Rambo III

Everyone loves 80s Action heroes!

Rambo III was released by Ocean Software and is an overhead shoot 'em up not too dissimilar to other "Gauntlet" games like Into The Eagle's Nest. I'm incredibly excited to finally own my own copy which I proudly add in AtariCrypt's Box Art section thanks to the tremendous Hollywood artwork. This is also one of few that has both a great front and back cover so I decided to take a piccy of both and double-up on our love for movie legend Sly Stallone!

Sly is our musclebound action hero and is about to infiltrate a Soviet base that has Colonel Trautman held captive. Our mission spans over three levels and the first being the rescue before fleeing for our escape in an over-head game similar to a Gauntlet. The final part is a shooting gallery stage that feels a little like an Op. Wolf.

I can't help but admire this superb screen. Yes, it is superb.

Okay, we're in. Grab your knife because it's time to kick ass!!

Run. Shoot. Kill everything!

Gameplay style on the first two levels is the same. Ironically, you shouldn't run around pretending to be just like Johnny Rambo - this will get you killed! Instead, carefully explore the complex and look for the best route through and any useful items like health, ammo and Infra-Red goggles to detect otherwise invisible boobytraps!

Enemies occupy each room but they feel more like automated drones than the Soviet elite as they robotically patrol back and forth. I imagine these guys also suffer tunnel-vision because they are completely unaware of your presence until you stumble directly in their line of sight. If that happens, an alarm sounds and nearby soldiers begin attacking - but at least you have an awesome health meter! An idea that looks kinda familiar ;) Don't be put off by these silly soldiers because it actually works well to distinguish itself from being a mere Gauntlet clone.

I love the careful tactics that are needed - so play more like the real US Army Special Forces instead of the fake Hollywood claptrap. My only quibbles are trying to memorise the humungous map size. It's easy to lose your bearings plus each room will be blindly entered so try and learn where the soldier's patrol otherwise those Ruskies will gang up to give Sly a good kicking. This is what brings me onto pick-ups, there should be more health packs!

Tread carefully because most rooms are heavily guarded with many tunnelled-vision soldiers!

These guys will patrol back and forth so be slow and make sure you don't set off the alarms.

But is it any good?

Graphically, Rambo has a pretty place to covertly explore - perhaps too loud and colourful? There is no scrolling, which is a shame, but this might actually give a close and more confined feeling - which I prefer. I love the sprites and their movements reminding me of a certain WWII shooter!! Music is gorgeous and suits the gameplay.

I understand why Rambo III failed to capture the hearts of most reviewers back in the day. It's Marmite so you'll either love or hate it but I think it's a belting game albeit with the niggles mentioned above. It's not Gauntlet so use a stealthy approach and prepare thyself to spend many hours sneaking about and mapping the level.

Tear your shirt off and grab Rambo 3 on floppy from either Stonish or Old Games Finder (Automation #47). And for those weirdos who don't enjoy making their own maps: Speccy Screenshot Maps / Hall Of Light.

The back of the box is absolutely awesome. Gotta love Sly!!

Special Forces

Yeah, it's box art day!

Look what the postman has delivered: Special Forces!! This is the sequel to Airborn Ranger and released in 1992 by gaming gods MicroProse. I've wanted to own this for a very long time so I'm extremely excited and eagerly looking forward to getting my teeth into it over the coming nights - I'll try not to ruin the box. Ha, I'm funny!

Special Forces is an incredible game and something that I hope to cover in more detail someday. Until then, you can enjoy the photograph of my own copy - but please, ignore the sexy girl and play this game for yourself. Downloads are available for floppy disk - I recommend FOF #109A/#109B. Play via hard disk if you can!

Wanna see more Atari ST games from my own collection? Of course, you do!! [link]

Update: I've made a members-only YouTube recording of the unboxing which includes lots of yapping by yours truly. It's a thank you for our generous supporters of AtariCrypt. This was fun to make but I need a camera stand!! Here's some photos and I hope you enjoy it?

Frankenstein

Fronkensteen!

I wonder how many got that? Anyhow, let's kick off the new year with awesome box art from my collection. I bought Frankenstein for only a couple of quid and instantly fell in love with the comical artwork that reminds me of (you guessed it) Young Frankenstein. Plus I don't own anything else by Zeppelin so it's a sweet addition to my collection.

