Monday, August 28, 2017

Phantom



Fancy a jaw-dropping Atari ST demo?

The Phantom Demo was released by Amiga/PC crew, Arkham who (for me) seemed to appear out of nowhere, only to disappear once again. This demo is actually two different party releases from 1993/4 bundled together. They feature super-duper visual effects and fantastic chiptunes by Kane Wood. I enjoyed this a bunch!!

The two videos you see are incomplete but still give a good idea of how fantastic this demo is. Of course, it's best to download and play on a real Atari ST computer. If you can, please do so!! The download is available over on AtariMania with more of Kane's music on Demozoo. Enjoy what is nothing short of blumming excellent :)

Hang on, don't go just yet! Check these out...


   

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Top Banana



Get ready for this...

Top Banana is a vertically scrolling platformer not too dissimilar to Magic Boy or Rainbow Islands. Ignoring the stupid eco storyline, this has an unusual mix of weirdness but begins with a tripped-out acid-style intro that reminds me of Grotesque and Aciid Burn (Whattaheck). Well, a little, and it's in stereo so worth watching.

The gameplay is simple, we start at the bottom of the screen and leap upwards using the platforms whilst avoiding the rising water levels. Along the way are the unusual nasties and our weapon appears to be "love" itself. We deliver a fatal kiss of death to anything that gets in our way. So take no prisoners and enjoy killing loving everything!!

Considering this is a game full of eco-preservation, it contradicts itself by killing animals. Anyhow, you win when you reach the top and then the screen falls and you can collect lots of doughnuts and other items before starting the next stage. Nothing new or mind-blowing but I actually quite enjoyed this incredibly cr4p platformer!

Before we go any further, let's take a peep at the first screenshot (which is taken from the ST version)


Top Banana played on the Atari ST (the oldest model without a Blitter Chip)

Aesthetics

That's right, this is one of the few games taking advantage of the Atari STe, so kudos to Hex for going that extra mile. However, what do you think about these screenshots? The ST version is rather lacking with an empty feel whereas the STe is the complete opposite with a crazy display of mess scrolling along your monitor using parallax-scrolling. My eyes are bleeding, my head hurts... I think I'm going to die if I play for much longer!!

Top Banana is incredibly unique. Never have I seen a game with such a weird abstract style. I admit, at first, I hated it because it was cluttered so I would struggle to see the dangers ahead in time. After a few games, I eventually overcame that eye-burst feeling and was used to it. Well, I must applaud the artists for daring to be different.

Interestingly, Top Banana supports the Atari STe which features madenning graphical design! But it supports parallax scrolling and also comes bundled with DMA sound effects. These effects certainly beat the chirpy YM effects into dust but, (like the visuals) are possibly way OTT. Check out this Atari STe screenshot...


Top Banana on the Atari STe. Eye-bursting visuals albeit with parallel scrolling.


The CryptO'pinion?

Top Banana is unusual alright. It offers an enjoyable challenge and I've nothing but respect for Hex for supporting both Atari computers. However, it looks, sounds and plays drab on the ST whereas it's way OTT on the STe. In fact, Atari STe owners should take out health insurance because your ears might burst with the incredibly annoying samples and the bloated parallax-scrolling display will give you a headache or a brain tumour.

I do wonder what Hex was thinking when they made this weird little game. Having said that, it is also pretty good and obviously inspired by Rainbow Islands. Sadly, it's one that I fear everyone might ignore which is a shame. Okay, I wouldn't bother if you're an ST guy but I'm tempted to sadistically recommend it for all STe owners!!

The D-Bug boys have a hard drive version and Stonish has two floppy disk options you need to try:
 1)  Fuzion #151 (a one-disk download without the intro)
 2)  Pure Energy #6A and #6B (with the silly intro but it comes on two disks)

Friday, August 11, 2017

Ironman Challenge II



Mike's torment!

Glutton for punishment Mike, of The New Retro Show, has just released the second part of our Ironman Challenge. As you may remember, I gave him a list of Atari ST games which I thought would help push him over the edge. Well, he's still with us, so let's see what torture he endured for the final part of this challenge (above).

