| Kang Fu | |
|---|---|
 Amiga CD32 cover art | |
| Developer(s) | GREat Effects Development |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Amiga CD32 |
| Release | 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Kang Fu is a platform game released for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in 1996, and is the first and only title from Dutch-based studio GREat Effects Development. The game is notable for its use of the Amiga Advanced Graphics Architecture to generate high-colour graphics through hundreds of digitized sprites from stock images.
Kang Fu is a platform game in which the player controls the kangaroo Klont, and is tasked to collect kangaroos, defeat enemies, collect bonuses and find the exit to the next level. Players are able to defeat enemies using weapons such as eggs, bombs, boomerangs, guns and boxing gloves spread throughout levels. The game features a password system, and three difficulty levels, with a demo level and a reduced difficulty beginner mode that provides players with additional lives and weapons. The game features ten levels, each with its own end level boss and sub-level, across 600 screens. [1]
Development of Kang Fu aimed to harness the capabilities of the Advanced Graphics Architecture, [2] with the intention of the game being playable on the Amiga CD32 and A4000 or A1200 Amiga units with a CD-ROM drive. [3] The game was advertised as supporting enhanced graphical capabilities using the AGA, using hold and modify techniques on digitised sprites to display a high color pallette of 1000 colors on screen. [4] [1] Some marketing for the game was spurious, including claims of graphics "as never seen on any game console", and false claims the game was "playable" and would "work on all AGA Amigas and "boot easily from any workbench". [1]
Kang Fu was developed over two years. [2] Publications were offered limited or incomplete previews of the game, which led some reviewers such as Steve Faragher of Amiga Power to assume the game may be of poor quality. [3] The game was released with system requirements for a minimum of 1.8 MB of computer memory, comprising almost all of the 2 MB memory available on the Amiga A1200 and Amiga CD32 and being prone to memory leaks. This led to the unusual requirement listed in the manual requiring players to disable all disk and hard drives on the A1200, or start the disc without closing the door of the Amiga CD32 console to play the game. [5] This led some reviewers to assume that the game was not compatible with the Amiga CD32. [6]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Amiga Computing | 80% [7] |
| Amiga Format | 20% [8] |
| Amiga Informer | B [9] |
| CU Amiga | 60% [6] |
Kang Fu received mixed to negative reception from Amiga publications. Reviews of Kang Fu were largely divided on the merits of the collage design of the game's graphics. Peter Olafson of Amazing Computer Magazine noted the game's "hand-drawn sprites are rather woeful", comparing the assets to clip art. [10] Mark Forbes of CU Amiga stated "graphically, Kang Fu is a complete mess...the green, purple and brown colour scheme is like a visual equivalent of smelling salts. If that wasn't enough to give you a raging headache then the jerky sprites and scrolling are sure to finish the job." [6] Andy Smith of Amiga Format critiqued the graphics, stating "I'm sure the game creators are doing something very clever to get the mix of digitised images and Dpaint sprites, but they've wasted their time". [8] In a more balanced review, Jason Compton of Amiga Report found the visuals "very accomplished" with "one of the most elaborate graphics sets I've ever seen", but conceded the game had an "uneven presentation" that "makes you wonder what exactly, the game is trying to accomplish. It's a blending but not a masterfully executed blending". [11]
Further areas of criticism of Kang Fu related to the platformer gameplay and controls. Ken Anderson of Amiga Report dismissed the gameplay, stating "there are too many "leaps of faith", where the player simply can't tell whether he/she can make it to the next platform; a missed jump means another two minutes making the way back up the playfield, no doubt only to miss it again. Finding the exit is easier said than done, and the only puzzle elements in Kang Fu are of the "find the key for the lock" variety." [11] the play Writing for Amiga Format, Andy Smith stated that the game featured "shambolic gameplay" and that it "looks and plays like a joke". [8] Royan Webb of Amiga Informer stated the game's joystick handling was "touchy" and had "some difficulty switching weapons" which "detracted from the playability" of the game. [9]
Project-X is a horizontally scrolling shooter for the Amiga released in 1992. It was developed and published by Team17. The game resembles Konami's side-scrolling shooter games such as Gradius, Salamander and Parodius. It was ported to MS-DOS.
Zool 2 is a side-scrolling platform video game originally developed by The Warp Factory and published by Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga in November 1993. It is the sequel to the original Zool, which was released earlier in 1992 on various platforms.
Soccer Kid is a 1993 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Krisalis Software in Europe for the Amiga. The player assumes the role of the titular main protagonist who travels across several countries around the world to repair the World Cup by retrieving pieces that were scattered by the alien pirate Scab, the main antagonist who failed to steal and add it to his trophy collection in a robbery attempt. Its gameplay mainly consists of platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button or two-button configuration, depending on the controls setup.
Hoi is a 1992 platform video game developed by Team Hoi and published by Hollyware Entertainment in North America and Software Business in Europe for the Amiga. In the game, players assume the role of the titular lime green "Saur" character venturing into the "Madlands", an area within Hoi's home planet populated with obstacles, to face a ritual test of maturity and find a female partner.
