What's the best way to get into Amiga? Also recommend me games.

[greedostick]

I realized while going through my wanted lists that a lot of games I want, especially sega CD, turbo grafx cd, and super nintendo stuff have vastly superior Amiga versions. After looking on ebay for a computer/system... not even really sure what it is cause there are so many options, I realized I probably need some professional input. Do I go console, or one of those compuers?

Also, i'm in the USA and it looks like most these units are in the UK. Should I be looking for something else? Is there an american version? I am also noticing that I rarely find games I am interested in on eBay? Which makes me think this is a pretty hard system to collect for :(

I may even settle for a emulator if I can play actual software without hiccups, but the floppy disk thing seems impossible. Do they make external floppys with USB?

Finally, recommendations on the best games would be great.

Here are some of the games I want to play...

Misadventures of Flink
flashback
gods
ruff n' tumble
shadow of the beast iii
TONS of dungeon crawlers and RPG's

[ccovell]

There are NTSC versions of (most of) the Amiga systems, and you can even hook up the A600 and A1200 directly to your TV via composite.

But beyond that, the Amiga is a minefield of PAL-only software, AGA/ECS/KS 1.3 512k/1M chipram-only software, etc. So I'd recommend experimenting with emulators first to see if you like the experience.

The best solution is to get a monitor that can display 15Khz/31Khz and PAL/NTSC (a Multisync monitor) like old Commodore or some NEC, Sony models. And then get an A600 or best yet an A1200. You might find PAL models to be much more plentiful, but shipping from Europe might offset all the savings over paying more for a US model on Ebay USA.

I'd also recommend checking out these forums for tons of beginners' questions:
http://www.lemonamiga.com/forum/
http://www.amiga.org/forums/
http://eab.abime.net/

[staxx]

An Amiga A600 or 1200 with a Compact Flash installed and WHDLOAD is one of the best ways to go. Another way is to get an Amiga A500 and a Amiga PC Transfer Kit (look up on ebay), buy tons of 3.5 disks from a thrift store and download the Amiga adf games and transfer it over to the Amiga. It is possible to change the an NTSC Amiga to a PAL Amiga very easily. Look for the Fat Agnus chip (Square chip 8370 or 8372A) and ground pin 41 (place a toothpick in pin 41 and the socket) your Amiga will be a PAL machine. The tough part would be the TV. You will need to buy a TV or monitor that can accept the 15khz signal and you must purchase the Amiga RGB cable. There is an item called the TV modulator (A520) that is needed for the Amiga to display composite. Note there are 2 versions of the A520 (NTSC and PAL). The toughest part I think is finding a suitable display. If you can find a Sony PVM then you are good to go.

Best Games:
Wings
Rocket Ranger
Turrican 2
Speedball
Speedball 2
Super Cars
Super Cars 2
Lotus Challenge
Lotus Challenge 2
Xenon 2
Pinball Dreams
It came from the Desert
It came from the desert 2
Defender of the Crown
R Type
Pacmania
Hybris
Battle Squadron
Shadow of the Beast
Shadow of the Beast 2
Datastorm
Cosmic Pirates
Street Rod
Out of this World
Flashback
Hostages
Marble Madness
Bubble Bobble
Rainbow Islands
New Zealand Story

[jammajup]

I guess it depends what type of games you like but the Amiga pretty much has everything for the time,there are many but here a few off the top of my head and for something a little different I strongly recommend 'Flood',-

Speedball 2
Stunt Car Racer
Turrican 1/2
Elite
Alien Breed
Flood
Dungeon Master
IK+
Jimmy Whites Snooker
James Pond II:Robocod
Lotus 1/2
James Pond:Underwater Agent
X-out
Carrier Command
Nebulus
Starglider II
Shadow Of The Beast II

[Flojomojo]

That's a good list of titles, many of which I want to play, too. I have a nice Android emulator with good controls, all the BIOS files, etc. My problem is that I don't understand the UI of the system, because I never had a real Amiga. Does anyone know of a good (preferably SHORT) tutorial for loading a disk to play?

[MaxWar]

I just bought an Amiga 1200 today. Was an opportunistic purchase. Will be sure to consider the list here :p

[Alianger]

Here's my own to play-list, focusing on exclusives and superior versions:
http://626535750121256080.weebly.com/commodore-amiga---games-of-interest.html

[Leo_A]

The Amiga has fine versions of Desert Strike and Jungle Strike. It's also well stocked with racing games like the already mentioned Lotus titles (Lotus III is also a fine game) and Vroom which the Genesis amazingly pulled off a fine conversion of (And then recieved a sequel to).

