A Look At My Psygnosis Amiga Collection

Thanks to various responses on Facebook I have decided to show my Psygnosis games collection.

Psygnosis was one of the best companies on the Amiga, they published the best games and they had the best box designs, well almost always anyways. What many have forgotten over the last 20+ years are all the unpaid workers, all licenses, and contracts. Psygnosis had a lot of internal problems at times and it didn’t get better after SONY bought them in 1993 either, well at least not enough before they left the Amiga market.

Anyways, instead of just putting out a gallery of my collection I decided to write a few words about each game too, I kinda regret starting this as it will take ages to finish…

The games listed here are in random order…

Agony.  Art & Magic. 1992.

Now, this was a game that set my world in flames, from the very opening to the end credits, this game was the best game I had played in years! That’s a thing I said a lot in the past and I still do but sometimes I mean it more than ever and that was true the first time I saw Agony.

The music is utterly brilliant, the graphics were ace back then and still today, it may look bleak and colorless but who cares? the owl animation is so fantastic!

This box is heavily sought after and regretfully I never did pick it up when it came out, but luckily I managed to pick it up 3 years later. New in a shop that was about to close down so the price was good too.

Verdict: I love this game, I love everything about this game!

Aquaventura. – In-house – 1992.

Aquaventura was a game I followed for a while because the developer was the same who made the first 3 Star Wars games on the Amiga/C64 so I expected the game to be using the same but upgraded vector engine from those games. As demos and screenshots passed by it all looked just like an enhanced Star Wars game at first.

In the end, the game turned out to be less of a Star Wars type of game and more of a Starfox game (Nintendo), sort of anyway.

As you may have noticed, I have 3 versions of the game, and why?, well first I got a broken set of floppies and then I got a replacement set from Psygnosis, a couple months went by and I got another set from them, some mishap in their offices I guess.  The last set was from a Computer games club I was a member of, loads of cheap games over the years but all of a sudden they started sending only floppy disks and not the boxes…  (WTF?).

Verdict: Fantastic Intro, Great game, one of the best Psygnosis titles.

Air Support.  In-house.  1992.

This is another Psygnosis title that was in the works for a long time and every time some new information came out the more excited I got.

I and my oldest sister’s husband played this quite a bit, he never bothered much with games but when it came to flight sims, that was a different story.

Around the time when this game came out was when I realized the most how slow our hardware was compared to the latest PCs of that time as flight sims there had gone away from vector gfx and into textures/filled gfx.  Luckily we got new hardware not long after (the A1200/A4k) but as time showed after a while, flight sims were far from what they were on the PCs at the time.

The game came with 3D Glasses, the 3D was ok enough but not really that good, the code from the game came probably from Anarchy’s 3D demo, or at least that’s how I felt when I checked it.  Correct me if I am wrong.

Verdict: Great Intro, great game, and possibly the best Flight sim on the Amiga.

Atomino. – Play-Byte/BlueByte.  1991.

I have no idea what happened with this game, it was first published by Psygnosis and it had an awesome-looking box, and then eventually 2 other publishers published the game. The 2 latest versions were budget releases but the box design etc did it no favors. The version I have is the rarest one but there is also a Top Shots version which can be tough to find as well.

This game is quite an oddball in Psygnosis terms and I guess this is why other publishers stepped in ?, no intro in the game, music is nothing like you’d expect from a Psygnosis title. Graphics works good and the playability is way over par and it is quite good in that area.

Verdict: Good game but confusing past from a collector’s point of view.

All New World Of Lemmings. – Dma Design. 1995.

This was the last lemmings game on the Amiga and it took use of the AGA chipset albeit very badly.

The game kicks off with pretty bad downscaled and dithered (low color) opening screens.

The menu looks awful and not very intuitive either, how this game needs AGA is beyond me as it was a huge letdown back then and today even more so.

The game introduced a few new features and while they were great it still wasn’t anything near Lemmings 2 in terms of a fully new  “upgrade”.  Ninja and Egyptic levels were very welcome though.

Verdict: Sloppy release from DMA, No-Intro!, Low res opening screens, etc.

Benefactor CD32.  – Digital Illusions -. 1994.

