ScuzzBlog: Diaries May 2020
Entry 12th May 2020: Post 01: Speris Legacy - Game over for the Amiga.
Speris Legacy - Game over for the Amiga.
I am not a retro gamer. I have said it before and I say it again.
For me games have always been the fun time on the computer that I
look forward to when not doing other stuff. I always know if a
game is good, cus when I stop to think about having a play when
coming to a break, I get that happy thrill that makes me want to
play. I always know when a game is going off the boil if a sigh
and am less than enthusiastic.
For me there has always had to be the next best thing in gaming.
In 2008 I finally kicked the console gig and swapped it for MMOs.
That was truly a dreadful decision. I have played so many MMOs
for way too long. Mostly Warcraft but with a reasonable stint in
Tera, Rift, Archeage, SWToR, BoD, Guild Wars and Star Trek. I even
gave Eve Online a shot. I have purchased every expansion pack for
World of Warcraft and have a number of characters at level cap 120.
And so in September when I levelled my char in Tera to 70, which
like took forever, I decided to give the MMO a break. Easier said
than done. But I have been relatively successful, mainly cus I
swapped back over to the PS3 playing Final Fantasy 13-2, Lightning
Returns and HitMan. Since I had the issue with the PS3 I am now
playing Saints Row Third on the XBOX which is a hoot an a half.
So what has this got to do with Speris Legacy. I have been a very
active and enthusiastic gamer since Manic Miner in the Spectrum. I
spent way too much time playing that game. It never stopped. After
Manic Miner it was Oracles Cave and onward. There has always been
a really good game to play. I recall my joy at discovering Ishar
on the Amiga and then games like Settlers. These games were lengthy
processes and could be saved at intervals allowing me to come back.
These were my ideal games... but I was always looking for the next
best thing.
I was so frustrated in 1995 cus my work was real dreary and I so
needed a fun distraction to keep me happy. I had been reading
with interest the reviews of upcoming games. Sadly each and every
one of them failed to sustain my interest. It wasn't as if the
games were not by classic gaming developers. The first to fail
was Robinson's Requiem by Silmarils and then Sensible Golf by
Sensible Software. Each of these titles had dragged out the
development process only to fail to provide a stimulating game.
And so my eyes fixed on the last hope for my Amiga gaming. It
was Speris Legacy by Team 17.
That didn't work. I don't think I have spent more than five
minutes in the game. It was for me a complete and utter failure.
Before continuing, I mention another gaming failure and that was
TopGear 2. This game refused to play on my Amiga. I had played the
cover disk version to death. But the game just fell over on the
Amiga 1200. So much so I started to question the computer.
1995 saw Escom take charge of the Amiga with so much promise and
yet they couldn't be less enthusiastic about wheeling out three
year old technology with no intention ever of upgrading. I sat by
and watched as the PC and various gaming consoles released new
and exciting titles, taking advantage of graphics cards, chips and
CR-ROMS. Sound was becoming so atmospheric and so realistic.
In the end it wasn't the tech that killed the Amiga as a gaming
platform , it was the lack of gaming development. The era of the
Amiga was over. Without new gaming tools that let developers cross
platform there was no future for the Amiga. Sadly, the computer
was no longer the dominant player, and it showed. The gaming shop
had all but abandoned the platform and what was left of titles
was relegated to the rear and then the basement. I recall the last
day of any Amiga product for sale. It was a large stack of joysticks
as Game closed the basement and ended the Amiga as a games entity.
I am not a retro gamer. I have to keep repeating that. And so when
there was no choices left I decided I could no longer live as a
second class computer user. And so I purchased a PC and played
Duke Nukem and had a blast. That game kickstarted my gaming fun yet
again, and without restriction I started to enjoy my gaming once more.
Even with the PC I discovered limitations and was drawn to the PS1.
My gaming history follows an unbroken line from 1996 and is broken
only by the Amiga wilderness year of 95-96, mostly 1996.
Shame it could not have been different. I do not blame Team 17 or
Sensible Software. I guess they could see a dwindling market and
became less enthusiastic about the product. Escom didn't help and
sadly none since have taken up the mantle. Too late now. Gamers on
the Amiga are retro by nature.
I am not a retro gamer and today I am playing Saints Row on the
XBOX 360. I am not a fan of the XBOX 360 but needs must as they say.
For me the game comes first, and I'm not too bothered what crap I
am playing it on as long as it does the job. Cus when the lights
are dimmed and the curtain raises on the current game, I become
one with the game and can lose myself. This I have to do, cus the
world I live in just cannot sustain my imagination. It's crap.
By the way I know that the XBOX 360 is hardly state of the art
and Saints Row was released over half a dozen years ago but had
Battle of Azeroth been any good I would have still been playing
Warcraft. Hopefully the PS5 will not be delayed.
Anyhoo that is how I feel about gaming. I may collect retro, but
I certainly don't play it. I need relatively new stuff.
PS dunno whether you noticed from the photographs, but CU Amiga
didn't even feature the Speris Legacy title on the cover art. Kinda
spoke volumes for the impending doom of the product. [ The disk
lable on the magazine cover is blank ].
Speris Legacy - Game over for the Amiga.
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