Abyss (amiga)/Reviews
Cracktro (ECS Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Nicely designed, short and sweet, with a minimalist feel. This crack intro is in three shades of brown (two for the background, one for the font) and has two textscreens that alternate...and a THX soundtrack from Pink. That's about it folks! The same intro is also used by Pyrodex.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.1.
X-Ray (1993, early, ECS File)
Review by Glenn Lunder
I'm sorry, but the music ruins this for me. The routines are good, I guess, but it lacks the sting or spark of a good production. There's no magic here, just cold techno. These guys can do a lot better. As a later upload to Aminet of the module reveals, the title is supposed to mean "Late Night Movie".
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Artcore (1994, 07.08, AGA 40k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
My immediate reaction to this intro is 'nice design'. They've certainly managed to squeeze a lot into 40k this time, with not only a good intro, but two great tunes as well - none of which sounds the least bit chippy! The endtune is fabulous! Recommended. 13th!? Toxic's pig picture is called "Rocker Pig".
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
DisIsSid issue 1 (1994, 08.10, ECS Musicfile)
Review by Glenn Lunder
An outstanding release that manages to capture the C64 feel PERFECTLY - by emulating it in the same manner. If you didn't know, you'd never suspect what you saw WEREN'T an old c64 demo. Truly outstanding. Pink covers some true classics here, and comes out on top and with style. There's some very nice graphics here, including a fullscreen rendition of Al Bundy from "Married With Children", though no graphician is credited.
Tunes included are versions of Delta Highscore, Disco Zak, Disissid Theme, Turrican 1 end and Zamzara Highscore.
tested A500 /000-7 /½mb chip, ½mb fast/2.04.
A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Dove (1994, 30.12, AGA Multifile, 2 disks)
Review by Glenn Lunder
The competition at TP94 was stiff, but I still think this deserved better than 16th. It's got nice design, good graphics, a nice unoffensive synth-poppie tune that's timed perfectly to some of the effects... It's not even boring! Tyshdomos' picture "Raped" that appears during the Jacko-part, was also entered in the graphics competition at The Party, where it came in at a split 10th place. All effects look VERY smooth and nice on my 030-50...but I suppose that's only natural when it was designed with an 020-14 in mind.
The demo is split up into two parts, really, separated in the two files. The first part is the 'demo' part, while in the second one they poke fun at three other wellknown productions. It opens with a digitized animation of Pink going to buy a magazine at a big store (Virtual Dreams "242"), before it's revealed that the magazine is all about Beverly Hills 90210, and we're played a rendition of the theme (Melon Dezign "Romantic"). Then we're shown the credits in a screen design that's very similar to the one Sanity employed in SEVERAL of their productions...
Though originally designed to run from floppy, hard disk installation is painless; just copy the two files where you want them and run. Couldn't possibly be easier :) Works fine on standard A1200.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
High Anxiety (1995, 12.08, AGA HD Multifile)
Review by Glenn Lunder
The opening is certainly the best part of this demo, with the raytraced animation by Pink and the fast texturemapped tunnel ride the definitive highlights of the demo. There's a hefty portion of BLOCKY goraud shading here that's more embarassing than anything else.
Pink's music is sometimes good, sometimes average, and there's a couple of reasonable fullscreen pictures by Toxic in there. If you check out the demo's WorkBench icons, that's one of them in a miniature. Not too bad... but I'm not too fond of routines that look THIS blocky! HA will work on any AGA Amiga with 2mb chipmem. The end module is "Global Confusion II", the module Pink competed with at Doom's Day 94!
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Indifference (1995, 28.12, 40k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
This is a very good intro. The thumping music, the good effects, the design... Most importantly, it does not fall into the 'advanced but boring' trend that has plagued intros ever since Pygmy Projects' "G-Force". There are some good effects here, most of which I'd guess were real crowd-pleasers at The Party...unfortunately, I haven't fed the results into Scenery yet, so I don't quite know ;) There's some text in the intro file, presumably an error code, that says 'buy AGA or run SetPatch!', which has me hesitant if this an AGA or ECS intro... Therefore, I have refrained from categorizing it. Should work on unexpaned A1200's.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Pixelstorm (1995, 28.12, Slideshow)
Review by zito
A nice little slide with pictures and clips that won the competition from a german computer magazine I damned can`t remember the issue...
After a cinema-like intro you are able to slide through ten pics while listening to a cool tune by our allround genius Pink who also did the code, design and had the idea! You can do this with a comfortable selector (as in all good slideshows) with b/w preview and autoslide function! All settled in a good atmosphere of the well-known Abyss-style!! Tyshdomos (also Tisch Thomas) drew some cool, satiric fullscreen pictures like Michael Jackson in `Take care of your children`. The only bad thing is that Toxic made nothing more than clips but therefor with some funny ideas like the smoking nun!
