Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga)

The absolute grandaddy of the Lotus series - quick, great music, great sound, this is an "Outrun Killer" and the killer app on the Amiga as far as racing games is concerned - you just can't beat it, it's just that good - this just proved that the Amiga could do a decent arcade racing game "Outrun Style" - I dunno what else to say here.

Lotus Turbo Challenge (Sega MegaDrive)

Ok, so this is interesting. Generally it has the look and feel of Lotus 2, but, it falls short in a few ways, so let's take a look at the problems

• Graphics: the graphics look a bit fuzzy in places, the car looks "squashed" at the bottom and there appears to be a bigger skyline and the main game graphics are squashed to the bottom - also, the "CHECKPOINT" and "FINISH" banners are missing (the banner is there, but the text is not

• Sound: the audio driver used on this game is terrible! The music is recognisable, but very very harsh sounding, it's like a cross between the ST's AY music and the PC's Adlib sound - the sound effects are muffled and a bit distorted as well, the engine sound is terrible

• Playability: it plays like you'd expect, and it's pretty smooth, so I'll give it that

BUT, if you want to play this game, play the Amiga, ST or Acorn Archimedes version.

Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge (Amiga)

Now, this game did get quite some criticism, it was the last in the Lotus series, it brought the RECS track customiser, it brought back the choice of point-to-point timed races or championship races, it brought back in-race music, but, to many, it just felt like a mash-up of Lotus 1 and 2, and the formula was getting tired, plus, Jaguar XJ220 was released at a similar time, but, to me, this is the best game in the series (only my opinion) - there's way more game here than with the previous game. The Amiga version is great!

Lotus III: RECS

A bit of a dissapointment here - yet again, it plays well but the presentation falls short of the mark again. Let's have a look at this:

• Graphics: so, you can easily tell that, just like the previous version on the MegaDrive, this version is using less colours on screen - and the dithering effect seems to look worse here (evident in this screenshot) - other than that, the same things mentioned in the previous version apply here

• Sound: the audio driver is still awful, muffled sound samples, distorted in places, and when that intro tune kicks in, mute the TV, you'll thank me later - also, note that there's only the choice of 4 ingame pieces of music instead of the normal 6

• Playability: well, it plays ok, it's pretty smooth and still enjoyable, but has taken a knock in presentation - also, in the RECS designer, I noted that the mountain side course has been replaced with an Outrun style beach run instead, not sure why though.

I'd still say the Amiga, ST and PC versions are superior, but it's still enjoyable to play.

The Chaos Engine (Amiga - OCS/ECS & AGA)

What can I say here? This is an awesome game on the Amiga, and a classic loved by many - it's like a cross between Gauntlet and a some sort of steampunk aesthetic

The OCS/ECS version is great, and is the one I prefer, as it has that more steampunk aesthetic whereas the AGA version, the colours are a little brighter (although, not offensively so, like a certain other game)

The music is so easily recognisable here, if I hear this tune, I know it's Chaos Engine (or Soilder Of Fortune for any US readers), and the sampled speech is great, the sound effects are great.

This is a superb game, even if I am a bit pants at it - it plays well and is presented so well, it really shows what the Amiga is about.

The Chaos Engine (Sega MegaDrive)
Soilder Of Fortune (Sega Genesis)

So, I fired this up, and it was rather "interesting" to say the least - the music, whilst a bit harsher sounding, it was easily recognisable and I knew what I was getting in to - the intro is nice here on this version, and when I started the game, apart from the different HUD, it all felt very familiar, but, I noticed a couple of things

• Graphics: evidentally based on the OCS/ECS Amiga version, but it's all very recognisable.

• Sound: I didn't really notice too much, yeah, the sound samples were a little scratchy (typical MegaDrive stuff here) but it's not too bad

• Playability: this is what I noticed the most - the game slowed down quite a bit when it got busy (lots of enemies) and ran slower than it's Amiga counterpart.

A good version, but not as good as the Amiga - still worth playing though.

