Amiga Encounter

Amiga Encounter is a Shooter game, developed and published by Novagen, which was released in 1991.

Blimey, this takes me back a bit! One ot the first games I ever had on my trusty but now deceased C64. Encounter was also the first game to appear from the Howard Hughes of the programming world.

Encounter is basically an extension of the age-old Battlezone scenario, and when it was originally released, was praised for its (then) stunning fast filled graphics - and the lack of glitch associated with the genre. Unfortunately, what you considered hot and stunning in the old days now looks decidedly dated.

The basic idea of the game is to patrol an oddly-coloured desert and take out the enemy space-ships and missiles before they get to you. However, punctuating the barren landscape are a series of metallic columns, and these can be used to deflect shots and to hide behind. And that’s it.

Although this may sound a little damning, there’s no doubt that Encounter is a playable little blast. The graphics, whilst not pushing back any barriers, are smoothly updated and the enemy ships are fast and deadly. The trouble is that there just isn’t enough to do, and when you consider that Novagen are asking twenty-odd quid for it, I don’t think that pure nostalgia offers enough for your money.

Search gameplay videos on YouTube (opens in a new tab)