< Update: I have fully mapped this game. Check it out!! >

This platformer was released in 1992 and is, of course, horror-themed and feels like it's taken ideas from a selection of games, like Warlock and Horror Zombies. We're a slave to the bad-tempered doctor who needs several chilling items that should help him regenerate life into a dead corpse. A good twist on the expected storyline I'm sure you'll agree?

The cover is obviously excellent, let's now take a look at the back of the back and the box contents...

Nice style around the back too, I thought.

Here's the floppy disk. Exciting stuff, right?

And finally, the manual. It's more of a pamphlet that opens out. Not bad I guess for a budget game...

Egor - Half man... Half creature... All idiot!

Yes, we are Egor. A fella who, not only has a hump the size of Texas but is also the doctor's unappreciated lackey. He suffers his demand to find several gruesome items and to complete this he needs several oddities ranging from a pillow to a hanged man's body which is left abandoned in the woods. Absolutely brilliant stuff and very B-movie too - love it!!

This is a game all about following orders. Your orders come from the doctor who needs different parts for his ... experiment. You're nothing more than a number, so follow his orders and seek out everything he needs. Easy, right?

The play area is huge and you begin in the mad doctor's castle but we are free to explore wherever we choose. That includes the dungeons or going outside into a spooky forest and into the local village with its creepy morgue. There are many creatures along the way like spiders, skulls, wolfmen, ghosts, rats and even animated body parts.

Here is a little animation I made a while back that should give an idea of how the game plays...

Climb trees, dodge bats, spiders, zombies and more. A fantastic night out!

Things that go bump in the night

Egor isn't exactly the bravest guy and hates creepy things, so there is a fright-o-meter that displays his current state of mind. This ranges from "okay" to "panic" and will degrade each time he touches something nasty. Once he's a blithering wreck, Egor will drop whatever he's carrying to rush back to the Doctor. He loses a life by getting a 5-ton weight dropped on him whilst suffering verbal abuse. And then he gets punched in the face!

Yes, it's a harsh life being the servant of the insane Doctor Frankenstein. However, it's rumoured that a young serving wench is the one kind soul who may help to reduce his anxiety issues... hmm saying nothing...

No platformer is worth its salt unless the control mechanics are smooth, precise and responsive. It always saddens me when a potentially great platformer has been ruined by controls that don't feel quite right - just look at Chuckie Egg II right here on AtariCrypt as a cruel example of how to spoil an 8-Bit classic! Thankfully, Egor's walking speed is just right and he also jumps with such effortless ease. Spot-on perfect joystick controls, I say.

Just look at that iron maiden and the broken arm hanging in the chains. Superb!

Big tips

This is a simple game at heart, it really is just a case of finding items scattered about many rooms. So, why not have a dry run and explore the entire map first, rather than jumping straight in? I would also recommend making notes of all item locations too. So, as you stumble upon something that can be carried, make a note of the location.

For those with even more spare time on their hands, I would recommend the above BUT also go a step further. Because of a nasty time limit (I hate timers!!) why not collect as many items as possible that are located only in the most distant places? Bring them over to the doctor's castle and leave as many as you can here. This will save a lot of time.

However, all this depends on you having lots of spare time. If not, maybe play something else? ;)

Fancy a cheat? Hmm, it will ruin the game but if you're sick and tired of getting scared then enter this code as an high-score “J4Z”. Now start a new game and you will never get scared again! (sadly, the timer remains unaffected)

Watch yourself out there, you're no hero so keep an eye on the fright-o-meter.

Aesthetics

Graphically, this is a mixed bag for me. Don't get me wrong, each screen has an extraordinary cartoon-like style, especially in the 'Spooky Forest' with scary trees, ghosts, bats, and funny zombie-like men. I am constantly amazed by the attention to detail and throughout we have excellent animations for all. Hey, I love that pitchfork guy!

The game uses a push-scrolling technique which is a little too slow and I feel flick-screen would have been a much better option. It's the only quibble I have because push feels unnecessarily too sluggish.

Sound effects are good but limited to collecting items, bumping into monsters and strange lightning weather. This lightning will get more frequent as you progress through the game collecting items. Towards the end, it's really sinister!

Well, here is my hi-score for a game using no cheats. No sir. Honest... (Can you beat it?)

