Premiere Longplay (Amiga) [4K]
177Game Info
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Developer: The 8th Day
Publisher: Core Design
Year of Release: 1992
Coding: Dan Scott
Graphics: Jerr O'Carroll
Music: Martin Iveson
Game Review & Impressions
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The Amiga had some great platformers in its game library, and one I remember most fondly is Premiere. Set backstage in a movie production company, overworked dogsbody Clutch Gable must scour the various soundstages and production sets on a mission recover the stolen film reels in time for the premiere of the studio's latest cinema production. It's pretty "by the numbers" as platform games go, yet the art direction and general theme of fighting through levels themed after classic movie stereotypes makes up for fairly formulaic gameplay.
Each of the 6 levels is fairly expansive in size and is divided into two areas: front-of-set and backstage. The movie sets, naturally, reflect the theme of the overall type of movie, be it western, black and white gangster and so on, whilst backstage areas are timber frames full of props, paint cans and movie posters advertising up-and-coming productions (mostly nods to other Core games). Platforms are divided into two 'lanes' -- foreground and background -- which the play can jump between; much of the game's design is based on transitioning between lanes, often needing to swap to take out enemies or avoid obstacles blocking your progress. The only real problem with this lane mechanic is it's *really*difficult to determine which lane flying enemies are covering; shadows would have definitely improved things, but I feel the game purposely makes it difficult to up the difficulty level.
And on the subject of difficulty, we have to talk about traps. As early as stage 2, the game delights in sucker-punching the player with various hazards and obstacles situated in the most inconvenient of places. The shattering windows of stage 3 and flame jets on stage 6 are classic examples, and are purely down to a failure in your own judgement if you trigger them, but things become more frustrating when you factor in switch traps -- those activated by pulling on the various levers found around the various levels -- which prevent access to certain power-ups or, in some cases, simply destroy them before your very eyes. Put more bluntly, the game goes out of its way to be a total d***k much of the time, and you'll have to learn to live with it.
Fortunately, the game doesn't stint on power-ups, with health-restoring burgers and popcorn buckets found strewn quite liberally around the various platforms. It's rare to go for a prolong period without finding some way to top off your health, and it's only really in later levels that you'll really need to be more cautious in your approach to navigating the levels.
I don't know if I'd call Premiere a classic, but its certainly one of the more memorable platform games on the system. The art style and quirky score by Martin Iveson make this cinema-themed experience worth the entrance fee - go check it out.
Information & Trivia
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Video Notes
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Related Longplays & Videos
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Chapters
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0:00:00 Intro
0:02:04 Main menu music (Martin Iveson)
0:04:54 Stage 1
0:14:58 Stage 2
0:28:50 Stage 3
0:41:04 Stage 4
0:58:22 Stage 5
1:14:42 Stage 6
1:35:15 Ending
#premiere
#amiga
#retrogaming