The best 50 Amiga games ever - CU Amiga April 1997

The Best 50 Amiga Games Ever
50	Rick Dangerous	You play Rick, a kind of cut price Indiana Jones. Rick Dangerous is a platformer from a simpler age. Take a break from speeding hedgehogs and try this one out for a jolt of spear dodging, boulder escaping, rope swinging platform satisfaction. How much you like this game may depend on how nostalgic you get for the old games, but this is one of the few that is actually as good as you remember it being.
49	Heimdall 2	Isometric vikings, that's what you need. Norse puzzling and a bit of horn blowing are all part of the deal with this fascinating arcade adventure RPG kind of affair, in which you find out what it's like to roam the barren wastelands of the north with little else but an itchy goat skin to keep the cockles of your heart from freezing over.
48	Railroad Tycoon	Sid Meier just manages to squeeze a third game into the chart. No game for the faint hearted train spotter this, Railroad Tycoon is a game of cutthroat business management. As owner of a new railway line, you must try to develop as much of a monopoly as you can, balancing the need for fast passenger transport with the difficulties of getting goods from where they are made to where they are wanted. One of the best business management games going.
47	Wings	It could be argued that this ageing Cinemaware release is a little short in the gameplay department, that it's not the most technically advanced game, or that it's plain dull. But hang on a minute, strap yourself into that first world war bi-plane, take a sortie out over the Somme and that stuff doesn't seem to matter. What matters is returning to base, having lost Ginger and Squiffy to the guns of the Germans, and trying to keep a tear from your eye as the sad accordion player heaves out another tune.
46	Damocles	Paul Woakes' follow up to the 8 bit classic Mercenary, this put you on an abandoned planet, searching a way to deal with the comet Damocles which was on a collision course. The 3D graphics look simplistic compared to today's offerings, but were fast and effective. This was one of those free-form, you-haven't-played-much-like-this sort of games that just aren't written any more. There were whole worlds for you to travel around, and a fantastic sense of place.
45	James Pond 2	An unusual combination of comedy and platform action - not as funny as the Monty Python's Flying Circus game, but a lot more playable. James Pond is a half fish, all British secret agent, who starred in a series of some of the most enjoyable platform games going. It's more the slow, thinking man's platformer of old than the fast moving Sega style action games of today, but if you like fish, James Pond has a license to grill.
44	Archer Mclean's Pool	Sports games are often endorsed by famous personalities. It's supposed to lend them a degree of credibility. If the current big shot footballer/hockey player/hoop shooter puts his name to it, it must be good. Maybe there was some cost-cutting going on when this was released though, because rather than rope in a pool star to sign on the dotted line, they got the programmer to do it instead. Well he would say it's good, wouldn't he? It just so happens he's right. This is a top 3D pool game. So that's OK then.
43	John Madden's Football	Do you sit up with a gallon of coffee and a skipload of popcorn once a year to catch the Superbowl live from the States? If so, it can safely be assumed that you're a gridiron fan, in which case John Madden's Football is an essential purchase. No question about it. This is only one that's really got a grip on the whole thing, the plays, the stats, the shoulder pads and most of all, the gameplay, which is fast and hard like the real thing. A clever 3D viewing angle make it look pretty snazzy too.
42	Banshee	Vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups came into fashion, then went out of fashion, then some years later Banshee appeared. If we said 1942, the more mature gamers amongst us would get the picture. If we said it's a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up in which you guide your plane through waves of enemies, blasting everything in your path, the rest of you should get the picture too. A good solid blast.
41	Monkey Island 1	In most cases where we've charted a game that has been a sequel or an update, we've not included the original, as the new version has surpassed the old. However, while Monkey Island 2 gets mention further up the charts, the original Monkey Island is a totally separate challenge in itself, and you really can't have one without the other. Not as graphically slick as the sequel, Monkey Island 1 nevertheless has plenty of adventuring meat on offer, with an overriding sense of humour that's a real rarity in adventure games.
40	Genesia	It looks like Populous, but has more in common with Civ's technological progress. A brilliant mixture of playability and depth, and uniquely for games of this type actually had a specific quest to perform, to collect seven crystals together. Technological developments such as cannons and balloons help you search and conquer the world. Victories are on a capture the flag basis, but it is far too easy to sneak into heavily guarded territory and do this, letting the game down - otherwise would have been some places higher.
