Obsession

Pinball Dreams

Our gaming community never ceases to amaze me, and I've made many friends over the years. One guy in particular I've known since the days of swappies in the early 90s. Recently, he sent me a gift that made my day. Paul's always been generous and, like me, a fanatic about the Atari ST/e and ZX Spectrum!

Well, his parcel arrived, and inside was something very special indeed. Yes, I now have a blummin excellent copy of Obsession!! I still cannot believe it because I've had this game in the same league as Dungeon Master or Legends of Valour. In other words, one of those titles you dream of owning again, but it will never happen (a bit like the Atari Falcon030!!). At least not without forking out silly money we just don't have.

Anyhow, Unique Development Sweden only released two games for the Atari STe, and blimey, what a pair of Christmas crackers. Substation ended their short career with us, but at least they went out in style - a brilliant first-person shooter with great atmosphere and frantic action. Of course, the other is Obsession, a game I mentioned back in (wait for it) 2015. How the years pass... This is a marvellous game that looks and sounds as good as can be. Well, without leaving the house for your "local" amusement arcade!

Nobody needs me to review Obsession. It's a classic released in the dusk of the 16-bit era. The gameplay is hectic and challenging, and accompanied by superb graphics in overscan. Not only that, but the sound effects are incredible and played alongside funky tracker music. Where were UDS back in 1989?

I will say this: most games are best played using real hardware, but I found this more noticeable with Obsession simply because of the keyboard layout. It's designed for the ST keyboard using the bottom row to assist as you whack the flipper keys. Emulation with a Mac/PC keyboard doesn't work nearly as well (YMMV).

I will never be able to thank Paul enough for his kindness and generosity. So ignore the fact that I’m terrible at Obsession and boot it up for yourself. Those later years produced some killer titles, and this proves it; Obsession is one of the best “arcade games” on the ST, imho. Oops, I meant Atari STe 🥳

• Download via Atarimania https://www.atarimania.com/unique-development-sweden.html
• Grab a hard drive-ready version https://atari.8bitchip.info/SCRSH/obsess.html
• Demo versions can be found on AtariUpToDate and Atari Legend.
• Do you want more enhanced games https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/enhanced-games.html

Obsession

Obsessive gaming!

Obsession was released in 1994 for the Atari STe by Unique Development Sweden. Yes, I said the Atari STe for once - rather than its older brother. UDS has made magnificent use of the enhancements -  Hardware scrolling moves the screen at 50fps for an ultra-smooth feeling. Heck, it's even utilising overscan too! The audio is a blast thanks to the DMA stereo - so crank up the volume!! This game is tremendously entertaining.

It's loud, it's fun, it's one of the best "arcade" games I've ever played. Marvellous!!

- Atari Legend has loads of Menu Disks to choose from (link)

- Atarimania has the official download and loads of information (link)

Starball

Flippers and balls

I always liked playing Pinball in the arcades, but I doubt you'd ever call me a serious addict. Fun, but nothing more than that for a game or two. Not a great start, uh? Well, the ST seemed to have received several Pinball games back in the day, and it's only now that I realise I've played so few of them!

Starball is different from the competition because it was made by a couple of Lancashire lads who probably had desires to become bedroom millionaires. Now, I doubt that ever happened, as many ST gamers had given up following the Atari ST scene by 1994. This is a shame because this game is blummin brilliant.

Starball doesn't have the polish of a certain commercial offering, which is understandable. It has its own style and oozes its own brand of character with such distinct tables. The graphics and sounds are gorgeous, and everything scrolls down your SC1224 fast. I'm often unsure about the physics behind all that glam, because sometimes things don't seem to go as expected. But it's shareware, so I must give it a break.

If you love Pinball, this is worth downloading, and I'm sure you'll love it to bits. To think £5 was the asking price - shockingly good value. What a superb game and possibly one of the best within the ST's library.

   
I love the dark tones, and each table is different from what I expected, with many cool fx.

   
Check out these awesome graphics, and who expected to see these guys in pinball?!!

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