R0x Zero

Blink, and You’re Space Dust

Who remembers R0x, which was a peculiar game of scrape 'em? Yes, I just invented that genre! Anyhow, you couldn’t shoot a thing; instead, you brushed dangerously close to drifting rocks in deep space for points. I enjoyed that idea because I’m not often a fan of vertical shooters, preferring horizontal ones instead. Ironic for an Atari ST fella, right? Umm, maybe you should watch this video recording I made.

R0x Zero is its 2018 sequel; it changes the original format into a nonstop, frantic shooter inspired by Terry Cavanagh’s Self-Destruct (PC). It's programmed by Tomchi in GFA BASIC, which boggles my mind. It features a continuous level with no additional ones or bosses to contend with. It's a relentless onslaught of enemies trying to erase you from existence through randomly generated attack waves.

You’ll need an Atari STe with 1MB RAM and, oddly enough, a Jaguar controller. Those three buttons handle fire, shields, and nukes. It’s an arcade-like setup that makes total sense. And this isn’t STe-only for only that reason: R0x Zero makes full use of the Blitter, hardware scrolling, DMA audio, and enough extra colours to make your eyes jump out of your head with joy. Shame there’s no mouse option, though - I’d happily trade the Jagpad for the mouse, even if it meant reaching for the spacebar to nuke the screen.

This game isn't easy. Not even close! Your survival hinges on quick reactions and using the three meters displayed on the right side of the screen: Power, Shields, and Nukes. The key is to repeatedly collect the power-ups that appear after killing the enemies to keep these meters topped up. If you let Power drop too low, your guns fizzle into pea-shooters that can’t cope with the chaos. Shields help soak up bullet damage, and nukes give you a much-needed breather when things get overwhelming. Which happens a lot for me!

At the left of the screen, above your score, are 'chain' and 'multi': chain represents the successive hits you've made, so the better you are, the more your points are multiplied. The screen never gets a breather, and neither will you. The trick is to keep calm and hit everything - but keep topping up your power-ups when they appear. And if you see a power-up called 'X', then make a beeline for that above all others!

In essence, R0x Zero is about endurance and perseverance, whilst wishing you still had the physical reactions of a teenager. There’s no level progression, just a brutal test of how long you can last against never-ending waves of enemies. All whilst desperately managing your power-ups and pushing your multiplier to rack up your score. It’s an endless adrenaline trial to see how long you last and how high you can climb the ranks.

Good luck with this wonderfully outlandish shooter. You're gonna need all the luck you can muster!

• The download is available at Atarimania (for both hard drive and floppy).
• Demozoo features all credits with links to more of their work and more.
• R0x Zero goes straight into the enhanced Atari STe games list.
• Did you miss the original R0x? Better click that link then!
• For this feature, all screenshots were taken using emulation. Use real hardware!!

'Poor' lol. You must play using real hardware; emulation won't cut it!

Sardonic

Another brand new game!!

Sardonic is a brand new (well, for the Atari ST) vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up recently released by José Mário. Yep, it's already out on other (lesser) systems, so it's fantastic to see it getting a 16-bit Fuji conversion!! Now, I love getting my grubby mitts on anything new for the Atari ST, so let's see what the fuss is about.

This game is basically an oldskool styled shooter, and the idea is to blast many aliens, use power-ups, kill the end-of-level boss, and repeat. These aliens are constantly invading the screen in waves using various attack patterns - and from three sides of the screen. Our spaceship can only fire upwards, but can move in all directions rather than being limited to just left/right, ala Space Invaders. It works brilliantly, too, I might add!

Righto, let's quit the reading for a few screenshots...

Each type of alien is unique, and the power-ups will help to recover lost lives and much more!

Sardonic is an arcade-style shooter, so I loved it from the start.

Hey, check out that funky mothership!

The Atari ST conversion has a few enhancements: extra power-ups, different enemies and new attacking styles. This is cool and even more so when you remember than this is Jose's first Atari release!! Hold onto your hat because he's also implemented support for both ST models making use of the Blitter = ultra-smooth 50fps action!

This is a tough game. At first, I didn't last long, and it took a few more attempts before I came close to reaching the first boss! The action feels familiar, but it isn't some cheap clone of Space Invaders, Phoenix or even Galaga, but instead feels more like a game of dodgeball - in space! You can only fire a couple of shots at once, and the enemy will come at you using some seriously wacky patterns, so be prepared to battle hard.

