Showing posts with label 1985. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1985. Show all posts

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Time Bandit



Today, I woke up wanting to play Microdeal's awesome 1985 cracker, Time Bandit. I recorded this video and had some fun... but... now I should enable that trainer and finally get this beauty completed. One of the beST games there is!!

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Sunday, July 02, 2017

Mudpies



Time for a Food Fight!

Mud Pies is one of the oldest Atari ST games and stars Arnold, a kid who loves the circus. Until it came to his town, so he threw a pie at one of the clowns. Unfortunately, these clowns aren't known for having a sense of humour and chased after him! There's only one thing left to do... No, we aren't running off to tell Mum - we're gonna throw more pies!!

Each screen represents a tent from the circus and has an invading army of clowns - who look more like jelly monsters dressed up as Ronald McDonald! They're insane and wander waving their arms and chucking juggling pins. This invasion will last forever but the pies won't so look for an open door to another tent full of mud pies - and more clowns.

Throwing a mud pie at a clown will see them flying off the screen. If you hit more than then that will score extra points for you. However, try not to get yourself trapped in a corner otherwise, you might receive a juggling pin knockout blow!

I can imagine this is starting to sound insane, right? Well, check out the 1985 graphics and try not to laugh...


Just imagine the look on today's kids if you show 'em this 1985 game. Will they "get it"?


Simple, yet brilliant!

Challenge rooms are a bit different from the standard tents because they have no mud pies but instead, lots of clowns to avoid whilst grabbing the prizes - for 1000 points. Every 20,000 points, a secret door will appear for the chance to enter into a Mudslinging Round where you have 30secs to throw pies at wandering clowns!!

Don't clown about too much! Getting hit isn't good for your health and dying shows your body being carried away on a stretcher to the first aid tent. That can happen only three times before it's game over. Talented pie chuckers will be delighted that freebie lives are awarded every 10,000 points, which is a nice bonus.

Keep an eye on the health meter displayed top/left of the screen. This is split into three segments with the middle one enabling you to run very fast. However, this speed is reduced if you become too hungry or if you've over-faced on burgers and fries. The trick is to keep your health a nice happy medium throughout for maximum agility...



Always frantic, always fun and so addictive. This game is eternal!!


Aesthetics

Graphically, this isn't exactly stressing the Atari ST in the slightest. But remember that it was developed and released back in 1985 before programmers knew how to push our computer. Having said that, it's got a certain Charley Chuck charm to it and, as a gamer since the early 1980s, I love its retro look. No, I absolutely love it!!

Spot-sound effects are fine, but it is best to leave the music on if I'm honest. Again, this isn't anything near the quality we are used to hearing but it's still surprisingly enjoyable. No complaints, it's an old game remember.

Come on guys, how a game looks and sounds never really matters. Mudpies certainly proves this!


Oh, just take a look at the high-score table!! Can ya' beat me??? ;-)


The CryptO'pinion?

It's impressive to think that MichTron (Philip McKenzie and Jeffrey Sorenson) knocked this out for a computer that was practically unknown back in 1985. I can't imagine how exciting that was - and daunting too. But when Mudpies came along it must have been a breath of fresh air to all those rich people that could afford an ST!

You know, think what you will, but Mudpies is a terribly entertaining take on the Food Fight theme with silly gameplay that transports you back to your youth. Abusing clowns is never boring and I cannot imagine a better way to spend an afternoon other than slinging mud pies at them - this is so much FUN!! And that's what matters most. Play it.

Grab a piece of this old skool action for either floppy or hard drive. Enjoy!!

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Megaroids



Get ready for one of the oldest ST games...

Asteroids is a true arcade classic and one that has been converted to just about every home computer ever made. Not to be left out, Megamax released Megaroids for the Atari ST in 1985 which was developed using their own C programming tool. If I'm honest, initially I expected a crude take with poor graphics and pathetic gameplay. Come on, it was made in 1985 the same year Atari gave birth to the ST. Well, how wrong I was...