This new video features Fire And Brimstone, Crash Time Plumber and R0x. If you missed the first video from this Ironman Challenge then simply clickety-click to watch that video of Mike's torment! Get the popcorn - enjoy :)

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Mystical


It wasn't that long ago we featured Mystical here on AtariCrypt and now it takes a place within our Box Art section, thanks to a lucky (and cheap!) purchase off eBay. I am extremely pleased with this because its box is in near-perfect condition as are all of the contents too. I'm very proud to own this piece of Atari ST gaming hiSTory!!

Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Darkman



The darker side of pixel art

Darkman is a combination of mini-games strung together in that Ocean style we loved so much. However, the first thing that struck me was the quality of the artwork and I instantly knew this was going inside our PixelArt section. The title image and cutscenes have a mysterious theme that perfectly captures the movie's atmosphere.

There are movie scenes - like dodging the oncoming traffic or covertly sneaking pictures for a disguise (which will produce hilarious results for such a sinister game). This dark theme continues through to the end with a short comic strip. This game is a great example of extraordinary 16-Bit artwork thanks to the talent of James Clarke/Mister X, Darkman!!

 - Floppy disks can be downloaded off Stonish and I recommend Now 5 #7.
 - A hard drive installable version of Darkman is available via D-Bug.
 - AtariMania list the other works of James Clarke and the ominous Mister X.








Sunday, August 06, 2017

Crackman In The Search For His Dealer



What a belting name!!

Crackman was released for the Atari STe by Teenage [Pung] and has one of the most idiotic storylines I've ever heard - make sure you read the docs. Okay, I'm sure you've already guessed, Crackman is a PacMan clone but is also one of the most challenging I have ever played. Well, that's an understatement actually...

The maps are huge with a crafty design but it's the ghosts themselves that cannot fail to impress with insanely intelligent AI. This dictates practice before considering matching wits as their AI isn't like previously seen, it's more like Lode Runner. My first game almost ended in tears - I needed many more attempts before recording a video.

Along with the crazy storyline are a few surprises like mines, hidden walls and power pad support. I love the ghosts and our little pill-popper has a full set of teeth but my favourite is when he dies and turns into a puddle of gore. The Atari STe is used to great effect with silky smooth 50fps hardware scrolling and superb DMA audio.

Everyone knows Pac-Man but if you thought it was boring then take a look at this - I dare you!! Is it better than Crapman? I don't know... but what I do know is that we have yet another excellent Pac-Man game!!

Saturday, August 05, 2017

ElefantaSTic


I love ElefantaSTic!! This was released at Silly Venture 2013 by Genesis Project and is an amazing demo. I feel it breaks away from the norm with unique and stunning styles. Plus the artwork is superb and there are beautiful effects with a perfectly apt chiptune. One of my personal favourites and downloadable from Demozoo.

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Rogue



The ultima gauntlet?

I've always had a spark of curiosity for Rogue but (looking back) I have also wondered why I should even bother with anything "roguelike" when I could instead crawl within the '3D' realms of Dungeon Master. Of course, I'm being stupid because this dates back to 1980 when gamers spent their lunch breaks staring at Rogue's text-based dungeons looking for Rodney's Amulet of Yendor! Epyx released our turn-based conversion back in 1986 and it's essentially the same venture through the Dungeons Of Doom but graphics have replaced that original text display (no complaints from me! lol).

Don't run away in disgust just yet, this dungeon may look rather 8-Bit but that works perfectly to suit the atmosphere and I really love it!! For me, it's the monsters that look the best as these are superbly drawn - I love the Ice Monster the most. And the Zombie looks like he's about to get down and boogie. Pressing the Enter key will zoom out to display and the entire map is viewed full screen. This is probably favourable to the purist using a more traditional oldskool view of the dungeon? Monsters are then represented by letters, ie: B for Bat, R for Rattlesnake, Z for Zombie, etc...

Which visual display style do you prefer? Let's take a look at both right now in these screenshots...



Carefully explore each and every unique location and zoom out to see the map...



Let the adventure begin!