I followed this title from the very beginning of the game development as DICE and Dator Magazin had an exclusive deal about including weekly/monthly updates to the game in the magazine DMZ. It was fun to see how the game came along and it was even better to play it and even complete it.

I recall I brought (and a few more)  this with me when I went to serve my Military service and it’s amazing how the box survived those 12 months and still looks pretty good even today. We had many awesome evenings and weekends at camp playing this game alright and in the end, we completed it too. Sadly the announced DLC/extra levels stuff was never released.

Pretty good platforming puzzle game, well worth a try for everyone.

Also got the ECS box, everything is identical to this one, pictures are due soon.

Verdict: Sweet game, wish there would come a sequel or a remaster/make.

Bob’s Bad Day. – The Dome -. 1993.

This game was one of the games that looked brilliant gameplay-wise but in the end, it turned out to be quite bad.

The concept was pretty good and it was a clear rip-off from the arcade game – CamelTry From Taito. The engine works great, with no slowdowns and such but there’s something wrong with it and it just grows stale within minutes.

This was the first game from The Dome for Psygnosis and it was at this time that Psygnosis started losing ground and one of the reasons was this developer…

I got the poster for the game too, for some reason it is not in the picture here. I must fix that when I get home.

Verdict: Ok enough game let down by game design and general feel.

Ballistix. – Reflections -. 1989.

Ballistix was never my type of game and the only reason I got this one was because of the hype and media reception around it. Reflections went to become one of my favorite developers of all time but I never did fancy Shadow Of The Beast 2 (1 and 3 I loved) and Ballistix really.

Gameplay was some sort of hybrid mix of a football/speedball game.

Verdict: Happy I bought it when I had the chance as it’s worth a lot now, however, the game itself is bad.

Armour-Geddon. – In-house.  1991.

A lot of games get remastered and so on today so one has to wonder why neither this nor the sequel got that treatment is beyond me as these 2 games have a lot of potential.

I remember we played this game a lot in the military in 2 player mode via a link cable and 2 machines. fantastic stuff.

Verdict: A landmark of a title, great box design, cool intro.

Armour-Geddon 2: Codename Hellfire. – In-house. 1994.

AG2CH was a major jump up from the first game yet it never forgot where it came from so it never felt like it was alienating it. Lots of new features were added and the entire system was redefined.

I can’t remember if there was a Link option in this game. need to check that one day.

Verdict: Awesome intro, boring “1994” box design, great game.

Amnios. – Flying Chicken. 1991.

This is one of those games that I always thought I played a lot which I actually didn’t as I confuse this game with Psygnosis’s Awesome.

I will cover Awesome too but not right here.

Amnios is quite good for a shoot ’em up like this and the graphics may have looked a little bit on the sharp side of things but once you had figured out how it all worked, that’s when you started appreciating the game, and its quality.

Verdict: Excellent-looking box design, great intro, and design.

Barbarian. – In-house. 1987.

This was the first Psygnosis game I played and I still get the chills when I see pictures of it today (or even the box).

That scream in the intro, that huge dude with that sword smashing that chain, those graphics blew my mind. I actually think I managed to complete this game which is quite odd as the control system is super sucky but I guess that’s what happens when you have no games and are stuck with launch games that followed your friend’s machine.

Funnily enough, I and many others confused this game with Death Sword (and its sequel(a lot but luckily that game also came to the Amiga eventually.

Verdict: Intro was perfect, great box design and a horrible control system.

Barbarian II. – Pandamonium. 1991.

It took several years before this sequel came and one of the reasons was probably because they wanted a better control system and possibly a larger market.

It didn’t matter that it took 4 years as this sequel was way better than expected and this time around they even put in some control system as well as a proper fighting mechanic.

A great opening intro this time around too, although not everyone got to see that one as there were 2 versions out there, and 1 of them had no intro.

Verdict: Much better than the first game, great-looking box too.

Blood Money. DMA Designs. 1989.

First, there was Menace, Now Psygnosis presents a DMA Design game – Blood Money -, that opening sample there and the intro with it must have been one of the best openings of its time (on any format).

I remember I saw this game for the first time at a random guy’s place that we met at an Amiga shop in Stavanger. No idea how all of it fell together but we ended up swapping (via snail mail) games for several years after that.

