Into The Eagle's Nest

'Allo 'Allo!

Into the Eagles Nest is an overhead Gauntlet-like shooter set within a castle, heavily occupied by hundreds of Nazi soldiers. Our orders are simple: infiltrate the castle, rescue three allied soldiers, and then detonate the hidden explosives. Well, leaving without blowing the place to kingdom come would just be rude!!

As soon as the game begins, the battle is on against an onslaught of soldiers who eagerly patrol the dingy corridors. Sneaking into the enemy's lair was the easy part; now we've gotta blast through, guns blazing, to rescue our fellow Allied soldiers before General Von Klinkerhoffen orders their execution (geddit?).

The overhead perspective works a treat, especially for the first screenshot...

Look for keys, health and ammo because you never know what's gonna happen next!

Search, Shoot, Kill

As you explore, look for anything that may assist: the health packs help repair hits you've endured. An ammo stash will replenish your Nazi-killing abilities. Of course, elevator keys need no explanation, but don't be quick to use these because you should fully explore the current level (more than you might realise).

Don't forget to disable the messages telling you what item has been collected... so annoying!!

Sometimes it pays shoot less and think more. For example: use door keys wisely. These unlock parts of the map out of limits, but some doors were bought from Ikea and need a little gun love to bust open!! Not all the enemy wander the corridors looking for trouble; some soldiers have had too much beer and fallen flat-out cold drunk. An easy target or unnecessary if low on ammo? Remember to watch the status panel because you can withstand 50 hits, which sounds a lot, but even Rambo would die without a careful tactical approach.

Enough reading as it's time for another screenshot, so brace yourself...

Shoot the barrels and make your way to a secret area with items to collect.

Aesthetics

The graphics are superbly 8-bit. Everything is clunky and big, and the backdrops are gorgeous, representing the castle perfectly. However, it's the objects and enemy sprites that steal the show, from the soldiers and discarded items of food, gold, etc/etc. However, best of all, those guys slumped out drunk!

As for the audio, the title screen music is flunky, but good. I'm more of a chip guy, but I still liked it. In-Game sound effects are all samples and really nice too, but I miss a background chippy tune if I'm honest.

I hope you're enjoying this, Mr ST Nutter? If not, why are you still here? Oh, for the screenshot...

Sneak by and pinch their food [oddly on the floor]. Hang on, they're asleep? BAM BAM BAM!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a classic game that’s easy to rate because it’s an excellent thinker-shooter with loads of covert action. Pure enjoyment, that's challenging, and utterly engrossing for the most determined players.

Stop reading this review and play the game. Yes, right now.

Grab this cracker on a floppy or hard drive.

Alien Blast

A quick news flash!!

Our Atari world is buzzing with news of Matthieu Isorez giving away his copy of Alien Blast!! Previous public releases crashed on level 3 due to data corruption, and we've needed the original disks/files. Finally, we have them and can play the later levels - which is exactly how I plan to spend the rest of my Sunday!!!

More to come when I have the time. Thanks to Marko Latvanen @AtariMania for the heads-up :)

Alien Thing

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

Alien Thing was released late in the ST's life by 999 Software for Top Byte and is an Alien Breed shooter. So, if you've ever played that or others like Alien Syndrome, Gauntlet or Storm, then you'll know exactly what to expect from this overhead shoot 'em up. It's the same old story: heading for Earth is a distant spaceship filled to the brim with a vicious alien horde hungry for our blood. It's time to tool up, sneak on board, and begin mercilessly killing anything that looks like it bites. Oh, and they all bite, so beware!

The spaceship is split into 11 levels, with each requiring a mission to be completed. The first starts off simple (kill everything!!), with later missions more complex. If you fail, then you are immediately sent straight back to the beginning. This is a bit of a bummer, especially when coming into deadly contact with alien blood.

This ship is huge, yet with a clear definition in design, so you won't lose your bearings! There are locked doorways, but almost every corridor has some kind of door that can be opened, one way or another. Key cards are a good idea, and can usually be found hidden inside the blue cabinets - along with other bonuses like a 1UP and ammo. Use these cards wisely because not every door needs to be immediately opened.

We need to stop reading and view a couple of scary Alien screenshots...

Argh, those green pools of acid! Let's get rid of 'em right away!

