Games galore #8: Lala Prologue, Hydra Castle Labyrinth, Aztec Challenge CD32, Tiny Invaders & Tiny Galaga, Amigo the Fox

COVID-19 is still spreading, but that doesn't stop Amiga game development, new games keep popping up. Here's another snapshot of what's going on: 8-bit ports, arcade ports, and platformers all over the place! 

 

Lala Prologue 

 

In April this year arcade platformer "Lala Prologue" was announced. Inspired by "Lala The Magical" (by The Mojon Twins) for NES and other 8-bit platforms, created for the C64 / VIC40 / Plus4, "Lala Prologue" is now making it's way to OCS plus 512KB memory equipped Amigas.

A spooky theme throughout, in this game you'll evade enemies, negotiate moving platforms, avoid traps, and collect power-ups and keys to make sure Lala safely progresses through her adventure at the Great Witch Academy.

"Lala Prologue" looks good in 8 bits, and it surely looks at least as good in 16 bits - it's still work-in-progress, so far we know that it uses a 32 color playfield with two layers, and some bitmap tricks to get more detail on screen. There will certainly be updates, little changes in appearance, and so on, as it's still work in progress, but this is going to be another fun release for the Amiga!

Here's a work-in-progress video (2020-04-04):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOju2pX8iGE

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-04-00013-DE.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/04/lala-prologue-charming-platformer-is.html
https://readretro.com/lala-prologue-coming-to-amiga-500/
https://majikeyric.itch.io/lala-prologue (c64, plus/4, VIC20 versions)

Hydra Castle Labyrinth

"Hydra Castle Labyrinth" is a Metroidvania style game, ported to Amiga 68k by Artur "Arczi" Jarosik. 

Basically another platformer, but this version supports CD32-gamepads, which itself makes it something special. Of course you can use a joystick, too. A (very) fast Amiga - namely: Vampire board - is recommended to play the game.

"Hydra Castle Labyrinth" has already been available for many platforms - including MS-DOS, SEGA Dreamcast, AmigaOS 4 - and is a welcome addition to the range of 68k titles.

"Hydra Castle Labyrinth" 68k running on AROS m68k (2020-04-05):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtcwMtM9ZA

Read more about Hydra Castle Labyrinth on ARTIGAMES' blog website:
https://artishq.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/hydra-castle-labirynth/

Click here to download "Hydra Castle Labyrinth":
http://netsurf.baderman.net/hydracastlelabirynth.lha

Support Arczi via his Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/ArtiGamesAmiSoft

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-04-00017-EN.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroidvania
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_(video_game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania_(1986_video_game)

Aztec Challenge (Amiga CD32)

It's still a rare, and always exciting sight when a new Amiga CD32 game pops up. This one is new, yet old, and we get only one level, but beware, it's friggin' "Aztec Challenge" from the Commodore 64 and Atari 800!

A massive update to the original, "Aztec Challenge" certainly never looked better - this one plays butter smooth, has nice sprite animations, even cinematic 3D rendered cutscenes, and an impressive soundtrack. Yeah, of course, 16 bits can do more than 8 bits, but the attention to detail and overall love for the source material and the target platform is obvious.

Literally everyone who watches the video below and likes "Aztec Challenge" even in the slightest bit will be craving for the full game on CD32 - very, very nice work!

"Aztec Challenge EP01" for Amiga CD32 (2020-05-17):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWgRdyssDRM

You can download "Aztec Challenge EP01" for Amiga CD32 from AmiNet:
http://aminet.net/package/game/actio/AztecChallenge_E01_CD32

Additional sources:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=102240
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/05/aztec-challenge-cd32-1982-challenging.html

Tiny Invaders & Tiny Galaga

Two arcade action super-classics ports by coder "Abyss" have been released for the Amiga, in pocket size: "Tiny Invaders" is a remake of 1978 Taito/Atari classic "Space Invaders", and "Tiny Galaga" is a remake of 1981 Namco classic "Galaga".

Well, they're not pixel precise ports, but lovely little interpretations of the original games. Obviously they're not feature-packed, but both games play smoothly, look great, and they're so tiny you can put both together on a single floppy disk, or easily send them over a (null)modem line.

If you need a quick round of arcade action these are perfect for you!

Tiny Invaders (by Abyss) (2020-04-27):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrNXGgJ7uJA

Tiny Galaga (by Abyss) (2020-05-25):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQQkWxQsj8I

You can download both games from Abyss' website:
aYS_TinyInvaders.zip / aYS_TinyGalaga.zip

(Note: there are two games titled "tinyinvaders" on AmiNet, none of which are related to this "Tiny Invaders" by Abyss)

Additional sources:
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=85458
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=85720
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/04/tiny-invaders-small-space-invaders.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=101924

Amigo the Fox

Around June yet another platformer was announced, that goes by the name of "Amiga the Fox". Jump, run, collect coins - just by looking at a screenshot it almost spells out "Mario!", and that's a good thing. This is clearly inspired my some other well known game, and is perfectly tailored to fans of the genre, probably esp. the younger ones.

Erik "earok" Hogan is creating the game using his "Scorpion" game engine, which means it's framerate is 50Hz, and it runs on OCS equipped Amiga 500s and upwards. For "Amigo the Fox" some extra processing power is recommended.

