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Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
The 20 best Commodore Amiga games to celebrate the 40th anniversary
GameCentral lists the most iconic games ever made for the Amiga home computer, back in its glory days of the 80s and 90s. It may not be much of a household name nowadays, but anyone who grew up gaming in the late 80s knows that, here in the UK, the Commodore Amiga series of home computers was one of the most popular formats of the time. Its success was one of the reasons the belated release of the NES never took off, something which has affected Nintendo's popularity in the UK ever since. However, once the Mega Drive and SNES launched in the early 90s, the Amiga slowly became overshadowed and, eventually, all but forgotten, apart from a mini-console release in 2022. The Amiga celebrates its 40th anniversary on June 23, but because it was only ever really popular in Europe its legacy is a difficult thing to honour, with only the occasional remaster or reboot for any of its games. But nevertheless, here are 20 of its most memorable titles – almost all of which were originally made in the UK. One of the very first games developed by long-running British studio Team17 – who are still going today as an indie publisher – this top-down shooter is heavily inspired by the movie Aliens and remains an all-time favourite amongst Amiga fans. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Its initial success led to a long line of sequels and spin-offs but while it attempted to segue into being a 3D shooter it was never able to compete with new challengers such as Doom. The attempts at a modern reboot never took off either, which currently leaves the franchise in limbo. When you think of cinematic games, your mind probably goes to big budget PlayStation games like God Of War and Uncharted. But in the 90s, that term was being used to describe 2D platformer Another World and its spiritual successor Flashback. While Another World was all style and little substance Flashback, which also appeared on contemporary home consoles, was way ahead of its time in terms of storytelling in an action games and including a relative amount of non-linear gameplay. A remake and a sequel have both been attempted but the original was very much of its time and even its spiritual sequel, 1995's Fade To Black, wasn't a hit, despite being one of the very earliest third person shooters. The Amiga would have been a far less exciting format without British developer Sensible Software, who have no less than three entries in this list. Cannon Fodder is arguably their greatest creation and something completely unique both then and now. It's essentially a top-down squad based action game, controlled by a mouse (all Amigas came with a mouse – it was the joystick you had to buy separately) where squad-mates would drop like flies, to later be memorialised in an in-game cemetery. The game was heavily criticised by the Daily Star for using images of a poppy but while Sensible were clearly goading tabloids into giving them free press, which they got, the game itself is very clearly anti-war and quietly poignant in terms of the fate of its virtual soldiers. When the Amiga first arrived in 1985, 3D polygonal graphics were all but unknown on home consoles, with even the milestone release of 1993's Starwing (aka Star Fox) on the SNES requiring a more expensive cartridge with extra processing power. And yet the Amiga was filled with hugely ambitious 3D games – all made by British developers and including the likes of Cybercon III, Infestation, Starglider, and Damocles. They all ran with horrendously low frame rates but despite that, Frontier still managed to simulate astronomically accurate solar systems and physics. Like many pioneering games on the Amiga, including 2D titles such as Shadow Of The Beast, Frontier wasn't actually much fun but it was always interesting to explore and play around with. And then when you got bored of that you could play the Amiga version of the original Elite, which was a lot more enjoyable. Speaking of hugely ambitious 3D games with terrible frame rates, that are no fun to play, Hunter was essentially GTA 3 but almost 25 years earlier. The story campaign had you trying to assassinate an enemy general but there's also a sandbox mode where you can take on targets in whatever you like, across an archipelago of islands. This involved driving around in a wide range of vehicles, that you could get in and out of at any time, as well as walking, swimming, and fighting on foot. It was horribly difficult but shared similarities with Midwinter and Carrier Command, in that all three games were decades ahead of their time, in terms of sandbox gameplay, and made by British developers that are now all but forgotten by the wider industry. Although Street Fighter 2 didn't appear until 1991 (there were several versions on the Amiga but none of them were very good), one-on-one fighting games weren't an entirely unknown concept before that, not least because the original Street Fighter came out in 1987. That very same year, the sequel to International Karate, by Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker creator Archer Maclean, appeared and it's fascinating how different a concept it is, not least because there's actually three people fighting at a time. It'll forever be most famous for the cheat code that lets you drop the fighters' trousers but that doesn't negate the fact that this is probably the best pre-Street Fighter 2 fighting game on any format. Once one of the biggest gaming franchises of the 90s, Lemming sadly fell out of favour, and drifted into obscurity in the ensuing decades, primarily because it's best played with a mouse, which most consoles never had. It's a puzzle game where you have to stop swarms of lemmings falling to their death, as you block off and dig through the landscape to help them. The series was considered important enough to appear on a Royal Mail stamp, although it's now most famous for being an early work by DMA Design – the studio that went on to become Rockstar North. Without the financial success