From the start, we're introduced to the adventure schematics which easily allow us to explore in relative safety against the easier baddies to contend with. I liked this learning curve because a novice adventurer (ie, me) should appreciate it. However, having said that, take a look at my screenshot from a recent game which I'd only just begun - Wow, quite an incredible gang of nasties, I'm sure you'll agree? But this is also a testament to the game's ability to randomly generate interesting scenarios with each new game. So, Rogue will always feel different each time you decide to boot it up.

Directional control of our little explorer is done using the ST's keypad which can be used in combo with or without the mouse. Personally, I prefer to use the keyboard for everything. There are other useful functions such as pressing ALT/click to identify an object or creature. Also, pressing F1 duplicates your last attack action with other neat shortcuts like 0 to rest and '.' to search (repeated searches give the best results). Try it keyboard only and I'm sure you'll agree.

Rogue is an ARPG that is meant to be enjoyed from start through to death/victory. Once you've been beaten, you are buried and this state is permanent. You can save your progress but, coming back to continue is only allowed once (as that file is deleted). Hence, permadeath, and this may sound unfair but it works well and suits the theme perfectly.

Hey, do you fancy a couple more Rogue screenshots? What? Really? I knew you did...



There's so much more to this old dungeon crawler than just slaying the funky monsters!



Beware, you're not alone!

The enemies are a wild bunch alright! From traditional beasts like Snakes, Zombies and Bats to fantasy spooks like Ice Monsters, Hobgoblins and even Emus. Yes, there are emus down there! It's worth noting that not every character is immediately aggressive so it's advisable to try and tiptoe around a Leprechaun, a Nymph or a Centaur. I only wish Trolls and Wraiths had that relaxed temperament - they're so mean - so make sure you have good armour.

Fight back using swords, axes and more but there are also magical scrolls and potions which perform an insane variety of uses. For example, illuminating the dungeons or increasing health, weapon strength, and so much more. However, not all are good so you may wish to empower yourself with the ability to identify any obscure items you may be carrying. After all, you might mistakingly conjure a demon or leave yourself blind in the darkness. Yikes!!

Like the dungeon itself, both the enemies and objects are randomly generated so you never get to perform the same battle twice or know the location of items. This is one of the many things that makes Rogue very special.

Let's put the reading on pause whilst you gander at a couple more screenshots...



Some kind soul has left food but it isn't long before something appears from out of the darkness!



Tricks and traps

This is a game with its fair share of humour with lots of hidden traps so, if something doesn't feel right, then remember to search and you might just uncover a hidden passage. Watch out for teleporters that will zap you to another part of the map or maybe even drop you down a level. Gas sends you to sleep and bear traps are dangerous and require a few turns to escape their clutch. Avoid the temptation of a Nymph who might sneak something from your inventory -  and I certainly laughed when battling a Leprechaun as he actually managed to rob me of my gold. O_o

Rogue has some aspects which are traditional yet still very funny - like being caught by cursed clothing which is then impossible to remove without using the right spell to counteract it. I travelled for five levels before being able to remove a nasty piece of cursed chainmail. Cursed clothing, who'd have thunk it? Irritating but humorous too.

Finally, remember to look after yourself and watch those stats. Food is sparse down in the dungeons, which kinda makes sense, so collect everything and only stop for a bite when it's absolutely needed. The action is lurking around every corner but a careful adventurer will find tactical exploring to be both enjoyable and rewarding. Think before you act.

Can you tell that I'm really enjoying Rogue? I'm a noob but this game is hot stuff. It's screenshot time...



Carefully sneak by the old bat (insert mother-in-law joke) and beware of leprechauns on level 7



Aesthetics?

Nobody loads up Rogue to be blown away by dazzling visuals but this is actually much better than I imagined. I love how the dungeon itself looks which is bright, colourful and quite basic. It looks the business, and feels like a graphical upgrade on the original but without ruining it. As I said earlier, the best parts are the sprites and seeing those little iddy-biddy monsters lurking in the dungeon is fantastic. They all look brilliant yet faithful to the original theme.

Sound effects are pretty much authentic to the original, ie there aren't any! Well, little beyond the default clicks & dings we're all used to as ST owners, which is perfectly fine and natural to what Rogue is all about. However, I'd have liked an option to turn off the clicks without having to resort to using something like XControl (don't forget that!!).