Blasting five of these blighters into smithereens will result in a random bonus for speed, armour, bombs and so on. This will help newcomers, and thus, I eventually got into the flow and reached the fourth guardian, which you can see in my video recording. Hint: if I were you, I'd save all those bombs for these bosses!

Wimps need not apply. Hey, come back!!! Here are some more screenshots...

After attacking from all directions, their boss shows up for some gun love!

I hate Stealth ships; they're so tough to destroy.

...and then their Mummy Stealth turned up to the fight!

16-Bit Aesthetics?

Well, no. There's not much to see beyond a black background populated with a few stars, so quite disappointing. The enemy sprites make up for that with nice colours and brisk movement, and I'm talking 50fps, which is gloriously smooth. Love it, I just wish the background had "more" to it, other than a few stars.

The title screen is great with funky chiptune music, but it's less impressive afterwards. The in-game sound effects are insufficient, with the YM chip having only three uses: firing, pickup, and explosions. That is it! I personally think more could have been done to dazzle. Especially for the Atari STe using DMA samples.

It's hardly another Xenon II in terms of aesthetics, but who cares about that...

Can you believe this? I made it to level four, WooHoo!!

Until the boss turned up and whooped me...sigh!

So cruel... LOL

The CryptO'pinion?

Sardonic is a good shooter, alright. I love how the aliens attack in many different formations, and the frequency of power-ups is excellent. It's quite repetitive, but this is a fun arcade blaster and addictive. It's impressive to think that one guy was behind all the development and also supported Atari STe graphical hardware.

A slick shooter and something new that I have really enjoyed. So go and grab Sardonic now!!

https://madaxe-pns.github.io/sardonic/

Mystical

The French have their own unique style of humour!

Infogrames has once again delivered something truly unique and special. In Mystical, players embark on a magical adventure, battling bizarre creatures. As a novice magician under the tutelage of the Grand Wizard, he's eager to learn but quick to make silly mistakes like losing precious scrolls and phials. Now, he must travel to parallel worlds to retrieve them. Prepare for the most unexpected journey of your life!

Our quest will take us into strange places to battle against wacky characters: Buzzards, shepherds, faithless Monks, reptiles, sea creatures, farmers, little girls, Vikings, walking trees, and more. Most will throw something at you or chase you. Sounds mad, right? It certainly is, and I'm sure everyone will love its silliness.

I cannot continue without showing screenshots of just how unique this game is...

I must say, the palettes used are pastel-perfect, and with lovely artistic tones too.

The characters you meet are... different! What a weird game this is.

Magically weird

The big man has granted permission to use his magic. This means the ability to cast spells that provide unique ways to dispose of our foes. For example, the ring of fire scorches anyone who dares to get too close, whereas the blue ring deflects enemy attacks. Another will open up the ground to swallow our victims, which is superb. Possibly the best of all is shouting "Boo" to shoo off anything nasty. Seriously!!

As you collect them, a spell activates immediately, but if you are quick, slap that Spacebar to stockpile it for later use - in combination with the Return key. Yes, it's a cumbersome design, but it works well if ever you're struggling. Each level ends when you reach the pentagram for a battle with an end-of-level boss - the first throws babies at you! Once defeated, a large sphere appears and whisks you off to the next level.

I'm sure you're thinking this is weird. And you're right, it is!! But it's brilliantly weird...

Collect the funky power-ups and use all magic spells to the best of your ability!

I'm tripping out here, but three blue dudes appear and cause me trouble.

Aesthetics!

The visuals are gorgeous with smooth scrolling across beautiful landscapes. All use an impressive and pleasing palette, I might add. However, it's the tremendous quantity and quality of the characters that steal the limelight. Never have I seen such gorgeous sprites with humour and detailed animation.

I must take off my hat and commend Olivier Roge and Jocelyn Valais for such amazing work. Take a look at these screenshots and tell me you're not impressed by the sprites and even the artwork as a whole? Possibly one of the best examples of 16-bit pixel art I've seen in a game.

The audio is a mixed bag. The sound effects are ace, using samples for each character and other things like the spells. All great, and I adore the "Bla Bla Bla", which reminded me of the speech in Donkey Island. Sadly, the title music is awful, and I can’t understand why they used low-quality samples over a chiptune.

Fancy another screenshot? What about silly faces to start off...

