Disappointing classic Amiga games

[Legerdemain]

I've been playing many old games recently. I've lived with the principle "things were better" for pretty long now, but in all honesty I must say that many many titles have come to dissapoint me... especially some that I held so high in regard back in the days.

STINKERS:
---------

Chaos Engine
- I loved this game. Played it through over and over again. Today? Well, I still like the principles of the game... but what about the lousy scrolling? Scrolling have become one of the most important parts in games... comparing like True Crime on the Gamecube (60hz, as smooth as ever) with True Crime on the X-Box (it stutters all the way through... not even the cinemas are able to play smoothly... feels rushed) is like comparing ABC80 with an AMiGA 4000.

Speedball II
- Loved it then. Can't play it now. It's everything but smooth. The scrolling is horrible.

Moonstone
- Thought it was excellent then. Now it really doesn't hold up to anything. Slow. Jerky control. Jerky graphics. What was the big deal?

Pinball Dreams, Fantasies & Illusions
- Well. They are smooth. And the graphics are nice. But they have aged. Oh man, have they aged! In comparation to Slam Tilt they seem so trivial. There is so little to do on the tables. Slam Tilt still works just fine, and I consider it still by today being the best 2D Pinball simulator ever.

Lotus I, II & III
- What made them impress me? I can't stand them. The graphics are not nice and the gameplay is everything but smooth. Compared to Jaguar XJ220 they seem... lightweight? Jaguar XJ220 still holds up well, and the arcade feeling is instant. Love it. Hate them.

Dune II
- Uhm. It's unplayable. Too few levels. Too hard. Too tedious interface (controlling one unit at a time when there is like 20 units attacking?). This was a major disappointment.

Microcosm
- Unplayable graphic demo. Nice concept. Horrible gameplay. Back in the days it impressed me. But the impression wasn't lasting.


ROCKERS:
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Besides the previously mentioned Slam Tilt & Jaguar XJ220...

Super Stardust
- Is this the best asteriods clone ever? The graphics are insanely nice looking and the tunnel sequences STILL seem to impress people. Not to mention the gameplay with so many different enemies, levels and nice challenge.

Turrican II
- The perfect platformer. Although I play it through in about an hour with 30+ lives left, I can't help loving it. The graphics. THE SOUNDTRACK. The leveldesigns. The control. The everything. Man, is this a classic!

Dune
- Never played anything like this since. Real time strategy combined with adventure and almost some RPG-alike elements. Wonderful soundtrack. Nice graphics and overall superb interface to play around with.

Eye of the Beholder I & II
- They are what they are and they are good. Never seizes to intrigue me.

Monkey Island I & II
Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis
Napalm
Myst
Hero Quest I & II
Brian The Lion
Megaball 4
Cannon Fodder I & II
Civilization
Benefactor
Sim City, Sim City 2000, Sim Ant & Sim Earth
Populous I & II
Bobs Bad Day (it rocks, but no one seems to remember it?)
...and many many more.
- No comments.

[Legerdemain]

@Noster on Speedball II

You should use an Amiga to play it. It is still fantastic and full of action, whenever I meet one of my old Amiga-friends for a retro-night, we play it.

I am running it on an AMiGA... even though I find UAE becoming nicer and nicer with each release I don't like playing games on it... it doesn't really feel like playing on a real AMiGA. But like I said, I am a sucker for smooth scrolling... and unless we are talking about strategy games and the like, I can't play games with jerky scrolling. I don't know what FPS we are talking about exactly in Speedball II, but something around 7-8 FPS maybe...


@Noster on Dune II

I don't agree with you, it was the first game of this kind followed by many others (e.g. Command&Conquer on PC) and was a fantastic game. It has too few levels but it isn't to hard to play and I don't know what you've done but you can controll multiple units at the same time, the control is equal to all the following games of this kind. -- EDITED -- Sorry, failure of mine, it was too long ago since I've played it, there is only a single unit controlable at the time, but nevertheless I think it is a great game (still located on my HD, maybe I will play it again the next days)

Yes, I completely agree on that point... it became a trendsetter, oh, and not only the slightest! Without Dune II I don't think we would have seen the wave of strategy games in the veins of Warcarft, Command & Conquer, Red Alert and the like so soon. But, even though that very fact I can't play it without being bothered. Back then it was great... because there was nothing that it could be compared with, or nothing with such class... but, still... oh, well...  you know...  :lol:


@Defender of the faith on Moonstone

WHAT?? Actually, Moonstone is one of the rare few amiga games which doesn't entirely suck after all the years (IMO). I still play it once in a while.

Well, I love the concept... and actually I like the game... but, it just feels so dated. With some updated graphics, smoother control and such, it could be the bomb... but, that won't happen that soon, I guess. But, sure, I understand how you feel...  :-)


@Rayt on Chaos Engine

Which version did you try out? I had slow scrolling using the cd32 whdload version on A1200/030.. but then I tried out the aga whdload version and the scrolling was perfectly smooth..

Well, the scrolling ain't slow... it isn't simply smooth. Instead of showing each pixel scrolling (like in Turrican II) it shows like every 4th... but, I will try out the other versions because the CD32 orignal version is the only one I've played recently.