I love those splatter effects - they are quite messy but in a good way!

They mostly come out at night, mostly

Joystick controls are responsive, so it's fun exploring the ship, even if I move quicker than the aliens! These beasts are everywhere - so stay frosty - because they can withstand several hits before turning into a splattered mess. Their eggs must be blown up before a new alien is born and pops out to eat you!

Dead aliens leave behind pools of poisonous slime that need to be destroyed before you can pass (how I wish that was possible in the Jag's AvP). Each of your weapons has varying levels of effectiveness, and the flamethrower is awesome, so try searching the orange cabinets for it. However, I'm not too happy with the laser, which needs to be recharged too frequently for my liking. It could have lasted a bit longer!

So, we have great joystick controls and lots of aliens to kill. This game is fantastic and something you need to download and play. However, there are also a couple of other versions you might wanna try...

• Alien Thing has two "sequels" which you might wanna check out? There is an Exper Edition which was designed to be more challenging. However, I found many of the changes actually made the gameplay ridiculously difficult, thus frustrating. 
• There is also a Director's Cut that never got released. Thankfully, there is a demo and this game looked incredibly promising!! It features a change of visual perspective, new enemies/missions, and lots of DMA sound effects.

Alien Thing (above) and the updated Expert Edition (lower)

This is a simple example of the differences, ie: map changes, items, pools of gunk, etc.

Close your eyes, baby

No, open your eyes wide to enjoy the sci-fi graphics, as everything is well-designed, and I liked the contrast of vivid colours against the spaceship's metallic structure. Plus, the near-luminous green aliens really do stand out, even if they walk like squashed spiders! Sadly, the scrolling isn't too great and should have been smoother - it's disappointing that the Atari STe's hardware scrolling wasn't used to full effect. WHYYYY??

The audio is fantastic with effects for just about every action (the older STfm does as well as it can, but this game is best run on the Atari STe). Many of them are ripped. I like the Star Trek doors opening, but a few are crude. That doesn't mean they're not superb, because they are genuinely entertaining. The weirdest of all is when an alien dies, which is almost as strange as our own pitiful death cry.

Alien Thing looks and sounds great, so that can only mean one thing! Yes, it's screenshot time...

Explore everywhere and leave lots of dead bodies in your wake!



Tooled up and patrolling the corridors... Surely, this is a gamer's perfect dream?

I guess we’re not leaving soon?

Okay, we're done with the Alien quotes - did you get them all? This is a belting game, but nothing is perfect, and I have a few things to whine about. For example, when a corridor is blocked by a pool of slime that's impossible to destroy because it's too close to a wall. Also, one touch of slime means instant death! Plus, it's silly having just one sound effect for a shot - regardless of the weapon. Whoa, let's end the moaning, please!

Alien Thing is a decent take on the Alien theme. To think this came from a small company late in the ST's life is marvellous. It's superb, with a nifty balance of arcade-style action, exploration, and strategic thinking. The missions are challenging and enjoyable, but I never felt overwhelmed by the maze-like design.

Yup, I absolutely love Alien Thing. It's a blast, and you will love it too, so stop your grinnin' and drop your linen - this is a seriously addictive shooter!! (I just had to get one last quote in there, didn't I?)

Several different downloads are available, and some are bad. So I've bundled together the best versions, which you can freely download from my Dropbox.

For those struggling, there is a genius password system!
Press the "/?" key on the menu to use these codes:
PARTY,  WORK,  LARD,  WHEEE,  HELLO,
HARD,  GOSH,  NIGHT,  PEN,  RULER

Death Chase - The Remix

This is a STOS game. Wait, come back!!

That's right, Death Chase was programmed in STOS, a tool that can produce some neat results, but... sometimes... leaves me feeling cold. Usually, that's down to the jerky scrolling or oversized sprites! Anyhow, I thought it was going to be a remake of Mervyn Estcourt's ZX Spectrum racer. Alas, it isn't.

Actually, I'm glad!!! This is a vicious top-down shooter developed in 1996 by Daniel Fielding for the Atari STe, drawing inspiration from a variety of action shooters. It even supports both solo and an incredibly cooperative two-player mode. Yep, this is sounding awesome already, whether you're playing solo or not.

