Introducing the Amiga CD32 Review Project

I don't know if any of you guys remember, but I used to release pages for my upcoming Amiga book as posts here on the blog. I haven't been releasing any for quite some time now though. The reason for this is simply that Sam Dyer (aka. MrSid) got there before me and through a successful Kickstarter campaign he raised a shitload of money to do his book "Commodore Amiga: A Visual Commpendium" (yes, he misspelled compendium, and yes it's on purpose - it's a comm-pendium because it about the Comm-odore Amiga, get it?) I worked on my Amiga book because I thought I could probably get it published once I finished it, but now that Sam is doing his excellent book, I doubt that anyone would want to get mine, so I needed a new project to work on - preferably one that involved my beloved Amiga in some way. On a side note, I did back Sam's book and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. If you didn't back it but would still like a copy you can get it here at Funstock.

Growing up I owned an Amiga 500 and later on an Amiga 600. The A500 was, and still is, the most precious piece of equiptment I have ever owned. I spent two years working and saving up all my money in order to buys a used A500, and when I finally got it it was all worth it. When the A1200 came out I of course wanted one of those, but there was no way I'd be able to afford it. So I never got an A1200 back in the day, and the CD32 eluded me as well - so many beautiful AGA games that I never got to play! Of course, that has been remedied and I now own both an A1200 and a CD32, and I really want to get into the games on offer for those platforms.

Photo by Evan Amos

After getting my Amiga CD32 I immediately fell in love with the platform. I don't know what it is exactly - I guess it's just because it's an Amiga, which I love, and it's a console, which means that games just work when you pop them in. I have therefore decided that my new project will be dedicated to the CD32 and I hereby present to you the Amiga CD32 Review Project. My goal is to play and review every single game released for the Amiga CD32 - in alphabetical order. I have already done quite a few, and I will be releasing them here on the blog once a week. I hope you guys want to be along for the ride!

The dogma for this project is simple:
1) I will play and record each game, on original hardware, for at least one hour.
2) I will spend an hour or two researching the game.
3) I will then create a 3 to 5 minute video review of the game, referencing both the recorded gameplay footage and reviews from back in the day.

The first game I have looked at is Akira - going in alphabetical order I had to start with that title, which sadly is kind of a stinker. But have a look and make up your own mind. And don't worry, the next game I will be reviewing is great :)

I hope you enjoyed the review. Next week I will be releasing my review of the excellent platformer Alfred Chicken.

Until next time... stay retro!