I recall I felt like an n00b when I showed how ecstatic I was when I saw his diskette box with hundreds of pirated games, I had tons of pirated games myself but he had so many new ones!

I eventually bought the game some years later. I always tried to buy the games I liked but without a job and being under 18 and at school was, of course, a challenge when it came to buying several games a month.

Verdict: The Excellent sequel (to Menace) and it is still mighty good even today.

Brian The Lion AGA. – Reflections. 1994.

I got all 3 versions of this game and that is for a reason, they have all different “exclusive” sections /features and the CD32 version is the best of the lot.

I have played all 3 versions to death, completed them all up to several times (Cd32 especially) and I can’t recommend this game enough really, go play it now if you’re into platformers!

The first time I completed Brian was back in 1995 when I served my military duty and it is quite funny to think back on which games I brought with me there (along with my souped-up A1200) – Flink, Brian, Benefactor, Darkseed, and while I was there I bought Slamtilt and XTR.  Not a single war game.

Brian The Lion offers 50hz scrolling on all 3 versions and every version takes the hardware to the max with Mode7 styled effects and crazy-ass blitter/c2p tricks, the game is a marvel and it wowed me back then and still does today.

Verdict: No-Intro in here sadly, rest of the game is close to the top-tier Psygnosis quality.

Christmas Lemmings. – Dma Design. 1993.

More Lemmings again, I never could get enough of them really and while I have yet to buy one on Vita/PS4 I still might do so one day.

Interestingly enough this game was actually a freebie before they boxed it and sold it.  At one point it came with the Oh No! more Lemmings levels and later on it came on various mags and so on. If new stuff was added I don’t know for sure as I bought this when it came out without realizing the backstory of it.

Verdict: Great game although unneeded. A rare game today.

Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons. – Papyrus. 1988.

Another Rare Psygnosis/Psyclase title this one, this game never felt like a Psygnosis title really, but it is a good game and it must have sold quite a bit too as there were 3 major releases for it.

Back when this game was released there weren’t all that many games like this to choose from, action shooter/top down and it wasn’t before a few years later that the genre exploded with loads of publishers releasing their own game, the most known one must be Alien Breed.  If you compare those two then this looks and plays archaic and way too annoying for its own good.

Verdict: Good game for its time, looks, and plays dated by today’s standards.

Combat Air Patrol. – Maverick. 1993.

This was Psygnosis’s second flight sim and many expected it to be quite a few steps up from the 2 years older Air Support, but that wasn’t so. The game is wonderful and all but it ain’t up there with Air Support.

The game boasts a kick-ass intro and the music in the game is also perfect, graphics are top notch too.

The best feature of the game was the Link cable option, playing dogfight with 2 players was great fun.

Verdict: Great intro, good game.

Cliffhanger. Spidersoft. 1994.

The only reason why you should have this game is for collectible values, this game is so bad that most copies out there have been trashed/burnt, and fed to the monkeys.

Yes, this game is that bad!

Clearly the worst game from Psygnosis ever, not a single thing is good with the game and it is strange how Spidersoft got the rights to this game and got Psygnosis as the publisher, seriously this is even harder to understand than “The Last Action Hero” stuff.

Even the box art is crap. I have no love for this game at all. I also read on a forum that the game is not even possible to complete due to a “jump distance” bug, who in the world bothered to play this far to figure that out?

Verdict: I have no words for how bad this is, that’s how bad it is.

Carthage. – In-house. 1990.

Another cool title and one of those games that I really wanted to like but never got into.

The intro in the game was pretty good although pretty meaningless too.

The actual gameplay was too fiddly for its own good and in the end, it was just too much back and forth for nothing really and when it came to the cool stuff it was all over before it even started.

Carthage could have been a winner but instead, it ended up being subpar and boring.

Repetitive sounds and gameplay was the worst problem with the game but it didn’t help that the game wasn’t any fun either.

Verdict: A missed opportunity.   Cool Box art and intro.

The Carl Lewis Challenge. – Teque. 1992.

I had totally forgotten about this one, I had to fire it up to have a look and within minutes I realized why.  Not a very good game! it’s awful actually.