There's little to tell here. It's asteroids and plays brilliantly. Shoot the rocks for points but don't forget to blast the alien ships when you see them - lots more points! Controls are dead easy with Z and X rotating your craft and SHIFT to fire. Thrust uses the ? key and SpaceBar activates a hyperspace when you're in trouble.

The visuals are different. Gone are the vectors in favour of nicely drawn bitmaps that sweep across the screen like butter falling from a hot knife. It's nothing like I imagined this drastic change from the lines would be. Spoilt perhaps? No way, it's just as good. In fact, Megaroids is so smooth and looks wonderful in high resolution (640x400).

Don't worry, colour systems have not been forgotten but we're not limited to the (albeit colourful) LOW resolution. Medium is used which is an obscure and quirky mode at best but this time it's interlaced. That means the vertical resolution has doubled so it's running at 640x400 with 4 colours. Stop. Don't ask - it's not flickery and will not hurt your eyes. Everything looks better and I wish more game developers would have used interlace!

Sounds are nothing more than you would expect for asteroids. They're nice and work very well. Especially when you remember this is a 1985 game for a 1985 computer. I'm really impressed all things considered.

Megaroids not only looks gorgeous (for Asteroids!) but has an authenticity which I really liked. It feels like the real deal and plays extremely well to offer a bucket load of retro action. In fact, a part of me still doesn't grasp how good this is for a 1985 release. Overall, a superb clone that offers tons of fun blasting chunks of rock to smithereens.

AtariMania and Old Games Finder has floppy disks.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Time Bandit



HiSToric gaming!

Microdeal released Time Bandit in... wait for it... 1985 so it ranks as one of the first Atari ST games. Programmed by Bill Dunlevy, long before any developers knew how to push our 16-bit computer. However, but my first impressions weren't good as I felt this was a cheap Gauntlet ripoff but, I continued to play. Until my sanity returned.

Yup, ignore my foolish first impressions because I fear there might be a funky game lurking behind those old 8bit visuals. Fwiw, Time Bandit was released for the TRS-80 a couple of years before Gauntlet.

We begin in The Timegates, a place that permits access to numerous strange worlds and each is completely different. These range from ancient Egypt to a bomb-making factory and other weird surprises - like the Pac-Man land. They have their own style and objectives with gameplay reminiscent of Gauntlet, to a degree.

For each world, the exit is blocked, so we need to find the key(s) or complete tasks to escape. Interestingly, each world can be played again for an increased level of difficulty and a variety of fascinating design changes all of which keep the gameplay interesting and progressively challenging. Battles are fought using a rocket launcher and, best of all, you've been blessed with unlimited ammo too!! Very nice and that suits me just dandy.

Yes, this was a lesson in aesthetics and my ignorance. Never go off first impressions based on the look of a game. Time Bandit is a cracker with so many interesting levels to plunder and each offers its own unique charm. It might look like Gauntlet but it's very different and offers its own styles to become a true Atari ST classic.

Budding time lords should download this great game for either floppy or the superb hard disk version!!











- Sixteen whacky worlds -

 
Underworld Arena has many spectators and Darkside Dare is incredibly odd with unexpected twists.

 
Castle Greymoon is one of my favourite levels as is the dingy Excalibur spaceship!

 
Shadowland? Nah this is a Pacman ripoff lol. Welkin Island looks rubbish but is very cool.

 
Omega Complex, one vowel off being blocked. The Sentinel reminded me a little of Tutankhamun.

 
Gridville appears to have rude tomatoes but Hotel California allows us to play as John Wayne!!

 
Watch out for strange aliens in Major Hazard but the Old Bomb Factory takes that to another level!!

 
Cheops' Curse offers more than you think but there's a spooky graveyard in Ghost Town.


Guardian is tough even on the first attempt. Watch out for the creepy crawlies in King's Crown.