Ultimate Amiga

After revisiting this long-standing discussion and comparing both systems in a more modern context (including current knowledge, extensions, and real-world usage), I think the classic "Blitz vs AMOS" debate needs a bit of reframing.

First of all, both AMOS Pro and Blitz BASIC are very capable tools on the Amiga, but they were designed with different philosophies in mind:

AMOS was designed for accessibility, fast development, and high-level game creation
Blitz was designed for lower-level control and closer-to-metal performance

That distinction is still valid today, but it's often oversimplified into "Blitz is faster / AMOS is slower", which is not always true in practice.

Key points that often get overlooked today:

1. AMOS is not "just interpreted" in practice
AMOS does compile to native 68000 code. While it relies on a runtime layer, it is still compiled and can be quite efficient depending on usage.

2. Extensions completely change the AMOS landscape
Modern and historical extensions (such as AMCAF, Turbo extensions, etc.) significantly improve performance in critical areas like:

plotting and graphics routines
input handling
music playback (e.g. ProTracker-style MOD replay)
optimized blitter-based operations

This reduces many of the traditional performance gaps.

3. Real performance bottlenecks are often not CPU-related
On the Amiga, especially A500/A1200-era systems, performance is frequently limited by:

blitter usage
memory bandwidth
hardware synchronization

In many 2D games, the CPU advantage of Blitz is not as impactful as people assume.

4. Blitz still has advantages — but they are specific
Blitz generally offers:

more direct control of execution flow
more predictable low-level performance
better suitability for custom engines and non-standard systems

But this does not automatically translate into "much faster" in every scenario.

5. AMOS excels in productivity and high-level game structure
Especially for 2D arcade-style games, AMOS can be extremely efficient in terms of development speed and practical performance when used correctly.

Final conclusion

The idea that "Blitz is much more efficient than AMOS" is too simplistic in 2026.

A more accurate way to put it would be:

Blitz offers a lower-level model with higher theoretical control and performance ceiling.
AMOS offers a higher-level model that, especially with extensions, can achieve very competitive real-world results in many Amiga game scenarios.

So rather than one "winning" over the other, it really depends on:

the type of project
how well each system is used
whether extensions and optimization are taken into account

For modern retro development, both remain valid and interesting tools — just with different strengths.

What you think guys?¿