The Retro Collection - Part 2
I've always had a soft spot for the Amiga but it wasn't until recently that I went into overdrive mode in collecting Amiga and Amstrad based games. Yet some would probably call me crazy, my credit card probably would! But when you have so many good gaming memories from your childhood then there is no harm in reliving those days and admiring the exceptional work that when into not just the games, but the boxes themselves. However, in my opinion a collection isn't much of a collection if you don't have some of the best titles available on that platform for the time, well guess what, I have many of those very games!
You'd be hard pressed to find cheap Amiga games of this condition, some are rarely seen on Ebay, especially It Came From the Desert which I've read defined the Amiga, with it's b-movie style adventure and developed by the hit company Cinemaware. Yet that's not all as Dungeon Master is another title, a game that would be described as a starter to the dungeon crawler genre. There are so many to list that I've collected, and the picture above is just some of the ones from this year. Yet there is something even more special that any collector would class as a "Great Find", a box with not just the game, but memories from the gamer that played that very game during the time.
These two for example, Eye of the Beholder and Dragons Breath, two games that I purchased on the assumption that what contained within was just the game. Upon opening Eye of the Beholder I was very much surprised to see an original map and hand drawn tip section, most likely from an adult gamer at the time. But what was even more incredible was Dragons Breath! I purchased it for just £4.99 through a quick buy now as I could not let it get away from me. But when I opened it I was not expecting many review cut outs from some original magazines, then to see a 4 page hand written ingredient list. Some of this list must've taken hours of writing. To me it's like holding someone elses memories in my hands, it's just incredible to see this sort of stuff.
So if you want to start collecting, try and start with the games YOU remember and then maybe one day you'll find a game that isn't just what you were expecting. But that's all from me from now as my next collection is even more special, with Amstrad titles going way back to 1984!.
Cool. Back in the C-64/Amiga days I kept my game notes in special notebooks. I love going through them - so many memories. Nowadays, games seem to keep their own journals so I don't find making notes useful. I miss that a bit.
ReplyDeleteI remember drawing maps for games like eye of the beholder, the problem was, that my maps were so bad I always ended up getting lost. I could not draw ;)
ReplyDeleteI did too, but I don't have them anymore to share unless there is a way to extract from my brain. :P
ReplyDeleteHey Ant, haven't seen you for awhile, where you been hiding? ;) So which system did you have? The A500?
ReplyDeleteBeen BUSY with life. :( I only come here once a week on weekends. I didn't have an Amiga. http://zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/toys.html for my history. ;)
ReplyDeleteAww you should come here more often, you're one of our best readers :)
ReplyDeleteOnly if you handle my non-gaming life like work. :P
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