CD32 Scene Magazine Review

When I had my Amiga CD32 I found that it wasn't short of magazines. They all came with a CD packed with games, demos, music and anything they could fit onto the disc. It was something I always looked forward to every month and in the end, I had my newsagent to keep them for me behind the counter. One of my personal favourites was CD32 Gamer because to me it was more like an official magazine for the console. They had very good reviews and showed what was coming out along with some really good interviews. The disc was a good mixture of full playable games and demos along with other stuff that was in the wild.

Since those days I have been wandering around the web looking for something similar. Now even though Indie Retro News is a great site to find out about homebrew and the like, getting the disc and a real magazine every month just doesn't compare.

Well, I am glad to announce that we now have a new Amiga CD32 Magazine called CD32 Scene and its created by AmigaJay from the English Amiga Board Forums.

From the first time you see the magazine in the flesh, you can tell this was a work of love as just the cover is a glossy thick card and the pages are quality paper and vibrant colours. The pages are quite thick and when I was going through the magazine I kept on thinking that I had flicked through 2 pages instead of 1. It really is outstanding.

The magazine is what I would have expected as its been 22 years since we had one for the Amiga CD32. Its a combination of whats gone on before and whats going on now. I am happy to report that the future is looking good and with this magazine, I can only see the CD32 getting more deserved attention.

Design wise I really like it as it's not too hard in finding things and the reviews seem to be fair with an added second opinion box. I really like this idea and it takes me back to magazines like Crash and ZZAP 64.

Another feature I really liked is that the magazine is slowly going through the older CD32 games. They are reviewed on its own merits and then if the game really pushed the CD32. As we all know most games just added CD audio or/and a CGI intro as it was just a port of the Amiga 1200 game. Some did use the machine so it's nice to know which ones did.

There is also a really good interview with co-founder and ex-general manager of Team 17 Martyn Brown. I loved Team 17 games on the Amiga so this was a really good insight into what went on and what games they had planned before Commodore went under.

Focusing on the CD now and I have to say I only knew 1 of the games and that was Bomb Jack Beer Edition. Being out of the loop for so long this was great to go through and see whats what.

Here's a list of the games and my opinion on them.

• Lumberjack Revisited has an exclusive version on this disc which reminds me of those quirky mobile games. While you only use left and right with your joystick to cut the tree down you have to avoid the branches. There are pickups to collect that with help or hinder your progress which adds more to the game. It's a very simple game but highly addictive.

• Heroes of Gorluth I really liked as it reminded me of a Castlevaina type game. There are some puzzles and side quests to do but overall I got the impression that this is going to be well worth your money. Of course, this was a playable demo so I will be on the lookout for it.

• Zerosphere is another demo that impressed me and I will buy it very soon(yip, no money in my wallet soon). You get a nice little intro on whats going on and then you are thrown into the game. This is where you will find some really good effects on the top and bottom of the screen that is stretched. It makes it hard to know whats above or below you, but you do have a limited time to see the level if you hold up or down on the joystick. The main aim is to collect all the diamonds and get to the exit but of course, its never going to be that easy with monsters and sometimes keys to get through the level.

• Alco-Copter is a PD game which I had never played and I am glad I now have. You have an alco meter and every time you move it goes down, but you need to collect the bottles and get to the landing pad. If you bump into the walls, ceiling or floor that meter goes down. There is also gravity to consider too. It's a fantastic game that I highly recommend everyone to try out.

• Now the crowning jewel on this CD is Bomb Jack Beer Edition. We all know the classic arcade and we also know that the 16bit home computer ports were nothing short of rubbish. Thankfully we now have a better version thanks to mcgeezer who even added NV-RAM support to save your high scores. The game plays very well and is very close to the arcade. It's another port that I play quite a bit along with the ZX Spectrum and Gameboy versions.

Last but not least we have a CDXL video that features Ashley Cotter-Cairns who was the editor of Amiga CD! Magazine. It was good to see him again after all these years.

Now all of these are tied into a selectable menu as you load the disc and its very reminiscent of CD32 Gamer Magazine discs so I was more than happy, to say the least. It just makes life easier to pick what you want from a relevant button.

Well, I think I have covered everything and you already know what I think of CD32 Scene. If you do have an Amiga CD32 or even using an emulator (which is what I am doing for the time) then this is a must get. Go over to https://cd32-scene-magazine.onlineweb.shop/ and see if you can pick up a copy.

I am just looking forward to the next one which with any luck is out in October and I will review it right here on the website. Also please leave comments below if you have this magazine and let us know what you think of it. I am sure AmigaJay would love to know too.