Who created the best Amiga games?

[Harrison]

Which of these developers/producers created the best Amiga games?

If you think another which I haven't listed is the best then please say.

[Merlin]

Bloody Hell, I see Firebird didn't get a mention, they only released Ian Braben's Elite, THE landmark computer game, how did you miss that one???

Merlin

[Submeg]

I said EA, as quite a few games I remember playing more than once were by EA

[Harrison]

Bloody Hell, I see Firebird didn't get a mention, they only released Ian Braben's Elite, THE landmark computer game, how did you miss that one???

Merlin

Oops sorry about that.

Firebird did release some really good titles early in the Amiga's life, such as Bubble Bobble, Elite, Rick Dangerous, The Sentinel and Virus. All firm favourites of mine for sure. Does anyone know what happened to Firebird after 1989? As that seems to be the last year they released any Amiga titles.

I remember the Firebird logo well on a lot of 8-bit titles too, especially the BBC Micro, and the main reason they published the Amiga version of Elite, as they has a direct hand in ported it from the original BBC version with the help of Mr. Micro.

There are a lot of Amiga developers and publishers during the history of the Amiga. I was bound to miss out some of the great names in the poll. I just tried to include the ones who are most remembered and who created and released most of the great Amiga titles. Just thinking about some of them brings back great memories.

[Merlin]

Well, I assume Firebird comes under "Other" then, and take a slappity slap slap for forgetting Ian Braben....

LOL

Merlin

[AlexJ]

Does anyone know what happened to Firebird after 1989?

From what I recall, Firebird were owned by BT (British Telecom) who decided to sell it off and consolidate to their core assets. I think Microprose bought them (along with the other *bird brands) and phased the names out.

[Harrison]

Well, I assume Firebird comes under "Other" then, and take a slappity slap slap for forgetting Ian Braben....

LOL

Merlin

I could never forget Ian Braben and Elite. I've probably played Elite and Frontier more than any other game so far in my lifetime. Frontier especially. While at school I was hooked on that game and would play it for many hours every night when I got home. So much so that I never studied for any of my GCSE's! I did still pass them all though! :lol:

[Submeg]

Lucky......

[Teho]

This poll should have been multi-choice. Favourites of mine that are listed there are Bitmap Brothers, Cinemaware, Team 17 and Psygnosis. But all of those mentioned had some great titles. I can't pick a single favourite out of those, that's just impossible. :)

[Harrison]

But that is the point of the poll. You have to decide on which one is better than the rest! ;)

It is hard I know. I voted for Psygnosis myself because just seeing that name brings back a lot of great titles and memories, as well as their cool logo.

[Merlin]

It helps when the one you want is on the list, LOL

Merlin

[Demon Cleaner]

I cannot decide which one to take :hmmm:

[v85rawdeal]

I voted for the Bipmap Brothers, although it was a tough choice, primarily because I remember them to be a consistent force for the Amiga.

I would have chosen GameTek, but I would have choosing them on the strength of just one game, Frontier, and that doesnt smack of real consistency.

[Toasty667]

It's a bloody hard choice to be sure. I went with Team 17 just based on 2 games, Body Blows and Alien Breed 3D. Body Blows was at its best in two player. I may not have chose them if I didnt have a mate to play Body Blows with regularly because otherwise it was too frustrating.

[Submeg]

so Team 17 did that game? I couldnt remember who it was by....that was good fun that one

[TiredOfLife]

Would have thought Microprose would be onthe list.
Civilization?

[Harrison]

I couldn't include every Amiga developer/publisher, hence the inclusion of the "Other" option if you thought another deserved the vote over those listed. In picking the ones I included I tried to include the ones who had released a lot of good games on the Amiga rather than just one or two titles.

Microprose maybe should have been in the list though as they did release some great titles. And especially as it was co founded by Sid Meier! Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, X-Com etc... all great games. And Microprose Golf was a favourite of mine that I played many times over the years. And not forgetting that they also released Geoff Crammond's Formula One! Oh and their label Microstyle, which saw releases such as Rick Dangerous 2 and Stunt Car Racer.

This poll was always going to generate many memories of developers/publishers that are not included purely because there were so many great companies involved with the development of Amiga games that I couldn't include them all.

[J T]

Sensible's games always had a strong sense of fun. I adored Wizkid, Mega-lo-mania was great, cannon fodder was pretty good too and Sensible Soccer acquired a near legendary status (although I never actually got all that into it as I didn't really get into footy until later on).

[Sharingan]

Very hard choice, but I voted for Bitmap Brothers, because of the consistent quality of their games.

I'd have to honorably mention Sensible Software and Bullfrog as well, though. These are the rare kind of developers whom you can always trust to deliver quality stuff.

[Harrison]

I loved the Bitmap Brothers graphical style with the shiny metal and character sprite design being mirrored across all of their games. Same was true of Sensible with a lot of their games sharing the little people graphics. Most developers these days just don't seem to have a unique design style that you can instantly recognise their games from in quite the same way as Amiga developers managed.

And it is very true about delivering quality stuff. You were almost guaranteed that purchasing a new game from the best Amiga developers would get you a brilliant game. Even without first reading reviews. Shame that isn't the case any more.

[Sharingan]

There's still some developers left that seem to take pride in always delivering super polished, well-tuned, perfectly tested games. To them, a single bad review of their repertoire seems unacceptable.

