Back to my roots
Without making this sound like a sob story, I didn't have a computer in 1983. Our family simply couldn't afford one. Of course, I was madly fascinated by everything I saw on a friend's 16Kb ZX Spectrum, and by games like Manic Miner in our local computer shop. Oh, how I wanted to play it for myself.
Anyhow, by the summer of 1984, my parents had started making monthly payments to the shop above, so I knew I'd be getting a ZX Spectrum for Christmas. Around November, with the big day getting closer, I bought a second-hand copy of Styx using my pocket money (many weeks of saving, I might add). As I recall, it cost about three pounds, a lot of cash back then, but certainly cheaper than a brand-new game!
I kept this safely in my bedside cabinet drawer as I eagerly awaited Christmas like never before. It was like new, and each night before bed I looked at the inlay and read its storyline. That wasn't much, but the image it portrayed of the dangers travelling down the River Styx captivated my imagination. I wondered what it would be like! I'd never been so excited about a game I hadn't even played. Crazy, right?
As it turned out, Styx is an incredibly (ahem) simple game even for 1983. And I'm being kind there because it has only one screen, split into three segments: a spider-filled maze, the river itself, and a rather feeble showdown with the Grim Reaper. Once you kill him, the game loops back to the beginning! Yeah, a humble game, but I fondly remember it as my first Speccy game. Happy memories :)
Wait!! We've reached that point where the internet's weirdos will want to leave their nasty comments. Why? Because I've discovered Claude, which compensates for my lack of coding skills. I have used this to convert my childhood memory into an Atari ST/e reality. It's a straight conversion, not bloated with unnecessary changes. That's right: I wanted it to feel authentic, with the same graphics, sounds, and gameplay.
Okay, okay, you've caught me out, as there are a few enhancements! Our game features high scores, which the original lacked. The limited gameplay might loop after you defeat the Grim Reaper, but we changed it so the number of baddies and their speed increase with each new round, making it a little harder. Additionally, on an Atari STe, you can press the "S" key to toggle between the original ZX Spectrum sounds (via DMA) and the Atari's native YM effects. On a standard ST, the game defaults to the YM effects.
Of course, the obvious question is: why not just run the original game in a Spectrum emulator? Well, I'm an ST guy, and that's where my passion is. Plus, I was bored and thought, why not! All credit for this cool game goes to the legend Matthew Smith. I hope he likes what Claude.ai has created. I do.
- You can download my version of Styx from Atarimania.
- You can find the original ZX Spectrum game at World of Spectrum.
- I've made many other Atari ST programs that you can check out here.
The first part takes us through a spider-filled maze.
He might shoot a laser from his hip (ahem), but use that to kill all the piranhas.
Death moves quick so be ready! Nah, he doesn't, and he's dead easy to kill. lol
