Amiga, Apple, Atari and Commodore Exclusive Must Play RPGs

[Daemongar]

Comments to Daemongar's list:

Gold Box games: I'd only play the Krynn games on the Amiga, for the better audiovisuals. Amiga version of Secret of the Silver Blades was bugged (Cloaks of Displacement made you immune to physical attacks). DOS versions of Savage Frontier games probably look just as good as Amiga version.

The first goldbox game I played on the Amiga was Secret of the Silver Blades, and I never noticed the bug - but probably benefited from it. I don't think the DOS versions looked as good, as a quick Google search of images reveals better flourishes and graphics in the Amiga version. Also, the Amiga sound would definitely be better.

Bard's Tale games:
Amiga versions of 1 and 2 looked very good, but all three were bugged in some ways (overflow bug on Hunter's critical hit in 1/2, monsters lacking special attacks in 3). DOS versions were bugged too (though there is a fan made patch for 3), making the original Apple version the best ones. It's probably not a coincidence that it's the emulated Apple versions GOG sells.

I've heard these comments before on Bard's Tale, but 99.9% of the folks wouldn't notice these bugs. The sound and graphics are much better on the Amiga, as well as limited disk swapping/switching. I usually differ to the Amiga version of games as I am partial to the C64 versions, but realize C64 is an acquired taste (more disk swapping, slower access). The Amiga looks so much better, but for me doesn't have the same C64 feel.

Phantasie 2 was not released for Amiga, but 1 and 3 looks much better on the Amiga (and Atari ST). Problem is finding an Amiga copy where the overland is not already explored.

I have an Amiga copy of 1 & 3 I believe, maybe I can try to make a disk image someday. Isn't there a way to reset those maps from the start menu?

And as Excidium also mentioned, Dragon Wars definitely looks much better on the Amiga.

Defintiely

Magic Candle and Knight of Legend: were there really Amiga versions of these games?
I am pretty sure Magic Candle was out for the Amiga, unsure about the Knights of Legend.

 

[Daemongar]

http://www.lemonamiga.com/
You could aslo buy their amiga forever disk with everything prebuilt and preconfigured.

Amiga Forever doesn't come with any RPG's. They have to be imported via the RP9 manager. However, it does an excellent job of emulation.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I'm looking through some other suggestions.

Flux_Capacitor , Xyphus for the Apple II reminds me of the old Ultima 1 and 2 games. So unless someone tells me it's amazing I'll assume it is good for it's time, but nothing that I feel I must play.

dragonbait , Same with Wrath of Denethenor. However, check out the author's webpage here: http://crimdom.net/wrath.html

Dark Designs also looks intriguing. More so than Xyphus. But it's not making the list either unless I get bored and give it a whirl which changes my opinion. CRPG Addict covered it on his blog.

Mortmal sent in a cool game that FTL seems based on called SunDog Frozen Legacy, and I am wondering if it can be considered an RPG and what people think of it.

Legend of Blacksilver looks pretty interesting from the screenshots, but I can't find much commentary on it. The Giant Bomb article on it was somewhat bland: http://www.giantbomb.com/the-legend-of-blacksilver/3030-12747/

Sword of Fargoal didn't seem that good of a game and Telengard and other TRS-80 games seem good for their time, but I don't think aged well.

Shadowfire has an ugly look and interface, but supposedly it had superb reviews for its time according to wikipedia. Anybody else want to chime in on it?

Luzur , Standing Stones is darn obscure. I hardly found anything about it besides that YouTube video.

HiddenX , it seems Faery Tale Adventure had multiple ports, to include consoles and PC. I've been on the fence about it. It seems like a fun light RPG, fun but not challenging. The Ishar series has been talked about here at the Codex before and I remember it getting a lukewarm reaction. HeroQuest 2 looked pretty sweet, but the reviews I found about it ranged from 67-80%. I'm adding Captive to the list. It looks great and reviewed well here: http://hol.abime.net/2927/review

As mentioned above, Legends of Valour was an obscure RPG, but has mixed reviews that skew towards the higher side. Here's a picture:

Realms of Quest looks like an early blobber, but a fan created Realms of Quest IV just this month: http://realmsofquest.blogspot.com/

Ultimate Quest looks like early Ultima:

 

[Bruma Hobo]

EAMON!!!

