WHERE ARE ALL THE GOOD GAMES?		Why are there so many bloody football manager games around? Have you seen them? You can't miss them! They're constantly in the charts, they're always billed as the 'ultimate' manager and they all look the same! How many different ways can you present the same statistics? I hate football, always have and always will. When I think back through some of the games that I've played there has been some really great stuff released. A lot of crap, but also some goodies. Do you remember Impossible Mission, or Pitstop 2, or Hawkeye, Koronis Rift, Mega Apocalypse, Ball Blazer, Zolyx, Bubble Bobble, Spindizzy, Armalite and many, many more. All these were greats on the old Commodore 64, not all of them an original idea even then, but playability was one of the watchwords of most programmers when there was so little memory to spare. Moving on to the Amiga and we have had our share of greats too (and more than our fair share of rubbish). What about Rainbow Islands, Powermonger, Formula 1 Grand Prix, Eye of the Beholder, Sim City, Lemmings, Monkey Island 1+2, Hunter, Pinball Dreams and illusions, Railroad Tycoon, Mega-lo-mania, Syndicate and once again, loads more that I can't even remember. All games to be admired even if you don't like a specific genre!
I KNOW WHAT I LIKE!
		There is only one good football game for the Amiga (and it's not a 'manager'), it's Sensible Soccer. In all of its various incarnations since it was first released there has been nothing to beat it. Can be very tough in one-player mode, but is really excellent when playing against a friend. You can't help shouting 'Yeeeeeesssssssss' as you score.
		Civilization has to be the ultimate in 'God' games. Drag your followers up through the dawn of time, to the 20th century and into space. Or partake in mans second greatest pastime and tred underfoot all the lesser mortals that dare not to give way before you. Totally absorbing gameplay (missing from so many games now) made this one of the best selling games ever. Build individual cities into an empire, discover discoveries before others discover them (!), amass plenty of money and encourage your citizens to a better life. This is the game that I have played most since I got my lovely Amiga. I still play it now. There will only be one game to replace this and that is going to be Civilization 2 when/if it comes out on our little machine. I hope Microprose do it soon.
		Team 17 have had some great titles. Worms is excellent, Alien Breed 3D also excellent, the original Alien Breed saga takes some beating, Project X was a lovely shoot-em-up, but what I really liked was Arcade Pool. Basic, top-down and limited control easily describe the best attempt at pool or snooker on any platform I've seen. With a myriad of options including multiplayer, you could while away many an hour trying to pot the black or get the fastest time (13 seconds). What's more this looks and plays twice as good on the Amiga than it does on the PC, honest.
		21st Century can hold it's head high once again. With their release of the SlamTilt pinball game this genre has hit a new high. However, the earlier pinball games, Dreams,Illusions and Fantasies were all well above average. Pinball Dreams had the Graveyard table, Pinball fantasies had the Funfair and Pinball Illusions dispensed Justice. Now SlamTilt has the superb Night of the Demon for you to thrash your balls on. The old ones had plenty of ramps, multiball, sub-games, good music and graphics all merging seamlesly to make any one of these one hell of a pinball game.
		Microprose, again, gave us an absorbing title called UFO. Save the world from invading aliens in this strategy, turn based, war game. Research and weapon building, income and spending, and death and destruction all have to be handled with care if you are to stand any chance of surviving this game. I loved this one. Aliens, soldiers, explosions, landscapes and aircraft were all drawn well, what's more it played even better!
		Formula 1 Grand Prix has to be one of the best racers around. It can be played as a simulation or as a game and with up to eight players switching turns within each race. Devised to run on an A500, the graphics are adequate, the sound passable but the gameplay is tremendous. This has been upgraded several times on the PC but not at all on the Amiga, which is a shame!
		The only other racer worth mentioning is Lotus. One or two players, splitscreen, different tracks, fast, addictive and fun. Great game from Gremlin.
		Monkey Island 2 is the funniest adventure game I've ever played. Set on some pirate islands the story unfolds nicely as you solve the problems and meet, talk and interact with the people. Excellent graphics, humour throughout, nice music, good puzzles, playability and detailed story line make this THE adventure to own.
		Eye Of The Beholder 2 was the best RPGs (role playing games) that I've tried to complete. Have to admit that this is one that I didn't finish! But it is still the best, the graphics and adventure elements still haven't been beaten today. As usual 4-6 characters investigate a 'dungeon' area and eventually kill the bad guy, with a large inventory to manipulate, magic to use and assorted enemies to kill along the way.