The 16 bit computer generation peacefully "killed" the 8 bit computers.
Amstrad couldn't see this move and released the Amstrad Plus range which should have been 16-bit. (Or perhaps it should have been an hybrid with both a 16-bit CPU and a Z80 to keep compatibility with the old range, why not?)
On the other hand, Amstrad was producing affordable 16-bit PC compatibles with pseudo EGA capacity (16 colours), so in this way it was actually a 16-bit producer.
See Amstrad PC for more information on Amstrad's ventures into the 16bit world.
Curiously, the 16bit era only peaked for a few short years, a much shorter timeframe than the 8bit and 32bit eras.
Notable 16-bit machines of the era:
- TI-99/4 (1979)
- IBM PC (1981), PC/XT (1983), PC/AT (1984), PS/2 (1987)
- NEC PC-98 (1982)
- Apple Lisa (1983)
- Apple Macintosh (1984)
- Sinclair QL (1984)
- Elektronika BK (1985)
- Atari ST (1985)
- Commodore Amiga (1985)
- Apple IIGS (1986)
- Amstrad PC1512 (1986)
- Sharp X68000 (1987)
- MSX Turbo-R (1990)
Notable 32-bit machines of the era:
- Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986)
- Acorn Archimedes (1987)
- Apple Macintosh II (1987)
- NeXT Computer (1988)
- FM Towns (1989)
- Amstrad PC2386 (1989)
- Atari TT (1990)
- Amiga 3000 (1990)
Note: With the advent of 32-bit machines, hardware coprocessors became largely irrelevant for 2D games. The CPU was finally powerful enough to manage it all in software.