Games Galore #44: Rastan, Night/Shift, Guardian - The Legend Of The Flaming Sword, Spheroid, Doomed Castle, R.A.N.A.

Still browsing through 2023 game developments, some of which are still in the works, or have been released only recently: arcade classic remake, text adventure, platformers, a puzzler, and a frogger clone.

Rastan (demo)

Since 2023, loosely-regular demos of this remake of 1987 Taito arcade classic "Rastan" (aka "Rastan Saga") have been published, with the latest showing version 0.33. It runs on any Amiga with at least 1MB of RAM, and it looks really very good. Some of it is pretty close to the original, some has received a bit of an upgrade, and on the sonic side, it's a nice, fairly accurate remake of the original soundtrack. 

Great stuff, another arcade classic that previously wasn't available for the Amiga!

Here's the latest video of "Rastan" for Amiga, on Per-Ola Eriksson's YouTube channel (2025-02-11)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BKYL5MBdTo

Go to the game's website for more information and download:
https://basementape.itch.io/rastan-amiga-500 

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-07-00092-EN.html (demo 0.32)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastan_(video_game) (1987 arcade original)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Binxdx_Qzb4 (1987 arcade original longplay)

Night/Shift

Released in June 2023, "a cypherpunk adventure" it is, says the website, by Eclectic Imaginations. In "Night/Shift", your goal is to uncover the greatest conspiracy of the current time in the game's universe. 

In case you didn't know: a "cypherpunk" is someone how fights for privacy and security in digital technology.

"Night/Shift" is an OS-friendly, mouse-driven, click-and-explore text adventure game, with dozens of locations, some nicely atmospheric audio, and a lot of hi-quality, hi-res HAM8 graphics. And, hey, it's free to download!

"Night/Shift" runs on AGA Amigas with 2MB ChipRAM and AmigaOS 3 or higher, and requires 23MB of free harddisk space.

Here's a video of "Night/Shift" on YouTube channel Manga 303 (2023-07-03): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t876GJbcQA

Go to the game's website for more information and download:
https://www.nightshift.cx

Direct download link for your convenience: https://www.nightshift.cx/NightShift.lha

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-06-00108-DE.html

 

Guardian - The Legend Of The Flaming Sword (demo)

We've reported about "Guardian - The Legend Of The Flaming Sword" before, so we'll just leave it with a quick note here. At the end of June 2023, new footage of this side-scrolling platformer was uploaded to YouTube, and it is currently still the latest demo material available, so we're assuming the game is still in development.

Here's the latest video of "Guardian - The Legend Of The Flaming Sword" on Yoz Montana's YouTube channel (2023-07-24):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe1W90GUOKQ

Go to Yoz Montana's website for more information:
http://www.yozmontana.com

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-06-00119-DE.html
https://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=1625190&postcount=793

 

Spheroid

We've reported about "Spheroid" before, too. Since then, more demos were shown, a 2023 christmas edition was available, and at the beginning of 2024, what appears to be the final version was released. It's (still) an (now even more) enjoyable arcade puzzle game, featuring a sphere and a lot of tiles, and some dramatic, pumpin' music. "Spheroid" runs spherical on any Amiga with at least 1MB of RAM.

Here's a video of "Spheroid" on YouTube channel MODERN RETRO GAMING NEWS (2025-01-01):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu29skCDZA0

Go to the game's itch.io page, for more information and download:
https://andyvaisey.itch.io/spheroid

Doomed Castle (demo)

A game that popped up in July 2023 is "Doomed Castle" by M.A. Soft, and it has some serious similarities with classic "Castlevania", initially released for Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) in 1986. 

It looks great, with detailed and highly colorful graphics, and has a very nice soundtrack, so if you like side-scrolling whip'n'punch platform games, make sure you check it out.

"Doomed Castle" runs on any Amiga with at least 512KB of ChipRAM and 512KB of FastRAM. Some CPU acceleration is recommended to avoid slowdowns.

