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[64bitmodels]

I have quite a passion for retro tech, 80s and early 90s computers and consoles in particular get me giddy. I love seeing their capabilities and how they fare when compared to the competition at the time.

There were so many computers released back then all that were so different in approach and style. which one out of all of them was your favorite, and for what reason? was it nostalgia? a particular game? the music? also, did i miss any PCs?

 

[RoboFu]

I had a Tandy color comp 3 late 80s. That was nice and tends to get overlooked.

 

[Topher]

IBM PC jr. It didn't stay on the market long, but I played a lot of Infocom games, sports games and stuff like King's Quest on it. Loved that thing.

 

[Calverz]

ZX Spectrum purely because it was the only one I owned from them

 

[kurisu_1974]

I grew up with an Atari 130XE so that one has a special place in my heart. I was always second to my friends with a Commodore 64 though, even if I liked the Atari more.

My really formative years were on an MSX where I was introduced to Konami of the 80s... Metal Gear, Gradius, Castlevania (called Vampire Killer) etc. I still collect for MSX and it probably is my favorite 8-bit system.

I still have this almost exact setup

 

[Laptop1991]

The Amiga, my first gaming machine, i didn't do much else with it to be honest

 

[LastBattle]

I grew up with a C64 so that’s my choice. Always wished for an Amiga or Atari ST though.

 

[poodaddy]

I never had any 80's computers as I was born in 87, so I'm here to just learn folks. I'll be in the corner watching awkwardly.

 

[nowhat]

C64 obviously. As to why, three letters. S. I. D.

 

[Holammer]

Amiga, it was a choice between the C64 & Amiga.
It was eagerly anticipated and first piece of hardware I bought with my own money, later got an A590 HD (the 2MB RAM variety) for it. Played a ton of games and spent 100's of hours drawing with Deluxe Paint. All that pixel-art however, is lost to the sands of time.

*Pours one out for the 5-bit homies*

 

[Team Andromeda]

ZX Spectrum, because it was the best gaming system around and SIR CLIVE is GOD

 

[64bitmodels]

C64 obviously. As to why, three letters. S. I. D.

Paula was the better chip and its not even close

Sid is still awesome tho

 

[omegasc]

MSX because it was the one I had

 

[Irobot82]

Tandy 1000 because it's what I owned

 

[lmimmfn]

Same, Amstrad CPC because thats what i had, only got an Amiga in 1990 so not 80's, would have put Amiga otherwise.

All of them had their strengths/weaknesses

 

[nowhat]

Paula was the better chip and its not even close

Sid is still awesome tho

I mean, they're completely different beasts. Paula is PCM sample playback, SID is synthesis. While Paula can produce more realistic sounds (with the limitation of 8-bit/28kHz samples at best), I find the SID to sound more interesting/original.

But there's a ton of nostalgia for me there as well, granted.

 

[01011001]

Amiga...

Lionheart alone would be enough for me to choose the Amiga tbh.

but also Turrican of course.

 

[Mephisto40]

The Amiga, because it was lightyears above anything else at the time, and has so many great games

Plus it's use for producing art and music was insanely good for the time

My Friends were just getting NES' in their houses and I was already playing stuff like this

 

[64bitmodels]

Amiga...

Lionheart alone would be enough for me to choose the Amiga tbh.

but also Turrican of course.

the fact that this looks better than many GBA and DS games that would come 10-15 years later.... insanity

turrican 3 had dope music, i loved the powerup system and gameplay was overall well made.


The camera and that grappling hook mechanic both leave a lot to be desired tho

 

[64bitmodels]

also, it brings me great joy to see 0 votes for the atari ST a couple hours into the poll

amiga supremacy

EDIT: This aged badly

 

[SeraphJan]

In terms of visual, it has to be Sharp X6800, but that thing was just unaffordable at the time

 

[calistan]

The Amiga, because it was lightyears above anything else at the time, and has so many great games

...

