Retro Rant - Gaming Review Youtube Channel

[manossg]

Hello fine people,

I though I would create a thread on my YT channel, for updates and discussion. This is a channel that deals with retro games on several platforms but mainly focusing on Amiga and Amstrad CPC, covering modern retro games, obscure games that deserve more love, the occasional stinker (gotta love these) as well as my own (usually negative) opinions on games considered to be classics.

I have 18 episodes already, with the most recent one being a review and playguide for the Amiga port of Elite! Enjoy!

[manossg]

For the latest episode we have Orion Prime. A spoiler-free review of this impressive 2009 point'n'click adventure game for the good, old Amstrad CPC. A masterpiece or a missed opportunity? Check out this episode and find out!

[manossg]

In this episode we shall be taking a look at Apprentice, a rather obscure platformer, released by Rainbow Arts in 1990 for the Commodore Amiga. A hidden gem or a game better left untouched?

[manossg]

For the latest episode we have an Amstrad CPC game from 1985, Airwolf, famous for its ridiculous difficulty level. Does it deserve its notoriety?

[manossg]

New Retro Rant episode dealing with the Atari ST version of Addams' Family. Was it truly better than the Amiga version?

[manossg]

For the latest episode, I reviewed Paperboy on the Amiga. A decent coin-op conversion for the miggy or the usual lazy money-grabbing affair?

[manossg]

For this episode we take a look at Shadows of Sergoth, a 2018 dungeon crawler for the Amstrad CPC. Do we finally get a decent RPG for the 8-bits?

[manossg]

This time we will be reviewing Simon the Sorcerer, which is considered one of the best point'n'click adventure games on the Amiga. Is it truly?

[manossg]

For this episode, we have Gandalf, a 2018 homebrew for the speccy, a platformer with an RPG twist!

[Gryzor]

This looks lovely and colourful

[manossg]

This looks lovely and colourful

Indeed it does, even though it is not on the CPC (yet)! 


It also plays very well and has a good soundtrack. Pure 8-bit glory!

[manossg]

Who said that the Commodore Amiga can't do a half-decent beat'em up? Here we have a masterpiece of a game by good, old Tynesoft.

[Gryzor]

Oh god, how ugly is that.

[manossg]

Oh god, how ugly is that.

Another great success from Tynesoft! 

[tjohnson]

This time we will be reviewing Simon the Sorcerer, which is considered one of the best point'n'click adventure games on the Amiga. Is it truly?

I seem to remember simon the sorcer getting rave reviews back in the day or maybe I'm mistaken?  Monkey Island 2 and Day of the Tentacle were my 2 favourite point and click adventures, finished them both, tentacle me and a mate finished in a couple of days playing.

[manossg]

I seem to remember simon the sorcer getting rave reviews back in the day or maybe I'm mistaken?  Monkey Island 2 and Day of the Tentacle were my 2 favourite point and click adventures, finished them both, tentacle me and a mate finished in a couple of days playing.

Yes, it is considered by many amigans to be on par with MI2 and DOTT, which are absolute masterpieces and my favorites of all time as well. I still cannot fathom the reason for such praise for Simon, though, since it is an average adventure game at best. The only reason I can think of is, admittedly, the eye candy, especially following some awful looking (and playing) Amiga Sierra On-Line ports (I am looking at you, SQ4)!

[manossg]

For this one we take a look at the classic racing game, Stunt Car Racer, which is considered one of the best racing games on the Amstrad CPC (and on every platform to which it was ported to). Is it as good as it is thought to be?

PS. Some frames were sacrificed due to the brutal video capture process. The actual game is smoother than that.

[Gryzor]

Never really loved this, on the CPC or on my ST, but I've got to say every time I would play it it would keep me at the edge of my seat...

[manossg]

Never really loved this, on the CPC or on my ST, but I've got to say every time I would play it it would keep me at the edge of my seat...

I hear the ST is the best version, because it runs faster and doesn't have the annoying Amiga engine sound, so I would have to test this thing out someday.


It really is an intense game, you can feel every landing, every crash and every turn, even on the CPC!

[Gryzor]

Yes, that!

I seem to remember it was faster on my 1040 than on my friend's A500 as was the usual case with vector games, but I also remember it having the "annoying engine sound", maybe I've mixed up the versions

[manossg]

My favorite 100 Amiga games from mid-eighties to the present day.

For this video, I shall be covering the ranks from 100 to 91.

[manossg]

This time it's Gods, the legendary Bitmap Brothers' game for the miggy. Does it truly deserve it's classic status or not?

[TotO]

As always with occidental productions, it looks and sound great... But that all.
Gods was a frustration to have a really promising game not fun at all to play.

[manossg]

As always with occidental productions, it looks and sound great... But that all.
Gods was a frustration to have a really promising game not fun at all to play.

These were exactly my thoughts and feelings back in the day and ended up quitting and disliking the game. And I fear that was an automatic response to lots of Amiga games, which were all graphics and sound and garbage gameplay (I am looking at you, Psygnosis).


I gave Gods a fair crack of the whip now and I found out it has quite a few redeeming qualities, it is just that they are not apparent at first glance (and you probably need a guide to truly enjoy the game). 

[Gryzor]

Am I the only one who liked it (VERY much) on my STFM back in the day?