Apidya Longplay (Amiga) [4K]

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Developed by Kaiko and published by Play Byte in 1992
Despite the slightly strange anime overtones in the into, Apidya proved to be one of the best side-scrolling shmups on the Amiga. The graphics are great, and Chris Huelsbeck cranked out another excellent soundtrack!
I also didn't realise just how many secret levels there were, mainly because there's absolutely no tell-tale signs that they even exist! I missed just about all of them in my original longplay from 2013, but I've corrected that in this new recording.
Time Codes
00:00 - Intro
02:15 - Level 1-1
05:11 - Level 1-2
07:17 - Level 1-3
09:58 - Level 2-1
11:50 - Level 2-2
14:18 - Level 2-3
17:53 - Level 3-1
20:30 - Level 3-2
21:38 - Level 3-3
23:48 - Level 4-1
27:48 - Level 4-2
32:20 - Level 5-1
33:18 - Level 5-2
34:13 - Level 5-3
35:14 - Level 5-4
36:56 - Ending
38:50 - Credits
#apidya
#amiga
#walkthrough

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

Hope you enjoy this new, 4K video of this insect-themed shmup! Check the video description for time codes and info!

[@Scripture-Man]

Pardon my ignorance but I don't get how a low-res game can benefit from being uploaded in 4K?

[@3MANNN]

Hello, I have this game on my Amiga 1200, and I wonder what controller You use to play? I have a simple Sega Megadrive controller and I can't go so far in the game with it.

[@Fizz-Pop]

I don't think I ever made it beyond scene 2 or maybe 3. But back in those days I had a joystick. Joypads were not a thing. I still loved it.

[@phaztheaussiebastard]

@@Fizz-Pop My sega master system control pad worked just fine

[@lovemadeinjapan]

Too bad KZbin can't handle original resolution lossless compressed content.... Even 4K is worse than a GIF movie of the game play.

[@MetallicMutalisk]

the amigaest amiga game to ever amiga

[@gamet2004]

M... I think that honor goes to KangFu

[@projecmn]

This game is my favourite and more the soundtrack, excellent longplay

[@Fizz-Pop]

This game had an amazing soundtrack. I remember you could listen to all the tracks from a menu..so I practised drums on the tunes. No drumns..I just played out the beats with my hands on my legs. When I went back to school I was SO much better on the actual drums

[@lonestar6709]

Chris Huelsbeck. One of the all-time greats.

[@SendyTheEndless]

I do that... Inner thigh for snare and upper chest/below the neck for different types of "bass" drum, lol

[@Sauercrowd]

As an old geezer gamer this is one of my favorites. But I have to give kudos and two hands full of love to the player! This was an epic playthrough! I love to play on hard but I cant get through it without loosing 2 lives! I have to work harder but on June 18th I will get 50. No more youngblood reflexes... Well at least I can come here and watch this glory of a playthrough. Thanx for this. Woke some memories and brought me to tears! Greetings from germany!!!

[@stephenhall2980]

Really plays to the Amiga's strengths. Small sprites, subtle parallax, copper list rainbow backgrounds, 50 fps, amazing music and high resolution. I love it more than any megadrive or SNES shmup. Also, the best 16 bit techno videogame music this side of streets of rage.

[@nebularain3338]

The music isn't techno. It's not even EDM. It's more 80s/early 90s synthesizer music. Still great though.

[@stephenhall2980]

@@nebularain3338 erm...level 4's music is literally called 'techno party'. So don't want split hairs here but I was talking about that music in particular.

[@wowalamoiz9489]

May I suggest you try Thunder Force 4?

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

I love the Amiga (never played much on it, it was an audiovisual tool for me), but compared to console shmups like ThunderForce IV...it feels really underwhelming.

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Apidya is one of the best Amiga games!I used to play it often in the early 90s and even nowadays! Super soundtrack by Chris Hülsbeck! This is also the first game where I read the term" simultaneously" (options) :) My fav level is The Pond, the music brings tears of joy to my eyes! I remade and remixed several Apidya songs, thanks for listening guys! Greetings out there to all Apidya fans!

[@headventure]

amazing !!! love your remixes

[@georgewilliam164]

Absolute pure brilliance of a game... This game can’t be beat on ratio of graphics, story, playability and music.... I want the whole music to this game played at my funeral.......

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

A true masterpiece

[@guybrushthreepwood1212]

Thanks for this wonderfull Soundtrack.@Chris Hülsbeck

[@fredbass77]

And for Turrican 2 soundtrack too

[@Robert-qr8co]

Omg, I loved this game as a kid. And for the life of me, I couldn't remember the title! The graphics suffered a smidge, but damn, what a blast from the past. Thank you for doing this!

