The Commodore Amiga was a hugely influential computer system, one that remains much loved by many who owned one. But while every other popular gaming platform for the 80s and 90s has enjoyed a revival, the Amiga has not.

Until now. Retro Games Ltd., following on from the success of its mini and maxi C64 clones, has issued THEA500 Mini. Designed to play most Amiga games (and perhaps even some apps) this device was delayed from its 2021 release date due to the usual supply chain issues.

But now it's here, the question is simple: does the A500 Mini successfully invoke electric dreams?

What Is the Amiga Computer?

Launched in 1985 and still in production until 10 years later (through a series of models with increasing system specifications) the Amiga was a gaming and graphics powerhouse in its day. Launched with a demo by pop art king Andy Warhol and later used in the generation of CGI in the 1990s Babylon 5 sci-fi TV show, the Amiga platform was the home of many popular classic games.

Lemmings and Worms, for example, both launched on the Amiga first.

Of the different models for business, creativity, and home use, the Amiga 500 is probably the most famous (although the Amiga 1200 is also widely regarded).

Amiga computers went out of production in the mid-1990s following the collapse of Commodore. However, AmigaOS has been developed over the years, with updates released to keep original hardware users happy. Amiga games are still in development, released by hobbyist coders often on platforms like itch.io.

What Is an A500 Mini?

Officially styled “THEA500 Mini” but (almost no one calls it that), the A500 Mini is basically the Amiga version of the C64Mini. If that name isn’t familiar to you, consider Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition, another occasion when a classic gaming platform has been shrunk down for a modern audience.

Imagine a chunky old Amiga 500 and shrink it down to something you can hold in one hand. That’s essentially the A500 Mini.

Inside the case is a dedicated board that is designed to support the emulation of Amiga games. This covers all eras of the Amiga, so there is support for games using all three chipsets: ECS, OCS, and AGA. The significance of this is that while the A500 Mini ships with 25 games, you can add your own, giving you access to a library of over 5000 games.

Like the C64 Mini, the A500 Mini is produced by Retro Games Ltd., and can be set up and running in just a few minutes.

The A500 Mini Unboxed

Inside the A500 Mini box you will find:

• The A500 Mini
• “Tank” mouse (a replica of the Amiga mouse)
• Game controller (an update of the unusual controller than shipped with the CD32, the last mass-market Amiga computer model)
• HDMI cable
• USB-C power cable (no adapter is included)
• Multi-language Quick Guide to get you started playing on the system quickly

You’ll notice from the photos that the device features a keyboard, but this is purely for show. The keys do not move and are not mapped. There is a software keyboard, but this is difficult to use in most cases.

A500 Mini System Specification

Specifics about the A500 Mini’s internal hardware are a bit uncertain.

What is known is that the system features an All Winner H6 Cortex A53 ARM processor, and RAM (unannounced, so could be anywhere between 256MB and 1GB). There is also a 256MB flash ROM for the operating system and preinstalled games.

Along the back of the A500 Mini is a power button, followed by the HDMI port, with 720p video output at 50/60Hz. Video output can be scaled when the device is running, and a CRT filter added for a more authentic experience that isn’t naturally available with LCD and plasma displays.

Finally, you’ll find three USB ports for the mouse and game controller, and almost any other USB game controller or joystick you own.

Three USB ports gives you the advantage of being able to connect a USB keyboard, should this be required. Plenty of Amiga games required a keyboard, so this is a welcome advantage.

What Games Does the A500 Mini Play?

A total of 25 games come preinstalled on the A500 Mini. These games are: Alien Breed 3D, Alien Breed: Special Edition'92, Another World, Arcade Pool, ATR: All Terrain Racing, Battle Chess, Cadaver, California Games, The Chaos Engine, Dragons Breath, F-16 Combat Pilot, Kick Off 2, The Lost Patrol, Paradroid 90, Pinball Dreams, Project-X: Special Edition 93, Qwak, The Sentinel, Simon the Sorcerer, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Stunt Car Racer, Super Cars II, Titus The Fox: To Marrakech And Back, Worms: The Director's Cut, and Zool: Ninja Of The "Nth" Dimension.

The preinstalled titles cover almost every game genre you can think of, and represent a good slice of Amiga games, although there are a few surprise inclusions and omissions.

These games—and any you add—are accessed via the carousel, a game selection menu that also supports save and resume game options, and various system settings. This interface can be sorted by title, genre, year, publisher, and even by star rating (award by you) and is very similar to the one found in the C64 Mini.

It’s here that you’ll find controls for each game, with full instructions available on the A500 Mini website. Display options, music volume, and LED configuration can also be accessed in the carousel, via the Settings screen.

Plug in and Play Amiga Games in 5 Minutes

Along with the choice of games and price, the A500 Mini’s real strength is how easy it is to set up.

