A game originally designed for the Amiga that was abandoned but has now been completed and released on Switch?
Known variously as Shenandoah: Daughter of the Stars, 1993 Space Machine and finally 1993 Shenandoah, this title is possibly the most ‘Amiga’ game I’ve played in recent memory.
Admittedly that very thing may work against it for some people but the fact that, when starting up 1993 Shenandoah, I felt like I could have closed my eyes and heard the pips of a 3.5” floppy disk drive on an A1200 was right up my Strasse.
The background for the game is that you have been tasked with locating Nestor, the head of a group of space pirates and stop him from launching the ultimate weapon, Shenandoah. 
Beginning with choosing your ship, you’ll then head out into space in order to start working your way through 15 sections across 5 stages, each time edging ever closer to the Shenandoah.
The game screams Amiga. From the techno-lite soundtrack through to the colour palette used and the gameplay and enemy design, you’ll be in 16-bit heaven. Whilst the game is playable with up to four players in local co-op (that must be FRANTIC), I played through in single-player mode and it was an oddly zen experience. 
Featuring slow and smooth left-right scrolling throughout (with the exception of the slightly bizarre final stage), you manoeuvre your nifty ship past waves of enemies, collecting diamonds with which you can purchase the ship and weapon upgrades.
I was a big fan of the upgrades on offer and ended up with various directional cannons, an extra mini-gun and a new, larger ship that could hold more firepower but was slower than me getting out of bed in the morning after drinking a bottle of Maker’s Mark. It also looked somewhat phallic. Good.
Whilst the music, visuals, multiplayer possibilities, responsive controls and upgrade system are all groovy – as well as the smooth scrolling – there are definite limitations here for those who aren’t as enamoured with the Amiga as me.
The retro-stylings are very traditional and the game feels quite basic in modern shooter terms, It’s also not a massive challenge. I completed the game in around two hours and the standard gameplay never really changes, I also maxed out everything I wanted on my ship one level before the end and so had surplus cash in my account.
As I’ve already stated, however, this didn’t bother me personally as the game had an almost relaxing vibe to it that I really clicked with and would happily play through again with other players in the future.
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