Here's a video of "Doomed Castle" on Tony Galvez' YouTube channel (2023-07-03):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MblJg69ggw8

If you like to know more about the game, you can check out the forum thread at the English Amiga Board:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=114941

To download "Doomed Castle" (zipped .adf), click this link:
https://mega.nz/file/Ml0BFabC#nL_aLfNF7_hM8Xrwli3daPK0Oi3ZLaztAfwmN940Fp8

Additional sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania_(1986_video_game) (original Famicom/NES game)

R.A.N.A.

"R.A.N.A." is short for "Reckless Amphibian New Adventures". "Reckless" doesn't equal "indestructible", so this little amphibian has to be careful to make it to the other side of the road and the river. "Rana", without the points in between, also happens to be the Italian and Spanish word for "frog". 

Does this ring a bell? Yes, it's a Frogger clone. The game was actually developed in 2021, but uploaded to aminet in July 2023. It seems it's not the easiest of Frogger games, and... is the reckless amphibian somehow explosive?

"R.A.N.A" runs on all Amigas, only requiring a joystick. If you like to know how "RANA" works under the hood, you can take a look at the assembler source code available at https://github.com/coppersoft/rana.

Here's a YouTube video of "RANA" on Amiga Retro Channel (2023-07-01): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3kVDGhPmAM

You can download the game from aminet:

http://aminet.net/package/game/jump/rana

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-07-00012-EN.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #45"!

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

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Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games Galore #43: Hamulet, ASM, Tenebra & Tenebra 2, The Oregon Trail, Temptations CD32, Old Towers

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):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AflLRoPVr2I

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

Additional sources:
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):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoJyITFD400

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):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDobDB6D9T0

Check out the games' itch.io pages for more information and download:

https://h4plo.itch.io/tenebra

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.

"The Oregon Trail" title screen

"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):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyYfwFv-vk

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):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8gsmGQGMq8

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)

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #44"!

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

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Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #42: SUPERMiniJu, The Last Dungeon, Kalle Kloakk, Virtual Enemies, Skinvaders, Forest of Illusion

Skimming over recent Amiga games: In May 2023 alone, around ten new games popped up. Here are six of them, covering arcade action, fantasy adventure, and hacking in cyberspace.

SUPERMiniJu

In this game by Yoz Montana, your goal is to free a cute white rabbit from captivity, by collecting items that are hidden in the grass. "SUPERMiniJu" is a fast-paced jump-and-run platformer with plenty of extras to collect, boss fights, nice graphics, and some decent sound effects.

The current state of the game is a bit unclear. A demo version seems to be completed, but maybe the author is still waiting for his previous 100-comments-on-the-video challenge to be completed, so maybe you wanna head over there and drop him a line?

Here's the latest "SUPERMiniJu" video from Yoz Montana's YouTube channel (2023-12-17):

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

Go to the game's website for more information and download:

https://yoz-montana.itch.io/superminiju

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00037-DE.html

The Last Dungeon

This top-view fantasy adventure by PixelPlop was initially created for AmiGameJam 2022/2023. In an earlier work-in-progress video, the game's title was "Sworderer & Sorcerer", now it seems to have settled with "The Last Dungeon". 

It looks great, very Nintendo, and appears to be snappy, and fun to play. It's still work-in-progress, the latest version being 0.7.2C.

Here's a video from pixelplop's YouTube channel (2023-08-31):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxbIhG9799s

Go to the game's website for more information and download:

https://pixelplop.itch.io/the-last-dungeon-post-amigamejam

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00038-DE.html

Kalle Kloakk

"Kalle Kloakk" was first developed for the C64, then ported to the Mega65, and then to Amiga in May 2023. 

In it, you have to escape a public service room, by use of toilet paper rolls. That certainly sounds like education, and fun. "Kalle Kloakk" is a simple jump-and-run type game with a nice soundtrack, perfect for the casual smartphone-gamer. The title, by the way, roughly translates to "Carl Crap". 

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-05-10):

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

Go to the game's website for more information and download:

https://docster.itch.io/kalle-kloakk-68k

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00043-DE.html

Virtual Enemies

This interesting strategy game appeared in May 2023. In "Virtual Enemies", you're supposed to develop hard- and software, in order to hack a foreign computer system.

Clients for Windows, Linux and Mac are planned to be available shortly after the Amiga release. 

