First of all, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year! Hope you’ll have a great 2013!
As you can see from the logo above (thanks to The Heretic for making that one for me by the way), this is another piece about my collection of old-school games.
This time I’d like to present a true gem in my Amiga collection. The name of the game is Colonization and it was created by none other than Sid Meier/MicroProse. The Amiga version was released back in 1995 and it came on three floppy disks. It requires 1MB of RAM to run. You can install it to a hard drive if you want.
Here’s a photo of the box. They sure knew how to make inviting box art back then. It is in pretty good condition as well (photo by Old School Game Blog).
Here’s the back of the box. “Be there at the Birth of a Nation!” (photo by Old School Game Blog).
So, what kind of game is Colonization? It is a turn-based strategy game where the aim is to colonize a new world and later on secede from the country you came from, just like what happened to the United States in our own history. You’ll have to wage war, build towns and cities, be a clever fox in the art of diplomacy and earn resources and gold through trade to succeed in your quest.
The game is quite complex, but it’s not too difficult to learn, since it contains a decent tutorial. If you’ve played one of the Civilization games on the PC or another platform, you should feel right at home with Colonization. As you can see from the photo below, the game comes with a ton of manuals and instructions.
The manuals and disks. All in good condition. On the far left, you can see the official strategy guide for the game (photo by Old School Game Blog).
Colonization received favourable reviews in several Amiga magazines back in the 1990′s. Amiga Format gave it 95%, Amiga Power 93% and CU Amiga 91%.
One thing which I think is great with the Amiga version is that it utilizes the OS of the computer to the full. When you play the game for the first time, it is immediately clear that the developers have made an Amiga specific version tailored to suit the OS and hardware. I’ve embedded a few screenshots below, so that you can see for yourself.
I’ve had a lot of fun playing Colonization on the Amiga in the past. It is a great strategy game, featuring nice graphics and very atmospheric colonial music. Speaking of music.. I’ve included the theme song from Colonization (Amiga version) for you to listen to below. Isn’t it nice? The screenshots in the video are from the PC version by the way..
Any other fans of Colonization out there? Would love to hear from you and your memories of the game. Thanks in advance for commenting!
Recently I received an e-mail from Mike of the It’s Brutal website. He informed me of an upcoming Amiga games competition being hosted by Lemon Amiga and the English Amiga Board. Please read on for more information!
It’s a Knockout! is a classic Amiga knock-out tournament run by the forum members of Lemon Amiga and English Amiga Board. Returning for a 4th time, the ever-popular knockout tournament takes centre stage once more.
Five games will be played over seven weeks. Score high and knock out your opponents.
Voting for the comp Starts Now (November 13th) and will remain open for two weeks. Once voting is closed competition will begin!! Voting: Lemon Amiga – EAB
The first round of competition will be a qualifying round. The following rounds will be run in a round-robin format until only 2 competitors remain! The final two will battle it out to be the “It’s a Knockout! 2012/13″ Champion.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? If you think you’ve got what it takes, why not sign up and compete with others? The voting has already started, so head over there and cast your votes for your favourite games.. You’ll find the links above.
I’ve participated in this competition in the past and it was a lot of fun. I felt I did fairly well, as I got a decent score in a pinball game.
If yes, then I’m sure you’ll remember legendary games such as It Came from the Desert, King of Chicago, Defender of the Crown and Wings. I’ve played most of their games and I consider myself a big fan of their products. Excellent graphics and intriguing gameplay are two of the things that characterize their games.
If no, then you’ll have a lot to look forward to..
Anyway, the good news is that Cinemaware is back in business. I just visited their website and it looks neat. If you’re interested in checking it out, please head over there by following this link.
Yesterday they released a short film called Cinemaware Summer 2012 Trailer. Thought you’d like watching it, so I’ve embedded it below. Enjoy the show!
So, what do you think?
Any other fans of classics such as Defender of the Crown and Wings out there? Would love to hear from you and perhaps you could write a bit about your history with these games? Thanks in advance.
The Amiga CD32 has arrived! Woo hoo! Picked it up at the Post Office earlier today. I’ve already hooked it up to the TV and given it a nice spot near my Amiga 1200. I’m sure they will enjoy each others company.
I’m very happy about the purchase and I must send a big thanks to the seller, Airey36. Not only did he ship the package quickly, but the packaging was excellent as well. He used a LOT of paper, bubble wrap and cardboard to secure the precious hardware.
I’ve taken a few photos of the unboxing and of my new setup. Hope you’ll enjoy the pictures!
The package with the Amiga CD32 (photo by Old School Game Blog)
Excellent packaging secured the safe arrival of the new Amiga family member (photo by Old School Game Blog)
The Amiga CD32, PSU, CD's, RF-cable and joypad (photo by Old School Game Blog)
Large amount of CD's.. games compilations, CU Amiga CD's and much, much more.. (photo by Old School Game Blog)
The Amiga CD32 has received a nice spot, not far from my Amiga 1200. (photo by Old School Game Blog)
Hope you’ll have a great 2013!
The screenshots in the video are from the PC version by the way..