Our character roams through Rogue-like locations and is armed with a pistol. It's our task to explore the rooms that are inhabited by cyborgs armed to the teeth!! Death Chase is loud, exciting and bursting with big explosions and many baddies. It's intense!! Come on, we have guns and many bad guys to kill. Bring it on!!

Wanna see a screenshot from my (one-player) game? No? Well, tough luck...

Each room holds so many possibilities for a whole new level of violence!!

Guns and loud violence?

We start with a pistol, but our armoury is huge with a possible 18 weapons - including shotguns, rocket launchers, and lasers. Also, Star Wars fans will love the lightsaber. Ammo and health are found in most rooms, so inspect lockers and tabletops. Beware of potential traps, such as mines or even TNT crates!

The deaths are hilarious! Zap, slice, or blow up the enemy, and there is often a bucketload of blood splattering throughout the room! Each death will be different depending on the weapon used (how he's killed). And death leads me onto the excellent continue option - that means you can try again after dying - without restarting from the beginning. However, you lose the bigger weapons and start with the pistol. :/

This might be a bold statement, especially because the Atari ST has games like Rick Dangerous, Lemmings, and Gods, but I think Death Chase has the best death scenes. Ignoring the enemy's deaths, ours are just as great. Which is an odd thing to say. Getting shotgun-blasted and seeing your body thrown across (numerous) rooms into a bloody heap is nothing short of sickening & hilarious all at the same time. Fantastic!!

This is an alluring game stuffed with an insane amount of violence, and I love it! Screenshot time...

Death Chase has bucket loads of fun. Either solo or with a friend.

Enemies?

This may sound like the weakest part of the game, as there are only two enemies. I know, just two enemies sounds puny, doesn't it? Well, on one level it is, but it isn't a problem whatsoever. Let's see...

Security Guards - these are common and wear blue uniforms, but have no intention to serve and protect. Not in the slightest! Their armour is weak, but they can use a range of devastating weapons and will often attack in numbers. Be warned.

Eliminators - these are the toughest and stand out like sore thumbs in their girly yellow body armour. They carry a range of advanced hardware, like a mini-gun or a rocket launcher. Also, they don't care who gets in their way - even unlucky Security Guards can be torn to shreds during a pursuit. Interestingly, these guys aren't restricted to the current room and love chasing you through many screens. So beware because running away like a chicken has little benefit.

Strangely, having only two baddies is odd, but it works well, so let's see a screenshot...

Only one guy stood between me and that ammo. So I fried him alive. Mwahaha!!

Controls, Gfx, Audio

Similar to Rogue, movements are performed within a grid layout in all 4-directions. However, I would not recommend using the joystick because it's too sensitive, and the documentation advises using the keyboard. It's dead easy: the A and D keys are used to turn anti/clockwise. W walks us through the Spacebar, which lets us choose from an array of weapons (read the docs). Finally, banging on the Right Shift key produces an enormous amount of gratifying blood-soaked violence (I love the double-barrel shotgun - Doom beating!!). If I had to quickly describe the controls, weaponry, and violence. It would be: absurdly superb!!

The graphics remind me of how today's developers seem to think "retro gaming" looked in the day. It ain't no Enchanted Land, but I'm impressed by the perfect pixel art, which is well-suited to the theme. Everything you see is gorgeously drawn with fine attention to detail. Needless to say, I love the visuals :-)

The audio is equal to the stunning visuals in all respects, thanks to an array of incredible Mad Max chiptunes. These tunes play alongside the sound effects - which are crystal-clear DMA samples for almost every action you can think of. You will recognise many of these; they were recorded using Microdeal's Stereo Master from movies like The Evil Dead. Wow, so much effort went into every aspect of this killer game!!

Keyboard. Keyboard. Keyboard. Keyboard. Keyboard. Got that? Good. Okay, screenshot time...

Death Chase is almost like a nightmarish and blood-soaked version of Rogue!!

This is why we play Atari!!

What a pleasure it is to play Death Chase - The Remix. It's good when a game comes along that not only takes you by surprise but also completely blows you away. Death Chase first appeared modest, gimmicky, and perhaps even stupidly senseless. But a few moments pass during your first game, and you are HOOKED. Use the keyboard and enjoy the frantic action, which is exhilarating and bursting with bloody mayhem.