The latest development news were published in Sept. 2023, so the state of this one is more or less unknown, but it sure sounds intriguing.

"Virtual Enemies" screenshot
https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMjA3MDYxMS8xMjE3ODI2Mi5wbmc=/347x500/KZqfMe.png

Go to the game's website for more information and download:

https://logicalbyte.itch.io/virtualenemies

Additional sources:
https://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-05-00067-EN.html

Skinvaders

A nice straightforward Space Invaders clone named "Skinvaders" by Electric Black Sheep. It looks and plays pretty much like the original - but you can select additional colors and hi-res graphics, if you like. 

According to the game's itch.io page, it's still "PROTOTYPE" status, with the latest version released in June 2023. Oldskool arcade fun with upgraded graphics - you can't go wrong with this.

Here's a video from Per-Ola Eriksson's YouTube channel (2024-03-13):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0rSn0c82dw

Check out the game's itch.io page for more information and download: 

https://electricblacksheep.itch.io/skinvaders

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00070-DE.html

Forest of Illusion

This neat jump-and-run game, featuring a well-known Disney character, also first appeared in May 2023, and is actively being developed to this day. It's a re-imagined blend of 1990 Sega Mega-Drive (Genesis) game "Castle Of Illusion", and its sequels.

The graphics are exceptionally beautiful cartoon artwork, and as you can see in the latest video, it has a couple of extra features beyond the jumping and the running - like swimming in a bubble. 

"Forest Of Illusion" uses the Amiga's AGA chipset, so it runs on A1200, A4000, CD32 and AGA-capable emulators.

Here's the latest work-in-progress video on DomKid's YouTube channel (2025-02-19): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZYLtLywF4s

Keep an eye on DomKid's YouTube channel for latest updates to "Forest of Illusion":

https://www.youtube.com/@domkid3295

Additional sources:
https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-05-00099-EN.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #43"!

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

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Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #41: Rick Dangerous remake, Hop to the Top, Cube, Connect, CyberPunks 2 release, Space Cavern Blaster

2023 was a great year for Amiga gaming, a lot of games to review, and the stream of new releases doesn't stop. In this issue: Rick Dangerous, a bunny, a long overdue release announcement, puzzles, and multi-platforms.

Rick Dangerous (remake)

In March 2023 "Z-Team" released their "Rick Dangerous" remake for Amiga 1200 and CD32. The game was originally created by Core Design in 1989 for OCS Amigas, and is a classic adventure platformer. The remake aims to recreate the original as close as possible, based on the enhanced Nintendo Wii edition with better graphics.

Screenshot from z-team.itch.io/rick-dangerous-amiga

"Rick Dangerous" remake is available in several flavors, including releases for Windows and MacOS, but it's always the Amiga game - running in an emulator, if necessary.

Screenshot from z-team.itch.io/rick-dangerous-amiga

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:

https://z-team.itch.io/rick-dangerous-amiga

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-03-00085-EN.html
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/03/rick-dangerous-platforming-classic-as.html

Hop to the Top!

In April 2023, Rob Smith created this little Easter-themed jump'n'collect platformer, and shared the development process in a video. The game is written in AMOS, and in it, you have to save a white rabbit from drowning in the water that's flooding the bottom of your screen.

"Hop to the Top" was created in a short duration of time, and is a simple game - but it looks great, has proper sound, plays quite nicely, includes source code, is free, and we have a full video of how it's done. That's a lot of value for the money - Happy Easter indeed!

Here's Rob Smith creating the game (2023-04-02):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgoWRKUk7-U

Make sure you visit Rob's website for more information:
https://robsmithdev.co.uk

"Hop to the Top" download:
https://robsmithdev.co.uk/youtube/easter.zip

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-04-00012-DE.html

Cube

In April 2023, "Cube" was released, a dungeon-crawler style adventure/puzzle game, heavily inspired by the 1997 science-fiction-horror movie of the same name.

The game has slightly unusual system requirements, it's probably best suited for a Apollo Vampire cards: AmigaOS3 or higher, RTG 1920x1080 24bit, fast CPU (1000MIPS or higher), 250MB RAM

If you're looking for a quick round of "Cube" claustrophobia in full HD resolution, with some nasty traps for you to get caught in, then this game is certainly for you.