I had an idea for my video recording - that's at the top of this page - so scroll back up. I wanted to replace the silence with something eerie using the Atari STe ACCessory: STe Background Audio Player. This plays samples using the DMA coprocessor and works tremendously well without any slowdown. Let me know what you guys think?

Hey, you should really watch the -STe enhanced- video if you scroll back. Until then, here are two screenshots...


Remember to use this view for a bigger image of your dungeon and keep stock of the inventory.



The CryptO'pinion?

As I write, I'm exploring level 14 but Rogue seems to have cranked up the difficulty a lot since level 9 and I admit to struggling: a Wraith and a Troll ganged up and sent me to an early grave so, I reloaded only to later suffer a humiliating beating by a Quagga! I now need to rest and hope nothing creeps up whilst I'm vulnerable. Hang on, I've a healing potion that should help me feel better and a spell to confuse the monsters. Yeah, there is so much to this fascinating game!!

Yes, Rogue is easy to get into and extremely rewarding. I'm still learning the ropes of this immense dungeon crawler and I feel I have only scratched the surface. But I'm loving every minute of what is a tremendous experience and possibly one of the best Atari ST games. This is a blast into the past that proves just what makes #roguelike so excellent.

Actually, this is literally one of the best games I have ever played, regardless of the platform. Absolutely wonderful!!

Brave adventurers can install Rogue to hard drive or play via floppy using Automation #79.
Struggling with Rogue?? Then check out my new level maps which should help you.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Fractal Engine

 


It's time to get psychedelic

ST Format #42 featured The Fractal Engine by Daniel Grace and Mike Harris. I love programs like this and, after a couple of hours of tinkering, I began creating some rather funky images. What a superb program it is and so capable to create impressive images using tripped-out colourful effects - if you have the spare time?

Features of The Fractal Engine v3.0

17 different fractal types, including 11 Mandelbrot/Julia pairs and Lindemayer Systems
Divide and conquer algorithms, with fixed-point arithmetic
Zoom animation and Julia Set morph batch processing
3-Dimensional Mandelbrot and Julia landscapes
480, 16 colour palettes
Simple but effective image compression

The Fractal Engine delivers superb results and is easy to use and what's more fun than creating trippy images? Oh no, does this mean I'm turning into a groovy hippie? I hope not!! Anyhow, I hope you like my images which were all calculated using my own Atari STe. (Thanks to Michael Keenleyside for this link to the latest version)


Brace yourself for images of 8MHz power!
Check out my creative weirdness :-)


Saturday, July 29, 2017

Quartet


Only this morning did ST Survivor ask me for a video recording of Quartet, a new game based on the original, by Photonstorm. The task is to place pieces of four faces, into four slots, in four separate areas with bonuses awarded for a whole face. Watch my video recording and you will see that it's simpler than it reads - and very addictive!

Friday, July 28, 2017

The New Retro Show


I love finding YouTube channels with great Atari ST content and The New Retro Show is one such place to get my fix. It's run by a fella with a beard, called Mike! He's been addicted to the ST since he first got to play Dungeon Master (there's a shocker) and currently owns two machines: a Mega STe and a 1040 ST.

Now, after watching this video I came up with the idea for a challenge and suggested a few games which have all appeared on AtariCrypt: Chubby Gristle, Cybernoid, Zynaps, along with a few others. Shockingly, he actually agreed to the challenge (Muwhahaha!!) and released the first Ironman Challenge which you can watch here.

My thanks to Mike for taking on my silly challenge but I am now looking forward to the second part!!

Monday, July 24, 2017

Whitewater Madness




Atari = crazy

Whitewater Madness was under development in 1989 by Scott Williamson and Ed Schneider for Atari themselves. In fact, it was specifically designed for the new Atari STe and is possibly one of the first games to utilise the enhanced hardware? Sadly, the game was finished but never released which is disappointing, to say the least.

This is a shoot 'em up taking place on a river; just imagine what would happen if you took Toobin' and then slapped in a dollop of river-raid violence. Well, then you have Whitewater Madness, a vertically scrolling shooter that has us sailing down a bizarre stretch of water that takes place through space and time like Dr Who.