39	F15-II Strike Eagle	Another one from the Microprose stable, this flight sim is along very similar lines to F117a Nighthawk, although missions tend to be more combat oriented and a little less concerned with night flying and precision strikes. The mission based system is excellent, with an endless range of objectives for you to hunt down and destroy. F15 is fast and full of action, if a little less refined than F117a.
38	Exile	Some games never die, they just come back with 'enhanced graphics' which seem to look worse than the originals. Not to worry, this 'thrust around a subterranian maze and shoot things' game stil retains the playability of its 8-bit origins. If you've not seen it before, a first glance at it might suggest we've gone overboard on a double nostalgia trip here, but a few wiggles of the stick later and you'll be hooked.
37	Beneath a Steel Sky	One of those spooky sci-fi graphic adventures, Beneath a Steel Sky is one of the few games that could realistically be described as an interactive movie, not because it has reels of digitised film clips or voice overs from posh actors, but thanks to the atmosphere built up by the unfolding story, albly illustrated by comic artist Dave Gibbons, well known for his Watchmen strips. You'll need patience and time, but give it those two and you get back an enchanting and enthralling way to spend those late nights.
36	Roadkill	Something must have gone a but wrong with this one. Maybe it was released at the wrong time. Possibly it didn't get the press coverage it deserved, or maybe its moon was in Jupiter no the cusp... Whatever, it's a great little game that never seemed to get the applauds from the public it was due. A 2D top-down racer, it's not the most original of games, but it plays like a little puppy with a new ball with a bell in it. And you can shoot each other too, which is nice.
35	Desert Strike.	Another of those games which has done the circuit of platforms and been pretty good on all of them. Another Isometric helicopter blaster, but not the fast 3D isometric style of Zeewolf2, rather the normal scrolling background type. Flying your helicopter around to pick up weapons and fuel, destroy the enemy, and rescue downed pilots and prisoners of you own side is what all helicopter games have in common; what keeps them apart is how well they play, and this one pays very well indeed.
34	Guardian	The popular decription for this one is Defender in 3D. If you look at it logically that is quite true, in so much as you shoot the things in the air and defend the bits on the ground. But frankly, it's got sod all to do with Defender when it comes to actual gameplay. It's more like a kind of shoot 'em up cross with a flight simulator. All the tricky bits and keyboard controls of your average flight sim have been stripped away, and the enemy presence has been cranked up to max, so it's full on loop-the-loop blasting action from beginning to end.
33	F1 Grand Prix	Back into serious mode after the high flying excitement of Stunt Car Racer, Geoff Crammond gave us what has become the definitive Formula 1 simulation on the Amiga. Attention to detail and realism are the keys here. This is no Ridge Racer, more a flight simulation on wheels, going round tracks, in a racing car. With handy 'getting started' modes that even a blind gibbon could get on with, it gives you the chance to slip into its depths with transparent ease. Once you're there you'll be captivated for hours on end.
32	Sensible Golf	Basing an Amiga game around something that came out on the Nintendo Gameboy in the early 90s doesn't sound like a shrewd move. However, Sensible Golf took much of the feel and style of the pocket-sized golf edition and brought it to our favourite computer with a few enhancements along the way (like colour graphics for a start). Using Sensible Software's trademark little people, it doesn't try to compete with the likes of PGA Tour, but still retains a certain pull that keeps you coming back.
31	Premier Manager 3	Once the great rival to Champ Man for the footie manager crown, Premier doesn't seem to have had quite the lasting power. It's adherents loved the greater depth that this game has, and if you are into the financial aspects of management games, this is the one for you. You even have to negotiate sales of your pitch side advertisement hoardings. It was never as user friendly and well presented as Champ Man 'though. The latest release of Premier Manager 3 came with an editor disk.
30	Slam Tilt	Pinball games, we just can't get enough of them. The thing is, once you've got a good pinball simulation engine, the sky is the limit. Or at least the number of disks the game comes on is the limit. Slam Tilt comes on five, has four tables and even manages to incorporate a multi-ball feature by snapping into super high resolution mode to keep the whole table visible while your multiple balls are in play. Wow!
29	UFO	A recent re-release by Guildhall leisure of a not so old Microprose game, UFO scored 93% in the budget games section in our February issue. A weird isometric shooting things / tactics sort of a game, you have to lead a secret group called x-com in a secret war against the alien invaders. An engrossing game with a lot of variety. Shooting, thinking and experimenting on the corpses of your foes. What more could you ask for?
