Some of the fondest memories of gaming came from just one developer The Bitmap Brothers. These games encapsulated the 90s Amiga Genre while demonstrating (to me at least), that gaming soundtracks didn’t just have to be blips n bops.
The Bitmap Brothers were the first developers to try and model themselves with a rock & roll images. Photos of them usually involved a black & white shot with compulsory sunglasses and the famous one posed in front of Robert Maxwell’s helicopter. Founded by Mike Montgomery it included Eric Matthews, Steve Kelly, Mark John Coleman and Dan Malone. It was the latter who credited with the visual style that all the games encapsulated. The hype was planned tho
My Dad didn’t bring home the Amiga 500 until 1989 so for me there introduction in 1988 was low key at first with Xenon and followed up the year after with Speedball. I suppose for me my fondness for Bitmap started in 89/90 with Cadaver (Xenon 2 was released before this but I’ll get back to that later). It was a game about a gold stealing dwarf and I remember first playing it on a demo disc from Amiga Format 9at the time I preferred Action Replay). The 3D style rooms decorated in rich blue/grey with hints of orange made it stand out from the other games of the time. 
This followed in 1990 with Speedball 2. Initially I wasn’t too fussed about the 1 Player game as it seemed a lot of hassle for a quick bit of action. However after a while I gave the ‘Season Mode’ a bash and began to really get in to buying players to bolster parts of my weakened and usual battered field. 1991 was really Bitmaps halcyon year with the release of Gods and Magic pockets. Both of these games are remembered for there elaborate introductions using full soundtracks. Bitmap had upped their game for Gods as the soundtrack was supplied by Nation 12 which still holds up today. Combine this with the Box Art designed by comic book artist Simon Bisley the game for me was truly a landmark in Amiga gaming. Visually stunning with the Malone’s style the Game was praised for its AI adaptability.
The intro for Magic Pockets was less impressive as it didn’t contain any spoken words but did use the music for Betty Boo’s “Doing the Do”. It was also featured on (I think or something on ITV with Gaz Top) Going Live for a phone in competition which to be fair probably made it more popular than the music. The game was a strange concept of a kid who could pull all sorts of bubbles out of his pockets to defeat enemies. The longer you held fire the bigger the bubbles and the largest bubble captured the beastie in it. Thinking back another game afterwards called fire and ice was similar. I can’t imagine a game in these times coming out that used a boy fiddling around in his pockets as a main character. It was at this point I found Xenon 2. When I say found it came in a triple disc box set with Silkworm and something else that involved scrolling and shooting. Xenon 2 was famous for its soundtrack been designed by Bomb the Bass. At the time I like Nirvana so I am sad to say that at the time I probably didn’t give a monkey. I’d always like R-Type but found I wasn’t as good as id wanted it to be. However, move the action from side to side to over the top view and apparently my hand to eye coordination improved.
Bitmaps Opus came in 1993 with The Chaos Engine which at the time I personally didn’t take to very easily. Looking back it’s a good example of where the likes of every 3rd person shooter of today comes from. The over the top visuals and array of weapons it could easily be ported in to an XBL game (Seen as the far superior Alien Breed already has). It was a success though and in 1996 spawned a sequel.
The Bitmap Brother’s career was short and bright as releases after the Amiga didn’t hold up to the like of Doom and Wolfenstien. Speedball 2100 and Z: Steel Warrior proved poor successors and really by 2004 it was all over.
