The Arcade
The Amiga has many great games, but not that many that support two players simultanously. Playing alone is fun, but it's more fun with a friend or a relative. Here are the games I played together with my son and enjoyed the most (in no particular order).
Note: some of the games might require 1Mb Chip RAM and/or Kickstart 2.04+
Genre: Arcade
Year: 1991
Publisher: Hudson Soft
A great Bomberman clone that supports up to 5 simultanous players (with a port multiplier). Levels are full of powerups and the goal is to blow the opponent up and avoid getting killed either by the enemies or the opponents. Quick rounds, catchy music, easily one of the best multiplayer games on the Amiga. The only one even my wife is willing to play sometimes.
Genre: Racing
Year: 1991
Publisher: Gremlin
2 player split screen top down racer with a twist. You can equip your car with various weapons, mines, etc and blast your opponents. The handling is a bit wonky, but the game is still fun. After each race you have the chance to either win more money or get a fine based on answering the silly questions asked by the police, the environmental agency or the lawyer of your granddad (can be turned off).
Genre: Shoot'em up
Year: 1996
Publisher: Richard Ling
A very simple game with just one level, where two airplanes fight on a split screen. Once you figure out how to take off, it becomes a lot of fun. Some hint, with manual acceleration: push the joystick up to accelerate, then left/right to turn the plane upwards or downwards. With automatic acceleration just push the joystick backwards a little, once the plane gained some speed. Don't overdo it or you will stall. The goal is to get more points than your opponent, by shooting them down, bombing their base, the AA cannon, or the enemy zeppelin or submarine (pay attention to their color!). Fun fact, the game was written in AMOS Basic.
Genre: Fighting
Year: 1994
Publisher: Gremlin
In my opinion the best fighting game on the Amiga. It's how Street Fighter 2 could have been done. 16 characters + 1 hidden, super fast, 25 fps constant, colorful graphics which looks amazing even on OCS and the music is very good too. There are bios and stats of each character shown while loading and the loading time is reasonable. It's a must if you like fighting games.
Genre: Action
Year: 2021
Publisher: Bitmap Soft / Nivrig games
A recently released OCS/ECS game, that requires 1Mb Chip RAM and Kickstart 2.04+ (so basically an Amiga 500+ or an Amiga 500 with the Chip RAM mod and a newer Kickstart ROM), but I had to include it, as it's a blast, easily one on the best 2 player co-op games on the Amiga. You're a tomato who runs around and picks up bombs (with a countdown timer on them) and throws them at all the mutant vegatable invaders of the garden. Very fast paced action, boss fights and cute graphics.
Genre: Strategy / Shoot'em up
Year: 1995
Publisher: Team 17
Where it all started, the original Worms. Runs great on an A500/+, even though it needs 1Mb Chip RAM and benefits from 2Mb (more sounds and landscapes). You and your opponent can create teams, name their worms, which makes it extra funny and relatable. "Oh no, Superman killed Scorpion". You can play 4 teams, against two CPU controlled teams and even cooperate to kill the CPU first, before going for each other. A true classic. Hint: on the level generation screen press the right mouse button and type "Team 17" or "ocean" for getting custom levels.
Genre: Sports action
Year: 1990
Publisher: Bitmap brothers
Futuristic sports game on just one floppy disk. A mix of handball, american football and hockey. Two teams compete, each with 9 players on the field and 3 substitutes. There are five game modes, one match lasts 180 seconds (in two halves). You can throw the ball at the walls to make trick shots and score points both for goals and injuring other players. You can also upgrade your players indiviually with the money you earn, which gives the game an incredible depth. Sold over 2 million copies and won an award for the best soundtrack.
Genre: Sports
Year: 1994
Publisher: Renegade / GT / Codemasters
Arcade style football game with a focus on gameplay, rather than simulation. Even though it has just 8 directions and a Fire button for control, there are many context sensitive actions you can pull, it has different pitch types (icy, wet, soft, muddy, normal, dry or hard), weather, making the game varied. The scroll is very smooth, the music is great, the graphics is cute. It includes season data, club and national teams and got several updates over the years. It's regarded as the best Amiga game by many. Some say it's the best football game ever made. I'm in that league. At least it's the one I enjoy the most.
Genre: Action
Year:
Publisher: Bitmap brothers
Top-down run and gun game with a steampunk aestethic. The gameplay is designed around two players. If you don't have a friend, the CPU is the other player. There are 6 charachers to choose from with different abilities and specials. You and your friend fight through 4 worlds (4 levels each) to stop the evil scientist who brought chaos into the world. There are shops after levels where you can spend money on upgrading your character or revivng your friend. Gorgeous graphics, amazing music, well designed levels. One of my favourite games of all time.
Genre: Arcade
Year: 2020
Publisher: Manfred Linzner
Download: Here
While the original Amiga port of Bubble Bobble was decent and is still a great game, Tiny Bobble improved it even further. It runs at 50fps, double the speed of the original and it's public domain. The best way to enjoy the game on the Amiga and needless to say, you really should.
Genre: Racing
Year: 1992
Publisher: Core
I love the Lotus series, but the Jaguar XJ220 has a special place in my heart. It's the racing game I played the most on my Amiga in my youth and it's the one we enjoyed more with my son in a split screen mode. It's fast, the tracks are varied with obstacles, elevation, weather conditions (fog, rain, night, etc), you can repair/upgrade your car and the soundtrack is amazing. It also comes with a unique level editor where you can customize or create your own tracks.
Genre: Strategy action
Year: 1989
Publisher: Infogrames
A humorous, Asterix like presentation of the American Civil War, where two players compete as commanders as either the North or the South (change the 2nd character's background from the machine to the flag to enable the 2 player mode). You can move your troops on a simple boardgame like map, capture terretories, combine troops and when battle happens, the game switches into real time action where the two players can directly control infantry, cavalry and artillery against each other. There is also a side scrolling platform minigame, goofy music and lots of funny elements, like the indian who randomly throws his tomahawk to kill someone.
Genre: Shoot'em up
Year: 1989
Publisher: Innerprise
Two elite pilots on a rescue mission against the evil Barrax empire. A vertically scrolling shoot'em up with 2 simultaneous players. Lots of power ups, bombs, ground and flying enemies, some of them using Predator like cloaking. You fly around the planet in a loop and can choose to enter the planet core at various points, which gives the game a better replay value. Good music, smooth gameplay, big sprites and surprisingly colorful graphics on OCS machines. One of the top shoot'em up games on the Amiga.