Exile is a single-player action-adventure video game originally published for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1988 by Superior Software and later ported to the Commodore 64, Amiga, CD32 and Atari ST, all published by Audiogenic. The game was designed and programmed by Peter Irvin and Jeremy Smith. It is often cited as one of the earliest examples of a Metroidvania game and featured "realistic gravity, inertia and object mass years before players understood the concept of a physics engine... an astounding level of AI, stealth-based gameplay, a logical ecosystem governing the world's creatures and a teleportation mechanic that feels startlingly like a predecessor to Portal".
Naughty Ones is a platform game for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 released by Interactivision in early 1994. The game was programmed by Jacob Gorm Hansen (Paleface) and the graphics were done by Henrik Mikkelsen (Seen), both from the demo group Melon Dezign. The game originally released for a cost of £25.99 and required 1 MB of storage.
Jungle Strike is a video game developed and published by Electronic Arts in 1993 for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game was later released on several other consoles such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and an upgraded version was made for DOS computers. The Amiga conversion was the responsibility of Ocean Software while the SNES and PC DOS versions were that of Gremlin Interactive, and the portable console versions were of Black Pearl Software. It is the direct sequel to Desert Strike and is the second installment in the Strike series. The game is a helicopter-based shoot 'em up, mixing action and strategy. The plot concerns two villains intent on destroying Washington, D.C. The player must use the helicopter and occasionally other vehicles to thwart their plans.
There have been several video games based on the 1991 film Hook. A side-scrolling platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Game Boy was released in the United States in February 1992. Subsequent side-scrolling platform games were released for the Commodore 64 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and an arcade beat ‘em up by Irem later in 1992, followed by versions for the Sega CD, Sega Genesis, and Sega's handheld Game Gear console in 1993.
Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues is a run and gun video game, the sequel to Alien Breed. It was released in 1993 by Team17 for the Amiga, available in both OCS/ECS and AGA versions. The AGA version of the game was also included as an extra in the Amiga CD32 version of Alien Breed: Tower Assault.
Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds is a first-person shooter, the fifth game in the Alien Breed franchise, a series of science fiction-themed shooters by Team17. It was published in 1996 by Ocean Software.
Ruff 'n' Tumble is a 1994 platform run and gun video game developed by Wunderkind and published by Renegade Software for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was planned but never released. It was the only game made by Wunderkind. It stars Ruff Rodgers, embarking on a quest across an alien planet to reclaim his marbles after one of them fell into a portal inside a rabbit hole while playing with his collection in the park, and free the planet from Dr. Destiny and his Tinhead army. Through the journey, the player explores and search through each level for items and power-ups, as well as fight enemies and defeat bosses.
Worms: The Director's Cut is an artillery strategy game, a sequel to Worms, developed by Team17 and published by Ocean Software. It was programmed by Andy Davidson and released in 1997 for the Amiga platform only.
The Amiga 1200, or A1200, is a personal computer in the Amiga computer family released by Commodore International, aimed at the home computer market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of £399 in the United Kingdom and $599 in the United States.
Microcosm is a 3D rail shooter video game developed and published by Psygnosis in 1993. It was originally developed for the FM Towns, and ported for the Sega CD, Amiga CD32, 3DO, and MS-DOS. Microcosm featured realistic FMV animation, with the graphics being rendered on Silicon Graphics workstations. The game is either in first-person or third-person view depending on the gaming system.
Robinson's Requiem is a 1994 survival simulation video game developed and originally published by Silmarils exclusively in Europe for the Atari ST, Atari Falcon and Amiga. Taking place in the 22nd century where Earth and colonized planets are facing overpopulation, the game sees players assuming the role of Robinson officer Trepliev 1 from the Alien World Exploration department in his attempt to escape imprisonment from the fictional planet of Zarathustra alongside another AWE Robinson named Nina1, while facing several hostile creatures and dangers in order to survive.
The Real Ghostbusters is a 1987 shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is loosely based on Ghostbusters. In Japan, Data East released it as a non-Ghostbusters arcade game under the title Meikyuu Hunter G. In 1989, Activision published The Real Ghostbusters for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Jurassic Park is a 1993 action video game developed and published by Ocean Software, for DOS and Amiga computers. The game is based on director Steven Spielberg's 1993 film, Jurassic Park, and also includes elements from author Michael Crichton's 1990 novel of the same name, which the film is based upon.
Brutal Sports Football is a 1993 sports video game developed by Teque London and originally published by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga. It was re-published for MS-DOS and Amiga CD32, and later became the first third-party title published for the Atari Jaguar. The first entry in the Brutal Sports series, the game is a fictional style of football played against human or computer-controlled opponents. It features a different take on american football by emphasising the violent aspect of the sport.
Marvin's Marvellous Adventure is a 1994 platform video game developed by Infernal Byte Systems and published by 21st Century Entertainment for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was later released in 1995. It stars Marvin, a pizza delivery boy transported into another dimension embarking on an adventure to defeat an evil being known as Dark-One and rescue a professor who ordered a pizza. The player must traverse through 60 levels and search for items and power-ups, while defeating enemies along the way.
Pinkie is a 1994 platform video game developed by Data Design Interactive and originally published by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga. A Super Nintendo Entertainment System version was released by Piko Interactive in 2018. In the game, the player assumes the role of Pinkie, who is tasked with collecting dinosaur eggs through the galaxy to prevent their extinction. The player controls Pinkie and his "Pinkie Pod" vehicle across 50 levels featuring their own variety of enemies and obstacles divided into five planets. The Pinkie Pod can perform various actions, and the player can obtain upgrades to augment its features.