[@_SKYSEGEL_]

Love the Soundtrack 💚🛸👽

[@_SKYSEGEL_]

@Jimbo Bimbo 💚👍

[@Stalkingwolf]

TFMX from Hülsbeck. Great soundtrack, terrible Soundfile Design :-)

[@daikikio]

All those bosses are disturbing, retro games tend to cause that uncomfortable feeling. nice.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

I heard a folk tale that the reason a lot of old bosses are so disturbing is because the developers were actually under huge amounts of pressure during the process of creating the game so they naturally tended to manifest darker designs for the enemies as a result of their messed-up mental state at the time (and copious amounts of late night drinking to deal with the stress).

[@Max-nz7op]

This game looks incredible! I've never seen an insect themed shoot em up

[@anonymoussmoker4471]

Still feeling amazed sees all thus scenery of smaller other worldly beings and the ost !!!

[@Scripture-Man]

Great game! This was actually the first Amiga game I owned, and remained one of my favourites. I especially like the early levels with lots of nature. Of course the best part of the game is the soundtrack from Chris Hulsbeck :)

[@GatecrasherSlim]

thats the guy who did turrican right? chris huelsbeck?

[@wanat66l]

@@GatecrasherSlim yep :)

[@wanat66l]

@@GatecrasherSlim checkout Gem'X for amiga

[@The9shadowmasters]

I love this game with a passion I definitely think this should get a remake using the same style but on current gen

[@danielmclellan1299]

The-Legendary- Jc with the same music

[@The9shadowmasters]

Daniel Mclellan definitely the music in this game is amazing

[@kemikamiku375]

This game is made from German indie studios and very first European outside of Japan with anime influences

[@2PeteShakur]

"Apidya all started with a tech demo for a smooth scrolling shoot 'em up with 32 colours. We were all big fans of R-Type, Gradius etc. but we didn't want to do the umpteenth space shooter - and when we saw the Insector X coin-op one day, we finally knew what to do: an insect-inspired shooter with unique, naturalistic graphics matched with the gameplay from our favourite Japanese games. The inspiration for the first two levels definitely came from a stack of books about plants and insects I had on my desk but we abandoned that idea for the second half of the game. Back then we thought it was what a Japanese team might have done to shake things up." -- Frank Matzke (graphic artist - Apidya, Amiga)

[@Midwinter2]

A brilliant game with excellent graphics and sound. The "R-Type" level is technically amazing.

[@voltapony75]

That wasn't R-Type style stage, it was Gradiud style stage.

[@voltapony75]

I meant R-Type and Gradius.

[@amigolasalle5007]

Excellent!!!, i've never know about this game and i think its so original. Love it

[@DAZZYD1977]

Only just found this, but thanks for doing it. Takes me back to my childhood.

[@Trilobit_Video]

Thanks for video! Splendid walkthrough!

[@andyp8060]

Turrican has just been released on the Switch. Hope this follows.

[@DynamicThreads]

Dude, these old Amiga games have killer soundtracks, what the hell did I miss out on as a kid? Also, a shooter where you are a bee? WTH.

[@stephenhall2980]

Hey you really missed out. Anything by Chris huelsbeck on the Amiga is amazing,check out all the turrican music.

[@DynamicThreads]

@@stephenhall2980 Already did! It was fantastic.

[@stephenhall2980]

@@DynamicThreads pretty much all of huelsbeck's music is on Spotify both in the original 16 bit form and arranged versions, the apidya soundtrack is particularly awesome, enjoy my friend!

[@DynamicThreads]

@@stephenhall2980 I watched the whole playthrough of Apidya, too! Haha, it was excellent. I even used Shazam on it just for kicks and a bunch of obscure electronic music came up, confused the algorithm a couple times.

[@LarixusSnydes]

What a fantastic game, masterful playthrough and legendary music. Even the credits are fantastic. So many thanks given to the massive group of (not all) people that contributed to this game. One goof nitpick though: the katakana "HI" Character should have a circle, not a double quote next to it. The way it's spelled on the Title Screen, it would be pronounced as Abidya, or Avidya instead of Apidya.

[@colinthomson7518]

this game is a work of Art, the Graphics and Music is Brilliant.

[@Aviv_S]

Holy Moly how come I've never heard of this game!

[@crism8868]

I've just discovered this today. This game is on the same quality level as the Gradius/Parodius series with an amazing soundtrack, but it has never been ported anywhere or got any sequels and it remains terribly obscure, that's a real injustice.

[@schefche78]

Master-Player on work! Fantastic! ;)

[@LeShark75]

Brilliant game.

[@TheRetroShed]

I love this game! Easily one of the best shooters on the Amiga. Smooth, fast and very playable. Must revisit this again! Great soundtrack too. Love to see some of the levels I never managed to get to. It takes so much from other games such as Gradius and R-Type but does it in a great way.