 Amigo the Fox WIP alpha 2 (2020-06-21):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7_0sMdKfUY

Additional sources:
https://twitter.com/earok
http://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-06-00056-EN.html

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...again, we have some Bonus gaming news:

Boss Machine new preview video

Since we last reported about "Boss Machine" a couple of testing/preview videos have been uploaded to Daniel Stephens YouTube channel. The game looked great from day zero, but it's really starting to take breathtaking shape, see for yourself:

Boss Machine : New Scroll Delta (2020-05-05)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjsPLE06qys

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #9"!

Check out "Games galore" main page with all articles - click here!

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Games galore #6: DaemonClaw, AmiSaber, Rotator, Project Horizon, Boss Machine!

Dude, that's a lot of games. The game development scene is bustling with activity. Next round of Amiga entertainment from 2019/2020. There's no time to waste, here we go.

DaemonClaw: Origins of Nnar

Around Aug. 2019, a new side scrolling action game "DaemonClaw: Origins of Nnar" made it's first appearance. Since then, developers BitBeamCannon keep posting development updates on their YouTube channel. The game's development has started on the Amiga, then has been moved to modern platforms, utilizing the Construct 2 engine by Scirra. The developers plan to start working on the final Amiga version once gamedesign and assets are done.

It's gorgeous! You can see a previews of the game in parallax-scrolling motion in the developer's videos. Amiga hardware requirements are unknown so far, but with the promised "classic 16-bit" graphics we can probably assume a OCS/ECS 1MB ChipRAM target platform.

"DaemonClaw" 2019 preview video (2019-08-20):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdeDz2s3hyQ

Additional sources:
https://www.patreon.com/bitbeamcannon
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=98620
http://www.amigarevive.eu/new-games/under-development-daemonclow-origins-of-nnar/

AmiSaber

"AmiSaber" by Electric Black Sheep also popped up around Aug. 2019. It looks quite abstract on first sight - and it does so on second! But that's intentional: "AmiSaber" is a kind-of-port of virtual reality game "BeatSaber", in which you try to hit square objects in sync with the music, with a virtual saber in each hand. The Amiga version is controlled using two mice. Very cool. Is this the first two-mice game since "The Settlers"?

Tron-ish, thus great, graphics not too unlike the original, good audio quality, awesome dual-saber controls, and tools and documentation included to create your own levels, using your own music!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSQVol9S4f4

You can download "AmiSaber" from Electric Black Sheep's website:

http://www.electricblacksheep.com/download/AmiSaber.rar
 
Additional sources:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=98412
http://www.electricblacksheep.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJyNJFAH_Ih_WY9LXMYd1g/

Rotator

Announced in October 2019, "Rotator" is a challenging game of skill, in which you control your craft through more or less vertical landscapes, collecting diamonds, and avoiding all sorts of obstacles, while being threatened by a rising flood below you. It was originally developed in the 1990s, didn't get a release back then, has recently been reworked with updated music, graphics, and levels, and can now be pre-ordered from Psytronik Software.

Tiny animated objects, speech samples, some craft bouncing around, a purple flood, countless levels - this really look great, and enjoyably difficult. And there will also be couple of extra features that should enhance gameplay experience and usability, like a replay mode, where you take manual control of your craft during an automatic replay of your previous attempt.

There will be digital download, and a physical "Collector's Edition Box Set" release. The box set will include floppy disks, sticker, artwork poster (A3 format), and more!

Gameplay video "Rotator - Into The Realm of Obscurity" (2020-02-10):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtsnLGHyLHs

Go to Psytronik's website for more details and pre-order:

http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/amiga/121-rotator

Additional sources:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=99343
http://aminet.net/package/game/demo/Rotator
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/10/rotator-new-game-announcement-for.html

Project Horizon

Also by Electric Black Sheep is "Project Horizon", a top-view tactical action game that obviously takes place on the dark side of the moon. There's not too much of a back story so far, but the developers have some great ideas, and a spectacular cinematic intro video gives an idea of the direction this is taking: You've landed on the moon, and you're gonna need guns!

"Project Horizon" is still in development, a gameplay preview video (including the intro movie) has been uploaded to YouTube in January. It has nicely animated graphics, and great sound effects, but there are also a couple of features that add a tactical side to the gameplay: destructable environment, different enemy attack modes, mines, a disguised "infiltrator" mode, and an allied non-player-character.

This sounds very exciting, and on top of all the good news it's planned to be free, including sourcecode and level editor. Seriously, you cannot ask for more.

The game will require an Amiga with ECS chipset (or better), 2 MB ChipRAM, and a harddrive.

"Project Horizon Intro+Game" video (2020-01-14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4l48k8JfTs

Additional sources:
http://www.amigarevive.eu/new-games/project-horizon-under-development/
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=98600
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJyNJFAH_Ih_WY9LXMYd1g/

Boss Machine

Some time around mid-2019 developers Daniel Stephens‎, Kevin Saunders and Lee Smith started development of new sidescrolling shoot-em-up game "Boss Machine", making a public announcement in December. They hope to release the game in 2020.

From watching the latest work-in-progress video - released only two days ago - it immediately becomes clear that this is going to be a fine game. Horizontal parallax scrolling rarely looked that good, and such an amount of vertical freedom of movement has rarely been seen at all in that specific genre, on the Amiga. The developers haven't decided on a final target platform yet, "Boss Machine" runs on OCS/ECS, and AGA tests have been made.

Watch "Boss Machine Amiga Level 1" video (2020-03-05):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b5o6VsfDa0

Additional sources:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=99887
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/12/boss-machine-upcoming-amiga-shoot-em-up.html

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #7"!

 

Check out "Games galore" main page with all articles - click here!