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a cracking platformer with progressively challenging gameplay as you go on the hunt each time. I adore its spooky theme and each screen is incredibly detailed without ever becoming impossibly hard to conquer. I can spend hours exploring its huge map which constantly reminds me of my 8-Bit days playing games like Chiller, Chuckie Egg 2, etc.

A positively simple platformer that doesn't technically push the Atari ST nor needed to. The gameplay is on top form and great fun which is what matters. Give it the time it deserves as this is one of the best platformers and I love it!!

If this gives you the hump then grab it on floppy or hard disk!

9 Lives

Reach out for the power

It's time once again for some Atari ST box art and today we have 9 Lives. Like most Arc games, this has a simple design but is also pretty comical with a laughing cat that reminds me of Tom And Jerry. I must admit, I laughed at the glowing reviews plastered by three popular magazines! This has to be a great purchase, right?

Sadly, they were wrong because 9 Lives is incredibly problematic, the gameplay borders on impossible! At first, I thought this might be because of the controls, which do take some time to fully master. Once you have, I personally found them to be perfect: it's easy jumping through the platforms and those long leaps are guided by a meter for fine control.

So, no matter what others say, it's not the controls. Not at all. So let's view a couple of screenshots...

What a massive and unique variety of characters this game has.


Just look at those funny faces! I'm sure these were designed by insane people!!

What's going on?

What I feel is wrong are the gameplay mechanics, which present a number of awkward flaws that irk me. The sprites are far too big so each screen appears zoomed in and overly cluttered, thus Bob cannot help but touch something nasty. Sure, I can knock them out with my woolly yo-yo but it's not long before they get up to zap more of my lifeforce.

Also, the level design is incredibly unfair and requires a psychic gamer who is previously aware of every off-screen trap. Argh, those darn spikes!! Oddly, for a cat, Bob cannot fall very far without dying!! However, this produces a hilarious animation effect not too dissimilar to Wile E. Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons. Love it!

The idea is great but the design doesn't work. Sigh, I think it's time for a screenshot of my hell...

Another life lost... Well, at least I'm going up and not DOWN!! Phew.

Aesthetics?

The graphics are absolutely superb. Drawn with such amazing detail and, at times, this can feel more like an exhibition than a game! The animations throughout are brilliant - I love how Bob struts his stuff walking across my screen and how he clings to a ledge, just before managing to pull himself up. This game looks the business!!

Audio isn't left behind, the most gorgeous YM Chipmusic plays and it's a belter. Love it.

Looks and sounds great, right? So what went wrong with this game? Sigh, let's view another screenshot...

Oh dear, another life lost at the hands of the frustrating and over-crowded level design...

The CryptO'pinion?

Personally, I think 9 Lives had the potential to be a great and unique platformer but I doubt it was produced (nor tested) by actual gamers. Sadly, I imagine most will play this once or twice before giving up - which is a shame? To think I bought this... but it's still a piece of ST history I will cherish. Just make sure you enable the trainer option!!

Floppies are found via Old Games Finder with an HDD version by 8BitChip.

Mystical

It wasn't that long ago we featured Mystical here on AtariCrypt and now it takes a place within our Box Art section, thanks to a lucky (and cheap!) purchase off eBay. I am extremely pleased with this because its box is in near-perfect condition as are all of the contents too. I'm very proud to own this piece of Atari ST gaming hiSTory!!

Phobia

Busy box art and insane gameplay. Great!

ImageWorks released Phobia back in 1989 with a gorgeous retro-themed cover. The artwork is stunning with lots of colour, action and a cruel glare from evil eyes which reflects the game itself perfectly! Phobia has all the hallmarks of a potentially outstanding shooter but it's impossible to get very far without a trainer because of its choppy framerate. Probably a poor port and it pales in comparison to shooters like R-Type, Alien World, or Menace.

Well, I bought Phobia for only 99 pence and it was sealed too. The box and contents are in superb condition but I wonder why nobody ever bought it? <yes, sarcasm!>. Maybe I'll be brave and record a video? Maybe...

LINKS

 - ST Format #1 reviews Phobia but wasn't too impressed with the difficulty - lol wimps!!

 - D-Bug has a download with a trainer and hard drive support.