[@harveyspecter1840]

Best Soundtrack ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@michaelmyers3924]

how do you play this ? or the game is impossible to play because of invisibles sprites, or the game crash (in practice mode at the middle of the second stage).

[@stansenmann]

Parallax Scrolling, the one great Invention by Rainbow Arts ;) This is a true classic!

[@vaderbase]

I can see no parallax scrolling.

[@rafaellima83]

@@vaderbase Level 4.

[@SuperAndy116]

Good times!

[@Qirex2097]

one of my favourite amiga games. i never made it to the end though :(

[@subspacetripmAe]

Buy then.

[@ouchiewowow]

What's the point of the speed level inside the rat? Didn't see any score increase from doing it.

[@profesorinwestor1984]

I love this game

[@elmono6299]

I'm shocked this Amiga game never got released in the arcades or even on the Neo Geo as it would have done well. Still, though, i would like to see this hidden gem one day get re-released for modern consoles and PC or even a remake that includes the original computer game. 🐝

[@The_Langley_Ghetto_Filter]

Wow someone actually completed this 😐

[@Chuck_vs._The_Comment_Section]

With this game so many questions come to mind. Which drugs do you have to take to get such an idea? How do you pitch such a game and even get the green light?

[@rafaellima83]

Back then you didn't need to pitch anyone, many programmers made games on their bedrooms, showed to a publisher and got published. This game not only was made by some really experienced guys, most of them had connections with Factor 5 and Rainbow Arts. I am 100% sure they had no trouble getting a publisher (Even more when the game is so fucking great. It's one of the finest games on the system).

[@lewiscal537]

21:45 I think you miss a bonus stage, get into Pepsi can after the insects stop to get out.

[@dustL00P]

That quality is OUTSTANDING! Is this hardware or emulation? If emulation, which emulator and settings?

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

Captured using WinUAE with lossless codec. I then upscaled the output 400%, cropped off the borders and transcoded to x.264 :)

[@DEVILMAN-eq8dk]

An insect shmop, now i've seen it all.

[@querpmuerp]

also check out Insector-x ;)

[@hallonlakrits5061]

This Game Is Awesome 👾🕹️👾

[@Eliminaattori]

Nice game and longplay. Very nice music also, from Chris Hülsbeck. I didn't know this game but I like the genre. Some familiar parts in it, specially from Project X and R-type.

[@Stalkingwolf]

imo best R-Type Clone ever.

[@Zigger27]

Could never finish it. Kept playing it for the music though

[@subspacetripmAe]

YOU FORGOT TO ADD SHAKE SCREEN EFFECT ON 0:57 (when yuri scream)

[@derfahnder88]

I loved the music in this game, but I was never able to finish it as it was so hard.

[@Ryrynz2000]

Funny how such a SD res game actually looks clearer in 4K than in 1440 on my 1080 screen.

[@maaaguz]

never came past level 1 for Amiga had no save options....now I see what I missed

[@willemelbers5204]

Just wondering, was this recording done without save states?

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

No - lots of save states 😉

[@gottimw]

As a kid I only got past the rat boss few times but never got to the stage 4. That game was very punishing.

[@SendyTheEndless]

That ending music... they listed an audio mixing console as part of the gear, something that would be next to useless if all the other gear was for making samples and sound-bytes to make instruments in their advanced Amiga music playback engine (was it 6 or 8 voices?!)... So was the last song somehow streamed from disk or something? That always confused me. It certainly sounded and still does sound like a studio production!

[@off1k]

The audio routine is TFMX Pro and has 7 voices/channels. The Amiga has 4 hardware audio channels, each with it's own DMA channel, they are fully independent to each other. IIRC by disabling 1 of the DMA channels they could internally split the attached audio channel into 4 separate software mixed channels and still keep the other 3 audio channels as normal giving it now 7 channels to play with at the cost of some CPU cycles. Only the "Title" screen with its sub-songs and "Game Complete" and it's sub-songs in Apidya are 7 channel, the rest are 4 channel. The ending credits music is sub-song 2 of 4 from the mod "Game Complete" within Apidya, sub-songs 1, 3 and 4 are for the game complete ending sequence from 36:56 to 38:50. All 4 sub-songs in the mod Game Complete share the same samples and is a total of 214kb, is fully loaded into Amiga memory, no music is streaming from the disk.

[@triplehate6759]

Between the visuals, music, nonsense story and lack of context, etc., this game would be AMAZING on psychedelics.

[@danmakuman]

The 3-1 stage inside the dead rat looks a lot like the Gynoug/Wings of Wor 5th stage.

[@Dinosaurianationazation]

What a weird plot. Man turns into bee to save girl.

