2023 was a very active Amiga gaming year indeed - here are seven more titles that were started, or released, in mid-2023: adventures, arcade, puzzles, ...!
Hamulet (demo)
"Hamulet" is a really beautiful dungeon exploration and puzzle game that was released with Issue 10 (June 2023) of "WhatIFF" Amiga diskmag. (Downloadmag.) In a top-view, you have to make good use of the items you find, flick the right switches, avoid traps and enemies, etc. A nice soundtrack is playing while you do so, but the standout feature of "Hamulet" (the title already gives a little clue) are its adorable graphics. It's just beautifully drawn, and uses full Amiga chipset power: it has delicate intro screens, a large map with lots of scrolling, Nintendo-style in-game characters, lots of animation frames, and on top of that, the developer went the extra mile and uses Amiga's unique hold-and-modify (HAM) graphics mode, which means there are hundreds, if not thousands of colors on screen.
"Hamulet" demo really looks very impressive, and promises a very, very good game when fully released!
Here's a video on Saberman RetroNews YouTube channel (2023-06-18):
You can download "Hamulet" demo with Issue 10 of WhatIFF magazine:
https://whatiff.info/pastissues.html
If you like to contact the author of "Hamulet", you can do so via his website:
https://remantic.com
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/06/halmet-this-commodore-amiga-demo-looks.html
"ASM - Das Spiel" graphic adventure
In May 2023, after 32 years of dormancy, a text/graphics adventure was announced, that might carry an extra bit of nostalgia for German Amiga fans: "ASM" is short for "Aktueller Software Markt", a German computing print magazine that ran from 1986 to 1995.
The project was started in 1991, as part of a programming contest, re-vitalized in 2023, and released shortly after as a full product.
You play the editor-in-chief of ASM magazine, who has just woken up with amnesia. So your mission is to find out who everyone is, and what's going on with... Space-Rat?!
"ASM" is a fun, comic, adventure loaded with German home-computing nostalgia. It's in German language only, and runs on any Amiga with 1MB of RAM.
Here's a (long) video from MrVenom1974's YouTube channel, where you can also see a little bit of the original print magazine (2023-09-21):
Visit the game's website for more information and purchase:
https://www.asm-das-spiel.de
Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00101-DE.html
Tenebra & Tenebra 2
In April 2023, "Tenebra" was released for Amiga, a top-view arcade game also available for C64 / Plus4, Atari ST, Jaguar and 8-bit, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commander X16, BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, Tesla Ondra, PMD 85, PC, NES and Playdate. (That's a lot of platforms.) The sequel "Tenebra 2" followed shortly after, in June 2023.Both "Tenebra" and "Tenebra 2" are equally enjoyable puzzle games with Lode Runner looks, and a dungeon exploration feel, a la Rogue. Your goal is to exit the dark dungeon you're in, by strategically using items like keys, torches, oil barrels, and other tools. "Tenebra 2" adds a couple of new items and game mechanics - and an enhanced Amiga version with hi-res graphics (interlaced screen mode).
Here's a video on YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-06-11):
Check out the games' itch.io pages for more information and download:
https://h4plo.itch.io/tenebra-2
Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-06-00045-DE.html
https://www.amigafuture.de/app.php/newsportal/?start=0&ulg=de&news_id=40982
The Oregon Trail
It's 1847. You and your family are heading for Oregon, to build a colony and start a new life. Will you make it all the way?
In June 2023, "The Oregon Trail" was published to itch.io. It's an interesting text adventure, with a good amount of high quality graphics. Text / keyboard controls are easy to learn, and even include some real-time-"action" typing. The system requirements are a little unusual, though: to play it, you need a fast Amiga, harddisc, 30MB of RAM, AHI, and a screen resolution of 960x540, meaning RTG.
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| "The Oregon Trail" title screen |
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| "The Oregon Train" in-game screen |
Check out the game's itch.io page for more information and download:
https://8080.itch.io/the-oregon-trail
Additional sources:http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-06-00101-DE.html
Temptations CD32
We've reported about "Temptations" before, and after the original Amiga port, in June 2023, an Amiga CD32 version was released. It includes more animation sequences, and CD music. If you're lucky, and if you're in Spain, you can get a physical release: A very limited number of physical editions is available, costing 15EUR, and including several little extras, like a game poster. Presumably, these sold out quickly, but you can always get a digital download.
Here's a video of "Temptations" CD32 on s0y s0y's YouTube channel (2023-11-30):
Go to the game's website for more information, and purchase info:
https://s0yamigamsx.wordpress.com/temptations/
Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-06-00059-EN.html
https://www.generation-msx.nl/software/topo-soft/temptations/release/2317/
Old Towers (demo)
Also in June 2023, an early Amiga port of "Old Towers" popped up, a great looking arcade action game previously available for Sega Genesis. You can think of it as a blend of high-speed Pac-Man, and jump-and-run with altered physics. You need good timing, and some strategy, to clear each stage, avoiding traps, collecting items, and getting to the exit. Some pumpin' music is playing, the visuals are nice and abstract - from what we can see so far, it's an exciting, dynamic game.
Here's a video from YouTube channel Hardware Tech News (2023-06-15):
The current state of the game is a bit unclear - it seems the author is looking for some help with the graphics. Maybe you wanna give it a try?
Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-06-00063-EN.html
https://retrosouls.itch.io/old-towers (original Sega Genesis game)
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