Raid Over Moscow Out Now For The Amiga…
While I was sitting in his loft playing, he somehow managed to eat dinner, do his homework, and even head off to soccer practice.
I don’t know about you, but Access Software played a huge part in my teenage gaming years. Between Beach Head, Leaderboard Golf, and Raid Over Moscow, they produced some of the games that left the biggest impression on me.
There was always something a little rough around the edges about Access Software’s games compared to many of their competitors, and I think that’s exactly what drew me to them. They weren’t afraid to experiment, often taking bold design risks and exploring ideas that few other developers would even consider. That sometimes resulted in quirky mechanics or gameplay decisions that could make their games a little less accessible, but it also made them feel fresh, unique, and unlike anything else available at the time.
Looking back, I’d much rather remember a game that dared to be different than yet another polished but forgettable release.
Living Next Door…
Raid Over Moscow was the very first Access Software game I ever played, and to this day I still remember exactly where I was, when it happened, and who introduced me to it.
I ended up spending the entire evening at a friend’s house, completely glued to the game. While I was sitting in his loft playing Raid Over Moscow, he somehow managed to eat dinner, do his homework, and even head off to soccer practice. Looking back, I’m still not entirely convinced that either he or his family even realized I was still up there playing. The craziest part? I was only 10 years old at the time.
Needless to say, my parents weren’t particularly impressed when I finally came home.
It took me quite a while before I got my own copy, mainly because my parents weren’t exactly thrilled with how my first encounter with the game had unfolded. 😄
Eventually, I received it for Christmas as part of a U.S. Gold compilation—I’m fairly sure it was the Tri Pack. It didn’t take long before another game in that very same box caught my attention. Its name was Beach Head, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Access DENIED…
Raid Over Moscow was originally intended to be released on the Amiga in the late 1980s, but the developer never secured the necessary license. In fact, development had already begun before an official agreement was in place, ultimately leading to the project being cancelled.
Fortunately, Adrian Cummings of Mutation Software preserved his work all these years. Now, more than 30 years later, Raid Over Moscow has finally arrived on the Amiga as a homebrew release. While the graphics remain faithful to the original, the game itself has been rebuilt from the ground up.
This impressive homebrew port comes from the same talented team behind The Great Giana Sisters Special Edition, which was released a few years ago. The team, REIMAGINE GAMES, is led by none other than Earok, and once again they have delivered an outstanding revival of a true gaming classic.
THE DREADED HANGAR…
The notorious hangar stage is still here, and while it doesn’t feel nearly as difficult today as it did back in the day, it’s still one of those unforgettable openings. It reminds me a lot of the infamous garage tutorial in Driver on the PS1 and PC—hard, frustrating, and at times downright unfair, yet incredibly rewarding once you finally beat it.
AFTER THE HANGAR…
I imagine a lot of people never made it past the hangar back in the day, but there’s far more to this game than that. Once you escape, you’ll find yourself flying through both horizontal and vertical scrolling stages, complete with boss battles and plenty of other surprises.
The game looked fantastic back in 1984, and this Amiga homebrew port still looks impressive today. The gameplay and mechanics remain faithful to the original, and while there are a few flaws and design choices that could easily have been improved, I actually think staying true to the original experience works remarkably well.
The controls also feel much better now, although that may simply be down to the smoother frame rate and the fact that modern gamers are more accustomed to these kinds of floaty flight mechanics. It’s hard to say for sure, but if the controls had been made any easier, you’d probably be able to finish the entire game in about 20 minutes.
The Amiga port is still a work in progress, but it already feels like a complete commercial release. There is very little to complain about: the music works flawlessly, the graphics are excellent, and throughout my time with the game I didn’t encounter any noticeable bugs or technical issues.
REIMAGINE GAMES has done a fantastic job with this port, and releasing it around Christmas is a great idea. Give it a try, and be sure to let us know what you think!
A fellow Amiga user (Aki Mäki) gave me a little fact from the game launch in his country Finland:
In 1985, the American computer game Raid over Moscow sparked a major political and diplomatic controversy in Finland. The game required players to launch a craft from North America, destroy Soviet missile silos, and attack the Kremlin. A provocative review in MikroBitti magazine and a subsequent Finnish parliamentary inquiry led the Soviet Union to demand a sales ban, testing Finland’s Cold War policy of “Finlandization”.
Gotta love stuff like that, thanks for reading, rock on.
Ah yes! The good ol’ “How do I open the Hangar Door”? game. Nice touch changing the secret key from the C64 version (was it F1 or F10?) … Makes for a good rage quit now on the Amiga as well 😉
Great write up and great game. Thank you for sharing
And funny things you did at your friend’s house…. LOL!
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Ah yes! The good ol’ “How do I open the Hangar Door”? game. Nice touch changing the secret key from the C64 version (was it F1 or F10?) … Makes for a good rage quit now on the Amiga as well 😉