Looking back, over my shoulder...

If there's one thing I've been able to do to take my mind off the slow inevitability of the Great North Run looming ever closer, it's to really sit down and get my Amiga Emulator working. Why? Well, it just so happens that most computer games today, despite the glorious looking graphics and the unbelievable sound, suffer from an evident lack of challenge and are about as much fun to play as a swift kick in the nuts. GTA IV? What a carnival of unenjoyable bollocks - not one line of Hari-Krishna's in sight to mow down! Speedball 2 Tournament? Players move around like lame ducks - what has happened to the speed and finesse that once owned the computer world? Pro Evolution Soccer? You mean I still have to pay forty quid for a cursory update that does little to significantly alter the gameplay of the previous incarnation?

Aye, the old days were simpiler times, where games thrived on invention and innovation and didn't take the gamer for granted. Where you only completed a game after years rather than a couple of weeks. Where graphics were economical at best, but allowed the gameplay to take hold. So, it's with great pleasure that I finally got WinUAE working with ClassicWB and installed a few games from yester-year on the emulated hard-drive, and boy have I been having a great time. Classic games from the Bitmap Brothers, Sensible Software, Factor 5, Tony Crowther and the likes of many others have been sampled and enjoyed that even the mighty Civ 4 and Baldur's Gate 2 have once again been placed on the back burner. It really is like having an Amiga 1200 boot up on your PC, but only much more quicker. Indeed, the only thing missing is my PC gamepad is a poor substitute for a zip-stick!

Of course there's a couple of classics that have really got their talons out and have dug deep that I've been unable to put them down during my free time, so there's likely to appear a few retro classic reviews appearing in the near future. And if you haven't done so already, download WinUAE and ClassicWB - you won't regret it! Even after all these years, the Amiga is still an example of what a great games machine should look like.