Here's a video from YouTube channel "Deathstar" (2023-05-03):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLQWt5nwOG0

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:

https://8080.itch.io/cubeamiga

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-04-00074-DE.html

Connect v1.4

"Connect" is a puzzle game that dates back to 2022, and has received updates, bringing it to version 1.4 in August 2023. Graphics are minimal, but it looks good and functional, and if you have a 1MB Amiga you get some music - but this is all about puzzling, gameplay has priority over eye-candy. "Connect" has several different playing modes, in all of which the players have to properly connect microchips, and you can even print out playfields (remember paper?) to solve them with a pen. That's a really nice feature - no mobile Amiga? Just print the game!

Here's an instructional video from "LogicalByte" YouTube channel (2023-03-25)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RYtbNw1B88

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:

https://logicalbyte.itch.io/connect

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2022-10-00054-DE.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=112108
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-04-00116-DE.html

CyberPunks 2 release

This is an important (albeit late) update to our previous report about "CyberPunks 2". For a short period of time, it seemed as if the game had somehow been put on hold, or something, but reality couldn't be further from that: 

In May 2023, Mutation Software released "CyberPunks 2" commercially.

Very good. :-)

Here's a video from Mutation Software's YouTube channel "AmigaDweeb" (2023-03-21)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeC2zzaAkdw

Go to Mutation Software's website for more information and purchase:

https://softwareamusements.com/MutationSoftware/index.html

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00019-DE.html

 

Space Cavern Blaster

Finally for today, and also released in May 2023, we have "Space Cavern Blaster" by dotmos. It's a fun little jump'n'collect platformer, and it is multi-platform, namely it's available for Amiga, Atari ST, C64, DOS and Sega Megadrive.

Being a multi-platform release, "Space Cavern Blaster" doesn't even attempt to do fancy tricks with the Amiga's Copper and Blitter hardware, so don't expect spectacular effects a la "Turrican" or "Reshoot" - but it's nonetheless a nicely looking, slightly quirky, well playable, and certainly enjoyable new game.

Here's a video from YouTube channel The Retro Game Planet (2023-05-27):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThWeT8z1Jb4

Go to the game's itch.io pages for more information:

https://dotmos.itch.io/space-cavern-blaster

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/05/space-cavern-blaster-highly-challenging.html
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-05-00036-EN.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #42"!

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

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Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #40: Rogue Declan: Zero, Creeping Me Out: Hex Night update, Ring around the World, Final Fight Enhanced update, Geo's Quest: In Search of Queen Lorraine, Memory Lane

Amiga game development has sped up considerably over the last couple of years, with the help of new game engines like RedPill and Scorpion Engine, and many developers re-joining the Amiga scene.

Rogue Declan: Zero

In July 2023, "Rogue Declan: Zero" was officially released by Nivrig Games. It's a fast paced top-view, single screen shooter, in which you fight through procedurally generated dungeons, and it's the winning game of AmiGameJam 2022.

"Rogue Declan: Zero" is also one of currently only a few games that support the DualStick Retro, a twin-stick controller that allows for game features such as independent movement and aiming, for example.

The game surely looks like a ton of fun, and is certainly (almost) as enjoyable to play with a standard joystick. It requires an Amiga with Kickstart 1.3 or higher, 512KB ChipRAM, and 512KB of other RAM.

Here's a video of the latest version from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-10-15):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhi7v1kf_ao

Go to the game's itch.io pages for more information, and download:

https://nivrig.itch.io/rogue-declan-zero

Additional sources:

http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-03-00014-DE.html 

http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-08-00010-EN.html

Creeping me out: Hex Night updates

Early in 2023, a couple of good news about spooky, beautiful platformer "Creeping me out: Hex night" were published, a game that we've reported about before: bugs have been fixed, and an AGA version has been created.