of Lemmings there would never have been a Grand Theft Auto, which is a sobering thought. Although Sony owns the franchise now, after buying original publisher Psygnosis. Rainbow Islands may be an arcade conversion, of one of the many games claiming to be the sequel to Bubble Bobble, but its true home has always been on the Amiga. It's certainly the only place it's ever enjoyed the degree of fame it deserves, thanks to a near perfect port by legendary developer Andrew Braybrook, creator of Uridium and Paradroid (Commodore 64 games which both had sequels on the Amiga). We know what it looks like, but Rainbow Islands is an incredibly nuanced action platformer, that's filled with secrets and enjoys one of the most flexible weapon systems in any 2D game. The rainbows you shoot out are at once projectiles, traps to catch enemies beneath you, and platforms to be traversed. It's a genius concept that cannot be re-released today in its original form because its soundtrack is technically a knock-off of Somewhere over the Rainbow. Arguably the first ever combat flight simulator, this went unnoticed by many even at the time, although it's a wonderfully imaginative evolution of games like Elite, that focuses solely on combat and arrived a full year before Wing Commander. It features a relatively realistic, physics-based control system and surprisingly involved story missions, obviously inspired by the previous year's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Developer Glyn Williams went on to make the Independence War games, which acted as spiritual sequels, but sadly they're almost completely forgotten too. In some ways it's a shame that Sensible Soccer was so successful, because it meant Sensible Software never got around to making other more experimental titles, like Cannon Fodder and Wizkid. An evolution of earlier game MicroProse Soccer, this was a direct rival to the otherwise popular Kick Off series and was very much the EA Sports FC of its day, except with a sense of humour and played from a top-down perspective. It has a spiritual sequel today, in Sociable Soccer by original creator John Hare, that's seen some success, but nothing like Sensi in its heyday. Although the Amiga rarely got the same games released on contemporary consoles, it did get lots of arcade conversations and PC ports. The PC didn't really come into its own as a games format until the mid 90s but there were notable titles before that time, including the original Civilization in 1991. A franchise so successful the most recent sequel came out just this year. The Amiga version was a bit slower, because of the limited processing power, but it worked very well and so did seminal real-time strategy game Dune 2 and UFO: Enemy Unknown – what would later become known as X-COM. Its predecessor Laser Squad was also a cracking turn-based game, even if it still looked like a ZX Spectrum game. Unsurprisingly, top-down racing games are not something you see much of nowadays, even from indie developers, but there were lots on the Amiga, including arcade conversion Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road and the excellent Skidmarks series. Super Cars 2 is most people's favourite though, not because it does anything particularly original but simply because it does it very well. The inclusion of weapons is relatively unusual though and ensures multiplayer matches are always glorious chaos. It was also essentially a sister series to the equally popular Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge games. This list of games isn't in any particular order but the two frontrunners for our favourite Amiga games of all-time are Rainbow Islands and this: the best game the Bitmap Brothers ever made and still the definitive example of a future sports game. It's basically a hyper violent version of handball crossed with hockey, where you aim to get the ball into the goal by any means necessary, including punching your opponents to the floor and creating score multipliers by throwing it at devices at the side of the arena. A follow-up has been attempted multiple times, with a new one currently in early access from Rebellion but nothing has matched the elegant simplicity of the original… or its amazing theme tune. As much as his reputation has been tarnished nowadays, Peter Molyneux was on fire during the Amiga era, doing all his best work while at now defunct developer Bullfrog, with titles such as Flood and Syndicate. Populous was his most famous game at the time and along with SimCity (which was also available on the Amiga) helped create the now largely abandoned god game genre. It's arguable how much real strategy was involved in the gameplay, but at the time Populus' open-ended nature and isometric graphics were a revelation. The sequel never added any real depth to the concept though and the franchise has been mothballed for almost two decades now. We've already discussed many of the Amiga's most innovative 3D games but arguably the most impressive is Starglider 2. Rather than being a straight shooter, like its predecessor, it is a completely open-ended sci-fi adventure where you can travel anywhere in a solar system, nominally in an attempt to blow up an enemy space station with a special bomb. No one ever bothered with that though and instead spent their time exploring the fascinating 3D worlds that featured no loading screens and flat-shaded (as opposed to wireframe) polygon graphics, as you travelled from outer space, through the atmosphere, and onto a planet's surface. The highlight was undoubtedly listening to the space whales in the atmosphere of the system's gas giant but the whole game was a technical marvel, with many of the team going on to develop Starwing for Nintendo. While the Amiga had plenty of its own exclusives, and many titles shared with rival home computer the Atari ST, much of its portfolio was made up of ports from other formats, whether it be arcades, the PC, or earlier 8-bit computers. Exile is one such game, having first appeared on the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. That means nobody outside the UK has ever heard of it and yet it's a fantastically