Jug

Big Jugs

This is a scrolling shooter by one of my favourite companies, Microdeal. It's set in the future, and we are tasked to save Spiraeus, a living planet suffering from a nasty tumour that needs to be eliminated. However, the autoimmune system thinks you're a threat, so it unleashes its defences, intent on your demise!!

This sounds really silly, but stick with me because Jug was programmed by Paul Hunter (Armour-Geddon) and is no lazy Amiga port. In fact, quite the opposite and certainly pushes our old STFM to the limit in terms of the visuals. Playing Jug is a strange and frantic affair, combining elements from games like Blood Money, Droid, and Return To Genesis. Sometimes combinations like this fail, and sometimes they work.

Check out this screenshot...

Some eye candy is ghastly, whereas others are great examples of beautiful pixel art.

One smooth shooter

Our ship can move left and right and even fly, but it is affected by gravity, as in Alien World, and requires fuel top-ups. The controls are responsive, but the movements are a bit sluggish, making it hard to dodge the nasties without depleting precious energy. The action is relentless with baddies constantly zipping across the screen in waves of attack; it’s a frantic, never-ending hell. If you crave excitement, you've got it!

However, they aren't the brightest bulbs and appear to move/shoot blindly with little AI, thus it's like they aren't aware of our presence. Weaponry is an upgradeable mixed bag; however, the plasma gun is mounted far too low to be fully effective. How did that happen? Anyhow, replacing that with a laser cannon is lots of fun!!

Playing Jug is never dull, because the action is near-constant and challenging. It will take practice to beat, as the map layout is quite confusing. The enemies increase the pace of gameplay to a crazy level, making the whole journey thrilling. Or at least try to - this is a tough game that will eat away your spare hours.

Well, I'm sick of typing and wanna show off a screenshot...

Look out for teleporters... And when death comes, it's pretty demoscene-y. Which I love!

Aesthetics

The best thing about Jug isn't its humorous name (based on the ship's barrel-chested assets!!) but its visuals, gorgeously designed by Martin Kenwright. It boasts ultra-smooth parallax scrolling with a metallic palette - so you should use a real Atari ST to fully appreciate the graphics breezing across your screen.

The music is a masterpiece by Paul Shields, so leave the main menu be to enjoy its chiptune. In comparison, the sound effects are overshadowed, but they do their job well enough compared to the stunning music.

Let's see a screenshot of my successful gaming skill...

Arghh, not again? Is it me? Am I actually this bad at games? How could this be? O_o

The CryptO'pinion?

Jug has all the makings of a brilliant shoot 'em up, but some strange mechanics dampened my enthusiasm. Instead, I recommend any of the above-mentioned games along with Uridium, Cybernoid, or Sideways!! The difficulty is overwhelming thanks to a confusing map and the constant enemy onslaught.

Technically superb, but I'm on the fence because it's left me with mixed feelings. Plus, the need to use a trainer. Or am I wrong?? What do you guys think about this game? Well, let me know in the comments.

If you have a hard drive or Ultrasatan, then grab this superb download.

Floppy disk addicts can find Jug on the Atari Legend website.

Finally, and untested by me, here is how to get infinite energy and extra lives:
 Press and hold the ESC key on the title screen, then use the mouse to click the right-hand edge of the screen. This should help the game be a little more achievable. You'll need it!!

Army Moves

Reliving Christmas 1987

The last time I played Army Moves was probably on my Spectrum +3 just before moving up to the Atari ST. I remember it being part of Ocean's Live Ammo (that was a great compilation). It was extremely sluggish, very hard, and I was rubbish at it. Yep, so I never managed to beat the first level (stop laughing).

Army Moves was developed by Dinamic, who brought us After The War. It has many ideas borrowed from a variety of great(er) games, and it begins with us trundling over a damaged bridge in a surprisingly well-armed jeep. This can fire an infinite supply of rockets at the constantly attacking enemies whilst hopping over potholes in the hope of safely reaching the other side Hmmm? ...cough cough... Moon Patrol.

