The A500 Mini was released this week in New Zealand and it is something that I have been looking forward to.
What is the A500 Mini I hear you asking?
It is a modern recreation of the ancient times (OK, the late 80s) home computer known as the Amiga 500 (A500) but in a smaller version.
I had the original Amiga 500
The (Commodore) Amiga 500 was the first computer I owned.
I remember saving up for the Amiga 500 for many months. I was working full time and from memory it cost at least 3 or 4 times my weekly wage – can’t remember exactly, though I would have bought it around 1992 so it could have even been the Amiga 500 plus model I got.
What happened to my Amiga 500?
I went to South America for a year and supposedly it got damaged in a flood and thrown out while I was away. I personally think my mother or her partner sold it … but that is another story.
Anyway, the Amiga 500 brings back so many good gaming memories which is why I was delighted to hear they were recreating it with this mini version.
Now back to the A500 Mini …
The A500 is a small version emulating the original … but much quicker and without having to wait for the floppy disks to load. (Well, I must admit it was much better to wait for floppy disks to load than those damn cassettes of the Commodore 64 or Atari – if it didn’t read one section of the cassette, you’d have to rewind it and start again)
The A500 ALMOST comes ready to use. I say almost because you need one of the phone charger adapters to connect the usb cable into a power source.
Anyway, then you just plug it into a HD TV, connect your gamepad and you are ready to go.
The user interface is quite impressive. There is a carousel showing the covers of 25 games that come with the A500 and you just click the one you want to play. I have never played most of the included games so it will be interesting to see how they are.
One great feature is that you can save your game progress and resume them later. There are four save slots for each game. Great for those pesky hard levels.
What games are on the A500 Mini?
Here is the full list of the 25 games included on the A500 Mini
- Alien Breed 3D
- Alien Breed: Special Edition 92
- Another World
- Arcade Pool
- ATR: All Terrain Racing
- Battle Chess
- Cadaver
- California Games
- Dragon’s Breath
- F-16 Combat Pilot
- Kick Off 2
- Paradroid 90 (My favourite)
- Pinball Dreams
- Project-X: Special Edition 93
- Qwak
- Simon the Sorcerer
- Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
- Stunt Car Racer
- Super Cars II
- The Chaos Engine
- The Lost Patrol
- The Sentinel
- Titus the Fox
- Worms: The Director’s Cut
- Zool: Ninja Of The ”Nth” Dimension
The covers of each game appears on the back of the A500 Mini product box here:
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE….
Notice how under these covers there is a note stating:
The A500 Mini is compatible with hundreds of classic Amiga games (games must be legally obtained).
What do they mean by that?
This mini device emulates the Amiga 500, 600 and 1200 (OCS/ECS/AGA formats) and you can load your own WHDLoad* packaged games via USB.
* WHDLoad was developed for the Amiga to allow floppy disk based programs to be quickly loaded from a hard disk.
So, via USB (which is not included) you can add your own games, update the firmware and connect your own devices.
There are instructions in the A500 Mini manual about how to load your own programs.
What is included with the A500 Mini?
In the box you get:
- The A500 Mini (computer)
- USB mouse – also “affectionately” known as The Tank.
- USB gamepad
- HDMI cable
- USB power lead (power adapter not included*)
- Quick start manual
* Notice how the power adapter is not included. It is assumed everyone has a few of these lying around the house. I suppose it says them having to create adapters for every country… what a hassle!
Note that the keyboard is just decoration. It cannot be used. In some games, you can access a virtual keyboard by pressing the menu button and it will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
What else do I need to know?
- HDMI: High Definition output at 720p 50 or 60hz
- 3 USB ports: You’ll need one for the mouse, one for the game pad and a spare one for your USB or anything else.
- You can plug in a standard USB keyboard and it will work like the Amiga keyboard.
So, if you are a retro gamer, this A500 mini could just be up your alley.
Hopefully I will be able to do some gameplay of the different games that come with the A500 Mini.