In Atari's wisdom, they decided not to bother with this and it was left to gather dust in the halls of the forgotten. You know, I sure love Atari for giving us the ST/STe computers but there are times when they tested our patience somewhat! Well, cheer up because I have a treat in store for you with the full and finished version of Whitewater Madness to download and play for yourself. That's right, the disks have been found and guess who has been given a copy? ;-)

Please note, for many years there has been a demo version to download. Do not bother with that. It's a lame and very old beta which plays nothing like this final release here. Okay, it's screenshot time...


The controls are superb but you can also use the rapids for additional effect.


A Toobin' River Raid?

Okay, we're sailing down a magical river in our little Pod and searching for green energy cells. Collect these to raise your Warp Energy levels to maximum capacity so we can travel further through time. If successful, we are presented with an information screen telling you just how good (or bad) we did. However, if you failed to collect the required amount then you're sent back to the start again to do it all over again. (I saw that a lot)

Our dinghy is equipped with a rapid-firing mounted gun! This is a good job because we are under a constant onslaught of hazards and weird creatures. Try and avoid the many dangers such as rocky rapids, mines, artillery and other crazy stuff like kamikaze dinosaurs who love to leap from the shores! There are lots more causing mayhem; cavemen, something that resembles a pterodactyl, a giant turtle, and centaurs. Frantic and I love it!!

The controls are dead easy to get to grips with - and superbly responsive to I might add. I really love the directional method which works for fast and efficient guidance down the insane river raid. Picking up green "L" pills will recharge the Pod and stop it from going BOOM but these are few, so collect as many as possible.

This is a fun game alright, so let's check out another screenshot from this crazy Toobin...



Those rapids are ace but you better watch out for the nasties - like kamikaze dinosaurs!


An Atari STe game that never was!

Old gamers, like me, will love the graphics which are 8-bit in style. It actually feels like something you'd expect of an ancient Atari console with a striking palette and dinky sprites that are small and with little animation, but detailed. Well, with one exception, a huge kamikaze dinosaur that loves to leap from the shores!!

Scott informed me that the Blitter co-processor was used to handle the visuals. And it shows with brisk movements that keeps up perfectly with the player and the hectic action without any trouble.

The sound effects are pretty nice with lots of shooting, explosions and more. The DMA coprocessor is used to play and is super-duper. However, I must admit to being disappointed with the title music because it sounds like it's using low-frequency samples so is quite "STFM" in quality. A bit odd considering what the STe is capable of.

It's time for another screenshot and here is that crazy dinosaur again...



Watch out for dinosaurs, mines, birds, riverside cavemen and lots more!


The CryptO'pinion?

Whitewater Madness has the hallmarks of a fantastic oldskool game and is something I'd expect to see on an Atari console. And yes, that's a compliment. I love the frantic Toobin-style action which is perfectly balanced yet challenging without ever feeling impossible. There's so much going on and I think this is an excellent action/shoot 'em up.

Why Atari didn't release this is unbelievably sad because it's a great arcade game so easily sails into the seas of gaming gold!! It's simple, it's fun and it's now freely available to download after being 'lost' for three decades. That alone makes this extra special so enjoy what would have been the very first Atari STe game. A superb and delightful arcade game!!

Download the official disk images
(with source code) kindly supplied by Scott.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Street Fighter II



Another unfinished game...

The ST world constantly amazes me. Just when you think you've seen it all, a "new" version of Street Fighter pops up and slaps you in the face!! Yep, I had oddly never heard of this before! Where have I been all these years?

Anyhow, this beat'em up was developed for the Atari STe by Patrice Mandin, a guy whom I'm grateful for Doom and more. However, it's incomplete without the full game's content or even colours (although it is running in ST low). As is, it's fast and responsive by making use of the Blitter, hardware scrolling and DMA stereo sounds. It's actually very playable!

Sadly, Patrice stopped development so it's left this project in limbo - waiting for another techie to pick up the gauntlet. Great progress has already been achieved, and the source code is available, so it's sad that nobody has attempted to finish this incredible "beta". I think the potential is huge so download Street Fighter and prepare thy jaw to drop!!

