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Most Technically Advanced Amiga Games


Most Technically Advanced Amiga Games



Many technically advanced games appeared on the Amiga over its life-cycle, but the most technically advanced Amiga games are David Braben's Frontier: Elite 2 of 1993 and Julian Gollop's X-COM UFO Defense of 1994.

Amiga games can be technically advanced in terms of design and/or in terms of taking advantage of the custom chipset capacities of the Amiga.

For example, being that it is, in fact, a port of the IBM PC MS-DOS original, Amiga X-COM does not take much advantage of the custom chipset capacities of the Amiga, yet X-COM is an exceedingly complex computer game in terms of game mechanics. In fact, in terms of game mechanics there is no deeper or more complex game on the Amiga than X-COM.

On the other hand, Shadow of the Beast of 1989 is a relatively simple Amiga game in terms of design and mechanics, yet it pushed the Amiga's audiovisual capacities more than most games that came out in the early 1990s. If Beast was released in 1993 its code could have been 10 times more efficient than it was, and Reflections could have pushed the Amiga even more if that were the case, like Thalion did in their Lionheart of 1993: it took several years for coders to understand how to push Amiga Alienware to the limit.

Thus, it is important to take into account the year of Amiga game releases when attempting to identify which Amiga games were and were not technically impressive, and that is why I have appended the year of release to each game listed below, and given pre-Beast 1986-88 Amiga games their own section, lest they be lost in the shuffle.

Most Technically Advanced Amiga Games from 1986 to 1988



This is an alphabetical listing of the most technically advanced Amiga games that came out before Shadow of the Beast of 1989. Pre-Lemmings of 1991 the audiovisual masterpiece known as Shadow of the Beast was the Amiga's Killer App. And therefore, post-Beast, many Amiga coders attempted to emulate or evolve its stunning audiovisuals with varying degrees of success. Thus, as a rule, there is a big difference in audiovisual quality between pre- and post-Beast Amiga games.

"2-player" appended means 2-player simultaneous.


In terms of game-mechanics Kampfgruppe is deeper and more complex than most other Amiga games, regardless of year of release. You just can't beat the depth of combined-arms tactics.

Hybris, on the other hand, pushes the Amiga chipset more than its peers. However, in terms of arcade-action Arkanoid comes closest to perfection; an utterly brilliant coinop conversion that cannot be beaten.

Most Technically Advanced Arcade Amiga Games



This is an alphabetical listing of the most technically advanced arcade-action Amiga games that came out post-1988.

Arcade-action games include shoot 'em ups, beat 'em ups and platform games.


On an absolute level Lionheart of 1993 takes more advantage of the Amiga's custom chipset capacities than its peers.

Dead and buried by 1993, the Atari ST could never replicate Lionheart even it were alive (the STE could have), yet the Atari ST version of Turrican is passable even though Amiga Turrican audiovisuals are far superior. However, in terms of game-mechanics Lionheart, Unreal, Beast and Agony are not as good as the likes of Gods, Blood Money, Rainbow Islands and Speedball 2, which the Atari ST handled well.

Yes, I just said that Gods of 1991 -- an ST original -- is a better game than Lionheart -- an Amiga-exclusive. Because it is. And so is Rainbow Islands of 1990.

Thus, as it pertains to Amiga arcade games, it should be obvious that "most technically advanced" does not equate to "best". Indeed, it is more likely to equate to "not very good" and "a disappointment".

It doesn't matter how smooth the scrolling is, how many colors are on-screen or how many sprites are shifted -- gameplay trumps all.

Most Technically Advanced non-Arcade Amiga Games



This is a chronological listing of the most technically advanced non-arcade Amiga games. Non-arcade Amiga games include adventure games, flight simulators, cRPGs, TBS and RTS.


David Braben's Frontier: Elite 2 dominates the field overall, but Julian Gollop's X-COM: UFO Defense is more technically advanced in terms of game mechanics.

I wrote 3000 words just summarizing X-COM's Battlescape, which is only one half of the game.

Technical Criteria of Assessment for Amiga Games


Factors to consider in assessing how technically advanced an Amiga game is:

  • Complexity of game-mechanics (depth and complexity of game-logic)
  • User Interface
  • Precision of controls via joystick, kb/m
  • Custom chipset employment
  • RAM required (512K, 1 meg or 2 megs)
  • CPU required (stock 68K or 680x0)
  • Screen-scrolling and sprite-shifting
  • Copper and bit-blitter employment
  • Paula audio employment
  • Sprites/Bobs: No. on-screen, size and complexity (cf. Shoot 'em Up History)
  • Polygon-pushing (shifting geometry around)
  • Texture-mapping resolution
  • Physics employment
  • Light-sourcing
  • Destructibility and verticality employment
  • Framerate and its consistency as the action scales
  • No. of on-screen colors (16, 32, 64 or more)
  • Screen-draw speed (line-draws and flood-fills)
  • Number of frames on animation cycles
  • Statistical feedback (player-interpretable stats)
  • Accuracy of collision detection (hit boxes)
  • Reactivity
  • OCS/ECS or AGA display modes
  • Tailorability of settings and modding ability (bundled editors/toolsets)
  • No. of diskettes and disk-swapping demands
  • Data compression and load-times
  • Hard disk drive installability

Note that depth and complexity of game-mechanics trumps custom chipset exploitation. Afterall, gameplay is god, not graphics or sound. Smooth scrolling and sprite-shifting often do indeed improve gameplay, but usually moreso in arcade-action games that rely on smoothness and consistency of framerate.

cf.


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