My favorites here are: `Peace!`, `Orbita` (a c64 revival!) and `Enjoy your meal`. All by Tysh...
tested A1200/030-42/2mb chip, 8mb fast.
Think Pink (1995, 28.12, Musicdisk)
Review by zito
This time Abyss gives us eight tunes composed and written by the multitalent Pink, whose last - and I am afraid to tell you that - for only about 13 minutes...
With generally disco popsongs and some jazzy rhythms is this musicdisk really no highlight! Only standard Pink music. For the entire scene a rather good production but compared to the normal quality level of Abyss productions less good. I like the idea for the title picture (I guess only germans will understand) by Bartman but the design by Toxic lacks of colors! Also it needs a bugfix because it only starts if the audio channels were not used before! My favourites are `Ego Tendencies 2` and `One Step Inside`.
tested A1200/030-42/2mb chip, 8mb fast.
DisIsSid III - Getoese (1996, Music File)
Review by Glenn Lunder
The C64 graphics style is as impressive as ever, it's amazing to see how close they've come to the C64 look and feel... The music, as usual, is first rate. There are 5 tunes here, all conversions of tunes done originally for the C64. Coolness doesn't even get close. I don't see why this shouldn't work on ECS, but I haven't tested it. Release date is an estimate; the scroller says it's been over a year since the last one [11/94]...
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Blub! (1996, 07.04, 4k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
The design is probably what set "Blub!" above the other two entries in the Symposium competition; the effect is certainly the weakest of the three. However, it does have an intro screen and some backgrounds, and most of the time that's all it takes :)
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.0.
Vertigo (1996, 27.04, AGA 4mb HD Multifile)
Review by Glenn Lunder
The first thing that struck me when I saw the opening of this demo was "Arte"! The opening bars of the music, as well as the graphical design, leave no doubt that this is indeed a homage to Sanity's classic. So, is the demo any good? It's a killer! Though it has excellent, advanced routines, it never forgets its true nature as an entertainment item. The design, the music, and the weaving together of the demo all indicate truly experienced demolitioners. Highly recommended. Recommends 030-50 or 040-25.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Little Floove (1996, 27.04, AGA Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Yeah! Short but sweet seems like the order of the day, and it's not a bad one! Here we have a rather fast phong routine, coupled with minimal but nice design and a THX tune by Pink - a rendition of the theme song from the TV series "Alf". I love it! Dum-da-dum...dum-dum-dum-dum-da-duuum, da-da-dum...
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
DOS4GW.EXE (1996, 28.12, 4k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
A definitive first! Abyss brings us the world's first ever 4k musicdisk...and the four tunes are actually good! The graphics are reminiscent of what you'd find in one of those old utility bootblocks, though at 4k I guess that's about fair. Outstanding!
**UPDATE** - Contrary to popular belief, DOS4GW is *NOT* the world's first 4k musicdisk - Sapphire/Centolos was first with "MD4I" [07/96]!
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Klub Diznee - Listen or Die! (1996, 28.12, Multifile Musicdisk)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Abyss' first original THX musicdisk is a goodie. You sort of know you're in for something good when the intro picture is a manipulated version of the Skate or Die title from the C64... There's some truly tasty THX tunes in here, and it's a real coup to have Geir Tjelta do a tune. For those of you who did not own a C64 and are therefore ignorant, young Mr.Tjelta was an OUTSTANDING C64 musician in his time. His greetings list here should be some indication! Strangely, there's no graphics credit even though they're certainly nothing to be ashamed of...
Some text found in the intro strongly indicates a hidden game, but I haven't been able to find it yet.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Klub Diznee II - Competition is Gone (1997, .02, AGA Musicfile)
Review by Glenn Lunder
I didn't honestly believe they could do it, but they've gone and done it anyway! They've outdone themselves and easily topped the first KD! There's a brand new code, this time by Pink, that's even better than the original one, and this time there's a whopping 16 THX tunes for your enjoyment, from as many different composers. This means there's more variety here than in the original. The graphics are acceptable, being a combination of cartoony stuff with an unusual palette and a graffitti style. This is pure coolness, so go download it and become a THX addict!
