Commodore Remix

Amiga Power album Kickstarter update

Stretch goals ahoy! We now have additional goodies on offer in return for hitting higher funding targets, including something rather special courtesy of C64Audio.com and the 8-Bit Symphony team. You can read more by clicking the link above! (And we've already unlocked the first bonus. Hurrah!)

Amiga Power album Kickstarter update

Also! With the stonkingly groovy support of Barry Leitch, Mark 'TDK' Knight and Seven Squared, we've unleashed a whole bunch of new reward options! For further info, just click the link above...

Check out the Kickstarter campaign

It’s fair to say that there was no shortage of colourful console-esque platform games on the Amiga, particularly as the 1990s rolled around and brought with them Sonic The Hedgehog on the Mega Drive and Super Mario World on the SNES. Suddenly the race was on to create Amiga platformers that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those famous console titles, and a great many splendid games were released on the format as a result.

Even in this crowded company, Harlequin stands out as something tremendously special. Bursting with creativity, graphically gorgeous and with a scintillating soundtrack by Barry Leitch, it’s easily the equal of the finest platformers the 16-bit consoles had to offer, and an utterly fantastic game in its own right.

There’s huge amounts of variety in the gameplay (it’s not just platform-hopping; here be ropes to swing from, slopes to slide down, zipwires to ride, a giant glass of fizzy pop you negotiate inside a bubble being sucked through straws, and a bunch of other watery areas you can only explore after transforming into an angel fish); the controls are instinctive and precise; the puzzle system is ingenious, encouraging and rewarding exploration in a remarkably satisfying fashion (you have to flip switches on every level to remove obstacles or create pathways to access new areas; the trick lies in finding all the switches and working out what they actually do via a series of visual clues); and each level is a completely unique experience, with its own individual setting, enemies and obstacles to overcome, and its own distinct mood.

By the time you get to the end you’ll have scaled clock towers, romped across rooftops, descended into haunted lift shafts, explored heaven and hell, invaded a console platformer called Cutesy Bros and jumped between the notes in a giant enchanted book of sheet music, all set to a collection of atmosphere-enhancing tunes that range from the celebratory to the sinister.

For Amiga Power: The Album With Attitude, Barry has created a joyously uplifting remix of the Clock Tower theme which is first heard on the game’s opening level. He’s named the piece the “Atom & The Molecule Mix”, after a certain happy occasion that provided inspiration for the new arrangement. What occasion? That would be telling…

Sound Of Play 195

Fancy hearing a bunch of tracks from the Amiga Power album? Then you'll be wanting to tune in to the latest Cane and Rinse Sound Of Play podcast, hosted by the terrifically brill Leon Cox! Just poke the handy link above to access the new show.

Check out the Kickstarter campaign

During its lifetime the Amiga was blessed with an abundance of splendid pinball games, and the trilogy of Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions – all published by 21st Century Entertainment, and designed by the outstandingly talented Digital Illusions team – are undoubtedly among the best, if not THE best.

Fantasies, released in late 1992, added some new innovations to the winning Dreams formula (dot matrix-style scoreboard animations, extra flippers and a greater variety of bonus modes) while retaining all the elements that made its predecessor so great, including super-realistic ball physics, excellent table design, snazzy visuals and an array of hugely catchy and atmospheric tunes supplied by musical maestro Olof Gustafsson.

For Amiga Power: The Album With Attitude, Olof is creating a new arrangement based on the music from Pinball Fantasies' most famous table (it featured on the box and everything) – Party Land. Fittingly it takes inspiration from the sounds of a funfair, complete with the voice of an authentic carnival barker.

There are now just two days left of the AP album Kickstarter campaign, so if you want to grab a copy for yourself, step right up and click on the link above!

Amiga Power album Kickstarter update

Splendidly, as we head into the last day of the campaign, we've hit the £19,000 mark and unlocked a new stretch goal. The deluxe liner notes booklet accompanying the AP album (in both its digital and physical incarnations) will now feature a full 100 pages of groovy stuff, including a special Complete Control section written by Rich Pelley, in which he’ll endeavour to provide solutions to all your problems – game-related or otherwise. Hurrah!

How much more can we accomplish in the next few hours? With your help, we could yet hit another stretch goal! There's still time to support the project if you haven't already, and continuing to spread the word about it would be a massive help too. Just click the link above for more information!

Amiga Power album Kickstarter update

Rather excitingly, Chris Abbott of C64Audio.com has offered to make some very special bonuses available during the final hour of the AP album Kickstarter campaign, between 9pm and 10pm (BST) tonight. We’ll be announcing the full details at 9pm, which at the time of writing is just under an hour away. Stay tuned for more information!

Amiga Power album Kickstarter update

It's the last hour of the campaign, and some super-special bonuses are now available courtesy of C64Audio.com; but you might have to act fast to grab one! Click the link for more details!