Here's a video of version 1.5 AGA, from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-10-15):

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

Find more information and downloads on the game's itch.io pages:
https://mixelslab.itch.io/creeping-me-out-hex-night

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-02-00102-DE.html

 

Ring around the World

Simone Bevilacqua clearly is on a mission. Not only does he create great games in impressive numbers (BOH, KOG, Huenison, Blastaway, Skillgrid, ...), but throughout his work he drops, well, just nice little messages that might help make our world a better place, the most prominent of these probably being his demo "The Cure".

"Ring around the world" is a scrolling top-view adventure game in an open world, played with the mouse. The game's protagonist is waking up, washed ashore in an unknown world, and has only little memory: he drowned in stormy sea!

The game requires a PAL-Amiga with 1MB ChipRAM and Kickstart 1.3 to run. A harddisc is recommended.

The game is free, and here's another one of the author's aforementioned little messages: He just asks players who enjoy "Ring around the World" to support someone who's become victim to violence.

Here's a trailer video from Simone's YouTube channel (2023-03-06):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6qqhqBITXk

Go to the game's website for more information and downloads:
https://www.retream.com/Ring_around_the_World

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-03-00029-DE.html

Final Fight Enhanced

Another game that we've reported about before got a new demo release early in 2023: "Final Fight Enhanced" now has a working 2-player mode, and some new groovy music.

Here's a video from the author's YouTube channel Prototron (2023-03-04):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbHggvYkxX4

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-03-00037-DE.html

Geo's Quest: In Search of Queen Lorraine

Also in early 2023 "Geo's Quest: In Search of Queen Lorraine" was published, a beautiful looking graphic adventure that consciously chooses low-res, low-color for some extra Sierra-adventure feel.

The story is a pun on Commodore history, it's a side-view point-and-click game, it has dozens of graphics, sounds, and puzzles, and you will not die in the game if you do something wrong. In other words: It's more or less a must for adventure fans.

A sequel to the game has already been announced: "Geo's Quest: Gateway to Nowhere".

Here's a video of "Geo's Quest: In Search of Queen Lorraine" from Polish YouTube channel Retrobajtel (2023-09-30):

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

Visit the game's itch.io pages for more details, and downloads:
https://pngcan.itch.io/geos-quest-in-search-of-queen-lorraine

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-03-00041-DE.html

Memory Lane

And finally for today, here's yet another release from early 2023, a classic no-graphics text adventure - somehow quite fittingly - called "Memory Lane".

The game is available for many hardware platforms, including 8-bit computers, the Mega65, MS-DOS PC, and of course Amiga.

source: https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMTk2MzU4Ny8xMTU0NjI3My5wbmc=/347x500/xeReVa.png

Go to the game's itch.io pages for more information and downloads:
https://comsha.itch.io/memorylane

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-03-00045-DE.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #41"!

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

* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #39: Tapper, Galaxian 500, Freak Out, Settle the World, Boxx games, Megafrog

Happy New Year! Tons of new Amiga games have popped up in 2023, and we're still trying to keep up.

Tapper

Very good, in May 2023 another arcade classic got properly ported to the Amiga: "Tapper" from 1983, which was previously available for many other platforms.

It's a quick and fun game in which your job is to supply your pub's customers with adequate amounts of beer. Some just want a glass full, others need the extra pint, and you never know how many will ask for a drink at the same time. So things might get hectic in this game, and the new port to Amiga is pretty much arcade-perfect.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-05-26):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7SMiGiTR8

Check video, and sources below, for more information,
or just click here to download "Tapper":
https://mega.nz/file/C5s2iTqL#lWpWrL2huZUm-ZrzyMB-rJ27YKzGAXsZ0RnQ-6aTDEo

Additional sources:
https://www.amigafuture.de/app.php/newsportal/?start=0&ulg=de&news_id=40945
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00135-DE.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapper_(video_game)

Galaxian 500

And here's yet another arcade classic: With "Galaxian 500", highly active developer Jean-Francois 'jotd' Fabre adds another member to the awesome series of his "500" ports. "Galaxian" is an advanced variation of "Space Invaders". Just like Jean-Francois' previous works, it looks pretty much identical to the arcade version, and plays as good.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-06-17):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE97fN0RQbs

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information, and download:
https://jotd666.itch.io/galaxian500

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-05-00139-DE.html
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxian

Freak Out (work-in-progress)

'If "Pong" and "Breakout" had a baby...' - that's how author Michael Kafke describes his creation, and this description is quite accurate. (Not to be confused with the 1993 game of the same name.) Maybe "Freak Out" is closer to "Arkanoid" than to classic "Breakout", and certainly it has more colors than the original "Pong", but that's just the details. The game is still work-in-progress, for example there's very little sound yet, but it looks fine with its clean playfield design and detailed, yet unobtrusive, background imagery. Also it's already playable, and has a nice presentation, so... yeah, very good, (don't) freak out!

