Blasteroids

Boring old asteroids again?

Yep, once again, the galaxy is overrun with rocks that need smashing to smithereens. Well, it is Asteroids! Rocks everywhere of all shapes and sizes plus some rather strange ones too: Popcorn rocks which bloat before eventually freezing. Red rocks that leave behind crystals to conveniently recharge your shield. So are you ready for more rock blasting?

I hope so because this game is frantic and we're not alone! Along with rocks, aliens frequently rear their ugly heads! These should be killed quickly to reveal a range of nifty power-ups - such as a double shot or the impressive Ripstar.

Okay, let's end the pointless chitter-chatter with some screenshots...

Who ya gonna be? Quite the selection for different gamers.

But how tough are ya? Come on, be brave and don't wimp out on me now!!

It's all rocks and aliens!

Blasteroids is split into segments with those split into smaller sectors. These must be completed before reaching a gruesome End Of Level Boss - the monstrous Mukor!! Your ship is equipped with upgradeable weapons, a powerful shield, and the ability to transform itself. Once all the rocks are pounded into dust, a transporter appears to whisk you off to the next sector. Come on, don't be disappointed - how else could they glam up Asteroids without bloating and ruining it?

Once all sectors are cleared you will finally get to lock horns with Mukor, a festering evil entity who fires miniature spaceships using his tentacles - so shoot each of these suckers first. That's my big tip and then you can watch him scarper like the fatty bloated coward he is. I actually enjoyed our battles which are fun without being impossibly tough!

This game is superb fun and features cool graphics with a style I admire. Wanna see some screenshots...

Attacks from all angles and tremendous BAM BAM BAM fun!!

Asteroids, but with flashy backgrounds and colourful pixels? You are a cynic!!

Joyslick action?

Controls are excellent and responsive: rotate the ship using left or right, push up to thrust, and keep slamming on that fire button to shoot anything rocky. Predictable stuff but gravity and momentum play their parts to affect performance. Don't worry, your shield will help compensate for your poor piloting skills!! Not that I have any...ahem...

Pulling back on the joystick will transform your ship between three different models: the Speeder is agile, Fighter has great weaponry, and Warrior is a burly beast. Friends can jump in on the action - at any time - with impressive cooperative two-player support. Just like in the arcades - a superb feature you shouldn't overlook (I cannot stress that enough!!)

Fantastic stuff, right? Well, it's time to stop reading and view some rather cool screenshots...

The gravitational effect between sectors is superb...

...and then it's more rock-blasting again!

Aesthetics

Graphics are gorgeous - for what used to be a visually stark experience. I love the nicely animated rocks rolling through space. The enemy ships are superb and all other sprites are large, detailed and well-animated. Oddly, the backgrounds are 4-colours but you would never notice that due to their apt design and gorgeous artistic flair, which I admire.

Sadly, the audio disappoints with lame bleep-bleep sound effects instead of samples, which the ST would have easily handled for a game like this. Music is also a touchy subject as it soon becomes extremely repetitive. Thankfully, that can be switched off, but that only highlights those inadequate sound effects... catch-22. So, yes, I am disappointed.

Looks fantastic yet sounds poor. Can't have it all, eh? Let's view some more screenshots...

Shoot!! Kill!! Destroy everything!! <insert evil laugh>

BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! So-much-fun!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a great conversion albeit with a few niggles that spoil an otherwise great rock-smashing experience. Asteroid purists probably won't like it with all the extra changes and improvements but, keep an open mind, because this game is tons of fun. Ignoring the sound effects, they have improved the genre as best they could, without adding bloatware to ruin it.

If someone put a gun to my head and made me choose between this and Stardust, I fear the latter would win. However, it wouldn't win by much, because Blasteroids is exceptional and utterly addictive. Make the time - play this!!

Download for hard drive or floppy disk

Oh yeah, baby!!! I own this beauty :-)

Alpha Waves

Boing... Boing... Boing...

Alpha Waves is a unique game released by Infogrames in 1990 and is nothing like I first imagined (back then). In fact, I still remember the first time I booted it up and then picked up my jaw from the floor. Not because I was seeing wondrous graphics or anything I might have hoped for - but simply because I was experiencing something brand new.

Yes, this is a new genre of 16-bit gaming that had us piloting an odd spaceship (it looks like a wedge of cheese). We are trapped within a multi-roomed cube and each of these inner rooms is littered with platforms. These function to progressively bounce us higher into the air, which is our means of transportation. I guess they forgot to include an engine?

Anyhow, this mechanic allows us to bounce independently, as if on a trampoline. But only when using the platforms, otherwise gravity takes over fully and we sink to the floor like a lead balloon. The wedge of cheese has no upward thrust, only forwards. So skim from platform to platform - to ultimately reach the dizzy heights. And the exit door.

It's a cool concept that is well-executed and very easy to pick up and play so let's view a screenshot...

That's me there and you can see my shadow. Use that for guidance.

But is it any good?

