Benefactor

nikosidis 2020-01-15
(8/10)
This is a very good game. The music and gfx is fantastic. Gfx score 10 from me. What put it little down is how to control. Long jump with button and short jump with the stick. With short jumping be aware that you should not stand all the way on a platform to do it. Stay one step back and you be fine. It is a puzzle/platform game but you better get the joystick handling right. Joystick precision is the right word. I tried several joysticks and one joypad. To me the original competition pro. Where the best for this game. It would have been very nice if this game took advantage of 2 button joysticks. It must also be said that you can get yourself trapped. If that happen all you can do is quit and start over. I don't really like that but it is not a huge thing. There are many worlds and over 60 levels. You get codes for each level to get back to where you finished. I really like the way they designed this game. Small caracters and map. Easy to navigate around.
Scrolling is 50Hz and just perfect! It show how perfect Amiga 500 games can be. That way it is state of the art. The learning cure can be a little step but get past that and you will have fun for many hours. Recommended!
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GoneLiketheSwallows 2019-12-09
(5/10)
Completely disagree. This gets too hard for me already at level 2, because I will never get the shitty jumping down, often he will just touch the roof and misses the next platform.
I'm one of the worst gamers on the planet so I am glad there are platformers I can play without many problems like: Fire & Ice, Leander, Gods, Turrican 1 & 2, B. C. Kid, James Pond 2, Soccer Kid, Flood etc. Even Ruff N Tumble is much easier than this. I love the atmosphere and imagination in those games.
My autism gets on my nerves sometimes, like with games, I'm just too clumsy to make all those pixel perfect jumps and I'm getting frustrated and aggressive VERY quick, can't do anything against it, just stop playing this game for a while.
I feel this game isn't worth wasting time and energy, there are 30 other amiga 500 games I still play everyday since 2009 with the WinUAE emulator so I have all games I need.
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Kapitan Bomba 2017-05-06
(10/10)
This is how platformers should be made. 10/10 from me. Everything's perfect here. The game's difficulty level is spot on. It gets difficult toward the end but it can be completed if you think a little. Great level design, one of the best on the Amiga, I might say. The music by Olof Gustafsson is still playing in my head, it is equally good as in Pinball Dreams. That guy really knew how to compose great tracks. It has that specific feel to it that is difficult to describe. One of the best platformers ever made. It's too bad the PC gamers couldn't play it, they didn't know what they were missing.
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ancalimon 2017-02-24
(10/10)
In my opinion, this deserves to be the among the top 10 Amiga games.
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gaff 2016-11-06
(10/10)
Beautiful game in ALL its aspects. Well designed, very funny and bit harder in later levels. Great game, one of the greatest!
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Phoenix 2016-02-21
(8/10)
I haven't played this game a whole lot but, it's a fun plattformer with tricky puzzles for you to solve.

Good music, great graphic.
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UpTheDownEscalator 2014-05-02
(8/10)
Summed up very nicely by the previous reviewer. It's not quite my very favourite but it's still excellent, even if I would've preferred the graphics to have been a bit chunkier. An unforgettable moment was discovering to my misfortune (and by accident, I might add!) that the little people could be crushed by doors slamming shut once you'd stepped off the respective pressure plate! Immediate game over haha! 8/10 from me!
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john1979 2013-10-03
(9/10)
My favourite Amiga platformer of all time.

Graphics and sound are lovely, with changing themes and music every so many levels. Each set of levels introduces new dynamics to puzzles as well so there's always something new to learn.

The difficulty curve is paced perfectly, allowing you to gradually get to grips with harder and harder levels. Before you know it you'll have hours in invested and be many levels in. Add in the password system so you can keep coming back. Totally addictive.

Other good things: SFX and music at the same time, smooth scrolling, good controls, cute tiny sprites, helpful map.

I dropped it one point because at times it can be infuriating getting killed and starting a huge level again when you were so far into it. 9/10!
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ixien 2012-07-05
(10/10)
Awesome ! Amiga gaming at its best ! I love old games but for real, it's pretty rare for me to remain more than 10 minutes on the same 20 years old game. There is often a detail or another that ruins the pleasure of playing. But not on Benefactor : nice graphics (ECS !), fabulous songs and SFX, smooth scrolling, it's technically perfect! But much more rare on Amiga, gameplay and level design are wonderful too ! Tiny sprites aren't a problem ! Merrymen are so cuuute . And some puzzles are really neat The password system permit to play at your own pace, one level at a time. Difficulty is really progressive. It begins to be hard near the middle of the game (Stones and Bones). But this is not insurmountable. And you feel a real pleasure when you find how to solve a puzzle and finish a level. I'm currently playing Benefactor and I can tell you that it's a very pleasant and modern game that could be release without any problem on modern systems ! Just play it !!!!
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Chuckles 2011-08-19
Enjoyable after I learned to manage the controls. Then it got tough again. Can be really frustrating if you're tired and messing up like I did, partly because it has the quality of making you come back for 'just one more try.'