Here's a video from Michael Kafke's YouTube channel (2022-07-11):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-DrqzpePa4

 

Settle the World

Around Aug. 2022 developer Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel announced his turn-based strategy game "Settle the World", and has been working on it since, releasing a number of videos. 

Most obviously, the graphics are stunning. Interestingly, according to the description of a four hour development log video that was released by the author in Nov. 2023, they were created using artificial intelligence. Does this mark the first time AI has been used to create content for an Amiga game? The beautiful imagery in the game intro is accompanied by a tasteful and fitting soundtrack, the user interface looks pleasant and functional. "Settle the World" is already a quality production, and is still under further development, ensuring a very enjoyable experience for Amiga strategists.

The game requires an Amiga with 1MB ChipRAM, 4MB FastRAM, and a hard disk. Some CPU upgrade is recommended.

Here's a video from the author's YouTube channel (2023-02-11):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eK596gjAX4

Go to the game's itch.io pages for more information and download:
https://theotheoderich.itch.io/settle-the-world

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-07-00078-DE.html
https://amigaportal.de/index.php?threads/settle-the-world.682/

Boxx remake, Boxx 2 remake, Boxx 3 remake, Boxx 4

Get boxxed! The Boxx games are a series of platform games with a nice selection of game mechanics, simple, but cute and effective graphics, and a couple of strategy elements. The average Amigan might get confused by the extraordinary high number of "Boxx" games, but in the end that doesn't matter. What matters is that all "Boxx" games are equally fun to play, and suitable for players of any age. If you like your platformers smooth, and with a little bit of thinking, you'll love the "Boxxes".

Boxx 3 remake, v0.2 beta, Aug. 2023

Boxx remake

https://lemming880.itch.io/boxxremake

http://aminet.net/package/game/jump/Boxx (2015 game)

Boxx 2 remake

https://lemming880.itch.io/boxx2remake

http://aminet.net/package/game/jump/Boxx2 (2015 game) 

Boxx 3 remake

https://lemming880.itch.io/boxx3remake

http://aminet.net/package/game/jump/Boxx3 (2017 game)

Boxx 4 

https://lemming880.itch.io/boxx4

Here's a video of "Boxx 4" from YouTube channel OSDane (2023-07-19):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OPr8iS9w0o

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-04-00079-EN.html
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-09-00043-EN.html
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-07-00055-EN.html

 

Megafrog (work-in-progress)

Around Nov. 2022, author Friar85 released this nice variation of the classic Frogger arcade game. Have you ever played "Crossy Roads"? Then you have an idea about "Megafrog". In "Megafrog", most things are a little bit bigger than in Frogger, in fact the screen scrolls vertically, meaning you'll need an extra bit of endurance to master the game. Also there are a lot more features than classic Frogger ever had, like crossings, and cars at different speeds.

It's been quite a while since we last heard from the game, but the preview looks smooth and solid. "Megafrog" runs on any Amiga. A little CPU upgrade (14MHz or better) is recommended, and a 2-button joystick is supported.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2022-11-01):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNVk9HnTx4E

Go to game's itch.io pages for more information and download:
https://friar85.itch.io/megafrog

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-11-00018-EN.html
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/11/megafrog-amiga-work-in-progress-frogger.html

 

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #40"!

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

* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #38: Breakthru, Xevious, AmiSnakes, Bertie's Animal Kingdom, Electric Black Sheep projects in the attic

More arcade ports, a fun snake game, a game for the little ones, and a harddisc load of mini-games/demos.