I think that we need a screenshot of this unoriginal opening level...

The jeep is brilliant with good handling and fantastic leaping abilities! Yeah!! ;)

When variety isn't the spice of life!

The following level has us flying a helicopter over enemy territory protected by planes - blindly shooting whether you're in their sights or not. The controls are lethargic, making it difficult to avoid their shots. Don't forget to manually land on the helipad at the end - otherwise, you suffer a suckers' death!

The next part is more of the same, which is disappointing and extremely tough. It's now that you realise I've used a trainer because there was no way I could complete this stage without it. The final levels take us through the jungle, avoiding grenades and silly buzzards, before it flips into something resembling Joe Blade.

The first level is the best, while the others are too difficult with too many enemies. Ultimately, it's a Dinamic game, and that means ridiculously tough, so you won't beat stage two without resorting to a cheat.

Wanna see a screenshot? How about one that feels odd as it scrolls in the wrong direction...

Reversed scrolling is weird and doesn't feel right, so it makes stage two quite frustrating!!

Speccy aesthetics

Visually, I like Army Moves, but that's probably because I'm fondly reminded of my colour-clash days on the Speccy? The graphics are barebones, but I must admit, everything scrolls along nicely, and I like the detail in the sprites. The helicopter levels feature parallax scrolling, which is a neat touch I appreciated.

David Whittaker's music plays throughout and isn't his best work, but it's still good enough. Nuff said.

Brace yourself for the final screenshot...

Honestly, I swear that jeep doesn't only leap whenever I need a screenshot!

The CryptO'pinion?

I liked some of Dinamic's ideas, but it tries too hard to be cool. They spoiled it with ludicrously-long levels, which is made worse by being sent back to the start after losing a life!! Ignoring the enjoyable Jeep stage, I find it difficult to recommend this game - just play Moon Patrol, Silkworm, or Joe Blade instead.

Army Moves could have been great, but it feels like a rushed 8-bit conversion with a fistful of frustration. Unlike the Spectrum game, our conversion feels like a glammed-up quick port and one that lost much playability thanks to faster mechanics; scrolling, enemies, etc. What was Dinamic thinking?

The first level is the best, but the rest of the game is too difficult to be entertaining.

Wear camo and grab the floppies or hard disk version!

Alien World

STs cannot scroll

Alien World is a shoot 'em up by Gary Antcliffe (Blazing Thunder/Yogi's Great Escape) and was released in 1992 by Hi-Tec Premier Software. Ignoring the dreadful title tune, the game is a cross between the likes of Menace and R-Type, with a dollop of Venus Flytrap thrown in for good measure. Which is always gonna be ace!

The action is relentless and immediately hits you with a ton of pitfalls like red-hot streams of molten lava that shoot up from glowing pools. It isn't long before you feel a little Blood Money creeping in as the scrolling alternates between horizontal & vertical. I liked the parts that don't automatically scroll, allowing you to move at your own leisure. Gravity plays a part in affecting your movement, think Flappy Bird or SantaFly!

Graphically, Alien World is outstanding with ultra-smooth scrolling, best experienced using a real Atari ST. Everything is exquisite, rich colours, detailed sprites, and fluent movement. Sadly, audio is a different story with no in-game tune and weak sound effects. A few decent chiptunes would have been perfect!

Gameplay is what matters, and I’m impressed with this challenging shooter. While it has an immense learning curve, Blood Money fans will enjoy it. Like many 16-bit games of the era, it’s incredibly tough and requires a cheat. However, it’s a game that keeps you coming back for that satisfying "just one more go".

Alien World is great and will keep you entertained for hours. It’s so challenging, but I absolutely love it.

Download on Floppy or HDD.

Right from the off, you'll need to get used to gravity, which is instantly annoying.

The aliens are badass and relentless. This makes Blood Money look so easy!!

The second level is superb with lots of power-ups and different baddies.

I love the Menace-like futuristic feel, and it proves the ST can scroll - when in the hands of talent.

What you thought this was only horizontally scrolling? It's now that things get insanely harder!!!