I can't stress how much of a rush it is to experience such a psychotic shooter. The unexpected "continue" feature is a great addition. Likewise, supporting two players spices it up beyond perfection, guaranteeing hours of fun. It's barbaric, and Death Chase is one of the best games I've played. Well done, Daniel Fielding.

I said that. Not only a brilliant Atari STe game, but one of the best I have ever played.

<<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>
Stop everything & download now!
<<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>

These sample screenshots show what the two-player games look like.

Gratifying violence for two players is legendary!

Oh no, I've been blasted. That means...

...I'm blasted out of the room and thrown through to the next!!!
Before getting splattered against the wall!! LOL

Gauntlet

Dandy!

Gauntlet is an arcade masterpiece with a design that is simple yet genius. It's a combination of a dungeon crawler with an extreme kill-em-all, and this results in an unstoppable solo/multiplayer experience. Yep, 1-4 people can hack & slash through tons of hellish underground levels! Absolutely gaming heaven.

We can play as one of four groovy characters: a Warrior, an Elf, a Wizard, or a Valkyrie. Each has its own characteristics for strength and battling the nasties. I'm always the Warrior because he's bound to be the Samson of the group, and thankfully, there is no Delilah. Each needs to be fed, so don't do anything daft like shooting food, as that affects your health lol. Come on, you know how to play this classic!

Let's slap a pause on the reading for an animated GIF of Gauntlet...

A timeless arcade classic. Simple as that, really.

Four heroes against millions of monsters?

The monsters are among the most varied I have seen, which adds so much to the dungeon's feel. We have ghosts, demons, grunts, lobbers (I hate those!), and more. They have their own attributes and are usually born from a Generator - so destroy those first to cease the onslaught of hatred against you.

The objective is simple: kill the monsters and escape. We're trapped in a 100-level creepy dungeon, and everything lurking here wants to eat you. So it's up to you (and any potential co-op players) to kill everything and find the exit in order to escape the hellish catacombs. Keys are scattered everywhere to access restricted areas. You shall also note the booty conveniently left for you and collect it for extra points.

Finally, Death is here. Yep, literally Death himself, and he is almost impossible to kill, so try to avoid him if possible. This brings me nicely to the magical potions you can discover scattered about most levels. By collecting these, your chance of survival is greatly improved and will certainly help during an encounter with Death. Hint: do not assume he is a single individual making a single appearance, so be wise with your potions.

Before we get to the aesthetics, let's see a beautiful image from the game...

Whether demons or ghosts are attacking, this game is always freakishly GREAT fun!!!

Aesthetics?

Graphically, this has authentically crafted levels that look excellent. The monster sprites are just as good and must count as one of the best-looking arcade conversions for the Atari ST. However, there's a price to pay for all that glam, and it comes at the cost of framerate. This will drop when dozens of monsters are on-screen at once. Of course, faster computers like my 16MHz Mega STe (and emulators) have no such issues.

I love the audio, from the moment we hear the Da-Da-Da-Daaa begin playing. I'm hooked. This is superb and of high quality, further enhanced by in-game sampled effects. Oh, I absolutely love Gauntlet!!

Right then, one final screenshot, otherwise I'll only spoil you...

Argh, they're attacking from all corners of the dungeon!! Heeeeeelp!!

The CryptO'pinion?

There are two conclusions to draw from this 1986 release: If you're using an upgraded ST or have something like a Mega STe, TT, etc, then you're gonna love this game. However, stock STs will suffer a sluggish framerate when the screen is heavily overcrowded. Thankfully, I've just heard that Peter has updated Gauntlet to support the Blitter, which is great news for the Atari STe (that also includes the Mega ST)

Whether you play solo or not, this is an awesome shooter. Gauntlet is one of the best arcade games, and the Atari ST has another winning conversion under its belt. It's pure retro gaming gold. I love it!!

Stop whatever you're doing and download this wonderful game from Klaz' Hideaway (both hard drive & floppy versions). Klaz has implemented support for faster Atari computers and my own Mega STe (16MHz) delivered a far better framerate! This transforms the game completely - it's mind-bogglingly ACE!!

Update: Peter Putnik's version supports the Blitter!!
Download it from his website.