28	Theme Park	It's the kind of game you'd expect to appear from one of those American Apple Mac software developers. You know, the type of people responsible for Coca Cola screen savers and other excuses to ask your boss for an extra 64Mb of RAM. However, Theme Park was actually produced by one of the UK's best home grown teams. Considering its an original twist on the strategy/business simulation/people management idea, maybe it's not that surprising that it came from Bullfrog. If you're expecting white knuckle thrills, you'll be disappointed. However, if you want to chance your arm at developing your own Disney World it'll keep you entertained for months.
27	Kick off 2	A top-down football game by Dino Dini, and the inspiration for Sensible Soccer. Not as polished as Sensi, and less options, but some people still swear by it. One truly excellent feature is playing two player co-operative mode, which allows two players to play on the same team and pass the ball around between them. A spin-off, Kick Off player manager has what remains today about the most sophisticated tactics editor in any football game.
26	Powermonger	Bearing strong visual similarities to Populous, this game, also from Bullfrog, has a much more tactical basis to it. The game is all about warfare - leading a small band of fighters, you have to take over the local area through conquest and corruption, competing with other powermongers for world domination. An excellent attempt at bringing the war gaming genre into the mainstream. Try to get the Hit Squad edition with the World War 1 add on, it adds a lot to the game.
25	Gloom Deluxe	The only Amiga Doom-alike that managed to incorporate real shoot 'em up gameplay into the format was Gloom, followed by a the even better Gloom Deluxe. While the gamplay of other 3D maze games consists of peeping round a corner, picking off the baddies with a peashooter before walking down another empty corridoor, Gloom gives you a tin hat, a semi-bullet proof jacket, a big fat plasma gun, and a big kick up the backside. So off you go, blasting away with your green plasma bolts at anything that dares to come in your way, even scooting around the levels at a fair old whack on the most modest Amiga.
24	Another World	Typical isn't it. There you are, working late in the office one night, when something goes wrong with the cyclotron and you find yourself teleported into another world. Another World is like nothing else in gaming. It the closest thing yet to a true "interactive movie", with a totally intuitive control method, great graphics and a stunning atmosphere. Alas, it is far too short to provide enough of a challenge, but it really does put you in another world.
23	Super Skidmarks	First there was Sprint, an ancient monochrome coin-op from Atari. Then came Super Sprint and Championship Sprint, building on the basic top-down racing them and adding a psuedo 3D slant on the proceedings. Then cam Skidmarks and Spuer Skidmarks on the Amiga to take it all a stage further, turning that psuedo 3D slant into a full-on isometric 3D format with bumps, slippy muddy bits, and cows towing caravans. Well, what racing game is complete without some bovine-lead mobile homes?
22	Zeewolf2	Zeewolf2 is a fast and furious 3D - isometric helicopter blaster. Loosely based on an old Acorn Archimedes game called Zarch, renamed Virus on the Amiga, Zeewolf doesn't quite fit in with any other blaster / flight sim sort of game. The control system is a vast improvement on Virus, and the range of options and weapons far more interesting. You can even link up to remotely controlled vehicles and attack the enemy base from the ground and the air.
21	Indy 500	Now we're talking speed. Indy 500 has it in buckets and somehow manages to bring the seat of the pants excitement of driving in the Indianapolis 500 to your Amiga. Despite the simplicity of its single oval track, the number of options, camera angles, and overall feel of the game is so intense and convincing that you really don't care that you're just going round and round in circles. Some say it was this game that tempted Nigel Mansell across the pond from Formula 1 to become the first ever 'rookie' to take the Indy crown (that's a lie actually, but you get the point).
20	Populous	First and possibly greatest of the God games, Populous from Bullfrog places you as god over a small tribe. By carefully managing the affairs of your worshippers, you can improve their lot by providing them with more fertile ground and blessing their best warriors as knights, and can confound their enemies by inflicting them with floods and earthquakes. A bit of a cheat this, to be honest Populous 2 is a better game - but we couldn't locate a stockist.
19	Bubba and Stix	Man With a Stick: now that's what I like, a straight talking game title that gets to the point. Unfortunately Man With a Stick was only the working title, and the marketing types decided Bubba and Stix would be more appealing to the Amiga gaming comunity. Strangely enough, the game centres around a man with a stick. But not just any man, no, this one has a silly hat and wears nothing but a pair of dungarees. His stick isn't just a bit of wood either, it's his best friend and is pivotal in many of the puzzles sprinkled throughout this highly endearing platform game.