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ReTroViRuS 2011-04-26
(8/10)
Digital Illusions crafted games that could not easily be matched by many other Amiga development teams in terms of quality. They were very talented producers, coders, graphic designers and musicians. I have a lot of respect for the people involved in Benefactor and Digital Illusions' other Amiga projects.
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stooart 2011-01-19
(8/10)
Ahhhh, magic! Now this game I did play for hours! The music was funky and the gfx were brilliantly coloured and detailed. Saving those little cute guys was just so much fun and I was hooked. The password system was a saviour too as some levels got extremely tricky!
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radioman970 2010-09-11
I remember playing the demo from a disk on one of those awesome British Amiga magazines (MAN! I miss those wonderfully huge magazines from the UK, I'd pay a guy $10 each for those second hand and was happy to do it). That sold me the full deal. I remember a really good level of challenge as you go along. Maybe not as much a fav as a similar, Bubble N Squeak, but it's absolutely something I want to play again on emulator.
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habib23q 2010-03-13
(10/10)
One of the toughest but best games for the amiga...i still play this from time to time...
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kad3t 2009-12-08
(9/10)
Now, this game is tough. Serious tough. Not from the beginning that is but it get's tougher and better level by level and as much as I love that much I fail to complete it anytime I try. On the other hand it may just be me being old and rusty now... ^__^

9/10.
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Scrawffler 2009-09-21
(10/10)
Quite simply one of the greatest games on the Amiga - or on any system come to that. All-round awesomeness.

Presentation is excellent throughout; epic introduction, pleasing graphics with spot on animation, all accompanied with great music. The CD32 version has an incredible soundtrack too! The gameplay has lots to it and will keep you busy for a long time. I enjoy every minute of it. The controls have quite a lot to them and are not so different to Flashback. Benefactor is often associated with Lemmings; the gameplay also reminds me to Troddlers a little bit - another game that involves rescuing tiny little guys, but is also partially of the platformer genre. At first I was skeptical about the tiny sprites, but after getting used to them I can't imagine them any other way!

I wish the Amiga had been better known for it's puzzle platformers like Benefactor. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you play this one. Fantastic stuff.
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Dan Locke 2009-09-16
(9/10)
This game is wonderful. Everything from the Star Wars-style intro to the graphics to the music is of consistently high quality, and the game itself plays like a cross between Flashback and Lemmings. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a good platform/puzzle game.

As a side note, this game should be classified under the sub-genre "Scrolling Screen" rather than "Single Screen".
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king_of_pain 2008-02-16
SaKuBAN: Well.. Psygnosis didn't make the game. The swedes from Dice did, thats why the game's so good.
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Myszaqu 2008-02-09
(10/10)
One of the best puzzle-platform ever. Wonderful music and heart-touching atmosphere. Ending rulez
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Jameswall 2007-08-29
(9/10)
Took me an age to complete. I loved this game, I thought the music was quite funky to.
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Makke 2007-05-09
(8/10)
A really good looking, outrageously hard game. Never completed it, but I've lost many hours trying.
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sonus03 2007-04-29
(7/10)
Only ever played a demo but loved it! Very cool game, even if you did need binoculars to see the little dude you control.
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Karter 2007-02-17
(10/10)
I remember completing this one for the first time and the rainbow machine. Top gfx, top playability, one of my favourite games on the Amiga. 10/10 for me. Ben E. Factor
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Mongol20[PL] 2006-05-20
(9/10)
I always like this game for overall just play
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SaKuBAN 2006-04-29
(10/10)
Creative, addictive, cool GFX, awesome music. I couldn't leave it before finishing it. One of my favourites on Amiga. Best game Psygnosis ever made.
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CheuleSiygess 2006-04-16
(8/10)
Was addicted to this for quite a while but never finished it because it was so damn long. It's been a while since I've played it but there was no password or save system was there? For some reason I remember having to play it from the beginning each time.
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saimo 2006-03-08
(10/10)
Fantastic gameplay, good balancement of difficulty, nice, challenging and numerous puzzles, beautiful graphics, pleasant sound... What more could anybody want?
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mailman 2006-02-26
(10/10)
Great, absorbing game! One of few on my personal Top Ten list.
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Karpow 2005-09-26
(7/10)
Quality game. Gets only too boring too fast.
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Madjock 2005-08-22
(7/10)
Still plays well to this day, small but detailed graphics, intresting puzzles and well polished.
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Guybrush Threepwood 2005-05-02
(8/10)
Lode Runner this is but touched up with good GFX and sound from Digital Illusions, well what do you expect.
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robbie_22 2004-12-26
Good game by the Swedish "Digital Illusions" again..... This game was and are inspired by the old "Lode runner" on Commodore 64/128...

Good graphics, very clear.... Sound is not so good. Gameplay is easy and hard. Easy to play, but hard to master..... A little tricky so to speak...
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Haydn 2004-12-07
(9/10)
This game was really cool. Playable and addictive. The graphics may be small but they're good.
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amiga78 2004-12-03
(10/10)
The smallest of heroes in a big game adventure. Great graphics and lots of fun.
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