The Amiga and the C64 had lots and lots of great sports games and while most were from the 80s and from Epyx it was no excuse to make a bad sports game like this. It pales in comparison to Summer Games, California Games, and so on.

Very weak of Psygnosis to not try and raise the quality on this one.

Lots of bad sports games were released in 1992, games as Espana, International sports Challenge, and so on.

Verdict: Bad game, no intro to speak of, Very disappointing.

Cytron. – Lunatic. 1992.

Cytron is one of the more unknown Psygnosis titles although it was marketed well and there were demo versions around too.

I snapped the game up because of a demo version and that was not a bad thing really as the game is quite good.

Cytron is one of those hysterical fast top-down action games and can be described as a mix between Alien Breed and Firepower of some sort.

It is quite strange how Lunatic never got their name more known as they did 2 mighty fine games on the Amiga and eventually console classics like Project Gotham Racing and MSR.

Verdict: No-Intro, a solid title, and a great box design.

GLOBDULE. – Ex Animo. 1993.

This is yet another surprise game from Psygnosis, gameplay, graphics, and sound is of excellent quality and they came out of nowhere.

I recall buying this game from the (then) local el-shop together with Jurassic Park AGA and that the reason I bought it was that I had not seen the game earlier and of course, because it was a Psygnosis game.

Took me years to complete this game but I have always had a place in my heart for this game, a true gem.

Very varied graphics was one of the reasons why I couldn’t get enough of this one.

Verdict: No-Intro, Great looking box. Great gameplay.

Hired Guns. – Dma Design. 1993.

After something bad comes something good, this time around it is something very good. Hired Guns is one of the best games of its genre on the Amiga and at the same time, it is also one of the best Psygnosis games too.

DMA has a long history and it is no wonder how they went from Menace to Grand Theft Auto 5, to be successful you have to make good games, lots of them.

Every time an RPG thread about Amiga games comes up on forums then this game is mentioned and many mentions also the great soundtrack (which is better on A1200/A4k) or its graphics or yes, The 4-player option.

Verdict: Fantastic game, not much intro to call home about, but there is one.

Infestation. – In-house. 1990.

Lots of strange ideas at Psygnosis from time to time and this was one of them, this was a First Person type of viewpoint game where you guide an insect(?).

I never liked this game but for the price, I got it for it was ok enough as it came with an awesome poster as well as that great-looking box!

There’s an intro in the game but that wasn’t all that good so I never really watched it more than a couple times.

I have always been fond of Vector games but that doesn’t mean I like everything really and the speed (FPS) in Infestation was very low and had annoying sounds on top of it I remember correctly.

Verdict: Not my cup of tea. There’s an intro in it. awesome box!

Innocent Until Caught. – Divide By Zero. 1994.

This is another one of those games that you wouldn’t expect from Psygnosis.

IUC is another adventure game that starts off pretty quiet but eventually turns out to be pretty good and by the end of it, I was screaming for a sequel. A sequel was announced for the Amiga in the end scroller/credits but, this game was never released for the Amiga.

The game came on 10 Floppy disks, one of the largest Psygnosis titles before the PlayStation era.

The sequel was released on the PC though, it had a new name too ” Guilty “.

Verdict: Quite good game, great opening too, never felt like a Psygnosis game.

Lemmings 2: The Tribes. Dma Design. 1993.

Lemmings became an instant classic when it was released back in 1990 so it never came as a shock that it spawned endless amounts of sequels and spin-offs.

Lemmings 2 brought a lot of new stuff to the table and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Better graphics, new engine, new features, and all those new Lemmings variants. Snow, Beach, and so on, it added a lot of things to the Lemmings universe and it is stuff that we today take for granted.

This time around there even was a full intro too, hand-drawn style, great-looking stuff.

Verdict: Great game, wonderful intro.

Leander. – Traveler Tales.  1991.

This was the first game that TT did and it was because of this game that they went to stardom for sure, you realized from the first few minutes of the game that this game is something out of the ordinary.

Awesome graphics, splendid sound, and the playability/gameplay was fine-tuned, it moved so slickly that it almost felt unplayable until you got the hang of it.