Hey, what's that? I've got a doppelganger to help me out.

Who are those people in the cages? Enemies, so don't help them!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Mystical is a generic shoot 'em up, albeit with cool power-ups and humour. (I never knew the French had a sense of humour? heh). Unfortunately, it’s repetitive, and the end-of-level bosses are frustrating. Regardless, it’s clear that a lot of time and effort went into Mystical’s production. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and I’m sure most gamers will appreciate its distinctive style and personality. A rather silly game you're gonna love!

Grab a magic wand and help our magician out?

Download for floppy or a hard drive.

r0x

Asteroids?

Set within deep space, you are Commander Perez, who humorously finds himself alone in uncharted space during a meteor storm. R0x was released in 2009 by NoExtra / RGCD and programmed by YMRockerz's Nicolas Flandin (Tomchi). It may look like an Asteroids, but it's not. It's an Atari STe game that requires quick reactions to pilot your spacecraft through a continuously hectic asteroid field. This is a game of dodge and scrape!

Before you load it up - make sure you read the storyline within the 'Readme' file included in the download. What a brilliant read and it had me laughing at loud. It's genuinely superb!!

Anyhow, let's quickly stop for a screenshot whilst you dig out that readme file...

Hang on, this isn't Asteroids!

Yeah, this isn't the arcade shooter that I first imagined. Instead, it's an avoid 'em that requires skill and careful timing to skim past hundreds of rocks zooming down your screen. It may sound simple, but the rocks are flying furiously at great speeds and range from iddy-biddy stones to huge planet killers. There is a distance counter at the top/right of the screen that indicates how long you need to survive before the level ends.

The longer you last, the faster the rocks move - many zooming diagonally - and are intent on squashing you into pieces. Your ship is equipped with smart bombs to zap the local area when things get too hair-raising. This also offers a brief moment to rest from the rocky onslaught, but it's not long before they're back!

I love it when games explain the basics, just like in this screenshot...

This is different. I like different!

A range of bonuses is available for daring pilots to collect - letters that spell out "EXTRA" for another life, but watch out for the fakes, especially the blue one, which inverts your controls! You shall see Treasure Rocks, which look different from the rest and offer up points should you bump into them. There are even teeny cosmonauts floating helplessly in space, just itching to be rescued - a lot harder than you imagine!

Skilled pilots can scrape their ship alongside any rock for a hike in bonus points, but the risk of being obliterated makes this a dangerous job. Interestingly, co-op is supported for those lucky enough to have friends or, like me, a gullible 7-year-old opponent who is eager to be my next victim!! This game mode also involves dodging more of those space rocks, but with the added incentive to rescue 20 astronauts for the win.

For such a humble game the graphics are fantastic with beautiful colours and movement, all by C-Rem, Heavy Stylus, and Templeton. Audio is the bee's knees with utterly fantastic chiptunes by Crazy_Q, TomChi, and DMA-SC. I will fight anybody that dares to disagree with me!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Shoot 'em up fans might be disappointed that R0X isn't ... well ... a shoot 'em up! No, it's a game of avoidance, I guess. It's straightforward and easy to pick up and play, but tough to master. Each level becomes progressively challenging, and I guarantee it's nowhere near as easy as you imagine. The rock-scraping mechanics add to the appeal and longevity. R0x is unexpectedly different and tremendously addictive!

The latest version is available from RGCD along with everything else. Additionally, a secret menu is unlocked if your high score beats 800,000. Easy, right? Send in your screenshots. Hmm, I thought so! :p

SWIV

Blue Thunder

Sometimes you need a stress release from this strange world, and today I did just that thanks to SWIV. What an exceptional shooter - I blasted the living daylights out of those military bad boys using my massive chopper! Hang on... Nevermind... This game has great graphics, sounds, and timeless action. Love it all.

Yup, this is a cracking game, so I decided to record a video. Please subscribe to my channel, as 95% of visitors aren't. Oddly, the emulator felt a little slower compared to my real Atari STe, and the sound effects were not quite as bold. Perhaps it's just me, but I felt a difference, but nothing ever beats the real hardware.

Klaz has a fantastic download that can even be installed onto a hard drive!

Just for giggles... Moments ago, my hard drive started to make strange whirring noises, almost like it was trying to spin-up, but couldn't. I think SWIV actually killed it, but I shouldn't complain because it was the original drive and therefore 24 years old. 

Now that's value for money!!