The Amiga 1200: What if it could have ran Doom?

[Leon Retro]

I agree with JazzFunk. The Amiga was an amazing home computer, ahead of it's time but far from a great games machine if you liked fast arcade type gaming.

There are plenty of Amiga games that show off perfectly how the hardware could compete well with the PCE, SNES and Mega Drive. It's just a sad fact that lots of Amiga games were lame ST ports, so they took no advantage of the much more advanced Amiga hardware.

The A500 has plenty of hardware features that benefit 2D gaming, so simply porting an ST game to the Amiga was like bunging a Master System game on the Mega Drive.

What some talented devs managed to do with the Amiga really is stunning. The Amiga's broad colour palette, impressive soundchip(clever coding could increase the amount of sound channels) and hardware scrolling made it a great machine for 2D action games. It's just a sad fact that only a few devs managed to take full advantage of the hardware.

[monel]

You're answering posts that never existed, in that at the end you said very few devs managed it. So if you had one of the 16 bit consoles you were flooded with the types of games the computers didn't have. An Amiga is great for Deluxe Paint and musicians loved the ST. But for games...

[Leon Retro]

You're answering posts that never existed, in that at the end you said very few devs managed it. So if you had one of the 16 bit consoles you were flooded with the types of games the computers didn't have. An Amiga is great for Deluxe Paint and musicians loved the ST. But for games...

I thought you meant that the Amiga wasn't good hardware for running fast arcade style games. If you were simply talking about consoles such as the PCE & Mega Drive having a better library of fast arcade games, then I'd certainly agree.

The problem with lots of Amiga games is they weren't very well designed, or felt bland and uninspired. Look at Zool -- it's a great showcase for the A500 tech but it's really generic next to Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog. It's the same with lots of Amiga games that are pretty nice technically but uninspiring when it comes to overall design and gameplay.

The A500 also suffered from lots of ST ports. The Amiga has so many advantages over the ST for 2D games, but lots of devs didn't take advantage of them. Even The Bitmap Brothers didn't take full advantage of the Amiga.

Imagine a game like Shadow of the Beast in the hands of a talented Japanese dev -- it could have the same sort of stunning graphics and audio, but also more refined gameplay that's actually enjoyable. SotB is a prime example of how Western devs often failed to deliver fun gameplay.

I really liked my A500 -- and still play Amiga games now and then -- so I know the tech is very good for 2D games. It's just a sad fact that a lot of Amiga games don't do the hardware justice, or aren't very fun to play. Not many Amiga devs were capable of making top quality titles.

[Cepp]

Have to agree that most Amiga games are pants. Lots of technical showcases that play like garbage, controls designed around a single button joystick and a forced choice of music or sound.

More computer orientated genres fare significantly better but just about everything arcade/console style is a dissapointment.

[Leon Retro]

Have to agree that most Amiga games are pants. Lots of technical showcases that play like garbage, controls designed around a single button joystick and a forced choice of music or sound.

More computer orientated genres fare significantly better but just about everything arcade/console style is a dissapointment.

Yeah, I totally agree. Away from a small percentage of truly good Amiga action games, lots had glaring issues that spoiled things. It's obvious that lots of Western devs didn't know how to craft satisfying gameplay.

I think once most computer gamers experienced how polished and fun the best console games were, they were soon converted into console gamers. All the dodgy arcade ports, plus bland and broken feeling games on the Amiga must have really pushed people towards consoles.

I did enjoy the Amiga back in the day, because some devs managed to deliver really nice games, but I was very much a console gamer during the 16-bit era. I think console gaming, in general, was far superior in all genres. Not many computer devs knew how to craft action games well, which was a huge problem when lots of people wanted arcade style gaming. All the terrible coin-op ports(many were ST ports) to the Amiga also tarnished the machine's image.

