Sam In Monster's Garden

Monsters are coming

Every so often, I find silly software that makes me smile for no particular reason. It doesn't have to be a game; just look at the Steve or BoinkSave articles. That's what I love about the Atari ST: the history is immense, but can also be surprisingly frivolous. Well, here is a game that made me grin like the Cheshire Cat!

Sam in Monster's Garden was released in 1995 for the Atari STe by Sebald Loic [aka Sam23]. That's right, this game supports the Blitter, extra colours, and DMA. Now that you're expecting big things? Well, these images show that it's similar to Dig Dug, with its screen laid out like a maze with several items to collect.

Remember, this is public domain! Okay? Right, let's check out a couple of screenshots...

He smiles but still looks rather worried. Or drunk? Yes, drunk, because of that walk!!

The yellow monsters are pretty dumb, but often massive in number.

Dig Dugging through the garden

Sam in Monster's Garden is a simple and familiar game. Walk the screen, gathering the various items, and once all are collected, exit to the next level. Dead simple, right? Well, it would be but for the horde of dreaded monsters! After all, we are in their garden, so I guess they're not happy about us being there?

From what I've seen, thanks to my gaming skills, there are two monsters:

The yellow ones aimlessly wander whereas the purple ones come crashing in carving a own path through the garden. Each will materialise after you begin a level, which offers a moment of grace. However, once they start to appear, their numbers are plentiful and they spawn regularly.

There are ways to kill these beasts: the first is to use the garden's apples. Walking under these loosens the soil, and they fall, crushing anything underneath. Another way is to push them Pengo-style. Lastly, we can use a gun that fires one bullet at a time. This bullet bounces around the open areas until it hits a monster.

That's all there is to this bizarre game; quickly collect the items, and begin the task again on the next level. As you progress, the difficulty increases with more enemies adding to the frantic gameplay.

Hardly original, but it's silly, and I'm positive your kids will love it. Let's check out more screenshots...

I was panicking here as I had one last fruit to collect, and these monsters are fast!

As you can see, they appear in droves but are as stupid as they are quick.

Aesthetics

Each level looks much the same: green area with apples and other collectables. Sure, it's (umm) based on Dig Dug, but everything is overly large, thus creating a rather cluttered or claustrophobic feel later on. Apparently, the Blitter is used (for the sprites?), and the extra colours are displayed. Can you see 'em?

Regardless of silly expectations, the sprites are the strongest aspect of the visuals, with the monsters a quirky bunch with decent animation. Sam wobble-walks like Frankenstein's Monster, and his dying animation is superb. Touch a monster, and you'll see its body break up and fall to the ground. Fantastic!!

The audio is good with a boppin' chiptune playing in the background. The music is accompanied by a few DMA sound effects. It's hardly Death Chase for quality, but good to have. Zero complaints by me.

Remember, this isn't a commercial game. Still here? Good, let's see more screenshots...

Broken body and dead. Reaching level 25 was my personal best.

In the following game, I bettered that to reach level 27. Sadly, I never beat this achievement lol

CryptO'pinion

Sam in Monster's Garden is great fun!! The first few levels are ridiculously easy and can be completed before any monsters appear. That grace period is most welcome later on when the action is frantic. However, it's these monsters that make and break the gameplay because there are too many, and the screen becomes cramped. Add in a pinch of suspect collision detection, and they've spoiled what might have been.

I'd rate this around 65% as it could/should have been much better. However, I appreciated having something different to play, and I'm positive your children will enjoy this for all its ridiculous mayhem.

Go on, download it and treat your family to some silly, pointless gaming!