For example, there's Polyphony Digital (developers of the Gran Turismo series - they also made a Space Harrier-like shooter at one time, I think), the team that made ICO and its sequel Shadow of the Colossus, and of course, Blizzard.

These are developers I'd probably blindly buy a product off, but well, that's just three, in a world saturated by thousands :)

[Harrison]

Totally agree with those. The GT series has always been amazingly polished and they are one of the only developers to truly squeeze everything possible from the system they are running on. I cannot wait until the PSP and PS3 GT games are released. And Blizzard definitely make some amazing games. I've still not played WoW just because I don't want to waste so much of my spare time on it, and I know I would. But every other Warcraft and other game from them have been brilliant.

Psygnosis was another developer I used to be a big fan of. It was so sad when Sony disbanded them as a developer and slowly merged them into the rest of the company. Studio Liverpool does still exist but it isn't the same.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus have to be two titles that verge on becoming true interactive art, rather than just games. They are amazing in showing that you don't have to have stats filling the screen, or visual command prompts. The exploration and experimentation with the environment in both games shows this.

[Sharingan]

Psygnosis was another developer I used to be a big fan of. It was so sad when Sony disbanded them as a developer and slowly merged them into the rest of the company. Studio Liverpool does still exist but it isn't the same.

Indeed, it's usually the synergy between certain developers that make 'winning combinations'. If one member of the team quits, or is forced to quit, the consequences are almost always negative. Studio Liverpool - it looks like they're only making Formula One games and WipeOut right now. Where's the original ideas?

[Harrison]

The same happens in all creative areas. I often see London based design agencies advertising for a complete design team to join them. Usually looking for an existing team of four people to employ. Doing this negates the need to try and build up a design team from scratch and get them to gel to all work well to their strengths.

One design agency I used to work within was great, but then a member left and it was never quite the same after that.

[toomanymikes]

Man that was tough.

Bitmaps, Psygnosis and Sensible Software were amazing but it has to be Team 17 for me. Had a soft spot for some Virgin games too.

[AlexJ]

Psygnosis did have the blip that was F1 '98 but I guess they were well on their way to being Studio Liverpool by that stage. By that time, Rollcage was the last successful new concept to come from them under that name.

[Harrison]

Rollcage was a brilliant game. I remember playing that for a long time. The graphics haven't dated well these days but the game is still as enjoyable to play.

[Demon Cleaner]

I still haven't voted as I cannot decide myself :(

[Submeg]

Was rollcage that game where you were in a big sphere and had to roll around?

[Harrison]

No, it is a car racing game where you can go up walls and end up racing on ceilings. The vehicles are indestructible with huge wheels so if you flip over you can just keep driving. And there are a load of different weapons to slow down the opponents so you can try to win.

[Submeg]

Hmm, I remember a game like the one I described...I cant remember what it was called thou

[Tiago]

Bullfrog was also great. It was sold to electronic arts in 1995 i think, but it should be on the list.

Games like Syndicate, powermonger, populus where really great

[Harrison]

Bullfrog was a great developer, that is true. Syndicate and Populous were ground breaking games.

[Shoonay]

A poll that's way to hard to decide... voted for Psygnosis.

[my_lo]

Tower assault - Superfrog - Project-X, I just love them too much. I had to vote for Team 17

[Phantom]

Really difficult to decide. :huh2:

I threw my vote for Psygnosis, although I believe a Top-5 Amiga Developers poll will be more fair.:)

[Graham Humphrey]

Sensible Software for me - I don't think any other developer managed to produce games to such a consistently high standard. Their worst game was Sensible Golf and even that comes in at 'okay'.

[woody.cool]

Team 17 without a doubt, for me.
Where do I start? Project X, All Terrain Racing, Qwak, Alien Breed, Body Blows .... the list goes on

[Phantom]

Actually Psygnosis wasn't a developer, but a publisher.

So you had to choose DMA Design or Reflections for example.

[Harrison]

Psygnosis were both a developer and a publisher. It was the reason Sony later bought them and they went on to develop some of the biggest classics on the Playstation, including Wipeout, Formula One and Destruction Derby.

[Phantom]

After Amiga years, yes, but what about before?

[Harrison]

They developed and published many games, as well as publishing many for other people. Some they developed themselves include Stryx, Microcosm, Nitro, Novastorm, Obliterator, and they co-developed quite a few such as Shadow of the Beast, which was between them and Ubisoft Reflections.

And even Lemmings was actually co-developed between them and Rockstar North.

[Phantom]

Yup, but possible the best Psygnosis games were done, not by Psygnosis itself, but by DMA Design or Reflections.

[Harrison]

True. Reflections and DMA did produce some great games. For Psygnosis I think we can both agree that when we used to see a game with their name on you could pretty much guarantee it would be worth playing and a polished release.

[Phantom]

I thought the same exactly. :)

[Nosferax]

Titus :p (run and hide before being kill with fire)

[Harrison]

Oh, they did have some good game releases among their rubbish.

My favourite was the puzzle game Titan. I played that for a long time before actually beating the game, and it was hard.

And their mascot game "Titus the Fox" was a pretty decent platformer on the Amiga, although I understand it wasn't so great on some other platforms such as the Game boy.

Definitely not the best developer by any means, but some good stuff.

There was also a top down multi-directional shooter called Battlestorm which was obviously based on Xevious and a few other arcade shooters with the multi-directional movement, and even the graphic styling, but it was still quite good.