"BreakThru" work-in-progress

1986 arcade game "BreakThru" was released for 8-bit computers back in the day, and some modern platforms more recently, so far - and is about to become available for the Amiga, too. It's a side-scrolling shoot-em-up somehow typical for its time - which means it's also an arcade classic. The Amiga version is still work-in-progress, but it already looks pretty much 100% like the original version. 

Final system requirements haven't been set, currently the game runs on all Amigas with 1MB, with the author hinting at maybe slightly higher CPU demands as development progresses.

Here's the latest "Breakthru" WIP video from AcidBottle 0101's YouTube channel (2023-05-14):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmy0NFyq3GA

Additional sources:
https://dataeast.fandom.com/wiki/BreakThru
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/04/breakthru-amiga-port-of-data-east.html
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=114151

Xevious and Super Xevious

1982 vertically scrolling shoot-em-up "Xevious" is another arcade classic (albeit far more successful than the aforementioned "BreakThru"), and a favorite of many retro gamers. It never got officially ported to the Amiga, but thanks to the efforts of developers tcdev, jotd, and no9, who carefully recreated the game's code and music, we can now play it in perfect arcade quality on our Amiga machines. This remake also includes "Super Xevious", the sequel to the original game.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-06-23):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0F_LU9J3bk

 

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information, and download:
https://jotd666.itch.io/xevious1200

Additional sources:
https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/xevious
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=110262

AmiSnakes

"AmiSnakes" is a simple, fun parallax scrolling snake game that was released around April 2023. If you've ever played a snake game, you'll immediately feel at home here. Even if you've never played a snake game before you'll probably immediately feel at home here. All you have to do is eat pills, and grow. Isn't that great? Yes, it is, but with great length comes great responsibility.

So, long story short: The game has neat graphics, and some nice music, and, well, it's a fun snake game, check it out!

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-04-01):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-awbVkeuE

Go to the game's itch.io page for more information, and download:
https://tukinem.itch.io/amisnakes  

Additional sources:
https://www.ppa.pl/forum/strefa-tworcow/45464/amisnakes (Polish forum thread)

Bertie’s Animal Kingdom

In Feb. 2023, a game that wasn't became a game that is: "Bertie's Animal Kingdom" is a very nice looking educational game for kids that was kinda released about 20 years ago, but got washed away in the shrinking, dissolving Amiga market of the time. Now it has been rediscovered and re-released (for free).

It's a quiz game, in which you have to guess animal names. Obviously it's quite an easy game for grown ups, but with its nice sounds and beautiful hand drawn graphics "Bertie's Animal Kingdom" is a pleasant experience for all players.

Here's a video from "Games That Weren't"'s YouTube channel (2023-02-08):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO8rnXvBPh8

Go to the game's website for more information and download:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2023/02/berties-animal-kingdom/

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/02/berties-animal-kingdom-rather-rare.html

 

Electric Black Sheep "Projects in the attic"

Towards the end of 2022, developer team "Electric Black Sheep" let us take a peek behind the scenes of game development, opening up their "attic" by releasing a number of proof-of-concept / tech-demo / mini-game productions, including titles such as "Chopter", "Harvest", "Star Dust Wars 2", "Walker", "Starship Troopers", and a couple more. All of them have some pretty spectacular graphics, most are also playable and have sound. It'll be very nice to see how the ideas and techniques used in these demos show up in future "Electric Black Sheep" projects.

Here's a video from Electric Black Sheep's YouTube channel (2022-11-22):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuzM3oGOzes

If you want to check out some of Electric Black Sheep's projects in the attic, go to their website for more information and downloads:
https://electricblacksheep.itch.io/projects-in-the-attic

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #39"!

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

* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #37: Minky, None Of Us, Flying Shark, Super Delivery Boy - The Holiday Shift, Chaos Arena

Platformers, arcade ports, shoot-em-ups - and a chaotic multiplayer game for up to six human players!

Minky

In October 2022, full version 1.0 of "Minky", a seriously cute looking platformer game, was released. By December 2022, version 1.4 was released, with a couple of bugfixes and enhancements, e.g. you can now select joystick-up or 2nd-button for jumping.

"Minky" plays a bit slower than for example "Mario Bros.", has some nice music, and most of all looks just gorgeous. Anyone who can resist Minky's big, slow blinking eyes, must be a totally heartless person. 

