I was thinking recently about the amount of time I spent playing games when I was younger. I don’t have as much appetite any longer for playing games. The only game I play now is Team Fortress 2, and even that very irregularly. The only game that would probably take me back into the market is Half Life 3…

So, to archive my gaming childhood, I decided to put together the accompanying list. These are the games I played most on the venerable Commodore Amiga. I’m not saying they’re the best, just that these are the ones I spent the most time playing. Also it gave me an excuse to install an emulator and have a little play around with them, you know, for research.

Frontier: Elite 2

I spent an age of time playing this. There is so much to love about the ambition and scope of this epic game. Everything from the physics to the stellar cartography promotes it to being some more than simply a game. Even the act of docking manually can take some time to master. Looking back on it there is something wholesome about this game. It educates and entertains, but it’s not preachy about it, and I sometimes imagine that the reason for this might be that the creator was just making something he was interested in himself.

If you are so inclined, there is a reboot of this involving the illustrious Mr. Braben himself called Elite:Dangerous which at the time of writing is fairly new.

Syndicate

Way ahead of it’s time, this game made a valiant early attempt at a free world. An uber violent dystopian kind of free world. Take your four little men and wreak carnage on an unsuspecting populous. Kit your men out with the right weapon loadouts, upgrade their cybernetic organs and make your bid for world domination.

International Karate+

IK+ was one of those games that you could always come back to. A quick game was always pleasurable. Everything from the sound effects, mini games, multi-player and mechanics made this just a joy to play. Archer MacLean was actually a bit of role model for me at the time. I distinctly remember as a child thinking how remarkable it was that a person could sit down and make something like this.

Lemmings

Save adorable depressives beasts from the fate that they crave. That’s the challenge behind this highly addictive game that presents the player with an array of challenges to be solved using the specific tasks available to be assigned to specific Lemmings. Fun to play and the creators also managed to put together a wide array of interesting levels.

For anybody interested, there is a version available to play online right now (http://www.elizium.nu/scripts/lemmings/).

Sensible World of Soccer

The beautiful game rendered in glorious 16 bits. Don’t expect a simulation, this a pure fun arcade version. There are features in later versions to manage your team (complete with similar sounding names for real players). Playing against the computer provided hours of fun, but you can also hook up a second joystick and enjoy thrashing your friends.