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I love the Amiga, mostly because it shares some hardware and software with the Genesis, one of my favorite consoles. However, I have only experienced it through emulation, as it was not particularly popular here in the states for gaming. But it is one example of where western game development was at its best in that particular era, since most of us console gamers were more accustomed to the japanese style of games, being that consoles were their preferred platform. The graphical aesthetics common in the Amiga's library are particularly appealing and some of the finest pixel art.

On the other hand, I can't exactly recall off the top of my head the exact details behind getting stuff like UAE working, but if you're patient and read the documents, examine what's available, etc. then Amiga emulation will prove itself less difficult than it seems. Thing is, most games used only one or two joystick buttons, and often times Up on the joystick/joypad was used for jumping. Keep that in mind.

I second Ruff 'n Tumble. I also really like the Dizzy games as I am enamored with action-puzzlers. There was also a drilling game in this category that I really liked (PP Hammer?). The Lost Vikings and Krusty's Super Fun House have excellent ports on this console. Treasures 'n Traps is another hard but brilliant action-platformer that I highly recommend.

BTW does anyone here own a copy of Amiga Forever? It's supposed to be a legal Amiga distribution package with various goodies. From what I understand, alot of games in the library have been licensed for legal re-release/re-distribution through this venue, which I think is a good idea as alot of the old floppy media is becoming unreliable for playing.

[Atarileaf]

I came across a few dozen boxed amiga games a couple of months ago but don't have an Amiga. Not sure if they even work, these old disks are hit and miss and is one reason I don't collect disk based media too much.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I came across a few dozen boxed amiga games a couple of months ago but don't have an Amiga. Not sure if they even work, these old disks are hit and miss and is one reason I don't collect disk based media too much.

At least the developers are smart enough to realize that and either offer them for free or through a service like AmigaForever without 'trained' or corrupted/hacked disk images.

[Greg2600]

My regret on the Amiga was that it crapped out just about the time I was getting into PC gaming. Would have LOVED to have one instead of the dreck 386 I attempted to get by with for a few years. Most models still hold their value quite well.

[Yago]

I run an A500 with ADRam board and an A1200. I have 2 monitors. A 1084 and 1084S. I run into problems here and there. HD died in the A1200 and the Internal Floppy died in my A500. A real pain finding the correct parts but they are out there. With no doubt my Amigas have always been and always will be my favorite machines to game on. As far as games, man way too many good ones...

Speedball 1-2
Shadow of the Beast 2
James Pond 2: Robocod
Alien Breed
Trolls
Lemmings
Dragons Lair 2 (One of the best versions out there!)
Agony
Cannon Fodder
Battle Squadron
Project-X
Wrath of The Demon
Ishar 1-2
Brutal Sports Football
Pinball Dreams / Fantasies
Prince of Persia
Chaos Engine
Populous (The countless hours playing this one...)
Desert Strike
Gods
Secret of Monkey Island

Aside from the great games there are hundreds of great demos. Like this one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVdGCKFzHk

[ccovell]

Aside from the great games there are hundreds of great demos. Like this one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVdGCKFzHk

Naah, 9 Fingers is so much better! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPoYzwib7JQ
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/images/smilies/deadhorse.gif

[greedostick]

Thanks for the help everyone. For whatever reason digitpress never sent me a email notification of replies. I must say as bad as I want an Amiga, it sounds frustrating to get into it. Lots of PAL software seems like it would be expensive to collect for. So I am going to think about it. In the mean time I just put together a classic late 1990's GLIDE pc to get my fix. Complete with the old 17 inch 4:3 CRT monitor. Pieced it together last week, and picked up..

Baldur's Gate 1 and II with expansions
Icewind Dale I and II with expansion
Doom II Big Box version
Duke Nukem 3D
Diablo II
Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle of Flesh
Gabriel Knight II
Gabriel Knight III
Shogo: Mobile Armour Division.

Never played the Gabriel knights games, or shogo, but shogo looked really cool and the same seller was selling Gabriel knight and doom II dirt cheap with the big boxes and manuals.

I should be busy for awhile.

My system is running windows 98 SE, with a SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Sound Card, and a Voodoo2 graphics card. Put the whole thing together for less than $100.00. Having a lot of fun.

[Ze_ro]

Here are some of the games I want to play...

Misadventures of Flink

In the Amiga world, this game was one of the very few CD32 exclusives. So if you want to play this game, you'll either have to own an Amiga CD32, do the appropriate rain dance to get the CD to run on an Amiga 1200, or run it via WHDLoad.

--Zero