I had an Amiga for a few years, and loved it, but it was absolutely riddled with Atari ST ports - Chaos Engine and all the rest of the Bitmap Bros games included. People often cite them as being Amiga classics but they were generally limited to 16 colours and they couldn't do smooth horizontal scrolling. The only Amiga feature they ever got was nicer music.

For that reason I'd say the Spectrum was my favourite 80s computer. Every game was written specifically for it, out of necessity, and some really pushed the boundaries. The Amiga had a longer tail than the ST but I'd sold mine by the time things like Alien Breed showed up.

 

[Mephisto40]

I had an Amiga for a few years, and loved it, but it was absolutely riddled with Atari ST ports - Chaos Engine and all the rest of the Bitmap Bros games included. People often cite them as being Amiga classics but they were generally limited to 16 colours and they couldn't do smooth horizontal scrolling. The only Amiga feature they ever got was nicer music.

For that reason I'd say the Spectrum was my favourite 80s computer. Every game was written specifically for it, out of necessity, and some really pushed the boundaries. The Amiga had a longer tail than the ST but I'd sold mine by the time things like Alien Breed showed up.

The spectrum comes in at a close second for me as well tbh

Renegade, Pedro and Horace goes skiing were standouts

 

[Fuz]

There's a definite, correct answer to this question.

 

[01011001]

the fact that this looks better than many GBA and DS games that would come 10-15 years later.... insanity

Lionheart was a Pixelart masterpiece. that game was Thalion's best looking game, and their best game in general imo.
their magnum opus.

 

[Magic Carpet]

We has a Trash80 with a floppy drive.
That was NOT the best computer we had in the 80's but it was the one I was allowed to play with.
My parents used an IBM with an external 40MB harddrive for work related stuff. It played games much better but I wasn't allowed to touch it.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Amiga.

But also place in my heart for speccy, C64 and ST because I owned them all during the 80s and all served their purpose at the time.

 

[Catphish]

C64, because I never got an Amiga. It was my last computer until the early 90s, when Doom convinced me to buy a 486.

I also wanted a Tandy, because I wanted to play King's Quest sooo baaad, but mom wasn't having any of that.

The C64 was the bomb, tho. So many awesome games, and most of them free (Thanks, Eagle Soft)!

 

[AJUMP23]

I had a VIC 20. It was cool.

I also really enjoyed the 286 and 386, because that is what I played Wing Commander and Wolfenstein on.

 

[amigastar]

Amiga 500 but i also played Castle Wolfenstein 3D on a PC from a friend of mine.
Idk is there Castle Wolfenstein 3D on the Amiga 500? I always wished it was.

 

[Ceallach]

C64 because it's what my mom let me play with. But I was also a baby at the time(born in 86). I wasn't allowed to touch what I called "the real computer", her IBM that she still used for work.

 

[Badlucktroll]

From before i was born, right up to this day, my family has been 100% Apple. So…..yeah. The first computer we got that had a cd drive was a mac performa. mind blowing. My brother tried to convince my dad to get a windows 95 pc but he wouldnt budge.

 

[AndrewRyan]

32768, 49152, 64738 are permanently etched in my brain from the c64. Hard to believe it's still the best selling computer of all time. Check out 8bit Generation: The Commodore Wars if you haven't seen it.

 

[Kdad]

My Atari ST. First computer I owned with a GUI (not counting C64 geOS), learned how to program and ran a BBS from it too. Playing around with Mac Roms was fun too.

 

[Setzer]

Loved the C64 but didn't have one. Had to go to a friends house to play it. I had an Apple IIc, so I guess that would be my favorite 80's computer.

 

[DEAD ORIGINAL]

 

[Methos#1975]

C64 for me, mostly because it's the only one I had any access to at all.

 

[Cobbet]

Started with a C-64 then Atari 520STe and after that Amiga 500. Loved them all!

 

[64bitmodels]

I mean, they're completely different beasts. Paula is PCM sample playback, SID is synthesis. While Paula can produce more realistic sounds (with the limitation of 8-bit/28kHz samples at best), I find the SID to sound more interesting/original.

But there's a ton of nostalgia for me there as well, granted.

