Going back to 1993

Christmas 1993

I thought it would be nice to wish you all a very Merry Christmas - 1993 style. To celebrate, I’ve chosen a brilliant disk from a group I adore: Adrenalin. I've chosen their 10th PD disk, filled with loads of crackers (pun intended), including: Super Dark Pearl, Operation Garfield, Nirvana, Pac-Man On E's, and Teserae.

Booting up the disk presents a lovely menu by (I think) Mac Error. The wintry pixel art is by Teknik, festive sounds are by Chrombacher, and the nonsense in the scroller is by Divine. Don't boot this up without reading the scroller - it will transport you back to 1993 (yup, half the reason for enjoying any menu disk).

Many of the games are already on the Crypt, but let's take a look at this jolly menu disk...

• The first is Dark Pearl by the American legend, Dave Munsie. A name that is synonymous with our shareware gaming scene. Is there a bigger name? I've been a fan of Dave since playing his take on Invaders on a magazine cover disk. And he's released some corkers throughout the 90s. However, and I'm gutted to write this, I'm not a fan of this game. If I'm honest, I've played a few others like this, but I've never enjoyed the concept. Yikes, sorry Mr Munsie!! I'd better load up Berzerk for a marathon gaming session to compensate for this blasphemous attitude of mine!
• Operation Garfield is a crosshair shooter that I remember featuring a few years ago. It's using some of the STe's enhanced hardware, but not so you'd know because the frame rate is kinda sucky. However, it's a freebie game and, with that in mind, it's quite good fun to play. The sound effects will grate after a while, but if you enjoy shooters like this, then give it a whirl.
• Nirvana is a platformer with a difference. Sure, there are the familiar elements of the genre, but it somehow feels "different" and fresh. We're still collecting items within a (sigh) time limit, but the gameplay and controls are superb, like the visuals. This is a belting platformer, and one I'll return to again. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Gotta properly review this someday...
• We all enjoy a game of pill popping now and then, and I love this spin on it! Pacman on E's is a lively and refreshing take on the Pac-Man theme, with zany visuals and stunning audio. The action is fast & furious, with cool extras to improve an already incredibly jazzy game. It's amazing!!
• Teserae is a game that transports me back to the Crypt's earlier days. I'm not a big fan of Tetris, and probably only ever played it when trying to stay awake on a night shift!! But when I first saw this game, I was blown away as they'd taken the concept of this mind-numbing game to new levels with aesthetics that will blast the eyeballs out of your head. This game is something else.

While some of these games aren't to my personal interest, there are no bad choices here. All are great games in their own right and highly recommended by the Crypt Keeper. Nirvana is the game I'll be returning to over the Christmas holidays. It's very old school, and you all know how much I love platformers! :-)

You can find this menu disk over at Atari Legend (I love their archive!)

Merry Christmas, everyone. All the beST for 2026!!

It's not often I say this, but I didn't care much for this Munsie game. I know, sorry!

So you like Operation Wolf and Garfield? Then this shooter is for you!

Nirvana is so tough, but this is also one brilliantly designed platformer.

An absolutely stonking version of Pac-Man for the Atari STe!!

I remember featuring the fantastic Teserae back in 2015 when the Crypt was a baby.

I love that laugh at the end... Merry Christmas, everyone!! †

Lotus Esprit music disk

Pedal to the... Musix!

It's been half a decade since the enhanced version of Lotus was released. Where does the time go? You may recall that Jon Thomas took the original game and completely revamped it with his coding expertise, creating a dedicated Atari STe version. While the chip music stayed the same (not that I’m complaining), the improvements to the game were incredible. It showcased what our machine is capable of when in the right hands.

Well, the Atari ST community stays ever active, since I just spotted an X/Twitter update from "Chris Hospes," who created a music disk featuring his remixes of Shaun Southern's soundtracks. It's superb and offers a fresh new way to enjoy these banging tunes (right now, in the background - as I write this text!).

I asked Hospes what prompted him to make such a release, and here's what he said...

The main reason was sadness that, after doing so much work on the Lotus STe version, the music still sounds like “crap.” (Hey, I love chip! -Steve). We are in the 21st century and have unlimited disk space, so it hurts that the author of the conversion didn't decide to sacrifice 20 MB of HDD space for the audio track. After all, we have great versions of Giana Sisters, Xenon 2, and Cannon Fodder. But even in the new version of Lotus for Atari STe, the old Yamaha bleeps.

I’m also currently working on my own remixes of music for other ST games that deserve a new life. I'm looking for (coding) assistance in replacing the old chipmusic from these games.

I've recorded a teaser video that plays a minute or so from each track. Why only a teaser? Well, nothing beats downloading it for yourself, especially on real hardware! So, what are you waiting for? Go and grab this download and enjoy listening to these outstanding tunes on your Atari STe. Here are the links you need...

• Download this music disk from Atarimania.
• Follow Hospes on X/Twitter, and get in touch if you can help him out.
• Enjoyed that? Good. The Atari ST/e has loads more music right here.
• What, you missed the enhanced version of Lotus Esprit? Tut, Tut, Tut!! Better click here then.
• We have listed many more enhanced games for the Atari STe :)

PHF Rally 2 - Zero Bitplane

Sommarhack Awaits!

Say hello to a game without any pixels. What, a blank screen? No, everything is created with palette swaps, which is something I admit to not fully understanding. But the result is something quite unexpected and, if I'm honest, very cool. The screen is made using colourful blocks representing a winding road through forests, deserts, snow, night, etc. This style and transition remind me of Enduro on the Atari 2600.

PHF Rally II is obviously the (2024) sequel, and coded by Grazey (aka Phil Graham) of Psycho Hacking Force. This is a racer similar in concept to Spy Hunter, as we drive a "never-ending" road to Sommarhack in our Toyota Celica (I swapped that for my Ford Focus!!). Anyhow, the objective is to last as long as you can without crashing into the roadside. It's dead simple, but a ton of fun - and one I was actually quite good at (for once). The controls are easy; simply use the cursor keys to move left/right, and avoid crashing!

Running at 50fps, this is one slick racer zooming down your screen. It's fast-paced and probably too fast if it wasn't for the use of overscan. This means you can see a lot more of the road ahead, which compensates for the terrifying speeds! The result is perfectly balanced, making it both enjoyable and challenging.

You can play this on either computer, but (I thought) it looks best on the STe thanks to the superior palette. The use of overscan alongside this insane idea of zero bitplanes is what makes the ST scene so exciting and innovative, especially with the stunning chip music by gwEm (aka Gareth Morris).

PHF Rally II is superb and rated an engine-breaking 85%. Try to beat my high score if you can!

• Grab the download either from Demozoo or Atarimania.
• You should take a look at Psycho Hacking Force on Demozoo, an incredible archive!
• If you fancy playing the first Rally game, then click right here.
• If you have an Atari STe, then check out our list of other enhanced games.

Level one takes us through lush blocky woodland.

Oh no, winter appears from nowhere!

But we travel so far that we eventually reach the desert!

Who turned out the lights? Oh, is it nighttime already?

This is as far as I got, a rocky canyon (not far from Sommarhack?)

Can you beat me?