War Zone

War Zone is Core's attempt to take on the Commando genre by releasing a frantic shoot 'em up Rambo would be proud of. Sadly, it doesn't quite work because of its extreme difficulty - it's just too darn easy to die thanks to poor design and mechanics. This is one of those moments when something looks and sounds better than it actually is.

Sadly, what we have is nothing more than an average shooter which is disappointing because it looked great from the screenshots I saw before playing. The problem is that horrendous difficulty level and I'm sure nobody tested this before releasing it, which is a shame. So I'd stick with the likes of Fernandez Must Die, Ikari Warriors, and Commando.

Starball

It's all flippers and balls!

I've always liked playing Pinball in the arcades but I doubt you'd ever call me a serious addict of the genre. The ST seemed to receive a number of Pinball games back in the day with some possibly better than the real deal? Hmm, maybe not. But perhaps I'm tight with my money? Or I just love to see how much the Atari ST/e could impress me! ;)

Starball is different from the other competition because it was made by a couple of Lancashire lads who probably had desires to become bedroom millionaires. Now, I doubt that ever happened as many ST gamers had given up following the Atari ST scene by 1994. This is a shame because this game is blummin' brilliant to say the least.

This is a great game and I love Starball, it's not got the polish of a certain commercial offering, which is understandable. But it's still got its own style and oozes its own brand of character with such different tables. The graphics and sounds are gorgeous and everything scrolls down your SC1224 fast. Okay, I'm a little unsure about the physics behind all the glam because sometimes things don't seem to go as expected, but it's shareware so I must give it a break.

If you love Pinball, this is worth downloading and I'm sure you'll love it to bits. Too think £5 was the asking price back then - shockingly good value. What a superb "PD" game and possibly one of the best within the Atari ST's library.

   
I love the dark tones and each table is different from what I expected with many cool fx.

   
Check out these awesome graphics and whoever expected to see those guys in pinball?!!

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