Must play for all Warhammer 40K fans.,  Wednesday, 03 October 2007 When this game was first released for Amiga in 1992, it was one of the greatest hits with amazing graphics, great sound effects and music, user friendly interface and good playability that didn't let you sleep for many nights.

Space Crusade is turn based, tactical squad game situated in world of Warhammer 40.000. Game is a follow up to Hero Quest - one of the first Amiga games from Warhammer world. SC is based upon the board game of the same name and is its perfect computer recreation.

At first, Space Crusade was released for Amiga, later a PC version appeared, but it had much worse graphics, sound effects and was a lot easier than the original Amiga version. It's one of the first tactical games with partial isometric view, that was later used in greatest hits like UFO: Enemy Unknown (a.k.a. X-Com: Ufo Defense).

In Space Crusade, you take command of a squad of Space Marines from one of the three 'chapters' (something like medieval knight orders), that is made up of yourself, the Space Marine Commander and four Space Marine troops. On-board abandoned spaceship, you will have to fight with evil forces of all kind, including chaos treacherous space marines, evil space Orks, Grethins and deadly Dreadnoughts.

Each of the chapters has different, characteristic abilities, for example Imperial Fists are good at using ranged, heavy weapons, Blood Angels are very good at close combat and Ultramarines are quite universal in every aspect, so your strategy will depend on chapter you select.

Before entering the alien spaceship, you have to equip your marines carefully with weapons and special gear that may be helpful in many different situations. Every weapon has its own way of firing, for example plasma gun destroys everything in line of fire, rocket launcher also damages all units neighbour to its target. Special equipments consists of helpful items like targeters and such. You also select special order cards, that can be played before one turn and give your marines some advantages (eg. enable them to fire or move twice this turn etc.).

Your enemy, aliens (always played by the AI) will do all they can to destroy you and your squad. They also possess special cards that may give them special abilities or disturb you in achieving victory (for example kill one of your marines with booby traps or put a soulsucker just next to your Space Marine and attack at the same turn), so things aren't going to be easy.

The game can be played by up to three human players, each leading one of the chapters, competing in completing each of the missions. They can cooperate or kill each other to get more mission points.

I myself grew up on Amiga games and as I remember, Space Crusade was one of my most favourite of all. It is a must-play for every Amiga and Warhammer 40K fan.

Review originally submitted by "Maciej 'Cronos' Czuchnowski".

 If a score of zero could be given, this deserves i,  Wednesday, 03 October 2007 Terminator 2 of course rocks and it's one of the best sequels ever made. Both Schwarzenegger and Cameron were at the top of their game, and this film was a rare case of the right story, the right actors and the right director all in place. So, HOW can one of the best action films EVER be turned into one of the worst pieces of crap ever run on an Amiga?

This little game by Ocean (not to be confused with the Acclaim games based on the same film, like the Amiga version of "T2 - The Arcade Game") is one of the worst games ever run on a home computer (the only worse is the CPC version!), and I feel sorry for any person that purchased it back then just because it obviously had the poster of the film as boxart.

The graphics are laughable. Arnie never looked so ugly before (even compared to the games based on Predator or Last Action Hero), and he is badly animated. Truth be told, the sprite is pretty big, but it's so bad you won't notice. The same applies to T-1000 (played by actor Robert Patrick), as well as the sprites of the SWAT gunmen. As for the "driving" levels, they are like an Atari 2600 topdown "racing" game. The only good thing is the title screen.

The intro music is halfway good, but the rest of the sound is non existent. No music, and some average gunshots and grunts.

The game has 3 styles, 1-on-1 "fighting" scenes between Arnold and the T-1000 where you have to shoot or beat him up as fast as possible while trying to avoid his hits, some incredibly hard "racing" scenes (the well known opening truck scene, and the escape in the SWAT wagon while the helicopter is in pursuit), and some pointless "puzzle" levels where you have to move the pieces in order to shape a picture in a limited time. None of them are worth playing for more than 5 seconds, and I played them just to capture screenshots!

