Amiga Games

Amiga Games
Re-visit Those Amiga Games
Showing posts with label Amiga Games - C. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amiga Games - C. Show all posts

14/06/2010

Amiga Game - The Chaos Engine - Classic Commodore Amiga Game

The Chaos Engine Amiga
All I can say is cool, cool and totally f*cking cool. This title for the Commodore Amiga is a true classic game from the legendary Bitmap Brothers.

Released in 1993 by Renegade Software this game was a massive hit due to it's superb gameplay, fantastic soundtrack, excellent graphics, atmosphere, and polished presentation.

Then again we shouldn't have been surprised because the Bitmaps usually treated us to quality games with the likes of Gods, Speedball 2, Xenon and Xenon 2.

Don't forget to collect the treasure after you've killed everthing With six charaters to pick from (The Navvie, The Thug, The Preacher, The Gentleman, The Brigand and The Mercenary) you and a friend, or a computer assisted player had to enter the world of The Chaos Engine and restore order to the land.

The land required saving because a mad scientist (they're always mad aren't they?) back in the Victorian era had created this machine which ultimately turned against him, changing man and beast into... err beasts. Deadly creatures that had to be dispatched by you and your in game buddy.

So - the whole game was set in a very nice steampunk environment complete with pumping soundtrack and a mean sounding voice over bloke.

Node Activated - The Chaos EngineMaking your way through each scrolling level you had to reach the exit gate (some levels had more than one exit allowing different paths through the game) by killing everything in site, opening doors and activating 'nodes'.

In true classic arcade style each character had different weapons and a special secondary firepower - and there were plenty of bonuses to collect along the way.

Keys would open secret doors, food would restore your health, certain items would launch incendiaries or fireballs, scenery would vanish or close up behind you... There was so much to surprise you in the game you were always on your toes.

There were four worlds to play through, each one tougher than the last. Every so often you could increase your players attributes such as speed, intelligence, skill and health - which you needed to do as play progressed.

To do this you would collect treasure and coins as you made your way through each level. If playing in two player mode co-operation between you and your pal was the best way to play.

The Chaos Engine To complete the game you had to make it to the end of world four and destroy The Chaos Engine itself.

This game was notable at the time due to the fantastic graphics (both on the game characters and backgrounds) which scrolled smoothly in eight directions.

The in game music and speech was fantastic (and still is even today), and this is probably the first game where the tempo of the music changed as you neared the completion of a level. This really ramped up the excitement as you played.

The Chaos Engine - Power up your character on the Amiga 500
Even if you played with a computer controlled character they showed good intelligence and would take out nasties lurking behind you. Sometimes they did go and eat all of the food though!

All in all this is an arcade game that really showcased what the Amiga could do in the hands of talented coders. It was extremely playable, superb to look at, atmospheric and was beyond addictive.

If you like arcade games, pumping music and a challenge, then this game is for you. In fact - this game is for everyone.

Node activated...

We recommend getting hold of the real Amiga hardware - but if not then download an Amiga emulator and download The Chaos Engine. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

Please see our other Amiga game reviews - all links are listed in alphabetical order. Cheers guys

GENRE: Arcade Game (Multi Scrolling Shoot em up)
RELEASE DATE: 1993
RELEASED BY: Renegade Software
DEVELOPER(S): Mike Montgomery, Steve Cargill
PRICE: £25.99 - UK

Classic Arcade Action...




Classic Games, Arcade Games and Amiga Games

25/09/2009

Amiga Games - Commando - Commodore Amiga retro game

Amiga Games Commando
Another coin-op conversion, Commando had already been a smash hit on 8-bit machines a few years earlier (the ZX Spectrum version had been excellent), and Elite finally got around to converting the arcade game to the Amiga in 1989.

The game involved you taking the role of a crack commando named Super Joe (The 1980's came up with some really corny character names).

Amiga Commando
Your mission: To penetrate deep behind enemy lines and destroy their two main fortresses. The game took place over a vertically scrolling landscape and your trusty commando was armed with a sub machine gun (which had unlimited ammo Nic Cage style) and a handful of grenades.

By todays standards the game is pretty simple (and even by 1989 when it came out on the Amiga), but to be fair it was a pretty faithfull conversion of the popular arcade game. The vertical scrolling is nice and smooth and the landscape is recreated almost down to the last pixel.

The game even had the helicopter drop-off at the start of the game which had been missing from the ZX Spectrum version (no doubt down to RAM limitations).

There were some nice touches in the game such as the soldiers on bikes, running under bridges, different coloured enemies and jeeps that would sweep across the screen and take a couple of pot shots at you.

There were also supply trucks that would drive across the screen which enemey soldiers jumped out of and immediately began shooting at you. No fair!

It was not an easy game by any stretch (the Amiga version was pretty tough - sometimes unfairly so on the player), and the later levels with caves for the enemy to hide in, rivers to get across, fox-holes to avoid and rocket launching troopers provided a difficult challenge.

No powerups were available save for collecting more grenades which were strewn around the landscape, which added to the difficulty and made you rely on your skill and reflexes (and some good fortune) to plough through the later levels.

Well we here in the land of Amiga Games reckon this title has stood the test of time quite well. It is still pretty playable and does capture the look and feel of the CapCom original. The only real drawback is the difficulty: most of the time the collision detection doesn't seem to be up to par, which is unforgiveable - especially on the Amiga.

It should be noted that it could be difficult to run on an A500+ or an A1200 (as far as I can remember anyway!)

I must say I prefer the Spectrum version of Commando - it's just that little bit more playable.

We recommend getting hold of the real Amiga hardware - but if not then download an emulator and download Commando. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

Please see our other Amiga retro game reviews - all links are listed in alphabetical order. Cheers guys.

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: Late 1989
RELEASED BY: Elite
DEVELOPER(S): Martin Ward, Neil Latarche
PRICE: £19.99 - UK

I go Commando whilst playing Commando - Amiga Games:



Classic Games and Amiga Games

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