Amiga 1200 gets a new action platformer with Sparkpaw: The Stormstone Quest

Sparkpaw: The Stormstone Quest is a new side-scrolling action platformer for the Amiga 1200, and it already has a decent chunk of game to play. Developed by mrdig, the project mixes platforming, shooting, environmental hazards and a mechanical fantasy setting built around the search for the scattered Cores of the Stormstone. It’s still an alpha, so this isn’t the finished article yet. Even so, the first world is playable from start to finish and gives a clear idea of what the full game is aiming for. You play as Sparkpaw, an amber-orange feline inventor armed with a teal energy gauntlet. The job is simple enough: explore the world, deal with the machines blocking your path and recover the missing Stormstone Cores.

Running, jumping and plenty of shooting

The first world stretches across twelve scrolling screens and keeps things fairly direct. Sparkpaw can run, jump, crouch and move while crouched, while the gauntlet handles ranged attacks. There’s no complicated combat system here. You move, line up a shot and fire.

Clockwork Beetles patrol parts of the level, while the larger Storm Striders put up more resistance and can fire back. Water hazards and platforming sections break up the shooting, and Storm Shards give you something extra to collect along the way.

The route eventually leads to the Stormkeeper’s Waystation and the first Stormstone Core. That gives the opening world a proper beginning and end, rather than making it feel like a disconnected test stage. It’s a straightforward setup, and that works in its favour. Sparkpaw doesn’t throw a pile of systems at the player. The focus stays on movement, timing, shooting and getting through the level.

Built specifically for the Amiga 1200

Sparkpaw isn’t simply a modern game dressed up to look old. It’s being developed for the Commodore Amiga 1200 itself. The visuals use layered scrolling backgrounds, large character sprites and plenty of colour. There are dedicated title, loading and pre-level screens too, which help the current build feel more like an actual game release than a basic work-in-progress demo.

The HD and WHDLoad versions also include a five-panel story introduction. The floppy version keeps the main game and menus but leaves those panels out because of disk-space limits. Sound effects are already in place. Music isn’t included in the current alpha, though that’s still planned alongside more levels, enemies and finishing touches.

You can already see the overall structure taking shape. The menus are there. The opening stage works as a complete route. The presentation has a clear identity. There’s still plenty to add, but the foundation isn’t hard to spot.

Made with classic Amiga hardware in mind

The game has gone through more than 50 numbered alpha revisions so far, with testing carried out on both emulated systems and real Amiga 1200 hardware. The target setup is a PAL Amiga 1200 or compatible AGA machine with a 68020 processor, 2 MB of Chip RAM and 8 MB of Fast RAM. Faster systems can run it too.

That hardware target matters because the game is being shaped around what the Amiga 1200 can actually do. The current version already handles scrolling areas, animated enemies, projectile combat and multi-screen level progression without trying to turn the machine into something it isn’t. The result feels focused. It knows what hardware it’s running on and builds around that.

Several versions are available

There are a few ways to run the current alpha. You can use a bootable ADF floppy image, a hard-drive version or a WHDLoad package. That covers most of the usual Amiga 1200 setups, whether you’re using original hardware or a compatible environment.

The controls are equally simple. A joystick handles movement, jumping, crouching and firing, while the second button can be assigned to either jumping or shooting from the ready menu. Keyboard controls are also supported.

There aren’t big gameplay differences between the available versions. The main changes come down to storage and presentation, particularly the extra story panels included with the HD and WHDLoad releases.

Five worlds are planned

The finished game is planned around five worlds, so the current release only shows the opening part of the larger adventure. More locations, enemies and progression systems are still expected. Music is also on the list, along with the remaining game-over and victory sequences.

For now, though, Sparkpaw already has the basics locked down. You’ve got a playable character, responsive movement, ranged combat, enemies, collectibles and a complete first route built around reaching the opening Stormstone Core. That makes the current alpha more useful than a simple concept build. You can sit down, play through the first world and get a good sense of how the game works.

What matters next is how the later stages build on that foundation. If the remaining worlds introduce new hazards, enemy behaviour and level ideas without overcomplicating things, Sparkpaw: The Stormstone Quest could grow into a neat action platformer for the Amiga 1200.

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