18	Chaos Engine 2	In the beginning there was Gauntlet, and folks reckoned it the greatest game of all time. There have been all sort of games based on it since, but Chaos Engine 2 is the best. Lovely graphics in the Bitmap Brother's own inimicable style, decent sound, and best of all a game that neatly combines challenging thought with all action blasting. Brilliant in 2 player mode, great in one. The most recent game in our top 50, this got 90% in our January issue.
17	F117a NightHawk	Probably the best flight sim written for the Amiga by those kings of the Flight Sim Genre, Microprose. The F117a is the stealth fighter which was used so famously in the gulf war. In this game you get to fly mission after mission, sneaking under radar surveillance to take out your assigned targets. The flight engine is smooth, there is plenty to blast, and missions seem to mean something unlike the arbitrary missions of many flight sims.
16	Pinball Fantasies	Making a computer play a satisfactory game of pinball is tricky thing. The Pinball Dreams/Fantasies/Illusions series manage it a lot better than most. You get a good sense of the bounce of the balls, the flippers feel good, the bouncers behave properly - this actually feels like pinball. Which of these gets you going is a matter of taste, of which one has the tables you like. Fantasies wins with us - especially the Stones and Bones table!
15	Colonisation	Sid Meier's follow up to Civilisation, this game presents you with the challenge of becoming the dominant power in the Americas, having to deal (in whatever way you see fit) with both rival European powers and the locals, who vary from the poor, peaceful Tupi to the rich, warlike Aztecs. The depth of this game is huge - trade is complex and realistic, and strategy can be quite mind-bending. Games can take months to finish.
14	Alien Breed 3D II	Is that your heart beating, or is it the pulse of an alien hiding just around the next corner? Scary stuff, this Alien Breed, 3D, II, The Killing Grounds... Snappy title though, you must admit. Anyway, that band of opinion makers known simply as 'they' were going around saying it couldn't be done. A decent Doom-style game on the Amiga that is. Even though AB3DII didn't have the speed of others, such as Gloom, it made up for it in atmosphere. Put it into two-player serial link up mode and things get rather sweaty, as anyone who joined in our death match competition at last year's World of Amiga Show will testify.
13	PGA European Tour	Everyone needs a decent golf game, and this is about good as they get. You can take your fancy texture mapped console and PC attempts and do what you like with them Ð if you want golf with depth and accuracy, a game of skill and judgement with a few birds tweeting in the background, PGA European Tour is your man. Building on its very similar predecessor PGA Tour Golf, the European Tour adds refined graphics and textured, if not texture mapped, greens and fairways. Lovely.
12	Civilization	Sid Meier, author of Civilization, has written such great games that he is considered to be a god by certain computer games playing tribes in Borneo. Civ is one of those games which keeps you at your computer for far too long when you first play it, and is tempting enough to make you want to come back again and again. The scope of Civilisation is vast. You start as ruler of an ancient peoples that have barely learned to talk and make fires, and you try to lead them to glory as the greatest civilisation on the planet, eventually taking them to the stars. You can play the game in several different modes - you can concentrate on scientific development while keeping the peace with other civilisations, you can become a huge trade and exploration power, or you can build a huge army and conquer the world. The range of games are limitless. One game you may find yourself way behind in the arms race, your charioteers facing tanks, the only solution to race to develop nuclear power, in another you may find your technology so far in advance of everyone else that your rapid transit system is being attacked by barbarians. Utterly engrossing.
11	Stunt Car Racer	Hold onto your lunch! Geoff Crammond cut his teeth on the 8-bit Formula 1 simulator Revs, but then threw caution to the wind and produced this masterpiece, in which the tracks are like rollercoasters and the cars are souped up dragsters with incredible suspension. Arriving at a time when 'solid' 3D was big news, it won us over then to this day has never been surpassed, or even more surprisingly, never cloned or copied on the Amiga or any other platform. Pure adrenalin.
10	Syndicate	Syndicate is Bullfrog's cyberpunk masterpiece. Like Cannon Fodder set in the city from Bladerunner, this game captures the spirit of cyberpunk very nicely. Taking the role of a multinational corporation fighting for world supremacy, you send cybernetically enhanced agents on missions to capture scientists, assassinate dangerous subversives, and so on. A variety of new technology can be researched, both new cybernetic enhancements and new weapons such a laser guns and force field belts. Bloody action with flame-throwers. Brilliant.
9	Championship Manager	When is Champ Man 2 coming out? Addicts of this king of the footie manager games have been asking this question for well over a year now. This one eschewed the boring financial aspects of management for the excitement of tactics, buying and selling, and getting on with the actual game. I know someone who spent about a year solid playing this game. The best football manager game on any platform, except possible Champ Man 2.
