Firebird Classic Booty Clone Gets Amiga Re-release: “Looty”

Firebird Classic Booty Clone Gets Amiga Re-release: “Looty”

Last Updated on November 22, 2020

Back in 1984 I was presented with my first computer, a Commodore 64, which shipped with one game: Galaxy, an adequate take on Galaxians, for £7.99.

After several weeks of struggling to get past stage 3, my mum finally acquiesced and agreed to buy some extra games. The result was two Firebird classics: a surreal shooter called Exodus, and Booty. Heralded by shanty music and sporting plain, functional graphics, Booty is an arcade puzzler that is frustrating in the extreme, and seemingly impossible to complete without the cheat mode (and even then it’s tough).

Here’s a reminder:

Also released on the Commodore Plus/4, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC, Booty has a simple premise: collect the coloured (or numbered) keys and open the corresponding doors to collect all of the booty on the ship. In your way are ghost pirates, rats, and seagulls, contact with which will spend a life. Some objects are booby-trapped, while falling will also waste a life.

While consigned to the past, it seems that an Amiga freeware version, Looty, has been revived. Developer’s mixelsoft first released Looty way back in 1993, an the game runs on any 1MB Amiga. Available as part of the Assassins PD collection in 1994, this 2020 update is the first revision to the game and adds various bug fixes and new features: “cursor key controls, a way to turn off the music – and crucially, the numbers on keys and partition doors!” Looty 2020 also features a level designer.

Significantly, the programmer is interested in further updates, and is considering a new look: “I’d also love to engage a proper artist to replace the graphics (I created all code, music and graphics assets myself, bar the treasure chest made by my sister!).” Head to the mixelsoft website to grab some Looty and contact the developer.

Meanwhile, you can play the ZX Spectrum version of Booty in your browser.

(Via IndieRetroNews)

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