Dungeon

Much thought went into its title!

Dungeon is an adventure released in 1993 by TC Basset for the legends Budgie UK. It uses the Talespin game creator engine, which is something I've personally never encountered before. Upon loading, we are greeted by a creepy dude (with an obvious blood pressure problem), who has an incredible sense of humour. He warns us of the adventure ahead and offers the choice of character, but listen carefully and heed his warnings.

Ultimately, we must battle the evil necromancer, Malik Abdul Aziz, and recover something called The Great Orb of Thoth. The dungeons are straightforward, but infested with hideous creatures, so tread carefully. Hey, it wouldn't be right without monsters! Choose your character wisely, but newcomers are best picking a Warrior or Fighter as they come readily equipped to tackle most beasts. And who doesn't love a free weapon?

With that in mind, let's check out a couple of screenshots of what you're likely to encounter...

Just as I started, a blood-dripping zombie materialised. YEAH!!

A couple of steps deeper in, and the mother-in-law appears. An old bat!

Then this weird dude appears from the darkness, fancying a piece of me.

Monsters, battles and blood!

You are not alone inside the dark corridors, so stay frosty and be ready for anything freaky that's waiting to jump out: decaying zombies, barbarians, venomous snakes, gnarly bats, and many more hideous creatures are lurking in the shadows. The art of fighting is crudely entertaining and more frequent than you think.

The metallic chinks of your weapons are great, but battles can also be fought magically using potions, and victory ensures a deathly scream - before hearing their bodies crumple to the ground. Each defeated enemy will reveal a hidden treasure chest filled with random goodies, so collect your loot and leggit!! Those that cluck like cowardly chickens may wanna run away? Your choice, but beware, there could be a price to pay...

There's nothing better than exploring a village. Hey, check me out here (and my body)...

The first dingy tunnel takes us into a medieval village.

It actually looks like a nice place. Might stay and enjoy a beer or two?

Mr Muscles is actually me. Yes, me!

Chat and try your luck

Exploration is never a bad idea, so take your time and turn over every stone. Why not chat with the locals? There are interesting characters with super silly personalities, even if conversations are a little shallow. Communication reveals more than you realise, and perhaps you might earn a bob or two and make friends?

A tavern is a safe place to rest and recuperate. Just as with Lure Of The Temptress, they are the place for a chat, and why not order yourself a beer and enjoy a flutter whilst here? Perhaps I had too many beers, but I loved this experience, which constantly entertains with a wicked sense of humour. Those outside this island of ours might not appreciate it, but we Brits always had a daft sense of humour. Well, I had a great laugh!

Fancy a beer? Of course, you do. It's a fact that no man can refuse beer...

  
Being a normal guy, I head straight for the tavern, which opens up a world of new options.

  
I gambled with these likely lads but didn't do very well... Wait a moment, is that a trapdoor I see?

Aesthetics

Graphically, we have a homebrew Dungeon Master wannabe. It's good, well-drawn and often humorous (I believe the funky images were taken from Deltronics' Fantasy Graphic Disk?). I was gobsmacked when the first zombie appeared - to eat my brain - an intense moment lol. Yes, this game has superb pixel art.

There are no atmospheric tunes, but at least the sound effects are all made from samples. These enhance the game's humorous nature: footsteps, knocking doors, groans, and the clang of metal are all good. But it's the horrifying screams that are amazing and make me chuckle. I love the effort gone into this!!

We seem to meet the same type of monster down in a dungeon. Which is great stuff...

Abandon hope all ye who enter here, as each step reveals something scary!

Or even a hideous ... erm ... Viking?

Beat all of them, and then a giant snake appears. Will it ever end?

Sometimes emulation is better than real hardware!

I've never previously experienced a game that uses the Talespin engine, and it's obvious this creator has limits. The problem is an agonising wait between each and (almost) every action, which is quite poor and spoils things somewhat. Oddly, installing it onto a hard drive didn't present much of a benefit.

Every game I play and review is done on my 4MB Atari STe, and I tried my 16MHz Mega STe, but it didn't have the positive effect I'd hoped for. In fact, it made things slightly worse because a few screens suffered palette corruption, and some sound effects didn't play correctly. So, (sigh) I find myself in new territory here, and thus advise using an emulator like Hatari - I sped up those waits by hitting CMD X (Mac).

One final screenshot and it's something no adventurer ever wants to see...

I should have spent more time in the tavern!! At least the great humour remains until the very end.

The CryptO'pinion?

