From the forum issue 123

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

What's your favourite cinemaware game?

[Gordon Bennett]

Wings without a doubt for me. From the tremendously dramatic intro to the diary entries and flying missions it had me glued to my Amiga for hours. And between the experience of playing the game and reading the quite long printed manual of background information on the planes and aviators of the First World War I picked up a bit of an obsession with the subject for a time. I really do miss the days when games shipped with books of background and reference material that wasn't needed to play the game but added tremendously to the immersion and atmosphere.

[samhain81]

Definately Rocket Ranger for me. I frst played the game about 15 years ago, and being a huge fan of the Rocketeer comics and film like my father, this game felt like it was a true homage to Dave Stevens creation from the 50s. For me, it also felt like the first true superhero videogame.

[Greyfox]

I loved wings and Rocket Ranger on the Amiga, both were exceptional efforts of Amiga superiority as a computer and games machine at the time.

[NES4Life]

100% It Came From the Desert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWd_eyAmgQ

I still have memories of unsuccessfully putting out a fire with the hose and waking up (yet again) in the hospital. Shooting a giant ant in the face also never grows old. Not fast paced, but it was definitely a gaming moment for me.

[Doddsy]

I can't single out any particular one that I liked the most but the standout titles for me were; Wings, It came from the desert, Rocket Ranger and Defender of the crown. Four games that made you feel like were playing an interactive movie from the golden era of cinema.

[ncf1]

Defender of The Crown. Cinemaware, on the whole though, were ahead of their time, always trying new things, pushing the envelope, and it was always exciting hearing about their next release, to see what they would come up with next. The "Rockstar" of their day.

[The Laird]

Not really sure why but the first game that springs to mind is TV Sports Hockey on the TurboGrafx, I really enjoyed that.

[zapiy]

It Came From the Desert, is without doubt my fav.. I guess thats down to all the hours i put into the game.

[Matt_B]

I'd go for It Came From the Desert too. It captures the air of a '50s science fiction b-movie pretty much perfectly and it's as much fun to set out with a crazy futile strategy and see how far it gets you as it is to play the game properly.

[necronom]

Defender of the Crown. It was the first game I ever played on an Amiga, and it was like playing a game from the future. Jim Sachs' graphics were amazing, and the atmosphere from the look and sound really helped.

I also played Sinbad and SDI quite a bit, and several others (apart from the American sports ones).

[Hiro]

Tough choice. Wings is a wonder of atmosphere and storytelling, the idea of the company journal is awesome and the rising through the ranks of your character (until it dies) makes you really care about him. Timeless masterpiece.

But my choice goes to It Came from the Desert, the first game I tried on my Amiga after buying the memory expansion, it left me slackjawed. The b-movie atmosphere, the freedom of choice and of movement, the graphics, the music, all the mini-games are incredible. I remember playing it until past midnight without realising the passing of time.

And also finding it incredibily tough to crack, while nowadays I finish it again every year in 30 minutes or so

"The farmer stopped in mid-sentence. His eyes were locked on something behind me..."

[AmigaJay]

As an Amiga owner they hold a special place in our gamer hearts, not least for bringing the Amiga platform forward as a gaming platform, but also their games were so well made not just graphically but storywise and the attention to detail was a step above anyone else at the time.
As much as i like Wings and Defender of the crown, It came from the desert has to be my favourite, just took you into another place whilst playing, the graphics, sound and atmosphere were all great. (Just don't mention the awful console versions!)

[Nemesis]

It has to be Wings for me. Great atmosphere and made you feel as if you were a WW1 fighter ace.

[Gordon Bennett]

I think I've just remembered that the print manual that I spoke of so glowingly shipped with Sierra's game Red Baron, not with Wings. Perhaps they merged in my mind because I much preferred Wings as a game and spent very little time with Red Baron aside from reading that manual.