ambitious action adventure, with completely open-ended gameplay, a realistic physics engine, and clever artificial intelligence. Perhaps if it had had modern style signposting, and a lower difficulty, it might be better known today but the unfortunate truth is that if a game isn't popular in the US or Japan it's rarely ever seen again. Lucasfilm Games were a loyal supporter of the Amiga and while their later point 'n' click adventures had increasing trouble running on the format the original Monkey Island worked perfectly and thanks to the Amiga's excellent sound chip was arguably the definitive version at the time. Still one of the funniest games ever made – which says just as much about its level of competition as it does the game itself – this is both a charming screwball comedy and a graphic adventure whose puzzles are perfectly pitched as difficult but not impossibly illogical. As a bonus, the series is still going today, thanks to the 2022 soft reboot. If this were a list of most underrated Amiga games, The Sentinel would comfortably sit at the top since, even at the time it came out, very few people had ever heard of it. And that's despite it having been released previously on various 8-bit formats. The Sentinel is a remarkably unique stealth game, where you control an immobile robot and must avoid the glare of the titular Sentinel by teleporting from one spot to the other across an abstract 3D landscape. It was the creation of SIr Geoff Crammond, but as good as Stunt Car Racer and Formula One Grand Prix were, it's The Sentinel which stands as his greatest achievement. This is the main reason we semi-resent the existence of Sensible Soccer, as it's the weirdest and most experimental game Sensible Software ever made. It's nominally a sequel to their earlier 2D shooter Wizball, which was also ported to the Amiga, but has almost nothing in common with that in terms of gameplay. More Trending You play as the disembodied head of Wizkid in what could vaguely be described as a mix of Arkanoid and Rainbow Islands, as you knock tiles and other objects onto enemies below you. It's when you rejoin your body that things get really weird though, in what is one of the most thoroughly British video games ever made. No Amiga list would be complete without Worms, which was initially made as part of a programming competition run by the magazine Amiga Format. At heart, it's a pretty simple riff on Artillery games, where you have to judge the trajectory of shells fired from fixed gun emplacements, but here you can move and there's a much wider range of weapons. More importantly, it's filled with very British humour and a fantastic multiplayer mode. The series continues to the current day, although after the failure of battle royale spin-off Worms Rumble the next mainline entry has been reduced to an Apple Arcade exclusive called Worms Across Worlds. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: The A500 Mini console review – all 25 Amiga games reviewed from Alien Breed to Speedball 2 MORE: A classic 90s Amiga video game has got an unexpected reboot on Steam MORE: Flashback 2 review – from Amiga classic to modern calamity
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Brad Pitt admits he cleared film set with a fart during early acting days
The two-time Oscar winner has opened up about an embarrassing moment on set that was the result of method acting while filming one of his first flicks Brad Pitt has recently confessed to an unforgettable on-set disaster from the start of his acting career. During an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast, the two-time Oscar winner recounted filming a scene in an indie movie that took a rather foul turn. He told listeners: "We're shooting in this little, tiny café. It's full of the crew, so there's about 60 people in there. It's hot. You can't breathe and my character hadn't eaten for days, and he gets this big plate of beans and bacon." Pitt was determined to embody his character as realistically as possible, and went for a method acting approach. He continued: "I was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to do this right.' I just powered down this plate of beans. Take two, do the same thing. Take three, I do the same thing. Take four, I do the same thing." Unfortunately, his dedication did not have the best results. "Something hit me," Pitt admitted. "There was nothing I could do. I was stuck in this chair, and nature took its course." At first the actor thought he had gotten away with his silent faux pas. But it soon became clear to the crew that he had just passed gas, and according to Pitt, they all fled the café. "Ever since then I pace myself," he added. Pitt also shared another cringe-worthy moment from the beginning of his career. After landing his first speaking role on the soap opera Another World in 1987, he was thrilled to see his picture printed in USA Today. "My picture was in a USA Today and this was a big deal," he told the Kelces. "I sent it to my mom and dad. 'Look ma, I made it.'" But his pride was quickly soured. He added: "I was with a friend and there was a girl he was really attracted to [that lived with] a couple girls. We went over to their apartment. We went through the kitchen to the back door and I looked down at the litter box and there was that picture with a big cat turd on it." While he may have had his fair share of mishaps in his early Hollywood days, Pitt has since become one of the most recognised actors in the world. Most recently, he has gotten involved with the fast-paced world of Formula 1. The actor spent several years immersing himself in the sport while filming his new racing movie, which hit cinemas last month. F1 star George Russell revealed that his first encounter with Pitt was surprisingly awkward. Wanting to play it cool, Russell secretly snapped a photo of Pitt while pretending to be on his phone. "I've still got it on my phone now," he confessed. However, by the time the film had its New York premiere, Pitt and Russell were on friendlier terms. Pitt even paused a live interview to praise Russell's recent race win and joke about their matching pink shirts.
Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Julian McMahon, Nip/Tuck and Fantastic Four star, dies at 56
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Julian McMahon achieved leading-man status when he began starring in the FX series Nip/Tuck in 2003. NEW YORK - Australian actor Julian McMahon, known for playing the promiscuous plastic surgeon Dr Christian Troy in American medical drama Nip/Tuck (2003 to 2010), as well as the egoistical evil scientist Dr Victor Von Doom in two Fantastic Four movies (2005 and 2007), died in Florida, United States, on July 2. He was 56. His death was confirmed by his wife Kelly, who said in a statement that the cause was cancer. McMahon began acting in Australian soap operas in the early 1990s and first found success in the US on the NBC soap opera Another World in 1993. After switching to prime-time television, his breakout role came when he played the half-human, half-demon Cole Turner on three seasons of the WB supernatural series Charmed (1998 to 2006). McMahon achieved leading-man status when he began starring in the FX series Nip/Tuck in 2003. His performance as a self-destructive playboy contrasted with Dr Troy's strait-laced best friend, Dr Sean McNamara, played by American actor Dylan Walsh. On the show, the pair ran a plastic surgery practice, first in Miami and later in Los Angeles, and frequently sparred over the morality of their profession. McMahon's cocky, confident characterisation allowed him to deliver some fan-favourite lines, such as, 'She's a troublemaker and her shoes are cheap.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore First BTO project in Sembawang North to be offered in July launch Singapore TTSH to demolish century-old pavilion wards, keeping one as heritage marker Singapore Red Lions and naval divers join forces for Jump of Unity at NDP 2025 World 'Formed to give you back your freedom': Elon Musk says he has created a new US political party Singapore His world crashed when he got F9 in O-level Tamil but PropNex co-founder Ismail Gafoor beat the odds Asia HIV surge in the Philippines amid poor sex education, policy gaps Tech Graduates are not screwed if they study engineering: James Dyson in response to Economist article Business When a foreign wife failed to turn up for a $10m divorce In 2005, McMahon went from playing a sex-addicted surgeon to portraying the maniacal Dr Doom in the first of two Fantastic Four theatrical releases, the 2005 movie, Fantastic Four, and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. Dr Doom, a megalomaniacal villainous tycoon from the Marvel comic book series Fantastic Four, which was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuted in 1961, wears a threatening silver mask to hide his scarred face. Julian McMahon played the maniacal Dr Victor Doom in two Fantastic Four movies (2005 and 2007). PHOTO: 20TH CENTURY FOX Julian McMahon was born on July 27, 1968, in Sydney, one of three children. His father was Mr William McMahon, a former prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972, and his mother, Lady Sonia McMahon, was a socialite and philanthropist. McMahon's survivors include his wife Kelly and a daughter Madison. He married Brooke Burns, an American model and game show host, in 1999. They divorced in 2001. He and Dannii Minogue, an Australian singer, were married in 1994. They divorced a year later. McMahon embraced his father's legacy by playing the prime minister of Australia on the Netflix show The Residence (2025), a comedy murder mystery set at the White House that debuted in March. He also starred in the psychological thriller The Surfer (2024) with American actor Nicolas Cage. Promoting the film at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, earlier in 2025 was one of McMahon's last public appearances. McMahon returned to Australia several times throughout his career to star in films there. Among them was the horror movie Bait (2012), about a group of shoppers who are hunted by 3.6m great white sharks after being trapped at a grocery store that has been flooded by a tsunami. The shark thriller also featured Singapore-based actors Adrian Pang and Qi Yuwu. McMahon played the team leader Jess LaCroix in CBS police procedural drama FBI: Most Wanted (2020 to 2025). While he made a surprise exit from the show in March 2022, he paid tribute to the special agent on Instagram, writing that he and the character 'did some good work, some might even say great, and we had some fun along the way'. NYTIMES