The guys at TT didn’t stay long on the Amiga before Psygnosis wanted them to do console games but luckily we managed to get one more from them and that was Puggsy, more about that later on.  TT went to the PlayStation after Leander and Puggsy for the Amiga and (later) the Megadrive/Genesis.

Verdict: Extremely polished game, 50/60hz scrolling 1/4 pixel parallax scroller.

 

Lemmings. – DMA Design. 1991.

This game needs no introduction I think, it has to be one of the world’s most famous games by now.

Must have played this game a bazillion times by now and I will most likely play it more in the future too if there will be any new versions released.

So instead of going on about the usual game talk, Trivia time…

Did you know that Lemmings actually has several levels with game names from Reflections games? There are levels called “A BEAST of a level”, “what an Awesome level” and of course, one called “A BEAST II of a level”… I guess you know which games they’re from by now.

Verdict: Nice cameo for Reflections, a fantastic game, a Kult classic.

Lemmings CD32. – DMA Design. 1994.

This is one of the things that really pissed me off when it came to the Amiga CD systems, yes I am on about the quick and dirty ports that they got as most of them was Amiga500 games on a CD with nothing new.

Sometimes they even rebranded CDTV games which were basically just an Amiga500 game as CD32 and one of them is Lemmings CD32 which is exactly the same as the CDTV version which is exactly the same as the Amiga500 version.

Sad, very sad. Lemmings 2 had been out for years and Lemmings 3 was just around the corner to top it off there had already been 4 other Lemmings releases between all major releases so DMA / Psygnosis had no excuses here.

Verdict: Major let down. Great game though.

Menace. – DMA -. 1988.

This is one of many Psygnosis games that people remember being ultra good and that is for no reason as even today this game is a gem of a game.

It is disputable if this game is better on the C64 or not and as always it is about taste and platform choice, both versions kick ass for sure and are a proper milestone for Psygnosis as a brand.

Menace is the prequel to Blood Money which was released a year later. (see below)

Verdict: If you’re into horizontal shoot ’em ups then you must try this one!  Ace game!

Matrix Marauders. – In-house – 1990.

Got this game about 15 years ago and it is still sealed.

I had a copy/cracked version of this game for years and never really played it.

Not a bad game but the cover art makes it look so much better than it really is.

I guess I never really did give this game a good chance but what I did though was that I must have watched that Intro movie a couple times more than I should have because I remember every detail even today, 25 years later.

Verdict: really good intro, cool box art.

Microcosm. – In-house. 1994.

I will never forget the day this was announced and we got to see pictures of it. The Cd32 would finally come to use for the future of gaming.

The game looked absolutely spectacular and unlike other FMV games from the same era this one was actually one with playability, or that’s what we thought anyway.

The game turned out to be yet another simple game with cool videos, lots of cool videos. The actual gameplay was rubbish to be very gentle, and it was so boring that I never bothered to complete the damn thing!

Shame the sequel never was released (Novastorm) as that game was actually fun to play, at least on the PlayStation.

Verdict: Lovely videos, intro, and so on. Crap gameplay.

Nitro. – In-house. 1990.

Another extremely popular Psygnosis title is way ahead of its time in many areas.

The game starts off with a quite good intro, an intro which many might not have seen as many of the cracked versions had this intro removed.

Ingame music and graphics have the typical Psygnosis standard, everything is super polished and if you compare it with other games released around the same time then it looks several years ahead of its time.

This game was first beaten by Team17’s Overdrive, many excellent games in the same category/style came after that.

Verdict: One of Amiga’s best top-down racers!

 

Oh no! More Lemmings – ADD ON. – Dma Design. 1991.

Data disk version, original Lemmings required to play this one.

Trivia, it is region based too so this one will not work with Lemming’s copy from Europe.  (my Oh No! is from the USA).

I always thought this was one of the first games to do this on Amiga but I have been proven that this is not correct after starting the Collectors group on Facebook.

Verdict: Cool idea to release just the data disk set and in a separate box too.

 

OH NO! More Lemmings Stand Alone. – DMA Design. 1991.

The stand-alone version of the extra set of levels, some of these levels were later used in Christmas Lemmings, etc.

I always thought this was one of the first games to do this on Amiga but I have been proven that this is not correct after starting the Collectors group on Facebook.

