OIDS!

Oids, the final frontier...

There are certain games that need no introduction because they're instant classics that changed the course of history in some way. Think of Knight Lore (Speccy), Dungeon Master (ST), Doom (PC) and you get the idea. Oids is another that needs no introduction but, this one is possibly restricted to the Atari ST world, and all those who looked on in green envy, of course! Well, let's continue on anyhow just in case you are braindead and have never heard of this game before...

Little iddy biddy Oids are our robotic friends but they are currently being mistreated in a terrible way by their evil creators, the Biocretes. Innocent oids are now being held prisoner on various remote planets located in the deepest parts of space without any noticeable atmosphere - yet strangely trees still managed to grow! ;-)

Oids was created by Dan Hewitt and was unleashed on the world in 1987 by FTL. For years, it remained an Atari ST exclusive title until 2002 when the Apple Mac received a conversion. (the older PPC Macs and not the newer Intel or ARM Macs, sadly). Anyhow, this is a bid deal for the ST because it's exclusive and something that holds many dear memories for me.

Hurry up and rescue little stickmen from that prison!

In space, no one can hear you scream!

In a similar fashion to Thrust, you need to navigate a spaceship through caverns searching for our metal friends. Use weapons to destroy the buildings holding them captive and find a place to land so they can get on board. Now, sit back and watch as the superbly-animated stickmen make their way toward your ship. Simple and elegant. Once all are found, your mothership appears high in the sky to whisk everyone to safety.

Controls are so simple to turn, thrust, fire and so on. It might sound a little strange to rotate and turn your ship in the right direction before thrusting. But it works perfectly well and in tune with the physics and gravity of each planet. It feels real, without being fiddly or difficult thus ruining your enjoyment. It's perfect.

Those Biocretes aren't going to sit back and watch you take the captives. They're darn evil and have armed each planet with hazards and artillery defences: rocket launchers, gun turrets, repulsers, gravity bases, etc. Everything can be destroyed, but don't expect a mothership or ground base to be easy. Sometimes it's best to fly away like a cowardly chicken!

Hang on, so trees can grow just fine on rocks without an atmosphere?

Sound & Vision?

Visually, this game might first appear simple and without much to it. Well, you would be correct is in some ways. However, stop right there buddy boy, because this game is bang-on awesome. The outline of each planet's landscape is represented by a rough terrain which looks ragged and suits the barren feel. Buildings, turrets and all other objects are detailed so nicely. However, it's the excellent animation of those stickmen that makes my grin very wide!!

Audio is lacking in the chiptune dept - there isn't any! But we do get to hear the boing...boing... of the ball in a cool 3D intro. In-game effects are for the ship's thrusters and guns - I love the superb firing sounds and other explosion effects are nice too. There isn't anything more required and music would kill the dead-of-space atmosphere.

Roaming around planets is fun but later levels are very, very hard to master. Learn to pilot!

The CryptO'pinion?

Every ST nutter loves this game because, well, how can I put it? Oids absolutely magnificent!! The idea isn't original but the execution is spot-on thanks to superb mechanics, realistic physics and interesting levels. Also, not only was this an Atari ST exclusive but it's one which is enjoyable and extremely challenging thanks to great gameplay. Wonderful game.

Although there are several other similar alternatives (all of which are excellent - like Thrust) this easily remains the best of the bunch. Oids is one of the most outstanding games released - you might say it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! ;)

UPDATE: 8BitChip has updated Oids with faster framerates!! *

8BitChip has a download that can be installed to HDD.

Klaz Hideaway has a great download for both floppy and HDD.

Read the Oids manual (Apple Mac but relevant)

Moon Patrol

Luna road-tripping

Oh no, the moon is under attack from a legion of nasty aliens and it's our job to stop them! We've managed to find ourselves a cute Space 1999 buggy which appears to mostly drive itself. It even follows handy checkpoints to stop you from getting lost so dust off your spacesuit in anticipation of the Atari ST version of this amazing arcade classic.

With your foot always on the gas, you can only control the level of acceleration as you travel the terrain trying to avoid potholes and any obstacles. Moving the joystick left/right changes that acceleration and pushing up allows you to leap over the potholes. However, be careful because that requires precise timing because the wheels aren't too great at going over potholes. So the slightest missed jump causes the buggy to violently explode like something from a cartoon!!

It sounds silly, and it is, but isn't that what makes a lot of older games intriguing? Let's crack on...

Don't let the graphics put you off from playing what is nothing less than a beast!!