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Wowy by Tomchi


I have just listened to this amazing tune called Wowy, by Tomchi (played using JAM) and simply had to record it. Absolutely superb!!! So, kick off your weekend in style and download this gorgeous chiptune for your Atari STe!! 🎧

Friday, July 21, 2017

Mystical



The French and their unique style of humour?

Infogrames has done it again and released what I think is something rather quirky and special. In Mystical, we get to play with magic and spells to battle against the strangest creatures. We are a novice magician of the Grand Wizard, eager to learn the ropes but quick to make silly mistakes! Like losing the precious scrolls and phials so now we must travel to parallel worlds to retrieve them. Get ready for the oddest journey ever...

We'll be battling against all sorts of whacky characters: Buzzards, shepherds, faithless Monks, reptiles, sea creatures, farmers, little girls, Vikings, walking trees, funny faces, and most throw something or will chase you. Sounds mad, right? It certainly is and I'm sure everyone will love its silliness.


I must say that the palettes used are pastel perfect and with lovely artistic tones too.



Magically weird!

The big man has granted permission to use his magic which means the ability to cast spells that provide a variety of unique ways to dispose of our foe. For example, the ring of fire scorches anyone who dares to get too close whereas the blue ring deflects enemy attacks. Another will open up the ground and swallow our victims whilst we can summon cages to trap those nearby. Possibly the best of all is shouting "Boo" to shoo off anything nasty!

Each spell activates immediately but, if you are quick, slap that Spacebar to stockpile it for later use in combination with the Return key. Yes, it's quite a cumbersome design but it works well for those moments you're struggling. Each level ends when you reach the pentagram and must-do battle with an end-of-level boss - the first throw babies at you! Once defeated, a very large sphere appears and whisks you off to the next level.

Yes, I'm sure you're thinking this is weird? And you're right, it is!! But it's brilliantly weird!!


Collect the funky power-ups and use all magic spells to the best of your ability!



Aesthetics!

The visuals are gorgeous with smooth scrolling across detailed landscapes using a very impressive and pleasing palette, I might add. However, it's the tremendous quality of all the characters which steals the limelight, never have I seen such beautiful sprites and their humour and animation are always so fantastic.

I must take off my hat and commend Olivier Roge and Jocelyn Valais for such amazing work. Take a look at these screenshots and tell me you're not impressed by the gorgeous sprites and even the artwork as a whole? Possibly one of the best examples of 16-bit pixel art I've seen in any game.

Sadly, the audio is a mixed bag. The sound effects are ace using samples for each character and other things like the spells. It's great and I adore the "Bla Bla Bla", which reminded me of the speech in Donkey Island. However, the title music is not good and I cannot see the point of low-quality sampled music over the option of a crisp chiptune...



Hey, what's that? I've got a doppelganger to help me out so let's cage the beasts!



The CryptO'pinion?

As much as it might try to hide behind the storyline, Mystical is a generic shoot 'em up albeit with cool power-ups and silly humour. (I never knew the French had a sense of humour? heh). I'll stop it now because it is obvious that a lot of time and effort has gone into the production of this lovely game. It oozes so much lush artistic quality.

Sadly, it is a little repetitive and the end-of-level bosses are frustrating, to say the least!! But they're my only quibbles because I have genuinely enjoyed playing Mystical. I'm sure most gamers will love its unique style & personality.


Grab a magic wand and help out our magician?
Download for floppy or a hard drive.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Hard 'n' Heavy



Looks familiar yet not...

Hard 'n' Heavy follows on from Giana Sisters in true sequel fashion to offer more Mario-esque levels to run and jump through. However, the official release was poor with awful flip-screen scrolling that ultimately ruined what might have been a great conversion. Sure, flip might work well with some platformers, for example, Jet Set Willy, as this game would have been horrendous with scrolling. But Hard 'n' Heavy requires scrolling!!

Thankfully, that's where the bad lesson ends and the good news begins because Peter Putnik has developed a version which features smooth-as-silk scrolling thanks to the use of the Blitter co-processor lurking inside every Atari STe. And also most other earlier models (incl later STFM models which had a Blitter or at least a hungry socket).

