Games galore #9: Dread (update), Super Wormy, Smarty and the Nasty Gluttons, Dragon Slayer

By: Amiga Alive
Posted on: 24 September 2020

This time we have two classics revisited, and two previously unreleased games. It's always an especially pleasant surprise when Amiga developers get together to rebuild and release some forgotten project. Here we go!

"Dread" (update)

"Dread" certainly is one of the most exciting Amiga game projects of the COVID-19 era, and among the most exciting game projects on the Amiga ever. Yes, it's THAT epic. Ok, it's been more than 20 years, but there's still that exhilaratingly satisfying feeling when you know Amigans won the "Doom can't be done" cause, and "Dread" is the final strike. KK/Altair is still working on the engine, and keeping the public up to date with several videos, the latest of which shows him painstakingly optimizing the image conversion process in order to get better color palette distribution. Whatever the case, it's a fascinating look into game development, and how this one will once and for all put an end to all arguments: the Amiga IS superior to the Atari ST! ;-)

Watch 'Dread Ep 04 - "Doom" clone for Amiga 500 - Revisiting the graphics' on YouTube (2020-08-30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c00B3uE5FV8

Super Wormy

"Snake" is one of those classic games that'll never get old, and "Super Wormy" is a new variation of the concept. Written by Rob "Coagulus" Hewitt in BlitzBasic during the (first) Corona virus lockdown period, "Super Wormy" is a neat looking, smooth scrolling snake-type game, with an amazing, weirdly hypnotic soundtrack - straightforward arcade fun for gamers of all ages!

Watch a video of "Super Wormy The Worm-Like Snake. v1.0" (2020-07-21):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrbK74NE5yQ

You can download "Super Wormy" (v1.1) from English Amiga Board:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=1416198#post1416198

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-07-00073-EN.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=103271
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=103211

Smarty and the Nasty Gluttons

"Smarty and the Nasty Gluttons" is a super good looking, nicely animated, beautiful sounding game for kids and adults alike. It combines elements of a platformer with BombJack and DigDug, and does so with lovely handpainted screens, gorgeous sprites, transition effects, intro animation, and so on. The game mechanics are slightly more elaborate than usual, this looks like great fun to play, and the overall production quality easily meets professional standards.

The project dates back to 1992 when the original developers were unable to publish the game. Recently, the source code has been reviewed, and the full game completed. There are also plans to release the sourcecode, and create a physical package gamers can purchase. "Smarty and the Nasty Gluttons" requires an OCS Amiga with 1MB RAM and Kickstart 1.2, or better. And it's free for you to download (see link below) - great stuff!

Watch a video of "Smarty And The Nasty Gluttons - Gameplay" (2020-08-07):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWbJXlQxkWA

You can download "Smarty and the Nasty Gluttons" from the game's homepage: https://smartygame.fi

Additional sources:

http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-08-00002-DE.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/07/smarty-and-nasty-gluttons-another-...

Dragon Slayer

With some impressive graphics and realistic sound effects "Dragon Slayer" almost enters horror game territory. There's not much missing and this game should be able to create some serious atmosphere in your darkened livingroom. It combines platformer and adventure elements with boss fighting sequences, and the game is said to have quite a large area to explore, consisting of hundreds of locations.

The game was initially developed by Christian Haller, to be released by Linel software in 1990, but is now being rebuilt and planned to be published for the first time. Check out these amazing sprites and GELs. Gods meets Barbarian meets... Space Harrier?

Watch "Dragon Slayer (old Amiga game, preview)" on YouTube (2020-08-11):