Pink Villa
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Who Was Julian McMahon? Tributes Pour in as Fantastic Four Star Passes Away at 56
Julian McMahon, known for his unforgettable performances in Nip/Tuck, Charmed, and the Fantastic Four films, left the world on July 2 in Clearwater, Florida, after a previously undisclosed battle with cancer. He was 56. His wife, Kelly McMahon, shared that he spent his final days surrounded by loved ones. Over a career spanning three decades, McMahon captivated audiences with his magnetic screen presence. Today, his family, friends and fans mourn the loss of a performer whose warmth and charisma left an unforgettable mark on both television and film. A private battle with cancer McMahon passed away in peace after a private struggle with cancer. His wife, Kelly McMahon, shared in a statement to Deadline, 'Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans,' she said. She further emphasized his wish to bring joy to as many lives as possible. The couple wed in 2014 and built a life together alongside Kelly's stanch support. Their daughter, Madison 'Maddy' McMahon, survives her father, whose loss leaves a profound void in their home. From Sydney to Hollywood: A storied career Born in Sydney in 1968, McMahon began his on-screen journey on Australian soaps before moving to America. His early work included Another World and Profiler, but it was his three-season run as Cole Turner on Charmed that cemented his status. Ryan Murphy tapped him for Nip/Tuck, where McMahon's portrayal of Dr. Christian Troy earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Later, he led CBS's FBI: Most Wanted and took on the chilling role of Victor Von Doom in two Fantastic Four blockbusters. Tributes and lasting impact Colleagues and fans have expressed shock and sorrow. Co-star Dylan Walsh told the publication, 'I'm stunned. We rode this wave together and I loved him.' He expressed his condolences to McMahon's family, and spoke of the times they laughed together: 'All those years you had my back, and my god, we laughed. My heart is with you. Rest in peace.' Nicolas Cage, who worked with McMahon on The Surfer, called him 'kind and intelligent,' stating that 'Julian is one of my favorite people.' As a final tribute, Netflix fans will see McMahon in The Residence, his posthumous farewell. His legacy endures in the characters he brought to life and the joy he shared on and off screen.
Mint
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Julian McMahon Net Worth: Charmed actor loses to Cancer at 56; how much did he leave behind at the time of his death?
Australian-born actor Julian McMahon, known for shows like Nip/Tuck, Charmed, FBI: Most Wanted and the Fantastic Four films, passed away in Florida. The 56-year-old actor succumbed to his battle with cancer. Julian was the son of former Australian Prime Minister Billy McMahon. His wife, Kelly McMahon, confirmed the news, "With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer.' 'Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible," says Kelly McMahon's statement to Deadline. Julian McMahon was born on July 27, 1968, in Sydney, Australia. He started his career as a model, working in fashion hubs like London, Milan, Paris and New York. He also did Levi's ads in Australia. McMahon began acting in 1989 with the Australian soap The Power, The Passion. Then, he played Ben Lucini in Home and Away from 1990 to 1991. He moved to the US in 1993 and joined Another World as Ian Rain. The actor gained more fame as Detective John Grant in Profiler (1996–2000). He later played Cole Turner in Charmed, which got him international fame. His most popular role was Dr. Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, which ran till 2010. More recently, he starred in The Surfer. The 2024 movie had Nicolas Cage as the protagonist. He flourished on OTT with The Residence on Netflix. He played Australian PM Stephen Roos in the 2025 series. For Nip/Tuck, Julian McMahon earned $125,000 per episode in 2007, according to Reuters. However, in the following year, the actor demanded seeking to double his salary. Julian McMahon invested much of his wealth in real estate in both the US and Australia. In 1997, he bought a house in Hollywood Hills, near the famous Hollywood sign, for about $712,000. He later sold it in 2015 for $2.18 million, earning a profit of around $1.5 million, according to At the time of death, Julian McMahon had a net worth of $16 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
