Games galore: Reshoot R, Rygar, BioJet, Pong 4K, AirTaxi - and Trap Runner sourcecode
It very much looks like 2019 will surpass many previous years in number of new games released for the Amiga. In fact it becomes pretty hard to keep up with all the new developments.
RESHOOT R
"RESHOOT" from 2016 by Richard Loewenstein looked awesome, and was kind of something new on Amiga, but Richard isn't done with us yet: now he's given us "RESHOOT R" with more assembler coded action, more bullets, extra weapons, more outlandish looking enemies, more insane sound effects, and more awesome pounding, hypnotizing music. It runs on AGA Amigas (CD32 included), claims to put up to 100 objects on screen at the same time, more than 400 colors, with transparency effects, still parallax-scrolling at 50Hz - no accelerator required, yet runs on 68020 to 68060, taking advantage of additional RAM if present.
Hats off, RESHOOT R rivals "T-Zero" in being the most advanced shoot'em up on the Amiga ever. ESCALATION!
RESHOOT R - additional info / download / purchase:
http://reshootr.richard-loewenstein.de
https://www.amigashop.org/product_info.php?products_id=294 (purchase "signature" edition)
https://www.amigashop.org/product_info.php?products_id=295 (purchase digital)
https://www.amigashop.org/product_info.php?products_id=293 (purchase "pure" edition)
https://amigastore.eu/627-reshoot.html (RESHOOT, predecessor)
https://www.patreon.com/loewenstein
Rygar
Not finished yet, but with preview videos out, we can pretty safely assume a 2019 release. "Rygar" is a fantasy themed game for AGA Amigas, a remake of the 1986 Tecmo arcade game. Jump, shoot, dodge, run - somewhere in between "Lionheart", "Shadow of the Beast", and "Ghosts'n'Goblins". It already looks very good, and has some above-average game mechanics. Expect some more improvements and bugfixes, this is gonna be an exciting game.
Here's the latest in-development video:
Rygar - additional info / download / purchase:
http://www.seismicminds.com/downloads/RygarEAB0C.adf (demo beta version download)
https://www.facebook.com/RygarAmiga/
https://vintagecomputerssociety.blogspot.com/2019/05/rugar-aga-gets-playble-demo-version.html
BioJet
Inspired by the classic "H.E.R.O." game, "BioJet" is a variation of the fly/dodge/explore genre for all Amigas (with 512KB FastRAM). This looks like a smooth, fun game, and has some interesting technical details (see Aminet readme). Last but not least: it's freeware!
BioJet - additional info / download / purchase:
http://aminet.net/package/game/misc/BioJet (download)
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=81083 (download)
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2019-05-00014-EN.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/04/biojet-flying-platformer-as-first.html
PONG 4K goes commercial
One of the oldest gaming ideas got a massive update with "PONG 4K". You still try to catch and reflect a ball, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. "PONG 4K" is the successor to "PoNG4" - for Amiga CD32 only, has an intro video, CD soundtrack, lots of bleeps and blurps, dark yet colorful graphics, giving it a "Speedball" like dystopian future atmosphere, with parallax scrolling, four players simultaneously, gravity effects, obstacles, ... you name it. Originally released in 2018 it's got a commercial release in 2019. Pong is dead, long live PONG!
PONK 4K - additional info / download / purchase:
https://amiga.net.pl/index.php?lng=eng&kwt=10010&tms=427 (purchase physical)
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=78586 (PONG 4K download)
https://vintagecomputerssociety.blogspot.com/2019/05/pong-4k-new-pong-genre-game-for-aga.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/06/pong-4k-wicked-amiga-cd32-pong-stye.html
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2018-10-00034-DE.html
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2019-06-00010-DE.html
http://aminet.net/package/game/2play/PoNG4 (predecessor, all Amigas)
AirTaxi full version released
Dave May's "AirTaxi" is a 1994 game heavily-inspired by "SpaceTaxi", in fact it looks like a super-polished, enhanced version of the classic. A demo has long been on AmiNet, but recently the full version (.adf) has been released, and even an updated rework is considered by the author. "AirTaxi" can be played by up to 5 human players simultaneously (2 joysticks + 2 joysticks on parallel port + keyboard), and runs smoothly on any Amiga with 1MB ChipRAM and some acceleration (25Mhz). It's got speech, soundfx, obstacles, weather conditions, bad guys, nice little character animations, etc. - this looks very entertaining to play with a couple of friends!
AirTaxi - additional info / download / purchase:
http://airtaxigame.com
http://aminet.net/package/game/2play/airTaxi (demo version)
TrapRunner source code released
Frank Wille's "Trap Runner" had a "party release" in 2018, but is still going strong in 2019 with an updated "final release", and recently the sourcecode has been released. The game is a "Giana Sisters" type jump-and-run with super cute graphics and sounds, very classic, and it also has the best storyline ever: rescue girl from bad guy. Add playability, intro screens, and of course this irresistable marshmellow-smurf-kindof character - you just can't go wrong with "Trap Runner".
You can buy a physical edition of the game, and you can also try your hands on the sourcecode. It's designed to be portable to other platforms, but there's some assembler code involved.
Trap Runner - additional info / download / purchase:
http://www.retroguru.com/trap-runner/
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=78069 (download)
https://www.amigashop.org/product_info.php?products_id=289 (purchase physical)
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2019-04-00046-EN.html (sourcecode announcement)
http://server.owl.de/%7Efrank/TrapRunner1_2.lha (sourcecode)
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=94066
Bonus game: Cuba 1898
And we have one more that popped up recently: "Cuba 1898" by Irongate / José A. González P. is a neat sidescrolling jump'n'shoot that puts you right into the Spanish-American war of 1898. Well, kinda. Shoot enemies "Green Beret" style, collect boni - win a war!
Cuba 1898 - additional info / download / purchase:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=95734
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/01/cuba-1898-new-amiga-game-in-development.html
In addition to the above, also make sure to check out these releases we've given coverage in individual articles:
SkillGrid
https://amigaalive.blogspot.com/2019/05/skillgrid-new-vertical-shootem-up-game.html
Shogo (digital download edition released)
https://amigaalive.blogspot.com/2019/03/shogo-mobile-armor-division-available.html
Yeah, and of course we're looking forward to the very promising "Scourge of the Underkind".
Will 2019 go down in history as the year Amiga gaming returned from the underground?