Following on from Jimmy White’s Whirlwind Snooker, Archer Maclean’s Pool was published in 1992 by Virgin Games. It was of course designed and programmed by Archer MacLean.
And, because pool is much more simple to play than snooker, and because this game uses the same engine as the previous game, Pool is arguably more immediately playable and more fun overall than its predecessor.
Programmed and designed by Archer MacLean and published by Virgin Games in 1991, Jimmy White’s Whirlwind Snooker was one of the first ever billiards simulations to use 3D graphics to represent the table, and it worked very well.
Developed by SCE Cambridge Studio in conjunction with Media Molecule and published by Sony in 2009, the PSP conversion of Little Big Planet is a wonderfully-imaginative platform game based around a unique character called Sackboy.
Arcade Pool was developed and published for the Amiga and CD32 by Team 17 in 1994.
Portal is a legendary first-person puzzle/gravity game developed and published by Valve in 2007.
I say “gravity game” because Portal combines basic physics (acceleration, velocity, gravity, and inertia), with the ability to open up entry and exit portals, to create a game so beautifully simple-yet-complex that it is almost beyond belief…
Vladimir Romanyuk‘s incredible SpaceEngine is a simulation of the entire observable universe, with the goal being “scientific realism”, and to reproduce every known type of astronomical phenomenon.
Zany Golf was released by Electronic Arts in 1988. It originated on the Apple IIGS but was quickly ported to 16-bit computers, including this fine Atari ST version.
While all the other space exploration and combat games on 16-bit home computers flail around in their own mucky diapers, Frontier: Elite II makes a mockery of everything else in its class by not only being a staggering piece of programming, but also a damn fine, playable game too.
Jeremy Smith and Peter Irvin‘s groundbreaking Exile first came out on the BBC Model B in 1988 and was later converted to other systems.
The Amiga AGA version of Exile was handled by Audiogenic and came out in 1995.
Of the three versions of Amiga Exile available, two are notably different.
The earlier OCS version is more of a remake of the original Exile, with smaller sprites thoughout the game, and no grey background rocks. You can also easily identify the OCS version due to the purple panel at the bottom of the game screen.
The later AGA version (shown here) dispenses with the panel and uses overlays and on-screen messages instead. And – instead of a small guy in a space suit – you start as a large, blonde tough guy with a jet pack.
In fact: all the main sprites and backgrounds in AGA Exile have been given a size and a colour boost, although the playing area seems smaller than in the original Amiga version. Which is not ideal.
The gameplay is essentially the same as the OCS version though.
No idea why there are two versions. To make this version of Exile more like a console game for the CD32 is probably the reason.
Remember: if you want to play Exile in its original form on the Amiga, try the OCS version. If you want the suped-up, ‘Duke Nukem’ version, go for the AGA version. Or: just play both if you’re clever enough to get them both working.
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_(1988_video_game)
Jeremy Smith and Peter Irvin‘s groundbreaking Exile first came out on the BBC Model B in 1988 and was later converted to other systems.
The Amiga OCS version of Exile was handled by Audiogenic and came out in 1991.
Actually, three versions of Amiga Exile were released… An OCS version in 1991 (purple panel at the bottom), and an AGA version (with no bottom panel), and a CD32 version in 1995. Each took advantage of the Amiga‘s different graphics capabilities.
Exile‘s 2D, side-scrolling, underground exploration/shooting gameplay translates very well to the Amiga too. The scrolling is fast and smooth and the inertia is very good.
The 1991 Amiga version of Exile is much more like the original 8-bit versions than the later AGA version. All the usual tricks work, like using the Record function to Teleport past immovable robots. Picking up guns and shooting angry birds. It’s all there…
Exile is not a particularly well known Amiga game, but it is definitely up there with the best of them.
Flying around on a jetpack, blasting things to pieces inside a big cavern is a whole world of fun, and the core of the original Exile.
The physics. Exile is all about the physics.
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exile_(1988_video_game)
