The Game Intro

Once the 16-bit machines such as the Commodore Amiga, Amiga 1200, Atari ST, Atari Falcon, Acorn Archimedes (and consoles such as the Amiga CD32) took hold of the home gaming market - more elaborate introduction sequences to games became commonplace.

A great intro could really set the scene, tone and atmosphere of a game; and sometimes even push a good game into being a great one.

If like us you loved the back story (and awesome music!) to First Samurai, the premise of Speedball II, just how Trantor got stranded and how those aliens did breed then please read on.

Of course - sometimes you wished the developers had spent as much time on the game itself (Bart V The Space Mutants anyone?) as they had on the intro, but there are some of those opening scenes that you no doubt remember to this day...

A fine game on the Amiga that had a superb intro.

Each frame was beatifully drawn and revealed to the gamer just how the first samurai had travelled through time and his motives for going after the demon king.

The accompanying soundtrack really got the adrenalin pumping and made you want to play the game.

The fact that the game was a top-class platform arcade game just made it all the more enjoyable. A top intro to a superb and timeless game.

A game that promised a lot (a huge amount actually) yet ulitmately failed to deliver.

This game was delayed more times than I can remember. It was a shame as it could really have been an unbelievable game - but it turned out to be pretty mediocre due to lack of play testing and being released before it had been fully developed.

Still, it did boast some impressive 3D at the time (especially if you owened an A1200), and the intro did get you into a 'space opera' mode. I watched it a few times back in the day - even though I completed the whole game after about four goes...

Trantor was one of the few games on the ZX Spectrum that featured an elaborate intro. I suppose they really needed the RAM for the gameplay!

Anyway - Trantor was a decent enough action arcade game that was polished very nicely. The intro scene was very impressive (as was the theme music!) on our favourite 48K beaut!

An intro that really did get peoples jaws to drop.

One of the first games I played on my own Amiga due it being bundled in with my A500+ (The Cartoon Classic pack as I remember) - I watched the intro more than once and showed it to myu mum and dad before actually playing the game!

After a few goes I realised that the game was nothing to write home about - but that intro was well worth a few more watches.

A great intro to yet another great game from Team 17 (who rarely put a foot wrong on the Amiga).

With a nice little story and fantastic music this really got you into the mood for some alien butt kicking. We'll have to cover this one at our amiga games site shortly as it is a classic 16-bit shmup that is lathered in atmosphere, scares and overall polish.

Great music, great sound effects, great gameplay and a fantastic oppresive atmosphere make this a classic game with an unforgettable introduction.

Now this was a superb game intro!

Starting off where the first game finished - Descent II thrust you (as the 'Material Defender') straight into the action.

This was almost cinematic in appearance, featured suberb music and (for a change in a computer game) some decent voice acting.

A great intro to a truly classic game...

Another rock hard shoot em up from those masters of box-art, Psygnosis.

Blood Money was released in 1989 and was 'bigged up' due to it's amazing introduction sequence.

The spoken intro, the music that kicked in, the amazing song that played over an impressive 3D sequence....

It all set the scene for the game, which if I'm honest was a bit of a let down (it's like marmite, some love it some hate it!)

But what an intro back in 1989! There's a whole lot more comin' ........

This was a very good early 3D shooter (for a 'gaming' PC) based on the uber-popular movies.

Today it looks pretty basic but back in the mid 1990's it was a state-of-the-art first person 3D gaming experience.

It also featured a very nice intro sequence that matched the apocalyptic mood of the movies nicely and set you up for your adventures in the future wasteland.

A great intro to a great game...

One of the greatest ever games released for the Commodore Amiga (in my opinion!) and one that I still return to from time to time.

This game featured a fine blend of arcade action, finance and resource management, strategy and uber-violence.

The cityscapes were full of people, cars, trains, buildings and scenery which added up to a futuristic noirish Blade-Runner type atmosphere.

Once you saw the intro to this game you just knew you were in for another brilliant treat from those clever folks at Bullfrog.

A truly classic game that featured an awesome introduction sequence.

Arnie was 'back' again in Total Recall.

The intro to this scene was pretty cool I can tell ye! The AY Music (by Jonathan Dunn) suited the game perfectly and the nice rolldown and rollup effects over a scanned image of Arnie's face were pretty swanky for a ZX Spectrum.

It made for a very nice and futuristic looking intro screen (courtesy of graphics designer and all round nice guy Mark R Jones).

The game itself was average at best - but the intro is well worth and listen a watch even today.

So jump in a Johhny Cab and Get yer azz to Marz.... Get yer azz to Marz....

Look out for more classic game intro's on our Game Intro site which will be dedicated to classic game introductions and title screens across a variety of formats.

After the 16-bit generation the trend continued with games on consoles such as the Playstation and of course games on PC's showing more and more elaborate introductions to the action.

Who can forget the opening to Descent II on the PC? Who could forget the way RTS classic Z began?

All these and more will be looked at on our blog site.

Cheers all.