The game requires an Amiga 500 with 1MB or better, and can be purchased from as little as 1.99EUR (see link below).

Here's a video from YouTube channel Screen Shooters (2022-11-20):

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7VEUq_Fzc

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://matze1887.itch.io/minky

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-12-00043-EN.html
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/10/minky-lovely-amiga-game-by-matze1887.html

None Of Us

In Nov. 2022, developer team "Electric Black Sheep" released their proof-of-concept mini-game "None Of Us", which is a top-view scrolling shoot-em-up with a spectacular headlamp field-of-vision feature. So according to the developers it's not meant to be a full-featured game, but it's a highly attractive release nonetheless, reminiscent of "Alien Breed" and arcade shooters like "Commando". And it'll be interesting to see how Electric Black Sheep will refine their field-of-vision technique with the experience gained from this project, for a possible future "full" game.

Here's a video from Electric Black Sheep's YouTube channel (2022-11-21):

 

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

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://electricblacksheep.itch.io/none-of-us

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/10/none-of-us-among-us-inspiration-arrives.html

Flying Shark (demo)

"Flying Shark" is a 1987 arcade shoot-em-up that was ported to the Amiga in 1988 by Firebird. Developer Magnus T has been working on a remake since about March 2022, and the latest development update video was released on his YouTube channel in May 2023.

The new Amiga "Flying Shark" is currently a 5-level demo that runs on Amiga 500 with 1MB RAM, and is unavailable for the public. But if you're really interested and do a little bit of research, you can find an earlier demo release. (Hint: Try "Additional Sources" below.)

Here's the latest "FlyingShark" video from Magnus T's YouTube channel (2023-05-23):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkeGg9aV1IQ

An updated, downloadable demo can surely be expected soon!

Additional sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Shark (1987 arcade game)
https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/flying-shark (1988 Firebird Amiga port)
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/05/flying-shark-wip-flying-shark-remake.html
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=110252

 

Super Delivery Boy - The Holiday Shift

"Super Delivery Boy" by Neeso Games - a game about which we've reported before - got a special release for Christmas 2022, called "The Holiday Shift". 

Well, now it's summer, but "The Holiday Shift" is still a good looking, family-friendly platformer, just like its predecessor.

The game requires an Amiga with 1MB RAM.

 

https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMTMwMjg5Ny8xMDYyNzkyNC5wbmc=/347x500/wlIaJs.png

Go to the game's itch.io page for more information and download:

https://neesogames.itch.io/the-holiday-shift

Additional sources:
https://neesogames.itch.io/super-delivery-boy

 

Chaos Arena

...is a cute, chaotic, and somehow mean action game for up to six human players simultaneously, plus computer controlled enemies. The goal is to be the last (wo)man standing in a fight to push each other off the "arena" platform. All Player characters and NPCs look the same, the eponymous arena shrinks as you play, and if the opponent you try to push away steps aside, there's a good chance you might fall into the abyss yourself.

That certainly sounds like a ton of chaos, and an equal amount of fun! "Chaos Arena" was releases in Nov. 2022, and runs on Amiga computers with 1MB RAM and Kickstart 1.3 (and probably higher). Four human players can join the chaos on joysticks (via "four-player" parallelport adapter), and two on keyboard.

Here's a video from YouTube channel OSDane (2023-05-13):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkLz-4pbroM

 

Go to the game's itch.io page for more information and download:

https://lastminutecreations.itch.io/chaos-arena

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/11/chaos-arena-be-careful-not-to-fall-off.html

 

* * *

...and some bonus gaming news:

"Maria Renard's Revenge" final version

In February 2023 the final version of this fantastic looking adventure platformer was released. You can get it from the game's itch.io page (see link below) - and even name your own price! (If you like the game, make sure to support the author with a couple of dollars/euros.)

Here's a Video of the final version on DomKid's YouTube channel (2023-01-31):

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

Go to "Maria Renard's Revenge" homepage for more information, and download:
https://z-team.itch.io/maria-renards-revenge

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-02-00035-DE.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #38"!

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

* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!