Two gameplay modes are available: "Action" has a time restriction whereas "Emotion" gives you all the time in the world and is useful for newcomers or those simply wanting a more leisurely experience. Controls are best with the joystick and navigation can be improved by pushing up or down to change your world viewing angle.

Interestingly, a shadow is cast by your craft - this helps to pinpoint your position in each position perfectly. Some rooms contain obscure baddies which can annoyingly get in the way and knock you about - watch out for the "snake" creature!! Alpha Waves will never disappoint no matter which gameplay style you prefer and is great for explorers.

As you can tell, it's tough to explain but much easier to pick up play! So let's see another screenshot...

What is that weird thing? An enemy ship or someone coming over to help?

Aesthetics

Graphically this may appear simple or even crude judging by the screenshots. But playing the game reveals how great everything moves in what I can only describe as an abstract world of 3D-filled vectors with zero distance clipping.

Faster computers will knock it out of the park but the 8MHz Atari ST performs fast and fluently. Heck, it even runs in high resolution so you can see all the polygons at 640x400 without any slowdown (but I personally preferred the whacky colours in low resolution which also looks a lot better to IMHO).

In-game sound effects are samples and very nice too but, there is little else to hear. If I'm honest, you spend most of your time listening to your ship bouncing on platformers. I love the door sound effect, very Interphase I thought.

Okay, so it looks weird but also brilliant at the same time. Great! So let's check out a screenshot...

The CryptO'pinion?

I personally rank this as one of the best Atari ST games I have ever played. Bold statement but this is an amazing experience and a perfect example of the gems lurking within our archives just waiting to be discovered. It may not appeal to everyone but Alpha Waves certainly helped invent a genre that nobody ever expected. It plays great with many unique challenges that require much skill and perseverance. A flabbergasting moment in gaming history and one I absolutely adore.

Who would ever have thought bouncing a piece of cheese through cubic rooms would be so much fun?

> Downloads are available for both floppy and super-zippy hard drives!

Megaroids

Get ready for one of the oldest ST games...

Asteroids is a true arcade classic that has been converted for every home computer. Not to be left out, Megamax released Megaroids in 1985 which was developed using their own C programming tool. Now that's fearless!

The gameplay is, obviously, Asteroids and very faithful to the original version. Get shooting the rocks for points but don't forget to blast the alien ships when you see them - for lots more points! Joystick controls are dead easy with Z and X rotating your craft and SHIFT to fire. Thrust uses ? key and SpaceBar activates a hyperspace when you're in trouble.

Graphically, it's different to the original, gone are the vectors in favour of bitmaps. The ST's high resolution looks stunning and Megaroids' framerate is superb. The rocks sweep across the screen like butter off a hot knife. Thankfully, colour systems aren't forgotten as it's compatible with medium res. But this is interlace to produce 640x400 but with colour.

Sounds are nothing more than you would expect for asteroids. They're nice and work very well. Especially when you remember this is a 1985 game for a 1985 computer. I'm really impressed all things considered.

Megaroids has an authenticity which I admire. The gameplay feels perfect and I'm shocked that something this good was released the same year as the ST itself. I'm impressed by the silky-smooth framerate and flicker-free interlace support for colour systems. Well done Megamax, this is such a wonderful conversion with bucket loads of rock blasting!!

AtariMania and Atarilegend have

the floppy disks to download.

Atari 520 STFM Super Pack

I've had an idea

It's something that I've been thinking about for a while... Let me begin by saying my first Atari computer was the 520 STFM (shock) which came bundled with tons of games in the "Super Pack". I remember that Christmas well as my new computer was remarkable with its jaw-dropping speed, GEM desktop, many colours, and next-gen gameplay!!

Until that day, I'd only ever owned a ZX Spectrum so, booting up Xenon for the first time was a mind-blowing experience. Pure witchcraft!! Don't get me wrong, I loved my old Speccy but this was on another level!! So I figured it would be a fantastic idea to replay each of the bundled games and relive Christmas Day all over again.

The games

Arkanoid II Revenge of Doh, Beyond the Ice Palace, Black Lamp, Buggy Boy, Chopper X, Eddie Edwards Super Ski, Ikari Warriors, Marble Madness, Quadralien, Rana Rama, Return to Genesis, Road Wars, Seconds Out, Starquake, Summer Olympiad, Test Drive, Thrust, Thundercats, Wizball, Xenon, and Zynaps. Hey, there was even on Organiser ;)

Phew, 21 games!!! Most of these I haven't played since that first Christmas in 1988. So I'm very excited to see how well they have aged over the last three decades. Yes, I'm talking to you, Mr Eddie Edwards and your Super Ski skills!!

Are you excited? I know I am!

I'll begin my Super Pack journey alphabetically, starting with Imagine's breakout, Arkanoid: Revenge Of Doh. The last time I enjoyed a decent brick buster was Bolo a few years ago [a classic] so I hope this lives up to all my expectations.

Let our joyride through the Super Pack begin --> watch this space :)

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Credits: My greetings to Róbert Tercsi and Marko Latvanen for their help.