It goes like this:

1. Unpack the A500 Mini close to a TV
2. Connect the controller and mouse
3. Connect the HDMI cable to the TV
4. Hook the USB-C power cable to a suitable adapter
5. Press the button to power up

Within a few seconds, you’ll have selected a language, set the screen refresh rate, and be choosing your first game.

I was amazed at how quickly it was ready to play, and aside from authentic load times for the games, the A500 Mini offers a fast gaming experience.

Saving games is a little non-intuitive, however. Unlike other systems (e.g. Nintendo Switch, Evercade, etc.) the game must be exited via the menu button on the game controller before you can choose the option to save the game state. As long as another game isn’t launched in the meantime, it should be okay, however. Four save game states can be saved, along with the option to lock slots to avoid accidental erasure.

The A500 Mini’s Retro Mouse and Odd GamePad

While you can plug in your own USB controller, it’s worth exploring the mouse and controller that are included with the A50 Mini.

First, the mouse. This is very similar to the original Amiga’s mouse, just a few millimeters smaller in all dimensions. Where it differs is that it is USB, is an optical mouse, and is slightly more comfortable. At the time of writing, there is a separate Kickstarter campaign to build a wireless mouse with a similar design, which underlines how missed the simplicity of the so-called “tank mouse” is.

Also included is a game controller, which takes a poorly executed good idea (the controller from the Amiga 1200/CD-ROM mashup, the CD32) and evolves it into a well-executed good idea.

But there is a problem. 99% of Amiga games that don’t require a mouse or keyboard, only need one button. While you can remap controls, it feels like overkill and doesn’t suit the preinstalled games. For example, Kick Off 2 is next to impossible without a steel shaft joystick. You’ll get nowhere with the game playing using the included controller.

Given Retro Games Ltd., has previously issued joysticks, the omission of one from this release is a bit of a head-scratcher.

Playing Your Own Games With the A500 Mini

Classic Amiga games typically shipped on multiple 3.5-inch disks. I remember Sid Meier’s Colonization had a few, for example, which would have been easier to handle if I’d been able to afford a hard disk drive.

Of course, in those days, that technology was very expensive.

30 years later, games will fit very comfortably on a USB stick. Some store exclusives of the A500 Mini even ship with a USB stick that you can use with the console.

The A500 Mini Quick Guide gives you a useful URL for downloading a full manual, and it is here that you can find the link to download what is called “THEA500 WHDLoad Package.”

This can be unzipped and copied to a FAT32-formatted USB stick, then Amiga ROMs in LHA format (a zip/compression format) can be added to the media. WHDLoad basically cuts out the whole “disk swap” procedure, making gaming on any Amiga emulation system painless. Its inclusion on the A500 Mini is a massive advantage, and it works here as well as on any Amiga emulator.

With a WHDLoad USB stick attached to the A500 Mini, games can be loaded from the USB Media Access item in the carousel. Games you add can be given game controller mappings, their position on the display altered, and various other tweaks. My initial try of this process was unsuccessful. Despite several attempts, I could not get the USB Media Access menu item to display. The reason? Unknown, but something to do with the old 4GB USB device I was using. As soon as I switched to a more recent 16GB USB stick, it worked fine. Note that there is an upper limit to USB flash storage with the A500 Mini.

In addition to the WHLoad Package, Retro Games Ltd. also plans to issue firmware updates for the A500 Mini, as it has (and continues to do) for THEC64 Mini and THEC64.

The Halcyon Age of 16-bit Gaming in Your Living Room

The A500 Mini is a good little gaming system that offers fans of the platform the first opportunity to visit the Amiga game in decades. There is no audio out, so you’ll need an HDMI splitter if playing through a speaker-less monitor. You could also argue that the game selection, while a bit patchy for my tastes, also misses a good number of multiplayer options.

I can live with the lack of joystick in favor of the controller; it’s unsuitable for some games, but I quite like it. Some users have reported poor performance from the controller and the A500 Mini itself. It seems likely that this is more down to power issues than anything else, something fixed by connecting the mini computer to a trusted, reliable USB-C PSU.

Of course, there are various ways already to play Amiga games. Some have been re-released on current systems (e.g. Turrican, missing from the A500 Mini, on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch). You can also emulate the Amiga on a PC, or a Raspberry Pi… alternatively, if you were really into the retro scene, you might buy some original hardware.

But most people don’t want to do that; they don’t want to mess around with a Raspberry Pi, or even with UAE or other emulation software. It’s a tricky, convoluted process that invariably leads to an inauthentic experience. Not to mention a few fist thumps on the desk.

The A500 Mini, on the other hand, is essentially a plug-and-play experience. You won’t see the famous “insert disk” screen, but it's the closest to an Amiga that you can get, with a legion of games tempting you to relive your gaming youth. That makes this retro console an ideal purchase for anyone with affection for the Amiga and 16-bit gaming who is looking for an instant fix that just works.