The Games We Never Talk About: Land Of Genesis

The Games We Never Talk About (But Should) (TGWNTABS) is back, and this time we’re discussing a relatively new title (by Amiga standards). Released in 2000/2001, it never received the attention it deserved, primarily due to the dwindling Amiga community at the time.

Land of Genesis was developed by a very small team of first-timers, and at first, it’s hard to believe that when you play the game. From the very beginning, it’s filled with technical achievements and clever tricks that you wouldn’t typically expect from inexperienced developers. The reason for this high level of technical prowess is that they were, of course, skilled demosceners.

Now, let’s dive into the game!

After a rather simple yet effective intro (at least for its time), you’re taken to the main menu. It features a great menu screen with more options than most Amiga games over the years. Interestingly, there’s even a difficulty selector, though it’s broken before you patch the game (I’ve uploaded the official patch/updater here). Make sure to update the game or use this trainer from Stingray to enhance your experience!

Once you start playing, it’s clear which games inspired the developers of Land of Genesis. It definitely feels like a blend of Turrican, Project-X, and other high-profile titles from the heyday of the Amiga.

The first thing you’ll notice in the screenshots is the excellent graphics. However, there’s more to it: if you play the enhanced version (with a 68030 CPU or higher), you’ll enjoy beautiful parallax scrolling along with some impressive transparency effects as a bonus.

It looks fantastic! Some might argue that it’s too brown or muted, but I think it fits well, and the game design is consistent in terms of color and setting.

After you complete a level, you’re taken to the shop. I usually prioritize life and health upgrades here, as the game can be quite brutal in that regard. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of stuff to buy, and as you can see in the screenshot, it looks great, too!

Dodge, shoot, kill, and have a blast while doing it! The speed of the levels fluctuates progressively, which adds to the challenge of the game. However, it never becomes so difficult that you’ll want to give up.

The pace picks up in the following levels, and the graphics change dramatically as well. It looks even better in motion than in still shots, especially on my 1084S CRT monitor.

The graphics, sound, and gameplay come together beautifully, enhanced by all the hardware trickery happening in the background.

After a few flying sessions, the game returns to a walking format, and it manages to change its look once again. This time, you’ll find yourself in a forest filled with buildings and other elements, creating a very console-like aesthetic and gameplay experience.

The jumping mechanics feel solid, and there’s plenty of shooting while jumping to keep things engaging. It never becomes frustrating, as you can perform most actions with high precision.

The parallax scrolling is particularly effective in this level, enhancing the overall visual experience.

With its diverse graphics and sound, this game is definitely worth your time and money. The good news is that it’s actually free now, thanks to Amiga Future and the developer who decided to make it available a few years back (link below).

The sad part is that they never really made any money from this game. Then again, who made any money on Amiga titles back in 2001, except for Apex Designs with their game Payback?

And yes, it keeps getting better! Here, you see one of the more open levels, which required me to adjust my approach. There’s a lot of running back and forth, but you know what? It didn’t bother me at all because the game is so fun. The music and graphics make it bearable, even when you have to walk all the way back to complete something you forgot (the last level can be a bit of a pain).

The strangest thing about the game’s release is how much they cut corners on the actual production of the CD and box design. If I hadn’t purchased it directly from the developers/publisher on release day, I might have thought it was a counterfeit or bootleg version. The CD isn’t pressed; it’s just a plain white Verbatim CD-R with a printed label. The cover print is slightly better, but it’s still far from anything professionally done, especially compared to their Bubble Heroes release a year prior.

I pre-ordered the game before its release, and I enjoyed the music so much that I even went out and bought the OST. Yes, it’s basically the same audio CD included with the game, but I did it to support the team, and I’ll never regret that. I just wish the print quality on the CD and the cover had been better!

It’s a shame that Crystal Interactive and Clearwater Interactive never had their big hit on the Amiga. Both games they published—especially the utterly brilliant Bubble Heroes—were of excellent quality and well worth anyone’s money. They went on to publish other games for PC and Game Boy Advance in the following years, but I can’t say I found any major hits there either, except for Gilbert Goodmate (available as a demo on Aminet!), which is fantastic and was originally intended to be an Amiga game.

Thanks to RoarTJ for the screenshots; the box shots are from my own collection, as always!