Simple mechanics yet still tough!

There are two difficulty modes, beginners and champions. As you can imagine, if you're new to Moon Patrol and wanna break yourself in gently, then choose beginners. This gradually introduces the game's twisted mechanics and alien monsters at a steady rate. Use this mode to learn joystick controls and the general feel of the game. It's cool.

However, the latter difficulty is much better and certainly offers a far more interesting alternative with many extra features, obstacles and enemies, etc. Here, the landscape is terribly hostile and made worse by even more invading aliens who frequently appear from all corners of your screen. It's manic but wait, don't run away there are weapons!!

Yep, banging on that fire button will simultaneously shoot two weapons: one at the top, is a machine gun firing upwards plus there is a front-mounted rocket launcher for the approaching enemies. So keep one eye on the road ahead and another on those pesky aliens. It's a lot harder than you might think so keep on firing and hope for the best!

Okay, it's screenshot time but why not use a different monitor? Check this out...

Hang on, there are mountains in the background with snow. Hmm, very odd... ;-)

Aesthetics

Graphics appear dated because they are. And that's exactly what you would expect from an 80s game. The decor is authentic with silky smooth scrolling supporting a three-layer parallax effect plus the buggy's animation is superb as it rumbles over the bumpy terrain. Don't forget, Moon Patrol also works in ST High (640x400) and looks gorgeous.

A funky chiptune bops away in the background which is oddly, very much excellent. It's foot-tappingly excellent in fact and I love it. This is accompanied by vintage bleeps for the sound effects to suit this classic game perfectly.

I love it when a game transports me back in time rather than trying to improve (ruin) it...

The checkpoint idea is great for a number of reasons plus it's fun breaking a record.

The CryptO'pinion?

Moon Patrol is an excellent conversion that offers a groovy step back in time to 1982. This is instantaneous fun and I love how its troublesome landscape combines the pothole hopping whilst frantically trying to shoot down the aliens. It's tough but very addictive so keep your eyes on the road otherwise - KABOOM! Instant moon junk!!

A faithful conversion of an arcade classic with rock-solid playability. Trust me, this is #retrogaming gold!!

Old Games Finder has access to all the floppy disks

8BitChip has a version for hard drive installation!

Strategy Wiki lists the many versions of Moon Patrol

Here is their walkthrough which I thought was pretty funny.

Midi Maze

FPS - long before Doom!

Midi Maze hit the shelves in 1987 thanks to the talents of Xanth FX and was an early taste of multiplayer first-person gaming. It takes place inside a labyrinth of weird smilies who roam looking for blood. So ignore their happy faces because they're anything but nice - and need killing!! You could say, the last sphere "standing" wins? Okay, maybe not...

The controls are rather straightforward and very easy to master. You can use either the joystick or mouse - but I personally think the joystick works the best. Those without midi cables can play in Solo mode which allows up to 15 computer-controlled bots with three levels of AI. Those with MIDI cables and other Atari STs can invite friends over with the potential to link 2-16 computers. Think about that, it is quite staggering for an '80s deathmatch. This was 1987, folks!!

The graphics are good but the walls are "paper-thin" and also without any texture or ambient lighting but do remember just how old this game is. Frame rates are fast and exceptionally smooth and I was impressed to see the baddies have a shadow, thus adding to the 3D perspective. Sound effects aren't going to win any awards but they do their job.

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good first-person shooter and Midi Maze certainly packs a punch albeit killing cute smiley faces! Single-player is welcome and works well but Midi Maze comes into its own when linked with other Atari computers. Midi Maze is one of the best games I have featured and is easily a true Atari ST gaming legend!!

* Check out this Midi Maze fanzine (It's in German but Google Translate will help!

* Here is a PDF document of the original game manual

* Atarimania has all three games listed in their Atari ST database.

* Floppy disk images are available from Old Games Finder.

Mouse Trap

Not the board game!

Billed as "old in style but brilliant in design" is Micro-Value's 1987 platformer, Mouse Trap (based on the original Acorn Electron game). I love platformers but not the Mario/Sonic kind but the ZX Spectrum kind I grew up with: Chuckie Egg II, Manic Miner, JSW, Monty Mole, Saboteur II, etc. As you can imagine, I was eager to give Mouse Trap a go!

We are Marvin The Mouse who desperately wants to win back the heart of his ex-girlfriend that left him for another. She must be quite the materialistic female when you think about the plan he's come up with to win her back? Scrounge dozens of lethal rooms looking for precious items that are gonna impress her. Yep, that'll work. Hmm, women...