 - Stonish has the floppy disks and I liked Timelords #29 Menu CD (1MB).

 - Here is a fantastic video recording by Stefan Lindberg.
 - My tweet after playing Phobia for a few minutes... ARGGHHHHHH!!!

I should have known this was going to be hard with such a hideous screen.

Annnd this next screenshot is of me and my ship being blown up! Again.

HUNTER

Finally, I am the proud owner of HUNTER and I couldn't wait to add it to our BoxArt section. Everyone knows that this is one of my favourite Atari ST games and is also in my all-format's Top 10. If you haven't played Hunter then slap yourself - right now!! Is that better now? Okay, now click here for enlightenment. Go on, click it and read all about it.

Onslaught

Want more Box Art?

Okay, it's time for another hardcopy trip down memory lane and I can remember lifting this one of the shop's shelves. At first, it was only to admire its gorgeous artwork with medieval imagery that is so captivating - I love those lush colours which are in stark contrast to the brutal warriors. I think this is great artwork and quite scary too, so it perfectly illustrates the savage gameplay ahead. So, if you feel brave enough, shall we open the box?

Onslaught was programmed by Chris Hinsley, he of Custodian fame, and is a horizontally-scrolling hack and club 'em all to death battle. This exciting platformer has us killing everything in sight with massive explosions that beautifully light up the colourful backdrops and grungy medieval scenery. The music is perfectly suited for the theme and accompanied by meaty sound samples for all the grunts, booms, and metallic weapon clangs!!

This is a tough game that requires lots of practice so stick with it. Onslaught is superb with tons of colours, loud effects, and gameplay stuffed with brutal carnage!! This is a fun action kill 'em all and one of my favourite Atari ST games. Here are a few screenshots to drool over before getting to the all too necessary download links...

Download the floppies - I love FOF #51.

Kult

Let's play something a little different!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... No, wait, wrong game!! Okay, let me start again, many moons ago a good friend of mine [Tom!] surprised me with a gift sent all the way from the land of the Vikings. Inside was a beautifully preserved -sealed- copy of Kult, something I had never played before in my life. He was adamant that this was a true 16-bit classic and I remember it receiving good reviews, with Atari ST User rating it a perfect ten.

You are Raven, a psionic mutant, who saw a bunch of other mutants destroy a village and now wants to fight back! That's the gist of this story for what is a most confusing adventure with lots of cunning puzzles to solve. Kult is a game like no other I have ever played and has an enormous learning curve to learn, especially the user interface. Graphics are creepy-cool and all sound effects are samples, love the speech effects!

How did I do?

[updated Saturday, May 27th]
I've been getting to grips with this game today but the hard drive version fails to work for me (I think it's my SD Card) so I went for the floppy version, linked below, by Zuul and this worked perfectly. Well, after a couple of hours, I am blown away by this incredible and captivating game. The user interface might first appear confusing and quite laboured but in fact, it's actually anything but because navigation is a breeze. I also love how the rooms are titled, which certainly helps me a bunch!

I'm currently getting to grips with the locations and examining everything I see in the rooms. Objects are often tripped-out and plain silly - I've just polished the eyeballs on a fountain to get it working, why I'm not exactly sure yet but I've done it. I have also chatted to some strange looking fellas, so I followed them and used the attack function. Won this battle but then his friends ate the corpse!

I laughably love using the brain to select various instructions, such as inspect, attack, and talk. What a strange yet oddly obvious way to make decisions!! I've also learned not to trust people, I walked into a dark room and somebody told me to follow them. Stupid that I am, I did just that and promptly fell through a trap into a water-filled pit. Here, I was eaten alive by some kind of monster! Great...

This game is so different to anything I've played before. I love how its storyline is deep and involving but never overwelming. I feel that I've only just scratched the surface of what will be a unique experience!

Grab it while it's hot!

 - 8BitChip has created a version to be installed on your hard disk which is just brilliant.
 - Various floppy disks feature Kult and I recommend Zuul #195 via Stonish.
 - Wasabim has recorded a brilliant youtube video.
 - Atari ST User scored Kult 10/10 - wow!! [AtariMania]

Chicago 90

Chicago 90 was released in 1988 by Microids. It has superb cover art that portrays an exaggerated car chase scene which is a fantastic example of cool Atari ST box art (even though the loading screen has a different car!). I originally reviewed this last summer and, although I found it far from perfect, I still had tremendous fun. What a great racer and something I felt was like an early take on Driver in some respects, which is cool. Highly recommended.