Verdict: Cool that they have 2 versions of this edition. Great looking like a box too.

 

Ork / Infiltrator. – W.J.S. 1992.

This is one of those games that I played so much that I can probably sit down and draw the level exits right away.

This game had so many good things in it and one of them was the level design, the game wasn’t all that big but it was constructed in a way that made it very hard to find the exits yet it wasn’t too hard so I kept playing it even if I died a lot.

The intro in the game is another high point and the same with the scrolling system and refresh rate (50hz?) and while I do not know the artist I bet he came from the Demoscene as there are a few pretty cool effects in the game which feels like if they came from the scene.

The music is another high point, I recall we taped the Highscoresong and played it all the time, and eventually, we ripped the song and mixed it in Protracker.  Those were the days!

Verdict: Awesome box, game, and intro. Music tops it all off.

Puggsy. – The Dome/TT. 1994

Puggsy was the last game from Traveller Tales on the Amiga and while they didn’t do much with the version at all the game still got their name all over it.

Puggsy started off as a demo from the Demoscene and if memory serves me correctly it was called Pugs In space!

The game features some very nice touches and gameplay and is one of the better platformers of the later Amiga years.

Somehow The Dome managed to make the game fun, good, and not a bad port at all, strange how they managed that when you look at the rest of their games.

Verdict: Overlooked gem, might not suit all fans of the genre. Great Intro too.

Prime Mover. – Interactivision. 1993.

This is another of those games that I followed while it was in development as there were interviews and stuff in Danish Amiga magazines that covered the game monthly(?).

Back then the game was called Turbo Terminator and everything looked good until one day when heard nothing more about the game.

A year later it showed up as Prime Mover and looked the same as before but this time around it was finished and that horrible name had been removed.

Cool intro, a great engine for the racing/road, and fast, maybe too fast!

The game was excruciating hard and I gave up on the game quite soon after I had got hold of it.

I found a very special demo version of the game in 1999, it was one of those 4 demos and 1 PD (advertised as full) game bundles for a few dollars.  Interestingly is that this demo version is called Turbo Terminator and is dated 1993.

Verdict: Great intro, very nice engine but a very hard game.

Red Zone. In-House.  1992.

Vector-driven motorbike games were quite “in” in 1992, or rather, Vector/3d driven games, in general, where in, and after the success of No Second Prize it was no wonder that others would try and get a similar success.

Red Zone was another heavily marketed Psygnosis title and general great reviews all over the board but I thought it was a lesser game compared to No Second Prize (Thalion) both in playability and speed.

Both games had great intros and I like to think that the Psygnosis one is the best but every time I watch both I can’t decide which is the better (for its time etc).

Verdict: good game, overshadowed by its competition.

Shadow Of The Beast 2.  – Reflections. 1990

Reflections pumped out showcase title after showcase title, just about every game they released got rave reviews and big fan support.

For me, Shadow Of The Beast 2 never reached that status, I never got into it really. The first and the 3rd ones were different matters.

I will not deny it looked good and that it repaired many of the broken designs of the first game but to me, it never felt fun.

Huge box + T-shirt in a later section of the article. (still on the camera).

Verdict: Great intro, music, and whatnot but the game were not for me.

Shadow Of The Beast III. – Reflections. 1992.

This is one of the best games from Psygnosis for certain. From the very first second, you just know how this game will make your jaw drop to the floor.

The intro, the music, the scrolling, and those graphics!, in my opinion, this repaired everything in Beast 2 and bundled it with 1, and created a new game around it called SOTB 3, a masterpiece.

I never got around to getting all versions of the game as it got insanely expensive shortly after release so all I got is this version and a jewel-cased one.

Verdict: One of the top 3 games from Psygnosis on the Amiga.

Second Samurai. – Vivid Image. 1994.

This was the second game in the series and while the first game in the series “The First Samurai” wasn’t a Psygnosis game they still got the publisher on board.

These series have been praised for years now and to be 100% honest, I have no idea why. The only good thing about the series was the opening in The First Samurai, that tune, and those graphics set my expectations too high for the rest of the game.

I always found the series to be messy, difficult, and extremely dull at times, maybe I should give it another go.

Verdict: No intro, feels unfinished at times, and no graphics upgrade in the AGA version to speak of.

