Certain games, I am never going to bother reviewing here on AtariCrypt because everyone already knows them. For example, Eclipse's amazingly sadistic shooter, which is the 1991 sequel to Wings of Death. So, instead, I've created a gameplay video to showcase the levels (I tried to last as long as possible without dying!). Okay, I know that there are already squillions of video recordings out there, but I feel I must add my own. Plus, this gives me the perfect opportunity to add Lethal Xcess to this ever-growing list of enhanced games.
If, like me, you are struggling to successfully play this zappy shooter, then check out my previous page for Wings of Death (linked below). Many of its gameplay tips apply here, and it's not always a case of rushing to collect every power-up dropped by these ferocious enemies! Switching weapon types will only get you into trouble, so I stick to the same weapon and upgrade it rather than switching to something else.
Grab a coffee, sit back, and watch my talented gameplay video before clicking on these links...
Floppy disks are best sourced from Atari Legend, and I used Fuzion #128.
Both PP and D-Bug have hard drive installable versions.
Those with a good memory may remember seeing Frenetic here on AtariCrypt about five years ago. My review was, ahem, less than favourable. If I remember correctly, the graphics were nice, and I thought the gameplay was well-balanced. Yet, I oddly rated it as nothing more than a cheap Amiga port. That was a long time ago, so I figured I needed to revisit Core's vertically-scrolling shooter. Let's see if I was wrong back then.
Frenetic transports us slap-bang into the 23rd Century with soulless scientists still debating over the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Well, as often happens in the world of sci-fi, life on Earth is under attack from such creatures. The aliens from the planet "Mozone". Hmm, we have to head into the unknown to pave the way for the safe travel of Earth's vessels and help prevent the extinction of humanity. Sounds like fun, right?
Before we begin, how about a screenshot? Let's do just that, so here you go...
Giant trees and rocks throughout level one, and it's pretty much green throughout!
Big levels, Big Guns, Big Monsters
There are eight ginormous levels stuffed with hundreds of aliens. Some will stroll into your line of fire, whereas others swirl majestically onto the screen. So, it's obvious what to do - bang on the fire button and kill them. Power-ups are available to upgrade your ship's firepower. They are essential and blessed with different types of upgrades: forward firepower, speed, side armaments, shields, etc. Sadly, these pickup areas are few, so I was often left vulnerable and underpowered after losing a life. Yes, power-ups are gone after dying.
Hang on a moment, do you have a friend sitting idle? Well, there is a cool option for two players, which is brilliant and certainly comes in handy on those harder levels later on. It's the best part of the game!! Sadly, I have no friends... Sniff... boohoo...
Each stage has an end-of-level boss, and these are huge beasts. When I say huge, I really do mean it. They will take lots of time and firepower to defeat, but most aren't that tough (beyond the time required). Unless you have just lost your power-ups, then you can expect that battle to last a long time... a very long time!
Let's take a break from reading and view a screenshot that looks creepy and very alien...
Later levels might look funky, but the gameplay remains exactly the same!
Aesthetics
The backgrounds are excellent on most levels, especially the first, with tons of colour. The enemies move spritely with different attack patterns, and the bosses are ginormous creatures. The vertical scrolling isn't great, which is disappointing because the Atari ST has similar games with far smoother framerates.
The music is by Martin Walker and is brilliant!! Not only that, but it works well alongside the sound effects, I thought. Sadly, that same tune plays throughout, which is disappointing and a massive shame to hear just one of Martin's tunes. We needed more, as I know I would have enjoyed listening to more of his work.
It looks pretty and sounds great, so let's celebrate with one final screenshot of a funky boss...
Some of the bosses are great, and some are... rather rubbish!
The CryptO'pinion?
Well, it looks like I wasn't wrong after all. At best, this is an average shoot 'em up, but if you can find a friend, then it will be more bearable. Well, for a few games anyhow. Frenetic needed more progression, more power-ups, and more pizzazz. So boot up something like Plutos, Wings Of Death, SWIV, or Flying Shark.
What I liked: the first couple of levels have well-balanced gameplay, and I even reached the third stage - without cheating! However, the best feature is the two-player mode, which is fantastic and certainly helps to (partially) compensate for the things I am now about to moan about.
What I didn't like: the power-ups are needed to defeat the bosses, but these are lost after losing a life, and new pick-ups are scarce. Each level is a long slog without variety, excitement or progression, and the repetitive tune becomes irritating. I'm getting a whiff of a rushed Amiga port.
Reading this back, I feel that I'm being harsh. Or perhaps I'm in a bad mood? Am I wrong? Is this a great shoot 'em up, and I'm talking nonsense? Feel free to let me know what you guys think in the comments.
Atari Legend has loads of floppy menu disks. Wow, so many!!
D-Bug has the best version for a hard drive with far quicker loading times.
Rob & Lee, coder and artist for Frenetic. Gee whiz, thanks, guys. It's a lame ending screen, too!
Here is something different, plus its box intrigued me with screenshots that appear to be a mix of Toobin' and Mystical. It's almost like those games had a baby - then dropped it, picked it up, wiped away the blood, and then dropped it again. You might laugh, but I really, really don't know what to make of this one.