LINKS

 - 8bitchip have a fantastic hard drive installable version to download.
 - If you instead require the floppy disk image then take a look at Old Games Finder.

Dodgy Box Art

 

Strange box art!

Today I thought that I'd go through some of my Atari ST games and pick out the ones which are just... well... wrong. Thankfully, I found only two! One is an odd movie spoof whilst the other gives me goosebumps. Seriously, it does make you wonder what these two companies were thinking when they agreed to release!!

• Leatherneck takes the biscuit for most camp cover art ever so it's a relief that the game is far better. We have ace multiplayer support and sample sounds but the one-directional shooting only helps to make it incredibly tough. The graphics are smooth and look great, and the chipmusic is downright beautiful - a timeless quality. Oh btw, if you like Leatherneck then you will love Fernandez Must Die.
• Galdregons Domain gets the award with its Conan rip-off artwork. It's a little like Dungeon Master in a land where evil has been unleashed, yet again. We've been chosen to battle the minions and recover five precious gems to save us from peril. Aesthetically gorgeous, this dungeon crawler isn't bad and once you've got over its learning curve, there's a much-underrated adventure. Highly recommended!

 Right then, if you're feeling creeped out by these two "works of art" then click here to remedy that :-)

Wreckers

It's time once again to save... the ship!

Wreckers is an isometric adventure onboard the interestingly named space station, Beacon 04523N, located in the loneliest part of deep space. With a crew of three, held in cryogenic stasis, automated robots look after the day-to-day care and maintenance of the station. However, the computer has decided to wake you when it detected the threat of Plasmodians, a lifeform that wants nothing more than to frantically consume the ship and everything in it.

In some respects, I'm reminded of the brilliant Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters but there is far more to this game than simply running around shooting green blobs of plasma, albeit great fun! From the very start, you discover that the alien attack is happening and, once they make physical contact with the outer hull, it's only a matter of time before they begin creating havoc with the computer's systems.

The station has its own style of defence capabilities in the form of a hoover which can suck up the aliens in space - before they can get on board. Also, the droids can be controlled to help, and another option is to suit up and head outside to play Jetman with a can of bug spray. Yep, Beacon 04523N is hardly Babylon 5 but at least all these options are available. Oh, do remember to use the Zippway Shuttles and elevators to travel the Beacon but don't dawdle because the main computer has decided one hour is enough to eradicate the threat before self-destruct is activated!!

Control is handled via keyboard and joystick but it's the latter which might disappoint some because I actually found myself holding that in a sideways-on manner, which was a little weird! Also, the user interface might take a little time to get to grips with, I found it quite unusual and sometimes a little awkward in the heat of the moment.

  
I love the title screen's gorgeous pastel palette before these three dodgy characters pop up!

Graphically, I love the 80s feel of Wreckers and, whilst it doesn't look like it came out of 1991, it has a certain retro charm which I really like. Scrolling is adequate but I sure love the station's attention to detail, along with the colourful sprites. The title music is just awesome and the box loves to gloat about who made it, Warren Cann of Ultravox!

Wreckers will certainly keep you on your toes as it requires an urgent attitude with the ability to juggle tasks and think ahead whilst suffering a constant onslaught of baddies. Running around zapping aliens is one aspect of the game but, because there is so much going on, it's sometimes extremely hard just to keep up with the panic. Now, don't get me wrong, Wreckers is a very good game but one which requires a lot of time and commitment. Brace yourself!

* Floppy disks can be found via Old Games Finder with a hard disk version by 8BitChip.

* Hall Of Light has a superb map of the space station which sure comes in handy!!

Adventurer's Box Art

Check out my new games!!

You all know that I love sharing my Atari ST collection with you guys. If you didn't then click here right away because that link contains lots of games I've managed to save from soulless eBay sellers! Okay, today is an extra special day because I'm not sharing one... or two... or even three Atari ST games. No sir, I'm sharing four of my latest fuji purchases!

All four games are (hmm) sorta new to me if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong, I've played them all at some point in my life but, not for long. Either I was confused (no instructions with menu disks haha) or I probably just died all the time. And if you scroll down, I'm sure you can guess which French RPG game that was in! (Such a cruel and unfair game!!!)

