Flimbo's Quest Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]

Developed and published by System 3 in 1990.

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Flimbo's Quest was something of a classic on the C64 and is probably the version that most gamers are familiar with. Unsurprisingly, a 16-bit version for the Amiga was produced as well to capitalise on the machine's superior graphics and sound capabilities.

How does it compare to the C64 version you may ask? On the whole, it's pretty decent but, yet again, the charm of the C64 version seems to have gotten lost somewhere in the translation.

In terms of gameplay, the most significant difference between this and the C64 version is the more complex play-field. The level layout is different, the monster AI faster and more aggressive and more platforms to navigate, all of which makes the game more difficult than it's 8-bit cousin.

The spawning of monsters that hold the scrolls seems more troublesome in the Amiga version. Certain enemies spawn in a single place on the game map, but they don't always spawn holding a scroll. This requires the player to keep scrolling away and back to the spawn location in an effort to get the monster to spawn. Sometimes the monster is completely absent and you need to travel further afield in order to get the monster to spawn.

Charles Deenen produced the music for the Amiga version and it's very faithful to the C64 version. He manages to capture the essence of the SID on the Amiga very well and it's a pleasure to hum along to.

While Flimbo's Quest on the Amiga is a decent enough game, it just doesn't feel as special as the C64 version. Despite being technically "superior", Flimbo, Creatures and Myth suffered from the same problem and just lacked that spark that made the C64 versions so memorable.

16-bit Flimbo is fun to play for an hour or so, but will never be an enduring classic.
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