Amiga can sample C64 chip sounds as well. infact one of the most fun things is hearing amiga chiptune that's basically enhanced C64, or hearing songs with C64 leads and sampled instruments. The flexibility of the chip is so cool, it did SNES before SNES even existed

 

[nowhat]

Amiga can sample C64 chip sounds as well. infact one of the most fun things is hearing amiga chiptune that's basically enhanced C64, or hearing songs with C64 leads and sampled instruments. The flexibility of the chip is so cool, it did SNES before SNES even existed

Yeah. So where's the Amiga's VCF. Ring modulation. Oscillator sync. Those do not exist, because they are not sample playback, they are synthesis.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

I grew up with an Atari 130XE so that one has a special place in my heart. I was always second to my friends with a Commodore 64 though, even if I liked the Atari more.

My really formative years were on an MSX where I was introduced to Konami of the 80s... Metal Gear, Gradius, Castlevania (called Vampire Killer) etc. I still collect for MSX and it probably is my favorite 8-bit system.

I still have this almost exact setup

Absolutely gorgeous set up *drools*

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

My parents weren't into home computers. Earliest memory was Pong and Boxing on some Atari.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Family Computer, baby!

 

[64bitmodels]

Yeah. So where's the Amiga's VCF. Ring modulation. Oscillator sync. Those do not exist, because they are not sample playback, they are synthesis.

yeah, i know. C64 bleeps will sound much cleaner and more authentic on an actual SID than being played back by amiga, and they're much more easily modified too. I was just putting it out there tho that amiga chiptune is sick when you take advantage of the best of both worlds.

 

[STARSBarry]

Where option for BBC Micro?



But the reason I respect this is because it was the first computer I ever used, in primary school. With a game called "Grannies Garden" which was an edufun title.

It's the key reason I nagged my parents to get a home computer themselves, as they both did office work it eventually resulted in them getting a PC with Voodoo graphics and a copy of Command & Conquer.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Where option for BBC Micro?



But the reason I respect this is because it was the first computer I ever used, in primary school. With a game called "Grannies Garden" which was an edufun title.

It's the key reason I nagged my parents to get a home computer themselves, as they both did office work it eventually resulted in them getting a PC with Voodoo graphics and a copy of Command & Conquer.

(Apologies for the minute screenshot)
Dread Dragon Droom was one of my first BBC Micro experiences.
I'm amazed my Primary school could afford one!
We were still using desks ftom the 50s and our crayons were kept in repurposed tobbaco tins, provided by one of our leather faced, hacking teachers.
But I digress lol
Dread Dragon Droom was top notch

 

[Verchod]

(Apologies for the minute screenshot)
Dread Dragon Droom was one of my first BBC Micro experiences.
I'm amazed my Primary school could afford one!
We were still using desks ftom the 50s and our crayons were kept in repurposed tobbaco tins, provided by one of our leather faced, hacking teachers.
But I digress lol
Dread Dragon Droom was top notch

Great machine, I spent most of the 80s on this machine.

But before this, I had one of these;

 

[cormack12]

 

[Fuz]

Amiga...

Lionheart alone would be enough for me to choose the Amiga tbh.

but also Turrican of course.

I loved Lionheart.
Another really pretty game was Leander.

the fact that this looks better than many GBA and DS games that would come 10-15 years later.... insanity

Hell, the Amiga had tons of games that look (and sound) waaaay better than modern indie games.
Top of my head: Superfrog, Wrath of the Demon, Moonstone...

 

[64bitmodels]

I loved Lionheart.
Another really pretty game was Leander.

Hell, the Amiga had tons of games that look (and sound) waaaay better than modern indie games.
Top of my head: Superfrog, Wrath of the Demon, Moonstone...

don't know about that, but the Amiga port of Bonk's adventure definitely smashes the PC Engine version. considering that the PC engine version was the original version and would be the system that got the sequels.... it's very ironic to me

Imagine how good Rondo of Blood would look if it got an Amiga version. (it'd probably be a very severe downgrade in audio quality, though)