Hard 'n' Heavy obviously looks and feels similar to Giana Sisters, so if you didn't like that game then you may as well start looking elsewhere right now. The physics exaggerate the Giana experience to feel more like we're floating and this took me a few goes to master. It's pretty weird! Okay, there are 25 levels of shooting the baddies and destroying blocks to search for those bonuses and even access to hidden levels. Also available is a two-player feature, with various game types.

Wow, this is superb and I'm sure any Giana Sisters fan will love what is basically more of the same with a few extra bells and whistles. Peter has done well to transform that pathetic commercial conversion into something it should have been all along. Just make sure you play it on a real computer to experience the silky-smooth movement.

Overall, I do prefer Giana Sisters, but this upgrade is downright marvellous. Highly recommended!!


- Download Hard 'n' Heavy -





Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Things Not To Do


Electronic Images released one of the most hilarious Atari ST demos I have ever seen. I did try and record a video but my emulator missed some graphics and also the sine scroller (which is beautiful) was jerking like it had a nervous twitch. So I burned the image to a floppy disk and it was perfect - because nothing beats the real hardware!!

Download this utterly stupid demo from AtariMania then turn up the volume and enjoy the show.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Menace [upgraded]



When something isn't quite right...

Menace is one of the few Psygnosis games that I actually enjoy. Yep, I think it's a good shooter. Okay, it should have been much better with a little effort but, that's an Amiga company for you. Anyhow, it's still a decent shooter and I enjoy it a lot. But what's with the YELLOW ship compared to the other version? For years, I've hated that bland colour and wondered what they were thinking and if it was possible to change it to something better?

So, I contacted Atari ST wizard Peter Putnik about this and he came back with a neat solution that actually works very well. As you can see in both the video and screenshots, our spaceship now has a brand new paint job!! The caveat is a change to the (oddly placed) status panel which is due to the 16-colour palette design. Of course, the game itself remains exactly the same - but we can now enjoy a spanky-new WHITE ship. Which is brilliant.

You know folks, this is what makes the Atari ST scene a marvellous place. Think about it, I wasn't happy with a commercial game from 30+ years ago so I asked a guy, who I've never met in another country, for his thoughts. What does he do? He fixes it without hesitation for me. Incredible. What an amazing community we have.

My sincere thanks to Peter for being gracious with my request - this version of Menace is the only one I will now play for the Atari ST. I love it. Here's the download to the newly designed AtariCrypt White Star release of Menace (geddit?).

Please watch the video trailer above and also take a gander at these lovely screenshots...






Friday, July 14, 2017

Reanimators #6


Reanimators #6 features a few simple effects with a superb chiptune (hmm, it sounds familiar). You know me, I love sine scrollers and this one is a belter and displayed using the full range of lovely rainbow colours. On the disk is Thunderstrike is an incredible 3D shoot 'em up with outstanding graphics - it feels like an early Cybermorph ;-)

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

wave upon wave



There are many amazing artists out there and I've always had a soft spot for the guys that make up the incredible YM Rockerz. So here is the wonderful compilation called "wave upon wave" which they released 17 years ago! It features several tracks by their awesome musicians: 505, D-Force, Dma-Sc, Tao, Lotek Style and Milhouse.

It's impossible to pick a favourite, but I do love Shifter by Tao which you can listen to by clicking on the GEM green arrow. Check out the YM Rockerz website ... I think that I'm going to listen to "Seven" again tonight :-)

Wave Upon Wave by YM Rockerz [demozoo download]

Credits:
505 - Music
D-Force - Music
Dma-Sc - Music, Text
Exocet - Graphics
MC Laser - Graphics (ASCII), Music, Text
Milhouse - Music, Text
Tao - Code, Music

Sunday, July 09, 2017

Atari ST demos



Today I fancied some ST GLAM!!

I've just been going through the latest uploads on Demozoo and there have been many incredible releases of demos, artwork and music from both the Outline and Sommarhack parties. I'm constantly blown away by what the DHS boys can produce: the video above is of Midnight Sun for the Atari STe which runs in complete overscan!!

Check out these screenshots for an idea of what the Atari ST #demoscne is cable of knocking out. Remember, YouTube is good, but nothing beats the experience of using a real Atari ST/e computer. #JustSaying :p