Okay, do start the downward scrolling now to see what games I bought. Are any players out there with these games? Tips, help, and advice are always welcome so let me know in the comments below......... ttfn

- HEIMDALL -

First up, is Heimdall with its excellent cartoon-style visuals and a funny storyline depicting life as a Viking demi-god on a brave mission. Three silly tasks need to be mastered before you can choose a decent crew of dodgy-looking characters - I dare you not to giggle during that axe-throwing contest! This is absolutely insane, like a Monty Python sketch!

Sadly, this feels like a lame Amiga port that was rushed. I feel a lot more could have been done - especially considering the Ram requirements. So it makes no sense about the lacking sampled sounds and poor scrolling... However, this doesn't distract from what is ultimately a humorous and crazy adventure through Norse mythology.

A cheap Amiga port but, I think I'm gonna enjoy it.

Floppy disk download: http://www.oldgamesfinder.com/?q=HEIMDALL&m=-15

Harddisk download: http://d-bug.mooo.com/patches/2011/heimdall.zip

Harddisk download: https://atari.8bitchip.info/SCRSH/heimdall.html

- DRAKKHEN -

Drakkhen was a Christmas present from my wife and is in beautiful condition. The box I mean, not the wife! ;-) Okay, there are a few scuffs on the rear but I shouldn't complain because it's pretty neat and with all contents too!

This is a real-time RPG which involves four chosen characters and much dragon slaying. Most certainly one of my prized possessions and something I strongly recommend. However, it's damn hard due to incredibly unfair mechanics that sometimes make no sense. I hope to take on board the challenge and play it properly one day very soon!

Floppy disk download: http://www.oldgamesfinder.com/?q=DRAKKHEN&m=-15

Harddisk download: http://d-bug.mooo.com/klaz/Old_Games.html#Drakkhen

Harddisk download: https://atari.8bitchip.info/SCRSH/drakkhen.html

- XENOMORPH -

Now, this is a game that could so easily be overlooked as a meagre Dungeon Master ripoff set in space. But it's far more than that and offers a great real-time RPG set onboard the Atargis, an abandoned space station.

The dude on the cover makes me think of Speedball... Can anybody see that? Okay, ignoring that amazing tidbit, this should be an engrossing game in its own right. Regardless of being verrrrry similar to a typical Dungeon Master. I am quite excited to play this someday soon....... (I really need to retire to have more spare time!!)

Floppy disk download: http://www.oldgamesfinder.com/?q=XENOMORPH&m=-15

Harddisk download: https://atari.8bitchip.info/SCRSH/xenomrph.html

- OOZE -

Finally, we have an illustrated text adventure which is something old school and very popular pre-Atari ST when resources were obviously limited. This has a creepy cover but oddly one of the silliest of storylines I've ever heard: you are (wait for it) "Ham Burger" and Mr Cheez has given you a house in Salom's Lot which is rumoured to be haunted by lots of scary things going bump in the night. How freaky is this? I'm Ham Burger LOL!!

I must admit to being a little disappointed with my copy because the condition isn't great at all. In fact, it's a bit of a wreck with lots of dents, breaks and scuffs. But this is a rarity and something special to me so one day I'll find a mint copy, I'm sure of it. (Yeah, Yeah). Until then, I am proud to own this weird adventure.

Update:
I've since played this excellent adventure and featured it here. Click to read!!

Falcon

It's very satisfying to finally complete a favourite collection of something we love and I have just managed to complete the Falcon trio. Sure, there are the limited and classic releases that bundle the lot but I've never been much impressed with many compilations as I've always wanted the original, individual, games. And now I finally have 'em!

Falcon is a brilliant flight sim with awesome graphics and many interesting locations to fail its many missions! So here is my special 3x cover feature for our Box Art section. Why not take your own F-16 for a spin today?

LINKS

 - AtariMania features every Falcon release within their ST database :
     ~ Falcon
     ~ Mission Disk 1 Operation: Counterstrike
     ~ Mission Disk 2 Operation: Firefight
 - 8BitChip has done it again and adapted a Falcon bundle for hard drive installation.
 - Old Game Finder has the floppies for those poor souls without the original disks or a hard drive! :p