Liberator is a vertical shooter that throws you into the cockpit of a Tactical Hover Gun Craft on a mission to rescue captured Federation comrades from aliens. Each stage has you blasting enemies and smashing open prison cells to free the captives, before diving through a warp gate to the next battle zone.
It might look tacky, but how often have we played a corker with bad graphics? Exactly. Let's play...
Navigate by alien wreckages, remembering to collect the ammo caches...
...while you kill the ugly aliens, of course!
It looks like a bad dream!
Having never heard of Liberator, I was clearly unprepared for what to expect, as shown in my video recording!! We start at the bottom of the level, and, as the screen scrolls, aliens emerge from the ground or approach us. While they’re easy to shoot due to their slow pace, they can attack in hordes, so stay alert!
Liberator was coded by Tim Moore, who gave us excellent games like Verminator and also the legendary Beyond the Ice Palace. Okay, everybody has to start somewhere, so I can only assume he learnt many lessons from programming this shoot 'em up? Ahem... :]
Reaching the end of level one is easy, and then it’s a matter of freeing a captive by shooting the bars of his cell. You’ll then be whisked away into psychedelic gateways leading to the next level. Disclaimer: As guys, we’re not exactly known for reading the instructions, so here is my advice: aim for the square that's flashing. It’s the only way to progress; otherwise, you’ll be stuck repeating the same level. Which is ridiculous!
Wanna see more screenshots? Well, tough, because here they are...
The aliens might be slow, but they're determined to play chase.
Surely, this is the silliest game you've ever seen?
Aesthetics
Visually, the Atari ST is being pushed to its absolute limits. No, not really, as it's pretty lame with poorly designed backgrounds and wandering aliens that you cannot help but laugh at. The scrolling is smooth, albeit with some occasional slowdown, which is odd because there isn't ever a whole lot going on.
The sound effects are quite poor but serve their purpose for shooting, picking up items, and so on. However, the music was created by Wally Beben, and it's shockingly bad. No, terrible!!! I don't get it. Wally is incredibly talented, with a raft of excellent tunes to his name, but what was he thinking here? Turn it off!
We've reached the end, shall we rescue the caged guy and carry on scrolling...
Free your man and then get ready for teleportation.
Make sure you choose the correct square!
The CryptO'pinion?
Liberator is fun for a couple of games. I came away thinking, "Hmm, not bad for 1987". Which is daft, because that era gave us Oids, Gold Runner, Plutos, and Ikari Warriors. All of which destroy Liberator!! Also, I noticed poor collision detection and landscape objects that blocked my movement and firing - Grr!!
Still, nothing is perfect (Liberator certainly proves that), but I must admit I quite enjoyed this shooter. I don't know why! Possibly because it's something I've never played before? But it's weirdly entertaining. Sure, it's not the corker I might have hoped for, but it is worth booting up just to experience something rather odd.
It's cheap, tacky, pointless, and downright rubbish. Go, kill some aliens. Enjoy!
Grab the funky Zuul floppy disk from Atari Legend.
Killing Machine is a vertically scrolling shooter by Atlantis Software released in 1992. We're on a remote planet controlled by a giant brain that identifies your sassy spaceship as an invading bacterium: vermin that needs to be wiped out!! The battlefield spans three levels with lots of kamikaze enemies out for blood.
The first thing that struck me was the graphics, which are uniquely colourful using a sweet palette. The smooth scrolling is slow and steady, with impressive enemy sprites zipping across the screen. Sound effects go beyond mere bleeps for some rather raspy samples, and that grunge works well and suits the style.
Killing Machine is brutal and requires lots of practice before you get close to beating the first level. That learning curve is nothing less than painful. Keep at it - collecting the power-ups and learning the enemy attack patterns is a must. Or you die a suckers death. This isn't the best shooter, but it's still loads of fun.
I remember the time I booted up this game, thanks to a cover disk by ST/Amiga Format. I was at college and seeing stunning graphics, without colour clash, was still new to me. This is actually a rather faithful representation of the coin-op, with superb controls and accompanied by the most memorable chip music. The play area might not slide from side to side (as in the arcades), but that isn't required, thanks to our wider resolution ratio when you think about it. Firebird released a classic shoot 'em up here.
Everything you require for a thrilling experience. Stop reading, and play this!!
I love Gold Runner; it's a technical masterpiece by legend, Steve Bak. He proved that when in the hands of a talented programmer, the Atari ST is more than capable of producing wondrous results. Other (lame) people would whine and complain, but Mr. Bak got the job done. Perfectly every time, I might add.
Honest time, I'm terrible at this ultra-fast-paced shoot 'em up (shock!!). Plus, I was never fond of that dreaded fuzzy speech. It was fine back in the day and is humorously entertaining, but it soon wears thin and distracts during gameplay. Perhaps I'm old and grumpy, but I've never really liked it. Sorry!
Good news: Peter Putnik has updated Goldrunner for hard drive installation and an option to disable the speech!! All you gotta do is press the F3 key, so clickety-click and download this update to the ST classic.
