Menace - Amiga - Gaming Memories And Review

Channel:

Shot97

Subscribers:

1,390

Published on March 8, 2024 6:29:53 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E2Nto1tKjs

Game:

Shadow of the Beast (1989)

Category:

Review

Duration: 30:41

421 views

17

Menace, an Amiga original, was the first game from DMA Design, which would later create among others; Shadow of the Beast, Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto, and rebrand into Rockstar. Critical darlings from the start, this was a well reviewed game at the time, making multiple best of the year lists and apparently selling 20,000 copies. I'll be facing off against a few of those reviewers here, as I feel they're missing a key insight into this game, mainly that none of them actually won it, I have. The brutal nature of finishing makes it difficult to recommend, though it felt great to achieve. We'll review the reviewers, discuss what actually makes sense to discuss, show off the pain, as well as comparisons with all other versions.

All gameplay recorded and played by me, captured from a camera pointed at CRT TV's. This game played via WHDLoad on my Amiga, due to obnoxious cracks I didn't want to show. Genuine hardware used for all Amiga, Commodore 64, and DOS video featured here. Emulation was used for the Atari ST comparison (STeem), played on my Windows98 PC while hooked up to a CRT TV. Picture of the unreleased Atari 800 version taken from the web. Manual full captions available.

My written review for Menace with pics/gifs: https://shot97retro.blogspot.com/2024/03/menace.html

The Pacbilly video featured: https://youtu.be/-5NMPVaOMXA?si=AoqegHedZuqRLLUK

The Computer Chronicles video featured: https://youtu.be/zObp2cyo_B0?si=OPHQL2sD3Gz_DPMC

Written reviews: http://Shot97Retro.blogspot.com

Discord for news/early videos: https://discord.gg/uXrBHXZQsA

All videos/writings in alphabetical order: https://goo.gl/9VRs9g

Gaming Memories and Review Seasons 9 and 10: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_W3r-eAOdMzmu8ZUJ1CsAwY-1_M1MnnB
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00:00 - Story from the box/Highlight reel/Cameo
01:20 - Introduction, general info
02:51 - A horizontal shooter, not what others think it is
04:05 - Release info and review from Amiga World
05:55 - 64 color extra half-bright mode?
07:23 - NTSC overscan, two-way parallax, graphics are best feature
07:55 - Discussing the boss patterns, or lack thereof
08:31 - Best of 1989 from Amiga World
09:00 - The powerup system is not intuitive
10:54 - Much like a real arcade game, goes from easy to impossible quickly
11:40 - One life, continue system is useless
12:17 - Quick look from CGW, review from Amazing Computing, look at the poor manual
13:35 - Ad and review from Amiga Plus, Menace deserves some critique
15:15 - Comparison with the DOS version
16:18 - A nuanced opinion, TV show Computer Chronicles, Pacbilly shoutout
17:41 - Direct music hookup, never got tired of that
18:06 - Best of '89 from Amiga Plus, magazines wanting you to buy a rapid fire joystick
19:02 - The designers, credited on the main menu, should not be in the high score area
19:24 - Coming soon and review from Info
21:20 - Longplays online are cheating, most frustrating game I've reviewed
22:46 - The point of a game like this is to win, if it's too hard it can't be recommended for most
23:28 - Best of 1989 from Info, upgraded to 5 out of 5 stars for the Commodore 64
24:30 - No flaws? It's even missing qualities for the masochist.
25:06 - Comparisons with the Atari ST and Commodore 64 versions
26:17 - My favorite level, review lightning round with Commodore Magazine, Compute, + British perspectives
28:07 - Winning the game, a history of DMA design and sales figures
29:18 - Final thoughts
30:16 - NSlate
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Written reviews: http://Shot97Retro.blogspot.com

Discord for news/early videos: https://discord.gg/uXrBHXZQsA

All videos/writings in alphabetical order: https://goo.gl/9VRs9g

Gaming Memories and Review Seasons 9 and 10: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_W3r-eAOdMzmu8ZUJ1CsAwY-1_M1MnnB

Gaming Memories And Review Season 8 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_W3r-eAOdMwSpFkZXCxTve2QbanYyoDm

Gaming Memories And Review Season 7 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_W3r-eAOdMzaiUMMf8uZIzFmOGoCG1le

Gaming Memories And Review Seasons 6-8 Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/c/Shot97/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=5

Gaming Memories And Review Seasons 1-5 Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/c/Shot97/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=6

#Menace #Amiga #shootemup

Gaming Memories And Review - Ep. 10x1 - Menace, Commodore Amiga

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