880 Gamer Magazine Issue 7, September 2015

Updated 6 January 2024

880 Gamer Issue 7 2014 Commodore Amiga Gaming Magazine — **image**: artist's impression for a new 880 magazine cover

Dive into our review of the celebrated 880 Gamer, the digital magazine that set a short but solid gold standard for online publishing until 2015. Its silence since may be deafening, but its legacy of top-notch editorial craftsmanship and honest reviews endures. It didn't just critique; it celebrated the Commodore Amiga's demo music scene. Plus, it broke the mold with a downloadable disk brimming with games and demos—a rare treat in today's digital media landscape.

880 Gamer Commodore Amiga Magazine Issue 7 September 2015

Articles

880 cover disk - Elite Frontier, Qwak, Magic Boy
880 beast update - Shadow of the Beast
880 Cheats
Space Traders
Bleeding Eyes - Amiga music special

Game Reviews

Elite (Amiga 1998) game review
Elite Frontier (Amiga 1993) game review
Narco Police (1991) game review
Final Fight (1991) game review
Moonshine Racers (1991) game review
Savage (1989) game review

Demo Reviews

Turmoil (1991)
Music Dream 2 (1991)
Legalise it... (1992)
Legalise it 2 (1992)
Musicland (1993)
Musicland 2 (1993)
Rebels (1996)
Melomaniac (1996)
Brus (2001)
Hacks for tracks (2005)
Seduction (2006)

Editorial Review

It is a big jump to go from Issue 7 in September 2015 to Issue 8 in December 2015. Readers can tell that the editor had lost his writing pace. This was a shame as there was plenty of material to work through. It is kind of unusual to have so many low rating games to review. The game selection looks like a grab bag from different genres and release years. The editor has gone to great effort to pick interesting screenshots and it shows. There are also an interesting selection of advertisements.

This particular 880 Gamer issue is focused on space trading games, particularly the Elite game franchise. We share a similar passion on our Elite game franchise section. The magazine editor has also added a useful selection of Elite game cheat codes.

One quibble we have with the magazine is with the demo review section. The editor needs to provide a link to the demo file. Do you know how hard it is to search for the correct Rebels ADF demoscene file?. I found it impossible.

Space Traders Unite

Alright, fellow joystick jockeys, let's power up the nostalgia engines and blast back to 1984, a time when pixelated sprites ruled the screen. That year, a cosmic anomaly hit our green CRT monitors—Elite. David Braben and Ian Bell didn't just break the mold; they vaporized it, delivering a universe so vast and unscripted, it was like nothing we'd ever played before. This wasn't your average space shooter; this was the birth of the 'sandbox' genre.

Fast forward four years, Elite made the hyperjump to the Amiga, showcasing what this beast could really do with its souped-up graphics and audio. By '93, we had Frontier – Elite II, catapulting us into a realm of missions and dizzyingly detailed planetary systems. And let's not forget 'First Encounters' in '95, adding a dash of narrative to our space escapades.

Then, cue the eerie silence of space. The gaming galaxy got gobbled up by FPS after FPS, with nary a soul brave enough to venture into Elite's vast void. But hold onto your flight sticks, because the indie scene has reignited the thrusters with Elite Dangerous—30 years after the original—and we're ready for liftoff!

What's the game plan, you ask? We're going to fire up the Amiga, relive the glory days with the original Elite and its epic sequel, and maybe—just maybe—turn a tidy profit in the old-school trade of, erm, 'questionable cargo'. So strap in, space traders. It's time to jump to hyperspace and see where this interstellar journey takes us!

Angry Alien™ Review

Angry Alien speaks… 880 Gamer Issue 7 is like a vintage spacecraft - it has its charm but doesn't quite hit warp speed. The eclectic mix of game reviews is a treasure trove for Amiga aficionados, albeit as varied as the species in the Andromeda Galaxy. The deep dive into the Elite series is a seasoned pilot's flight through the black hole of memory lane. However, the editorial pace stumbles like a novice astronaut on a moonwalk. And the demo section? It's like spotting a rare comet and forgetting your telescope'intriguing but frustratingly out of reach. This issue is a cosmic blend of nostalgia and missed opportunities, landing it squarely in the orbit of mediocrity. I award this edition of the magazine three Angry Alien™ medals of respect.

Angry Alien™ award