 

[turrican]

Dungeon Krampfer of course! Great memories.

 

[Zetor]

If German-only stuff counts, there's also Lords of Doom (blobber feat. Sylvester Stallone lookalike) and Die Prüfung (1-character fixed-step game with Wizardryesque combat, sorta like a 1-player blobber) Neither of them were particularly good, though. Some more screenshots from Die Prüfung here - 1 2 3, apparently it has an English version as well

e: from Luzur's list, Alternate Reality: The Dungeon was C64-only, and sort of a cult favorite back in the day. Also, Abandoned Places was really good, though it did get a PC port eventually -- however, considering that Abandoned Places 2 was Amiga-only, and you can transfer your party from 1, it's probably best to play both on Amiga.
e2: I also remember reading about Shadow of the Evil (sic!) which was also a blobber with the UI reminiscent of the Elvira series.

 

[msxyz]

Silmaris produced several RPGs for Atari ST; some were ported also to Amiga/DOS such as the Ishar series. These also had incredible graphics for the time, first person tile based (like Dungeon master / Eye of the Beholder) but with vast and detailed outdoor areas.

The first Ishar (itself a sort of sequel of another well known RPG, Crystal of Arborea) had also interesting party mechanics; there were rivalries between the companions that could be exploited to have one of them assassinated by another party member!

A shame I've never played them again since my ST broke twenty something years ago... it's on my "todo" list, though.

 

[Haba]

I think all the good ones have been mentioned already.

Many Amiga exclusive CRPGs are rather interesting, but not so interesting that I'd revisit them again...

 

[octavius]

I thought this thread was about must-play games, not finding the most obscure games...

I have an Amiga copy of 1 & 3 I believe, maybe I can try to make a disk image someday. Isn't there a way to reset those maps from the start menu?

No, that function was only available from the DOS versions of the Phantasie games.
So when I (re)played the Phantasie games some years ago, I ended up using the ugly DOS version of Phantasie 1.


Deuce Traveler:

Faery Tale is rather light, but it had amazing audiovisuals back in the days, with very moody music. Gameplay got rather boring after a while, though. Huge land to traverse, but not enough interesting stuff to find.

ShadowFire is a ZX Spectrum game which I tried to replay myself some years ago. The problem is that it uses a joystic like a mouse, to click on icons (really avant garde stuff on the Spectrum back then), but I couldn't get my game pad to work properly with the emulated version. But it was a very fun, tactical game in real time with a time limit. The folllow up - Enigma Force - was also very good. The designers - Denton Design - were like the UK 8 bit version of Westwood Associates.

 

[octavius]

BTW Deuce Traveler, you really should try Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge. IMO the best games developed for the ZX Spectrum. Both are now available from GOG; Doomdark's Revenge finally with an automap.
For Lords of Midnight the best choice would be the free remake The Midnight Engine with superior graphics.

 

[Morkar Left]

I recommend Lost Patrol. Hard, but fun.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

BTW Deuce Traveler, you really should try Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge. IMO the best games developed for the ZX Spectrum. Both are now available from GOG; Doomdark's Revenge finally with an automap.
For Lords of Midnight the best choice would be the free remake The Midnight Engine with superior graphics.

I read somewhere that those two games are part of a trilogy, so I am hoping the third one comes out on GOG and into some packaged future sale. I definitely have my eye on it. I have such a large backlog right now I can sit back and wait for sales.

 

[Luzur]

I recommend Lost Patrol. Hard, but fun.

is that an RPG then? i saw that more like a tactical team game thing

 

[Luzur]

BTW Deuce Traveler, you really should try Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge. IMO the best games developed for the ZX Spectrum. Both are now available from GOG; Doomdark's Revenge finally with an automap.
For Lords of Midnight the best choice would be the free remake The Midnight Engine with superior graphics.

I read somewhere that those two games are part of a trilogy, so I am hoping the third one comes out on GOG and into some packaged future sale. I definitely have my eye on it. I have such a large backlog right now I can sit back and wait for sales.

hmm, i think the third part never came out actually, i am not sure though, can be another game series i a thinking about.

