the era of classic movies with this game and others, such as Wings and the classic B-movie tribute It Came From the Desert. Cinemaware titles were definitely precursors of the CD-ROM era of flashy titles such as Myst and The 7th Guest. More importantly, they brought strong and realistic characterization and depiction to the world of computer games. Cinemaware is still alive today and currently working on an update of Defender of the Crown. 
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Sensible Soccer (Sensible Software, 1992)
description This arcade-style, top-down soccer game – complete with a theme written by Captain Sensible of The Damned – was justifiably loved by a large percentage of the Amiga population all the way through its ill-advised 3-D iteration in the late ’90s. Because the Amiga was especially coveted by Europeans, the pinpoint-accurate gameplay and significant amount of customization in sequels led to an almost unrivaled soccer experience. Only Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer came close to "getting it." The influence of Sensible Soccer can still be felt in today’s perfectly controlled arcade soccer games. We presume the makers of Electronic Arts’ FIFA series have toyed with Sensible Soccer at least once. 
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Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Bitmap Brothers, 1990)
description Heavily influenced by Rollerball and other futuristic, high-contact sports, the vicious top-down sports game Speedball 2 had a lot of the frantic action of the original 1988 version. This sequel added snazzier graphics, refined gameplay and, most importantly, some guy yelling "Iiice Creeeam" in the soundtrack. Rough and tumble of the highest order. Like other Bitmap Brothers games such as The Chaos Engine, Speedball 2 showed that smart, original games with stand-out graphics could have a little edge and still produce darn playable games. It was dumb but smart all at the same time. The "violent futuristic sport" formula continued to thrive for years, including an actual adaptation of Rollerball for the PlayStation, an updated console version of Speedball and the Warhammer-licensed Chaos League. 
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Syndicate (Bullfrog, 1993)
description Syndicate’s startlingly adult vision of a cyberpunk near-future is described on the box simply enough: "In the dark and twisted cities of tomorrow, corporate Syndicates compete for global dominance." It’s a carefully assembled artistic whole with a clever strategic over-game – taxation on captured territories helps you collect funds to bolster your corporation’s R&D efforts. Bullfrog is a key part of the golden age of Britsoft, and Syndicate is one of the crown jewels of the era. This strategy-action title was surprisingly amoral, and it’s an important link in creator Peter Molyneux’s march from classic "god" games like Populous through to his present-day fare. Surely a remake is long overdue. 
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Lemmings (DMA Design, 1992)
description Lemmings, the transcendent – and extremely original – strategy puzzle game, matched adorably suicidal characters with fiendish gameplay. Basically, the player forms bridges and barriers, manipulating a group of lemmings in order to get enough of them to the exit of the level. Oh noooooo! Since it played best using a mouse, Lemmings was very clearly tailored to the Amiga. The original version also included 20 two-player levels that showed off the fact you could plug in two mice to the Amiga and use them simultaneously – a very unique feature at the time.Sony now owns the publishing rights after acquiring original publisher Psygnosis, and versions of the classic title are available for both the PSP and the PlayStation 3. Lemmings was created by Dave Jones and the folks at DMA Design. Jones later went on to build the Grand Theft Auto franchise and has recently completed Crackdown for the Xbox 360. There aren’t many lemmings in that one. 
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Pinball Dreams (Digital Illusions, 1992)
description The world of computerized pinball simulations is a pretty small one, but thanks to Swedish creators Digital Illusions (later known as Dice), the Amiga original Pinball Dreams is one of the best pinball sims of all time. Stand-out tables included the music-themed Beat Box and the rocket launch-themed Ignition. Pinball games often lacked quality gameplay due to the absence of accurate pinball physics, but the Amiga had enough processing power to handle the physics, the faked-up dot-matrix display, multiple play modes and other bells and whistles. The game itself produced a whole mess of sequels, including Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. It also helped birth console pinball games such as True Pinball. Digital Illusions went on to create the Battlefield series and was later acquired by Electronic Arts. 
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Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software, 1993)
description Another game from U.K.-based Sensible Software, Cannon Fodder is a bizarre, tragicomic game about war. Top-down squad action makes up the core of the gameplay, while the theme song, "War Has Never Been So Much Fun," further outlines the darkly humorous nature of the title. As a game, it’s intelligent and well-executed. Cannon Fodder actually shows ambivalence toward war. As Wikipedia points out, the PC version of the game’s manual ends: "As Cannon Fodder demonstrates in its own quirky little way, war is a senseless waste of lives and resources. We hope you never find out the hard way." One of the most direct semi-satirical responses to war in video game form is Introversion’s latest game, Defcon, which has a Wargames-style nuke menu screen and the stark tagline, "Everybody dies." Which, you know ... they do. 
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Shadow of the Beast (Reflections, 1989)
description One of the Amiga’s early killer apps, this side-scrolling action title was particularly renowned for its multiple levels of parallax. Background scenery scrolled slower than the foreground, and it was split into as many as 12 layers. The game also had lush fantasy artwork and a cover from famed fantasy artist Roger Dean – a complete experience. To be honest, Shadow of the Beast is less important for its gameplay than for its amazing graphics, which just about outdid many arcade games at the time. David Whittaker’s soundtrack is also a stand-out for the time. After the game’s release, a raft of Psygnosis releases went on to use Dean’s cover artwork to great effect – he’s now perhaps best known for making the Tetris logo used by most current versions of the game. Shadow of the Beast itself spawned a couple of sequels and console conversions. But as the Amiga’s first big system-seller, its legacy is secure. 
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Another World (Delphine, 1991)
description Eric Chahi’s Another World is a milestone in game history, and not just Amiga game history. The game brought beautiful graphics and a European art sensibility to a sci-fi plot with heavily stylized motion-capture vector graphics. The gigantic, fluid animation sequences, naturalistic feel and the lack of a traditional heads-up display made Another World way, way ahead of its time. In several recent interviews, rising Japanese game-development star Suda51, creator of the fascinating Killer 7 and head of independent developer Grasshopper Manufacture, has mentioned Chahi’s Another World as his single greatest gaming influence. ICO’s Fumito Ueda has also pegged the game as a major influence. 
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Worms (Team17, 1995)
description Andy Davidson’s Worms is another piece of original home-brew game design for the Amiga. Each player controls tiny worms armed with massive pieces of artillery. The player with the last worms standing after several turn-based rounds of carnage is the winner. It’s as simple as that. Originally called Total Wormage, the game is another enduring franchise created on the Amiga. Sequels have come and gone, including one unsuccessful 3-D take. Worms will soon receive a new lease on life as Worms HD, a network-playable version for Xbox Live Arcade. The less said about unnecessary spinoffs such as Worms Pinball the better. Worms has much in common with earlier titles such as Scorched Earth and Tank Wars. A number of later games, such as Infogrames’ Hogs of War, have built upon the game’s turn-based, pocket-size mayhem. In general, though, Worms is an original.