I enjoyed discovering something 'new', and this certainly offered an intriguing adventure filled with silly characters and numerous battles against unearthly creatures. Unfortunately, the Talespin engine itself is slow and lets it down. However, if you can tolerate that, you’ll find this adventure extremely enjoyable.

It has its flaws with that speed, but this is an entertaining and delightful adventure.

Grab yourself the download right now.

Donkey Island

Monkey Island?

All the way back in 1997, Ed Cleveland (aka Eddie Cat) spent many moons working on this comedy adventure. However, the late '90s were bitterly cold days with most of us having sold up and moved to the world of Mac/PC. It appears he got little feedback and thus decided to call it a day. I'm gutted!!

Well, that's my take on what I read. It's a shame because his talent and dedication were on the way to creating something rather special. Yep, it's disappointing but at least he released this final/beta version. This was very kind and still worth downloading and playing. Read on...

Donkey Island is a graphical adventure, different from what I expected. Think of something vaguely similar in style to Lure Of The Temptress or a Sierra On-Line game, but with a comical twist. We are Fred, a geek who loves playing games on his Atari ST. He's a smashing lad, and life is obviously TOS-taSTic!

His enthusiasm changed when he discovered Donkey Island, a game he’d been eagerly anticipating, had been cancelled. Devastated by the news, Fred powered down his little green desktop computer and set off exploring his hometown to uncover the reason behind its cancellation. (not an unknown feeling in the 90s!)

That's depressing, isn't it? Well, let's check out a screenshot to cheer us all up...

The cartoon design works really well, and some drawings are superb!

He looks familiar O_o

Fred is controlled using the cursor keys, which is simple and effective. The keypad is used to interact with your surroundings and characters, who are entertaining and interesting, to say the least. Sigh, it’s even sadder now that Donkey Island wasn’t finished. The style and humour put into it are truly beautiful. Although incomplete, there is a large town to explore with some cute surprises to discover.

In its current form, this is a broken adventure game, but one we can still fully play. Getting around Fred's town is a cinch, and we have all the abilities to investigate this horrifying gaming incident. Roam, explore, and never forget to chat with the locals. They're nothing like you expect and their humour is often superb!

Although unfinished, a full exploration of the town is possible. Some rooms are complete while others aren’t, but they’re still worth exploring. That includes the game's many characters, which are available for conversation. I’m glad this “beta” was released, but the potential for what could have been is quite staggering.

Here is one of the unfinished locations...

Sadly, some areas of the game will never be finished, but at least they're left in for us to play.

Aesthetics

Each location is depicted in a cartoon style similar to a comic book. Fred walks through in a rather crude but functional fashion. The artwork isn't exactly brilliant, but the amateurish quality works wonders. I love the way we communicate with others and our surroundings, which is quite unique in style.

The sound effects are good, but what I love is the technique used for speech - it reminds me of Charlie Brown's teacher. Come on, tell me you can't hear that, too? Well, I think it's superb :)

So here is another screenshot, and my daughter says he looks like me...

Exploration is always the key to success, and there are lots of (hidden) locations.

The CryptO'pinion?

Donkey Island had incredible potential and would have been a fascinating adventure. It still is, of course, albeit unfinished. I've enjoyed playing what is potentially a killer product that offers a different approach to doing things. All whilst being thoroughly entertaining with a wonderful sense of humour, strange locations and the silliest characters. Trust me, this is a hidden gem and something truly brilliant.

I wholeheartedly recommend you play this outstanding adventure game!!

THE DOWNLOAD

Walls Of Illusion

Sit back and relax for it's Jackanory time!

I picked up a random (#101) issue of Atari ST User magazine (see below) from my collection and sat down for a good read with a nice cuppa joe. All of a sudden, I almost spat out my coffee in disbelief. There it was. Something I had forgotten about: my old Motelsoft favourite - Walls Of Illusion.

How could I have forgotten about this?? Perhaps I'm crazy!! Yes, but, for those who don't know, Walls Of Illusion is a "Dungeon Master" follow-up to Arcan, released in 1993/4 (shareware). This is an impressive and extremely well-made RPG, so I think I should lock myself away for a few days to relive it.

Has anyone played this RPG? I'd love to know if there are any fans. I remember playing this like crazy, even though I would never have come close to finishing it! Anyhow, I feel like I've just been reunited with an old friend and I'm so happy! Atarimania has the registered version to download. Go on, get it. Play it. Live it!!

It's time to be flabbergasted because
Motelsoft still has a website w/ Atari ST downloads!