I'd happily put a "0" if there was the option. I'll say it again, how the hell can one of the best action movies ever be turned into one of the worst games ever. It's an insult to James Cameron's masterpiece. Have you seen "Robocop Vs. Terminator" for Sega Mega Drive or "The Terminator" (based on the first film) for Sega-CD? Well, THAT's how you treat a Terminator game for the 16-bits, and those are the 16-bit games you should play if you are a fan of the concept. Avoid this piece of junk at all costs, bad movies can be "good", bad games are always bad, and just see the movie again if you are in T2 mood.

Review originally submitted by one-second (also known as Doomster79).

 One of the best platform games released ever!,  Wednesday, 03 October 2007 There were many console-inspired platform games on Amiga. However, while the Amiga was top-notch for "thinking" games like RPGs, adventures and strategies, the Amiga platform games were shallow compared to SNES/Sega games of that period. Most of them featured cuddly animals or cartoony toddlers as the main characters, trying BADLY to capture the glory of the classy and classic Sonic and Mario. Fortunately, there were some gems like this. Lionheart is IMO one of the 10 best platform games released for a computer format, and it can stand tall alongside the very best platformers consoles had to offer. What were fantasy computer games of the era (1992) better known for when compared to their console counterparts? They usually had a mythic, epic concept (just see Shadow of the Beast), and were not kid-orientated. And Lionheart captured that spirit, leaving all cute platformers for the Amiga far behind.

This game contains some of the best 2D hand drawn graphics I've seen in the 16-bits. The main sprite is not very big but it's nicely drawn and animated (I prefer average-sized but good sprites than large ones that look like bad puppets), and the backgrounds are beautiful. It's not Shadow of the Beast (that game alongside Donkey Kong Country is the unbeaten king of 2D graphics), but still very pretty and pleasant to the eye. Also, there's a bit of variety on the levels, as well as an urge to see what's coming next. Simply excellent.

The sound in this game is epic. The SFX are pretty basic (but functional), but the music is outstanding and brings classical music and movie soundtracks to mind. You can hear that a lot of effort has gone into the tracks by the German composer of the game (there's even a sound test). Amiga had great sound (it reaches the level of SNES which had PCM abilities that could emulate an orchestra, not just cheesy midis like most of the Sega Megadrive games), and games like this show it off.

Most of those cutesy Amiga platformers I mentioned earlier were also pretty poor on gameplay terms. They were mostly awkward, proving the programmer's lack of experience with the genre (which was and still is a console domain). After all, Amiga excelled in RPG/Adventure/Strategy/Puzzle games. However, Lionheart plays like a console game (and that is a flattering) It has a nice balance. The control is simple and functional even though it takes a bit time to get used to the attack (hold fire and then tap a direction). Jumping is convenient and never betrays you if you are skilled. The responsiveness of the controls is worthy of praise, and I'm sure they spent a lot of time making sure things work right.

Even after you finish it, you'll play it again from time to time because the game is an enjoyable and exhilarating experience. As I said earlier, it's one of the best platform games ever released for a computer (and it rivals many great console ones), and it's a pity they never did console versions, because many console users aren't aware of it. I'm sure many SNES/Genesis users would love it. It is apparent that the programmers/designers had passion while creating it and that they loved the concept. Even the ending sequence includes messages from many of them, relating fun-to-read stories and details related to the game. I usually just download ROMs, play them and index them to move on to another one, but this, alongside Shadow of the Beast, is one of the few retro titles that I'd pay to buy just to have it in its original box in my collection. This game is THAT good.

Review originally submitted by classicamiga member one-second (also known as doomster79).

 The reason many bought an Amiga!,  Wednesday, 03 October 2007 This is the reason I first got into Amiga emulation. This game has probably the finest hand-drawn 2D graphics of the 16-bit era, easily putting many high-profile console or even some Arcade games of the date to shame. Compared to other 1989 games, this was visually (and aurally) ahead of its time. It's incredibly tough to play, though, but I suppose I won't be the only one that'll say that the game was designed with a CHEAT/TRAINER in mind ;)

I still can't believe that a 1989 game can look so impressive. 2D games matured after 1991-2, but this game looks like it was made in 1994 (and in fact, it's a lot better than MOST 1994 games). Not to mention that it's quite "tragic" the fact that an early Amiga A500 game can be that good, while many later AGA games fail to convince. The designs, the colours, everything is top-notch. Above criticism, these graphics were selling Amiga's for a long while.