Theatre Of Death. -The Software Shed –

Compared to the other games from Psygnosis in 1993 this one has to be one of the most unexpected ones.

My opinion about it is that this is a Cannon Fodder copy and it ain’t a good one either, well at least if you compare it with Cannon Fodder of course.

The graphics was certainly one of the worst things about this game, looked bad back then and still do today.

To me, this game was of course great back in 1993 when I bought it because it was a Psygnosis title and I even completed the game too.

Verdict: Not crap but not good either.

Triad Volume 2 Compilation. – In-House/DMA. 1989.

Baal. In-house. 1989.

A 3-game compilation from Psygnosis and Mirrorsoft, an odd choice that they mixed the 2 publishers but with 2 Psygnosis games then I decided to include it in this article.  Baal and Menace are inside the box, 2 very good games.

Menace article above if you missed it, so read there if you want to know more of it.

Baal is another game from the same team that did most action platformers in the late 80s and this is very noticeable as it has the same scrolling and the same graphics style. The original box release is quite good too and has some sort of an Alien copy look which must have shipped a few copies extra.

Verdict: 2 really good games in one box, Tetris being an added bonus.

The MisAdventures Of Flink. CD32 – In-House. 1995

One of the last Psygnosis titles to hit the Amiga, Flink was the perfect game for the task as it took the Platforming and RPG (?) genre to the next level.

Flink was one of the last proper platformers on the Amiga.

There were a few things about the game that pulled down, there was no intro, the game felt rushed/unfinished in some parts and it was only released on the CD32 which was the smallest market on the Amiga.

Flink was often said to use the 3D chip in the CD32 but it didn’t take long before this rumor was busted. The reason why everyone thought it was using the chip was that of all the effects used in the game, mode 7 styles, and so on.

A sequel to Flink was released for the PC and PlayStation in 1996/7, the graphics look quite the same but Flink and enemies were replaced with Lemmings-oriented graphics/style.

Verdict: Psygnosis Amiga’s Last swansong, is a game up there with the best.

The Last Action Hero. – The Dome. 1994.

I have no idea where to start with this one really as it is one of the worst games from Psygnosis and only surpassed by Cliffhanger.

What a disaster this game is, unplayable, crappy music, crappy graphics, nothing in here is good, NOTHING! How on earth Psygnosis let this one through is beyond me. How The Dome managed to pull off this travesty of a game is a milestone itself and it looks as if the game was made in a single weekend.

Sidescrolling beat ’em ups on the Amiga was not a new thing, every game of this genre beats this one hand down!

Verdict: CRAP!, rubbish!, PIECE OF SHIT!  No-Intro??! (DO I CARE???).

Terrorpods. – In-house. 1987.

One of the first Psygnosis titles that I remember yet I do not remember if I liked it, most likely not as I am sure I would have been able to explain it all better.

The best thing about it must be the poster and the t-shirt I guess.

It has an intro but I am not sure if I should mention it as it looks and feels more like a c64 game.

If you are gonna try this game for the first time anytime soon then be sure to check the manual first as this game is very hard to understand.

Verdict: Cool box, looks very pre-Amiga.

Wiz’n Liz. – Bizarre Creations/Lunatic. 1993.

This game took me years to discover, must have been around 2000 or so, had it in my collection since release but never did get into it.

When my and my girlfriend gave it a second chance then we couldn’t let go of it, addictive gameplay, 50hz scrolling, and great graphics make this game one of her favorites of all time. We must have played the game 50+ hours in 2 players and probably the same in single player too.

Chasing rabbits has never been as fun before and the only time it has been as fun as this was when Rayman Raving Rabbids came out in the mid-2000s.

Verdict: No intro but a very good game.

 

Ok, guys, this is the end, for now, the blog post is too damn long now. I will just post this today and I might do another one soon (for the rest of the games).

I hope you guys enjoyed this one, feel free to tick the Like button(s) (on both blog and post) so that I might find the energy to do another one of these monster posts.

PS: keep in mind that I have over 2000+ more Amiga boxed games and I could easily do articles for years here really.

Thanks for reading.

Follow Us... Inspire Us To Get Better... Keep The Flame Alive

• 
• 
•