Gaming on AmigaOS 4.1: Giana’s Return – The Great Giana Sisters Remake (Retroguru)

The main menu screen.

Hello and welcome to a new game review here on the Gaming on AmigaOS 4.1 blog. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.

Today we’re going to have a look at a remake of an old platform classic. Most of you will probably remember The Great Giana Sisters, a game released for the Amiga and Commodore 64 in 1987 by Rainbow Arts. This game was withdrawn from the market due to it being too similar to Super Mario Bros. You can find more information about the story here.

The remake is called Giana’s Return and is, according to the authors, the worthy unofficial sequel. An official sequel exists for Nintendo DS, so this one for AmigaOS 4.1 is unofficial and free. Giana’s Return was brought to AmigaOS 4 by Retroguru.

I have tested the game on my SAM 460 setup with AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition with the latest update installed.

Installation

You can download Giana’s Return for free from OS4Depot. I have included the link below:

http://os4depot.net/share/game/platform/gianas-return.lha

The icons. Photo taken with a mobile phone.

When you’ve downloaded the game, head over to its directory and right-click on the icon. Select “extract to” and then choose the destination. Once unpacked, enter its directory and double-click on the icon of the game to run it. The game makes use of SDL, SDL_Mixer, Libmodplug and Zlib. If you have not installed these, you can find them via these links (according to the readme):

http://www.libsdl.org/
http://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_mixer/
http://modplug-xmms.sourceforge.net/
http://www.zlib.net/

There is more information available in the readme-file at OS4Depot.

Gameplay

As mentioned earlier, Giana’s Return is a platform game in the style of Super Mario Bros.

The story (plot) behind the game is as follows:

Evil Swampy and his followers have stolen the magic ruby, which made it once possible for Giana and Maria to return from their dream. Many creatures are after this ruby, but does it really have power, or was it just a coincidence? As this is not bad enough, Swampy fell in love at first sight with Giana’s sister Maria and shamelessly kidnapped her. She simply has been at the wrong place at the wrong time. You will now have to take on the role of Giana and get back the magic ruby. And most important of all, save your beloved sister Maria and get home save! Good Luck! (Source: https://www.gianas-return.de/?page_id=169)

The controls are easy to learn. Use the cursor keys to move Giana around and hit spacebar to jump. I have only played the game with a keyboard, but one can try playing it with a joypad or joystick instead.

To help you in your quest, there are bonuses you can pick up along the way. You can jump and hit the star boxes or try your luck hitting ordinary bricks to see if they hide something of value. To crush the bricks you’ll need the “Wall Breaker” power-up, which transforms Giana’s hair into a new look.

“Wall Braker” – Transforms hair, makes it possible to crush regular bricks
“Thunder” – Provides the ability to shoot or increase power
“Clock” – Pick up a clock will give you 20 extra seconds
“Heart” – Gives you an extra life

Now, how does the game play on AmigaOS 4.1?

On my SAM 460 the game runs smooth and beatifully. I have tried running it in fullscreen and in a window and both works great. The game is fast and responsive and a joy to play in this respect.

Let’s have a look at some photos of the game running:

The game can be played in different languages. I went with English.

The main screen appears.

Here you can see the different parts of the menu. It is worth mentioning that passwords are included, so that you don’t have to start all over again each time you want to play.

The high-score table.

Here are the options where you can change keys etc.

A screen from the intro.

Another screen from the intro.

Giana, get ready!

Nice in-game graphics.

The game can also be played in a window on the desktop. The photo is a bit strange due to taking a photo of the screen with my mobile.

Another photo of it running in a window.

The game is over. Very bad score, I know, but it was just for testing. 😉

To sum it all up, playing Giana’s Return was a very positive experience! The graphics are absolutely great, the audio as well, and the game is smooth and plays like a charm. Had a good time testing it and will for sure return for some more in the future.

If you are looking for a solid platform game, then I highly recommend you giving this one a go. 🙂