Praise for the A500 mini
The Commodore Amiga 500 Mini is a retro console that emulates classic Commodore Amiga games. According to a review by The Guardian, the A500 Mini is a “robust piece of tech” that offers “solid emulation” and “unique options” despite some flaws. Eurogamer also recommends it as a great introduction to the world of Commodore Amiga. Gamingbible highlights that one of the best features of this mini-console is how easy it is to add titles to its line-up using WHD Load-format files on a USB stick plugged into the rear of the console.
The Commodore Amiga had a large and diverse library of games. It's specifications were great for the time, a 68000 CPU and various chips functioning as graphics accelerators gave the computer an advantage over for its main competitor the Atari-ST. The mini replicates all of this functionality in a mini console with 25 built in games.
The A500 mini is designed to be plugged into a monitor or a TV using an HDMI cable. Games can be run in 50hz or 60hz (the European vs. American TV AC frequencies that determined the TV refresh rate). As games used this refresh rate for in-game timing of enemies and animations, running the game at the wrong frequency can make the game either sluggish or too fast. The console has a CRT mode which emulates scan-lines to give you the feel of an old school TV. The image can also be scaled up if you like.
Amiga 1200 Support
Internally the Amiga code runs on an emulator. The emulation is great and all the internal games play perfectly without any glitches or controlelr lag. In addition to emulating the Amiga 500, the mini also supports the Enhanced Chip Set and the Advanced Graphics Architecture of the Amiga 1200.
Load your own games
One of the greatest features of this Amiga 500 mini is the ability to load games via a USB stick. Of course games must be legally obtained for you to play them. Simply add the games onto a USB stick, plug the stick into the back of the A500 mini and an USB icon appears in the carousel of pre-installed games. If you click on this icon, you can select your game, press the home button on the control pad and start the game. There are a few games that may give you problems, as this is an emulator and not the original hardware, but games get four save slots which is a great feature to have.
List of included games
- Alien Breed 3D
- Alien Breed: Special Edition '92
- Another World
- Arcade Pool
- ATR: All Terrain Racing
- Battle Chess
- Cadaver
- California Games
- The Chaos Engine
- Dragons Breath
- F-16 Combat Pilot
- Kick Off 2
- The Lost Patrol
- Paradroid 90
- Pinball Dreams
- Project-X: Special Edition '93
- Qwak
- The Sentinel
- Simon the Sorcerer
- Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
- Stunt Car Racer
- Super Cars II
- Titus The Fox
- Worms: The Director's Cut
- Zool