But it's not only about graphics, the music of this game is also of high-calibre, and incredibly epic and magical. Simply fantastic, it rivals many of my favourite MOVIE soundtracks. The SFX are non-existent, but with such music who needs them?

The score given for gameplay reflects its quality with an infinite energy trainer activated. Without a cheat, this game gameplay-wise is substandard, since it's incredibly tough and unforgiving. However, when you play without worrying about your health, this is an engrossing epic action/adventure that makes you want to see what's coming next.

Honestly, I play it often from time to time in order to enjoy the visuals and the music. For some strange reason, I never get tired of seeing and doing the same things. Timeless.

The definition of classic, and still satisfying after 15 years. Unfortunately, none of its two sequels manages to come even close (especially the lacklustre part II), but this remains as a testament to Amiga's capabilities compared to other systems of its time. The Atari ST version that came later is simply hilarious and pitiful, and the Genesis is faithful, but compared to the Amiga original lacks the sharpness of the visuals and the quality of the music, and a certain "spark" if you may. This is one of the few retro games I'd pay to get it in its original box (BTW, excellent cover artwork), just to have it in my collection.

Review originally submitted by the classicamiga member one-second.

 A cult classic!,  Wednesday, 03 October 2007 I love Asterix, and the look and concept of this game reminded me of the classic comic, with the only difference being that the heroes aren't Gauls but Nordic, but of a similar time period (there's even a scene at their village, and it looks just like the well known Armorican village that refuses to succumb to the PAF! Roman rule).

Anyway, the three friends (can't remember their names, but I am sure the two are called Erik and Olaf) live a peaceful and happy life in their village, with their wives and kids, and they usually spend their days by going hunting. All is well, until one night an Alien spaceship abducts all three of them while they are sleeping. It seems that the Alien leader is a collector of "alien" (to the aliens) life forms, and it just happened that the three Vikings are his human species addition to his collection. Now it's up to Erik, Olaf and someguy to find a way out, and go back to their village and their happy (and maybe a little dull) lifestyle.

So, as you may guessed, it's yet another platform game, which also came out on the 16-bit consoles and the PC. However, the "twist" here is that you control three different sprites, each with his own abilities, and you often have to use a different way in the levels for each one. So, it's part platform game (mostly, actually) and part puzzle game in the sense that first you must *think* and then you must take action.

The graphics are a bit simple, even by the standards of the time it came out, but nice and pleasant to the eye. Many of the animations are quite funny as well, and there's a bit of variety in the levels. It's not one of the games you'll use to show how good hand-drawn graphics were, of course, but it satisfies you.

It has some funny music. It's too bad that there's not a little speech because some of the comments they make (through text) are pretty funny, but overall the sound is quite satisfactory.

For the gameplay I'd have given it a 10 if it were not for the fact that some of the later levels become insanely difficult requiring very fast reflexes. Anyway, as I said, the three Vikings have unique abilities that make them suitable for specific situations. The red-haired is fast and can jump, so it makes him ideal for reaching higher platforms to pull levers etc, the moustached carries a sword and a bow, which makes him ideal for killing enemies and hitting switches from a distance, and the fat one carries a shield so it is ideal to place him in front of static hazards (e.g. lasers, flame-throwing rocks etc) so the rest can pass undisturbed. It's more entertaining than it sounds, quite engrossing I might say, and the only bad thing is that after some levels the game loses control of itself and puts insane demands on a player.

It will take you ages to finish it (if you manage to do so), and you might like to revisit it from time to time.

A cult classic IMO. It is largely forgotten maybe because it didn't have any modern day descendants, but it's a great retro experience. Only one sequel came out, Norse by Norsewest (for PSX, Saturn and PCCD), but it failed to come even close to the original's spirit, due to poorly realised "rendered" graphic elements (think of a failed Donkey Kong Country imitation), unnecessarily complex gameplay, and flat humour. But this one here is highly recommended.

Review originally submitted by the classicamiga member one-second.