[@stephenhall2980]

Some folk criticise Amiga music for being lazy as the Paula sound chip uses sequenced samples as opposed to generating it's own sound like the megadrive FM synthesis or ym2149 psg on the Atari st and 8 bit systems. I REALLY disagree however, the Amiga sounds awesome.

[@mastershake4145]

This definitely reminds me of bio hazard battle with same sound effects and enemy bullets/animations. That said one the most unique and strange shooters I ever seen. A stuffed doll in the sewars that shoots lasers from its eyes! :[ okay then

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

I often wonder if the similarity between the 2 games was coincidental

[@JoseBronxRican]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays 19:41 stage looks "borrowed" from Gynoug, and 34:25 boss looks "borrowed" from Gaiares, so maybe not coincidental?

[@alanmurphy6553]

Best game ever made

[@elmariachi5133]

It was a good game with great graphics, and the insect theme for sure made it special, yet it felt kind of boring to me. Well, probably I'm just not the 'horizontal-shooter-type'. Liked Battle Squadron, Xenon II, Wings of Death, Lethal Xcess and so on much more :)

[@wightman1987]

37:36 I wonder if this is the first ever typo to make it into a video game, although Lemmings is also a possibility for inroducing typos in the level Inroducing Superlemming

[@avavii]

I don't remember the music dropping the main melody while shooting. Also the rythm seems off.

[@Bekon241]

This game super frog and chuck rock have nice music ;D

[@elliotanimations1067]

Crazy how he transforms into a bee to get revenge. Just buy a fly-swatter

[@CarlosLopez-jg4yc]

La Abeja José Miel en versión guerrera👍

[@CiociaHenrietta]

kurwa jak ja kocham to gre. Juz sie takich nie robii

[@lewiscal537]

Seem to be like a Factor 5 game.

[@namets]

Ho sempre desiderato questo gioco ma non l'ho mai potuto avere😭😭😭

[@mathiasmoser4102]

R-Type Nature Edition

[@fungo6631]

Oh boy...the katakana doesn't spell "apidya" , but rather "abidja". The correct spelling would be "アピディヤ" not "アビヂャ".

[@andreygoltyi]

Пчелка 🐝

[@zordonstarriors9436]

E vero, giochi legendari come questo non si fanno più.

[@SilentRealm6677]

The gameplay is similar to gradius by konami

[@andreygoltyi]

😀👍

[@Scrubwave]

Amiga games always needed 4k resolution.

[@Scripture-Man]

I don't get it… why? It's a low-res game. You can't add detail that wasn't already there. Can you?

[@MichaelM28]

Here from DF Retro

[@Shangwuning_Floating]

看完敖厂长过来的

[@subspacetripmAe]

I FOUND Ó IN WORD: OH, NO! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BELOVED YURI! (0:59)

[@andreygoltyi]

Пчелка из оружия. 🐝🦹‍♀️

[@barrickfischer]

Gradius but bee

[@StrawberrySunday212]

looks like someone was using the "misshoneybee" cheat! ;)

[@marcellmarton9477]

2:00 The game skips that sound for me.

[@maxhemenway]

29:25

[@subspacetripmAe]

I Don't have amiga. So i can BEAT ALL STAGES And find ALL OF THESE SECRETS!

[@PK-pt3qq]

:)

[@hastomohadi7563]

Gradius or r-type clone with insects instead of ships 😃😃😃.

[@hastomohadi7563]

Gradius or r-type clone with insects instead of ships 😃 😃 😃.

[@andreygoltyi]

😨😱

[@carlosaugustofernandesdagn7935]

Although the most stupid, childish and loser credits text I've ever seen, this is a very good game.

[@andreygoltyi]

Всё

[@argi0774]

A bee flying under water? Seriously? Come on, that's stupid af

[@timnic9242]

modern games dont have that great soundtrack 👍

[@hepto100]

это вам не спектрум, с его клешенгом

[@swordofdanu]

Why transform at all, he could of just walked over to the castle 🤓

[@callidaria8772]

Yeah. Why not take the truck amirite? What do you have against a healthy workout in the sewers.

[@user-et6wl2kg1d]

なんで海外ゲームなのにカタカナ表記なのか不思議やわ

[@turrican3839]

They should stop trying with the Anime style, in some spots it's looks okay and in a lot of place it's terrible, like Brent's chin lmao

[@nebularain3338]

Anime was virtually unknown in the west when this game was released. It was an incredibly niche style that not many people knew about, bar a small group of enthusiasts, so the fact that any game outside of Japan actually uses at that time it is incredibly unique.

[@turrican3839]

Even then I don't know why they couldn't make them look decent enough for some odd reason when they could've used several methods.

[@user-bv3cu4yd1w]

WTH 19:39