The tunes in this musicpack are all from the first THX IRC competition, held in early 1997. Pink was the winner, followed by Geir Tjelta.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
As Time Goes By (1997, 30.05, AGA Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Yes! Another winner by a crew that never ceases to amaze me! This small (130k) intro manages to evoke some feelings in an old scener's heart... 'remember when there was no c2p?' The special brand of Abyss nostalgia - remembering the good times without cloning yourself - seems amazingly fresh. Remember that these guys were the people that brought SID-quality tunes to the Amiga in the shape of THX! The tune here, however, is a more synthpoppy, funky affair. This was NOT released at any party, since they're trying to get back to the old times feel. Just excellent, right down to the 'partners in crime' text on their greetings, making us remember a thousand great cracktros over the years.
I see no real reason why this should requires AGA, but it was situated in demo/aga on Aminet, so...
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Kindergarden '97 Invitation (1997, early to mid, File)
Review by Glenn Lunder
One-man demo-making crew Pink does this invitation intro for a small Norwegian Amiga-only party! The intro is nice enough, with a small title screen with a fish jumping across it, followed by the presentation of the invitation text itself. This seems to be 100% identical to the text in the accompanying text file, so I didn't bother to read much of it in the selector. It's nice, but not extraordinary. The music is by Pink in THX format, so there's obviously nothign wrong with that aspect of the intro :) The party was held from 03-06.07, so obviously the intro was released sometime before that. Unfortunately it doesn't contain any release date that I can see :( I have no idea if this requires AGA.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.0.
Klub Diznee #4 - Beverly Hills Cop'ed (1997, 18.09, Musicfile)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Opening up with a large, stylish THX logo, then continuing in style onto a greatlooking menu to the sounds of the classic Axel F tune! In fact this entire issue is dedicated to cover versions of this classic tune, presenting no less than 15 different versions all done in Abyss' own THX format =) I guess this is a cheap way to get product out there, inviting other people to do the work, but it feels good, so why the hell not? =P
The tunes are, "Axel F.Unk" by Jazz/Haujobb, "AxelF" by Pink/Abyss, "Axel-F (P-Mix)" by Prodigy/Oops!, "Axel^D" by Juice/Phase^D, "AxelAxe" by Oxide/Sonik, "Axel Fooley" by Tommy/Spin+, "Axelf.uck!" by FreQvibez/Offence!, "Axl F.Body2Body-Version" by Android/3LE, "Axel Dooley" by Miao/Exlex, "Ackzell-Eff2" by Develin/Oops!, "AxelF" by Jerry/Rebels, "Fuck Me Axl" by Maniac/Crux, "AxelF" by Filou/H^M, "AXL-F" by Grace/Crux and finally "Axel Schmaxel" by Kyzer/CSG.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.1.
S.P.A.M. (1997, 31.10, AGA 64k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
We all knew Pink was an excellent musician - but he kinda took me by surprise when he proved to be an excellent coder too! This intro was made almost entirely by him, except for some graphics by the always-cool Cyclone. There's some quite cool effects here, actually. Certainly a lot better than expected! The only thing I really didn't like about this is the irritatingly hard-to-read effect logos. These are one readable word and one that's not. Partikel what? A complete and utter nice surprise - I hereby declare Pink the German Laxity. C64 lovers unite!
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
Cruisin (1997, 28.12, AGA 40k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder
Another excellent little intro from Abyss that doesn't try to be anything it isn't! This one has several THX tunes by Pink - which is never a bad thing - a colorful opening logo and a new kind of wireframe vector routine. It's not easy to describe, but rather has to be seen and experienced. I bow down into the dust.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.0.
Cruisin II - Cruisin In (1998, 28.12, 40k Intro)
Review by Glenn Lunder & zito
"Cruisin II" opens with a requester for one of three "Line-Mode-Options". Your three choices are Burnin (classic), Blurin and Clearin. Not really knowing what to expect I chose the first (classic) mode, and off to the intro I went. It all opens with a humours sing-along-rendition of the classic theme from the movie "Ghostbusters" - here appropriately renamed "Gatesbusters". If there's something strange - in your network neighbourhood... =)
Then onto the main part of the demo, which is something as original as a wireframe vector intro! It's not as bad as you might think, as there is smoothing and pretty cool colours around the wireframes (especially in the classic mode =), and...well, it's simply quite original! It's got a certain, little amount of...dare I say it...charm? I just find it amazingly cool of an established group like Abyss to have the balls to release a WIREFRAME intro in 1998! And with style too... Love it!
The upscroller in the endpart (which is _NOT_ pausable with the right mouse button, as is usual in intros - that button exits, as I quickly discovered =P) reveals some sad news... "Cruisin II" is Dexter's last production for the amiga =( You WILL be missed, Dexter.
tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.1.
ZIT tested A1200/030-42/2mb chip, 8mb fast.