 

[HiddenX]

The third part Eye of the Moon was shelved.

another sequel was
Lords of Midnight: The Citadel

 

[AbounI]

Most of the SSI Gold engined cRPG, if not all of them.
There was also the Legend of Faerghail, but as far as I can remember the anti piracy protection was broken, as sometimes, the games asked which was the word of a random line/page, but it worked only for the german manual, so the english needed the german manual

and now, it hurts me once again

Spoiler

 

[Deuce Traveler]

BTW Deuce Traveler, you really should try Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge. IMO the best games developed for the ZX Spectrum. Both are now available from GOG; Doomdark's Revenge finally with an automap.
For Lords of Midnight the best choice would be the free remake The Midnight Engine with superior graphics.

I read somewhere that those two games are part of a trilogy, so I am hoping the third one comes out on GOG and into some packaged future sale. I definitely have my eye on it. I have such a large backlog right now I can sit back and wait for sales.

hmm, i think the third part never came out actually, i am not sure though, can be another game series i a thinking about.

I heard the third game is called The Citadel: http://www.hotud.org/39-content/games/rpg/22083-lords-of-midnight-3-the-citadel

According to Home of the Underdogs, it may not be worth it: "In stark contrast to its predecessors, LOM3 is an absolute mess of a game that serves as a good example of why having just a grand ambition is not enough for a game to succeed."

I saw this mini review on GOG on the second of the series called Doomdark's Revenge that I really liked:

"Can remember sitting in front of the TV with my Spectrum with the whole floor covered with a handmade map over the whole area and small numbered lego-pieces representing my troops. All so I could figure out if the troop I see a few steps away are mine or a possible recruit, and plan my moves. One of the games that swallowed most of my time... must go down to the basement and locate that map... and some legopieces."

Adding Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge to the front page.

 

[Morkar Left]

I recommend Lost Patrol. Hard, but fun.

is that an RPG then? i saw that more like a tactical team game thing

Yeah, you're right. Your squad has stats but they don't improve (only get worse). You still get some rpg-feel out of it by trying to plan your route through the country and I would recommend it nonetheless.

 

[mondblut]

Z/X Spectrum
Lords of Midnight (C64, too)
Doomdark's Revenge (C64, too)

PC ports exist. And modern remakes too.

Amiga
Amberstar
Captive
Hired Guns

Not 100% certain about Captive (but probably yes), the other two are on the PC.

 

[Zetor]

I thought this thread was about must-play games, not finding the most obscure games...

Well, Abandoned Places 1-2 was pretty huge over here and considered a must-play series (of course it wasn't as big as Fate, but then almost nothing was). I never had an Amiga though, so I dunno if it lives up to the hype. Ditto Alternate Reality: the dungeon.

 

[octavius]

I thought this thread was about must-play games, not finding the most obscure games...

Well, Abandoned Places 1-2 was pretty huge over here and considered a must-play series (of course it wasn't as big as Fate, but then almost nothing was). I never had an Amiga though, so I dunno if it lives up to the hype. Ditto Alternate Reality: the dungeon.

I thought Abandoned Places was one of the weaker DM clones I've played. Not enough content in the dungeons, boring combat (especially those random overland encounters were torture) and nothing to do in the various towns. It was quanity over quality.
The background story was really the best part of the game.

 

[Mortmal]

Abandonned places is not an obscure game on the amiga indeed, its one of the best dungeon master clone .its arguable of course , like everything.



There's also crystal dragon :




If people dont remember those titles , like fate its because they were released in amiga's end life. Fate and abandonned places were released in 1992 the same year as ultima 7 and ultima underworld , PC (386,486) were the big thing and some titles were missed , they just couldnt compete with origin's behemoths.
Oh and wizardry 7 was released the same year too...

 

[Luzur]

and now, it hurts me once again

Spoiler

what is that, a Police RPG bust?

 

[HiddenX]

Deuce Traveler -> maybe you can find something in this thread:
The best EVER Amiga RPG game

 

[Decado]

Eamon.