Console gaming has always been my passion, so I'm not an Amiga obsessive who can't see the negatives. I'm just someone who also owned an Amiga and enjoyed some of its best games. Some people bash the Amiga and act like it didn't have anything to offer gaming wise, but I think that's being very unfair. There were plenty of well made Amiga games, but sadly the percentage of bad games was extremely high.

If the A1200 had been able to run a decent port of Doom, we'd have also seen lots of dodgy Doom style games. We'd have had the same situation as with the A500, but instead of lots of bad 2D games, we'd have had lots of bad pseudo-3D games. But at least Doom would have been something special for Amiga gamers. Even Atari Jaguar owners got a couple of top quality pseudo-3D FPS titles to enjoy: Alien vs Predator and Doom. A1200 owners got Gloom.

[JazzFunk]

The original Amiga was about the most forward thinking computer that has ever been made. Pre emptive multitasking alone makes it a quantum leap in home computer designe. Using a sprite for the mouse pointer was a stroke of genius as by doing that they eliminated bucket loads of rendering code needed by other mouse systems. Just look at how crap and jerky the mouse pointer was on other platforms at the time. An expansion bus so versatile you could put a hardware x86 emulator in there. Draggale screens with different resolutions.

Now the A1200 was not what the designers wanted. They were designing the AAA chipset which would have made the machine more than a match for PCs, and without having to buy extra graphics cards.

Don't worry mate, I'm not proper dissing the Amiga, more it didn't really float my boat because I was more into good arcade ports and the Amiga just lacked 'em.

Ended up my fave games on Amiga were the OG 1989 KICK OFF, DEJA VU 2, HUNTER, SIMULCRA and Elite's ports of GHOSTS N' GOBLINS and PAPERBOY!!!!

I rarely used my computers to their full extent. I was all about the arcade conversions. And as a result, the MD gave me what I craved on a much more regular basis.

If you loved the Amiga, I'm happy, please don't misconstrue my opinions as hatred, I fully understand that opinions are like arseholes, ie. everybody has one.

[JazzFunk]

Oh, and a cracked version of MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE.

Infinite lives. It was brill!!!!!!

[JazzFunk]

Finally, ZOMBI. That was ace. Like Dawn of the Dead. Brill game, think it was Commodore User who gave it away as a covermount?????*




*please correct me if I am wrong here.

[Brad]

Ubisoft’s first game, Zombi!

[JazzFunk]

^oh, god, it was so desolate and atmospheric. I played it so much I could '1cc' it and just loved completing it over n' over.

Right. PROPER final one now. MERCENARY 3. Stunningly atmospheric and really quite bloody impressive with its open, polygonal world.

There was also some unreleased hori shooter that got shat out on a coverdisc, I really liked that, also.

That and X-OUT and Z-OUT. And IK+ and DATASTORM.

[JazzFunk]

...B.A.T....lol.

I'll shurrup, now.

[samanosuke]

I loved the PD scene on the Amiga.

You didn’t get that on the Super Famicom now, did ya? Hundreds of homemade AMOS games for only a quid. Stick that in yer Mode 7 chip!

[Leon Retro]

I'll shurrup, now.

Keep waxing lyrical about Amiga games. I like that you mentioned the excellent 'Datastorm' as well as other gems.

I loved the PD scene on the Amiga.

Gravity Force 2 was my favourite PD game -- I used to play it in 'split screen' 2 player mode with my brother. A whole lotta fun.

I'd never bash the excellent A500, but the A1200 deserved a bashing.

[samanosuke]

Gravity Force 2 was my favourite PD game -- I used to play it in 'split screen' 2 player mode with my brother. A whole lotta fun.

Biplanes for me, such a hoot, especially as I got it down so I could shoot my opponents the split second their wheels left the runway. My mate Dave used to get so f*cking angry.

WAR is hands down the best AMOS game. It doesn’t look like much but is great to play, sort of like North & South but in space:

[Leon Retro]

Biplanes for me, such a hoot

Yeah, another PD classic. Such a fun little game.