8	F-29 Retaliator	So it's got a few bugs in it and it doesn't like AGA Amigas. It's also got the fastest, most exhilarating gameplay of any Amiga flight simulation. While other flight simulations were putting their efforts into ploughing a deep furrow with as much 'realism' as possible, they were also getting a bit tied up in flight technicalities and losing sight of the fact that they were supposed to be conveying the sense of shooting through the skies at super-sonic speeds. F-29 Retaliator put action firmly back at the top of the adgenda, just where it should be.
7	Cannon Fodder	This game caused quite an uproar in the tabloid press because of the rather typically humorous take the sensible lads had on the horrors of war. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to lead a hand picked group of small Sensi-style commandos on missions of gun shooting, grenade lobbing, rocket launching and skidoo driving madness across a whole range of levels, featuring deserts, jungles and icy wastes. One of the few games to really successfully integrate strategy and action.
6	Speedball 2	A bit of an oldie, but one which is always totally absorbing. You are in charge of the Speedball team Brutal Deluxe as they attempt to make their way to the top of the first division. Speedball is a brutal future sport, rugby with cybernetics. There is no referee, so anything goes - one of the favourite tactics of experienced payers is to pass the ball to an oncoming defender, beat him to a pulp and take the ball back. There are powerups you can collect to activate effects such as freezing your opponents or stealing the ball, and there are coins you can collect to soup up your team after the match or buy in star players. Points are scored in the game by getting a goal, hitting the electrobounce, activating the 5 stars on the walls, or battering one of your opponents so much that they have to be stretchered off the pitch. Speedball 2 does show it's age in a lack of depth. There are only 18 star players to buy, and once season 2 is over, you have either won or lost. It's also a shame that all the players look alike, but it is still one of the best adrenaline pumpers around.
5	Dune 2	Loosely based around the Frank Herbert novels and the Dave Lynch film, Dune 2 is a brilliant point and click strategy game. You've probably heard of Command and Conquer, the biggest game on the PC at the moment - well this is basically the same game, written by the same programmers. Dune 2 has an awesome array of military units for you to purchase or develop as you harvest spice to pay for your constructions, build your facilities, and drive the forces of your opponents from the surface of the planet Arakkis.
4	XTR	XTR is not exactly the most realistic racing game on the Amiga, but it is certainly the most fun. Fast 3D graphics with a range of display options to suit the speed of your computer, and a host of tracks to race on. There are weapon pick ups on the course and coins which you can use to purchase weapon upgrades. Very similar to Mario Karts, and just as much fun!
3	Monkey Island 2	One of the greatest point and click adventure games of all time. A glossy production from Lucas Arts, the software division of George Lucas' multimedia empire, this game comes on 11 disks and contains plenty of beautifully drawn graphics and atmospheric sound. Your quest takes you across the Spanish Main as you track down the items required for the voodoo ritual that you must perform to rid the world of the ghost pirate leChuck. But there's quite a surprise at the end!
2	SWOS '96-97	What can be said that hasn't already been said? A presentation that is very much it's own, strong management options, and great gameplay. Started life as Sensible Soccer, and has evolved through a dozen or so forms to become Sensible World of Soccer '96-97, it's final incarnation. Many thousands of players with individual stats, and no two games are alike. One major indie band blames Sensi Soccer for an album being released a year late! Probably the best footie game on any platform.
1	Worms TDC	It had to be didn't it? Those little critters have become part of the family, even if we seem to get so much satisfaction from blowing them up. The original Worms was one of the Amiga's biggest ever 'exports', spawning conversions to just about every other computer platform and console on the market. What's even more satisfying is that none of these conversions could match the original, in fact nothing could match the original, until the arrival of The Directors Cut that is. New weapons and better graphics raised the stakes and improved on the core gameplay without fixing what wasn't broke. Even though SWOS put up a very good fight for the number one slot, Worms TDC got the nod from everyone, football fans or not. Scratch the surface and you'll find the only bit of dexterity involved is a simple alignment of a sight and well timed stab of the fire button, but it still has all the meat of a classic shoot 'em up. Maybe due to that very simplicity, it's also one of the few games you can guarantee that your non-computer gaming mates will happily play for hours on end. We could analyse it for ever, but what's the point? Just play it!

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• Your local Game, HMV and Electronic Boutique stores