When I was very growing up, I was fortunate enough to have two sets of family friends. One owned the glorious gaming machine that was the Commodore 64, while another was a computer loving family that grew up with a couple of Amiga machines.
The two families never interacted, and for whatever reason my brother and I were well behaved enough not to stoke any Amiga/Commodore 64 flames between the two. And having vastly less money growing up, my family had neither - the best we had were crappy 286's and 386's discarded by local medical centres, banks and the like. (My dad sourced them, being a programmer.)
I never quite knew growing up which was more financially successful in Australia. The Amiga was obviously a superior product, having been borne from the Commodore line, but for some reason I have memories of games on the C64 that I never quite had playing the Amiga. Things like International Karate and Decathlon have stuck with me forever. From the Amiga, it's really just the original Worms and maybe Mortal Kombat for the first time out of the arcades.
God that music was great back in the day.
Between the two machines, which do you have a greater reverence for? The Commodore 64, or the Amiga?
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The other, other, option... I had an Atari ST
Haha came here just to say this. Atari ST for me too.
Another Atari ST ex-owner here. Coming from the 8-bit era (Amstrad CPC) I remember badgering my dad for months with the technical achievements of the new 16-bit generation. He eventually gave in (mostly to shut me up, I think) and got me a 520 STFm.
Deep down, I always knew the Amiga was the better machine (yeah, shoot me, Atariphiles) but I only knew people with Ataris so it made sense from a game-swapping perspective.
I've had magical moments on both 8-bit and 16-bit computers. You don't need to pick one, it didn't matter what the game ran on, as long as it was fun.
What about the people with the VIC20 and datasette. You were really committed when you had to write down on a sheet of paper where on the tape the program you wanted started.
Yep, I remember doing that when I was a lot younger. Also with the Microbee as well.
Commodore 64 all the way.
Commodore 64 all the way!
International Karate was so cool as was Ghostbusters, which amazingly had alot of RPG game features that are still used today.
I can't split the two. Too many classics on both. C64 had all of those Epyx games (Summer Games, Winter Games, etc, Impossible Mission eyc), plus stuff like Wizball, Elite, Parallax, Uridium, etc etc). Amiga had the likes of the Cinemaware games, Dungeon Master, Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, Another World, etc etc. As well as updated versions of some of the old C64 games like Wizball, Elite, International Karate +, etc - the ""HD Remaster" is by no means a new phenomenon :P
This. So very much this. Almost word for word what I was going to write, down to the same games :) I'd do a shoutout for Leaderboard on the C64 as well though. That was such a game changer.
Thing for me is that while I know the games on Amiga were prettier, and often played smoother and better, I just struggle to remember the names of games like Speedball, Turrican, and Alien Breed. I dont with those C64 classics.
I wouldnt want to pick one over the other though. While those handful of C64 classics are easy to remember, with the power of Google at my fingertips I would come up with a far bigger Amiga list.
Civ, Gods, Jimmy Whites Snooker (or Archer Macleans) would slowly make the list. Wings, Stunt Car Racer, Populus. See what I mean? I wont immediately remember them, but after a bit the list just builds and builds. SWIV, Nebulous, Great Giana Sisters, New Zealand Story, Sentinel.
Makes it a tough call, especially given how many of those were on C64 as well.
Amiga also had Wings of Fury (criminally underrated), Stunt Car Racer, Kick Off, Prince of Persia... If I had time to Google I could produce a list as long as your arm for both platforms.
Definitely, and thats what makes the decision so hard. When I look at Google, the Amiga is clearly the better machine, but when I think instantly, I can mostly only name C64 games.
Give yourself an uppercut by the way (I'll give myself one). We both missed Paradroid on the C64....
That was also on the Amiga :P
C64 version is the only one that counts... :p
Wasnt it Paradroid 90 on the Amiga?
I gotta stop looking at these games, they're making me nostalgic to play them again.
Ah, the original Civ. Still my most favourite game of all time! Great memories.
We had some friends down the road with a Amiga, but we had the C64. most of my earlier game memories are from playing the C64 at home ..... but some of my best childhood memories are of playing at my mates house with him and his older brother.
So I guess I vote for C64 as its the only one I (my dad) actually owned, but I still have a lot of love for the Amiga.
thanks for the memories Alex
Had an Amstrad CPC 464.. it's where I learned my first lines of BASIC from the back of an Amstrad Action magazine. I guess it'd be C64 given the choice of these two.
Paperboy, Rainbow Islands, Werewolves of London, alllllllll the Dizzy games. So many years of memories.
I too had an Amstrad CPC 464 - the tape version. Learned to program on the little guy.
I really saddened me that it eventually got donated to the Salvos. I know there are emulators but nothing beats the real deal.
From what I read though (never had the privilege of owning either machine), the C64 which left a large mark in computer gaming while the Amiga (in my view) really showed some good ideas of OS design and implementation. Some ideas are now common place but others have become trapped in the niche.
Of interest to me is how the OS handled file types. Seriously, I just love the idea how the OS handled the semantics of file structures and not the programs. Why that feature never made it into other modern OSes is beyond me.
Last edited 15/02/17 12:37 pmPaperboy!. Forgot about that one..classic.
Paperboy was the one video game I've ever seen my mum play.
I've had hours to reminisce - I have a feeling I'm going home from work and finding a CPC emulator.
You only remember Worms and Mortal Kombat from the Amiga? These came quite late in the machine's life, though. Plenty of all-time classics that will trigger nostalgic tears from old gamers on the Amiga: Dungeon Master, Carrier Command, Starglider 1 & 2, Lemmings, Another World, Populous 1 & 2, the whole Bitmap Brothers catalogue (Xenon 1 & 2, Speedball 1 & 2, Chaos Engine, Gods, etc.), Kick-off, Sensible Soccer, Turrican 1 & 2, too many to mention. You also mention International Karate on C64, I give you International Karate Plus on Amiga.
One thing where the Amiga seemed too good to be true were the arcade conversions. It was mind-blowing to us to play versions from coin-op games that were so close to the real thing, compared to the watered-down ports you had to put with on C64, Spectrum and CPC. Space Harrier, R-Type, Super-Hang-On, Pac-Mania, Bubble Bobble, Toki, Golden Axe, Silkworm, Ghost 'n Goblins, New Zealand Story, Pang, etc.
Hey, I was only a few years old at the time.
IK+ was also on the C64. Awesome game on both platforms.
Last edited 15/02/17 1:54 pmI had a VIC-20. I was never lucky enough to have a C64 or an Amiga. I had a friend with an Amiga and we spent many glorious hours playing Lords of Midnight, Wizball, Great Giana Sisters, New Zealand Story, & more.
I had a Commodore 64 and my friend had an Amiga 500.
Amiga was like the deluxe version of the C64 for me. The C64 had some awesome games that the Amiga didn't have, but in terms of a better experience, I'd say Amiga.
C64! Though a few of these are multi-plat, fondly remember Law of the west, Defender of the Crown, Summer Games, Space Harrier, Aliens, The Last Ninja. Oh the nostalgia!
Was the Atari 2600 for me. My father tried to convince me that a Nintendo (just released) would be better, but I wouldn't hear of it as I'd only ever played on a friends Atari. Oh what I'd love to go back and say to my 7 year old self!
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