Lights Out for Amiga WC in Vintage Review (August 11, 2021)

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Coffeehound RetroSharka has a new mag scan today that highlights an interesting piece of Amiga history. Rather than just a review of Wing Commander, the magazine Amiga Power reviewed a compilation called 'Space Legends' in August 1993. This includes Wing Commander, Megatraveller 1 and Elite Plus. It's a pretty hilarious review because the author is just not a fan of any of these games and never was. Maybe he wasn't the best choice to put on this assignment - even his editor appeared incredulous. Despite high marks for each when they were reviewed individually, these three legends of space eeked out a 79% combined. At least it makes for some amusing reading today!





The AmigaMini has been announced, so that feels like a fine time to sneak in some more Amiga themed #GameMagNibbles.

Wot, only 79% for one of the best compilations on Amiga? A scandal! This compi was my gateway to classic Elite, Wing Commander, and the first proper sci-fi RPG I ever played.

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Original update published on August 11, 2021
 
No scandal. I have both that magazine and was introduced to WC on the Amiga. It CHUGGED on the Amiga. Even on an A1200. I still fell in love with it, but on an A600, I can see how people could easily grow bored of the chuggathon. 79% seems fair, especially in Amiga Power, a magazine famed for brutally honest reviews and also believing that the WHOLE percentage scale should be used. So an average game would get 50% and not the 70-75% most mags would give.
 
No scandal. I have both that magazine and was introduced to WC on the Amiga. It CHUGGED on the Amiga. Even on an A1200. I still fell in love with it, but on an A600, I can see how people could easily grow bored of the chuggathon. 79% seems fair, especially in Amiga Power, a magazine famed for brutally honest reviews and also believing that the WHOLE percentage scale should be used. So an average game would get 50% and not the 70-75% most mags would give.

But that's not what they gave Wing Commander when it was reviewed individually - it scored 88% on its own. So to think they reduced the price eight months later and gave you two more free games and it got a lower score is bonkers. :) They just gave "Space Legends" to a reviewer here that doesn't seem to even like space games.
 
Megatraveller also got 88% and Elite Plus 73%. Average score was 83%, and it should have gotten a boost for being such a good deal getting all three in one. But it's not even really about the numerical score. The guy just wasn't interested in sci-fi games like this. It was just a crappy editorial choice to even put this reviewer on this package.
 
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