The Chaos Engine (SNES / Super Famicom)
Soilder Of Fortune (US SNES)

I played this one after the MegaDrive version, and whilst it had the same HUD as the MegaDrive version, it's immediately noticable of the graphical differences, playability is very much like the MegaDrive version though

• Graphics: this one looks like the visuals are based on the Amiga AGA version, there's more colours on the screen here, and it's more vibrant than the MegaDrive version

• Sound: whilst it's better fidelity than the MegaDrive, it's still a bit of a let down next to the Amiga's soundtrack - it sounds quite "synthey" in comparison, but it's not offensively bad

• Playability: I was surprised here, this version suffers the same slow-down of the MegaDrive version - when I played this, I was playing the NTSC version so I know it's not a PAL issue here.

Not a bad effort, but, not amazing - still an enjoyable play, but, if you have an Amiga, play that version instead.

Gods (Amiga OCS/ECS)

Such a stone cold classic - a great game. A bit of a slower paced platformer, but that suits me fine - there's also an iconic theme tune on the title screen called "Into The Wonderful" from Nation XII

Gods (Sega MegaDrive / Genesis)

A nice looking version - a few more colours being used here, but it's still a nice version - I really like this one.

• Graphics: some extra colour in places, but missing the "copper" gradient in later stages that the Amiga used, but it's good

• Sound: the theme tune took a knock, but it's not bad, it's not horrendous like the MegaDrive ports of Lotus. In game sound is ok too.

• Playability: plays a little quicker than the Amiga version, but not noticeably so, it's still playable

Overall, a good version, I like this port

Gods (SNES / Super Famicom)

Well, what can I say here? This is a disappointment, so let's break it down and look at why

• Graphics: a bit brighter than the other two versions, but that's not an issue, however, it's missing the copper gradient effect of the Amiga, I would've thought that could've been replicated by the SNES

• Sound: the theme music is disappointing, yeah, it's recognisable, it's not harsh sounding, but, they could've done a better job of it

• Playability: this version plays way too fast - it's not playable at all - this does not feel like Gods

I would give this version a swerve, unless it's your only way of playing it - the Amiga version, DOS version, Acorn Archimedes version or even the MegaDrive version, are all superior.

Lemmings (Amiga)

This is where the game started, the original version, everything else is a port of this one.

Great music, perfectly smooth mouse response with no lag anywhere, this game is so tight and works so well, and because it's so well put together, you know that if you fail a level, it's because you messed it up, not some machine lag.

Lemmings (Sega MegaDrive / Genesis)

Well, I'm surprised how well this turned out - it's perfectly playable, and I like it, but, it's not all perfect

• Graphics: well, it looks pretty much like the Amiga versio, right down to the texture on the skill buttons at the bottom, however, that preview map in the bottom right seems a little small / squashed in

• Sound: it's taken a knock here - the tunes are not bad, but that depends on which tune and which level you're on, some have translated across to the MegaDrive better than others - but, they're not in the same order as the Amiga version, I will say though, the music is better than the DOS version

• Playability: this has translated to a controller surprisingly well. It's responsive, and works well, but, I didn't play it through as far as the Amiga version, so I suspect during the later levels, it'll be harder on a controller - however, research tells me the "Sega Mouse" is supported, I just don't have one.

A nice decent version of the game, I enjoyed trying this one out.

Lemmings (SNES / Super Famicom)

So, this one is another interesting version, let's take a look

• Graphics: the texture on the buttons at the bottom is different, and the skills icons are a little different, but otherwise it looks like the Amiga version - however, I struggled with some of these icons, and it was muscle memory that got me to remember which icons were what. The Release Rate buttom has been combined in to one rather than having two separate buttons, allowing for a bigger preview map.

• Sound: the tunes are a bit werid here - they sound decent on the whole, but the odd one or two are a bit jarring, it's all recognisable though - also, like the MegaDrive version, the tunes are in a different order

• Playability: well, the extra buttons on the SNES controller are used to good effect here - L & R shoulder buttons will scroll the level left & right, X & Y will move the highlited skill icon so you can switch between skills without having to move to the bar at the bottom - A & B perform the action. This version also allegedly supports the SNES Mouse (that came with Mario Paint) but I don't have it, so can't test with that.

A nice version here, I like this one.