Anyhow, this is a cruel and unforgiving platformer: make one mistake and it's often impossible to go back and try again - which usually means a life lost as you replay. Each screen needs every item collected before you can progress to the next. Finishing each is a matter of working out the best route rather than what appears the quickest.

There is a time limit, so hit the 'F' key to pause - now study the layout to figure out the best route.

No, he's not floating but simply in mid-fall. And that aspect took me a while to fully master...


Wow! Those colours... This game is incredibly different from the norm and I love that.


Some levels are pretty simple. Not only to look at but complete very quickly. Like this one!

Input & Outputs

The controls are excellent. However, I admit that I initially found them a little fiddly and quite perplexing. For example, if you're facing left and then tap "right" (to turn around) Marvin will not only do this BUT he also walks a couple of steps in that direction. I'm used to Manic Miner, so this frustrating mechanic took me some time to master. And I did.

Visually, Mouse Trap looks like an 8-bit platformer but with the ST's extra pixels and colours. It's kinda weird and features the oddest sprites: check out the old man with the big nose who appears on level two!! A weird-looking game with sprites that are either excellent or just plain crud: like the floating skulls which use an awful design. Yet somehow it works.

Music is eerily enjoyable but will get annoying, so press M to turn it off when your ears begin to bleed.

This baffled me at first but it's actually a lot easier than you realise. Love the sinking ledges!


Some of the levels are far simpler than you first think. Just take your time...

There is the odd dodgy screen but then it redeems itself with this blue beauty!

The CryptO'pinion?

Mouse Trap is a charming platformer with an incredible variety of different screens - all as difficult as they are quirky and you will always be drawn back for that one-more-go! The only negative aspect is the lacking a save-game feature. That absolutely baffles me because there are so many levels to plunder (ie, you are forced to replay).

Having said that, I have enjoyed Mouse Trap because it's a blimmin' excellent platformer. (Nearly) top marks from me!!

Download for hard disk or floppy.

Can you beat my current Hi-Score without cheating? No, I didn't think so!! :p

Mac Pan

Mac Pac, err, Pac-Man? What?

After yesterday's awesome (but mind-blowing!) technical flight sim I needed something a little less taxing on my old brain cells. So, I'm taking an easier route today and playing a Pac-Man clone called Mac Pan. Weird name and there are already lots of PacMan games but this one is more vanilla, so let's get pill-popping and ghost munching!

Mac Pan was released in 1987 by Richard Beith and works in ST High resolution. There are a few integrated features that I really liked: hold down the fire button and you can temporally increase the yellow guy's speed. Hang on, he's not yellow anymore! Anyhow, the game's speed can be tinkered with in the preference. The graphics and sounds are pretty good plus there is support for simultaneous 2-players.

It's not the best PacMan game I've played but I still enjoyed it and being able to choose the game's speed is a superb idea. It's easy to imagine German office workers in the 80s playing Mac Pan during their lunch break. Monochrome users should jump up & down with excitement because this is an excellent clone of the classic.

Downloads are available using Old Games Finder.

Bolo

Brick Blast in STyle!

Tons of Atari ST games run in high resolution and one of the best is Bolo, a Breakout clone. It takes the familiar concept and improves upon it tremendously with lots of extra features, like the ability to move the bat almost anywhere you like. There are also gravitational effects which are cunningly effective and also different brick types and the ability to change the physics of the ball's speed and direction. Yep, Bolo is an awesome brick-blaster everyone loves. Because it's brilliant!!

Ballerburg

Artillery gaming!

Whilst enjoying my cuppa joe this morning (in my cool Atari ST mug) I stumbled upon a tweet about Ballerburg, an old turn-based artillery game by Eckhard Kruse. This is an ST classic and offers addictive and strategical gameplay to blast our enemy to smithereens and all using basic maths to calculate speed and direction.

However, Ballerburg requires the ability to read German and a monochrome hi-res monitor. But let's be honest, as ST users, we are familiar with translating on the fly plus there are programs that fudge the ST's high-resolution mode. As I type, my Atari STe is running Ballerburg and I'm (trying) to teach our 6-year-old daughter the basics... Sadly, that ain't going well and I know she will be an easy victim, so I'm going to destroy her. Muwhahaha!!

 * A download is available via Eckhard Kruse's website and also Ballerburg has a wiki page!

 * I use MonoPack to enable ST High Res on my colour monitor.

 * So, you didn't believe me about my Atari ST mug, uh?