Going back to 1993

Christmas 1993

I thought it would be nice to wish you all a very Merry Christmas - 1993 style. To celebrate, I’ve chosen a brilliant disk from a group I adore: Adrenalin. I've chosen their 10th PD disk, filled with loads of crackers (pun intended), including: Super Dark Pearl, Operation Garfield, Nirvana, Pac-Man On E's, and Teserae.

Booting up the disk presents a lovely menu by (I think) Mac Error. The wintry pixel art is by Teknik, festive sounds are by Chrombacher, and the nonsense in the scroller is by Divine. Don't boot this up without reading the scroller - it will transport you back to 1993 (yup, half the reason for enjoying any menu disk).

Many of the games are already on the Crypt, but let's take a look at this jolly menu disk...

• The first is Dark Pearl by the American legend, Dave Munsie. A name that is synonymous with our shareware gaming scene. Is there a bigger name? I've been a fan of Dave since playing his take on Invaders on a magazine cover disk. And he's released some corkers throughout the 90s. However, and I'm gutted to write this, I'm not a fan of this game. If I'm honest, I've played a few others like this, but I've never enjoyed the concept. Yikes, sorry Mr Munsie!! I'd better load up Berzerk for a marathon gaming session to compensate for this blasphemous attitude of mine!
• Operation Garfield is a crosshair shooter that I remember featuring a few years ago. It's using some of the STe's enhanced hardware, but not so you'd know because the frame rate is kinda sucky. However, it's a freebie game and, with that in mind, it's quite good fun to play. The sound effects will grate after a while, but if you enjoy shooters like this, then give it a whirl.
• Nirvana is a platformer with a difference. Sure, there are the familiar elements of the genre, but it somehow feels "different" and fresh. We're still collecting items within a (sigh) time limit, but the gameplay and controls are superb, like the visuals. This is a belting platformer, and one I'll return to again. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Gotta properly review this someday...
• We all enjoy a game of pill popping now and then, and I love this spin on it! Pacman on E's is a lively and refreshing take on the Pac-Man theme, with zany visuals and stunning audio. The action is fast & furious, with cool extras to improve an already incredibly jazzy game. It's amazing!!
• Teserae is a game that transports me back to the Crypt's earlier days. I'm not a big fan of Tetris, and probably only ever played it when trying to stay awake on a night shift!! But when I first saw this game, I was blown away as they'd taken the concept of this mind-numbing game to new levels with aesthetics that will blast the eyeballs out of your head. This game is something else.

While some of these games aren't to my personal interest, there are no bad choices here. All are great games in their own right and highly recommended by the Crypt Keeper. Nirvana is the game I'll be returning to over the Christmas holidays. It's very old school, and you all know how much I love platformers! :-)

You can find this menu disk over at Atari Legend (I love their archive!)

Merry Christmas, everyone. All the beST for 2026!!

It's not often I say this, but I didn't care much for this Munsie game. I know, sorry!

So you like Operation Wolf and Garfield? Then this shooter is for you!

Nirvana is so tough, but this is also one brilliantly designed platformer.

An absolutely stonking version of Pac-Man for the Atari STe!!

I remember featuring Teserae back in 2015 when the Crypt was a baby. :o

I love that laugh at the end... Merry Christmas, everyone!! †

4K Pacman

4KB Legacy

When Pac-Man isn't actually Pac-Man? But it's only 4Kb in size, so you'd be an idiot to demand more. 4k Pacman was released in 1995 by The Chaos Warriors and programmed by Edge, possibly around 1995 (my estimate). You know, I remember first seeing this "game" and wasn't too impressed, so I guess I was that idiot(!).

Use the cursor keys, not a joystick, to control our little Pac-Man. They are very sensitive, and you (ahem) may find real hardware is better. You get three lives, and hitting the space bar quits to the desktop. From the start, you will see how the ghosts try to get you. The AI is more like H-Mec than Pac-Man because the ghosts don't wander; instead, they blindly mirror your XY position. It's best to try to trap the ghosts rather than having them free to chase, but don't worry too much because it's really tough and (IMHO) quite impossible.

What a curious oddity, a tiny game compressed into the size of something a Vic-20 would run. An incredible achievement, and it might be worthwhile checking out the source. A programmer could easily alter the ghost AI and more. However, that guy isn't me, so I'll shut up and hope someone takes a stab at it.

• The game and source are included in the download via Atarimania and Demozoo.
• Of course, because 4K Pacman uses the Blitter, it goes straight into this list of Enhanced Games!

You've no idea how impressed I was with my performance here!!

This is the best I could do. Can you beat me?

Pacman On E's

Pac-Man? Again? Yawn... boring!!

There are already many examples of cracking Pac-Man games for the best 16-bit computer on the planet. This one really needed to bring something extra special to the table. Well, the game has been developed specifically for the enhanced Atari STe and, unlike so many lost shareware titles, this download is actually the legit registered version! This comes with lots of cool gameplay/aesthetic extras, which will impress you!

This genre is timeless, but this version takes the familiar theme to a new level thanks to its furious speed. There are 100 levels, zany visuals, funky music and a range of stereo samples: like the Road Runner's "meep meep" and the buzzer from Family Fortunes. Digital Dreams utilises the STe's extra colours, Blitter and DMA Audio. Interestingly, the Function Keys can change the bass, treble, volume (and more).

Credits

Stuart Innes - Programming/Graphics

Robert Thompson - Graphics/Sfx

Alasdair Macmillan - Graphics

Come on, play the game

PacMan On E's can be fully enjoyed solo for the most hilariously challenging take on the original concept. It's tripped out and stuffed with colourful visuals and a bucket load of wacky sound effects. The action is fast and exciting, so it's never boring, which is how the original becomes. Well, after a while.

Best of all is the simultaneous two-player support, especially when hunting for the power-ups. There are a variety of silly effects, and my recording shows my daughter and me playing it together in coop. Absolutely superb!! (When she lost, she decided to cheat by covering my eyes with her hands. Hmm!)

Download me!

You can grab this belting Pac-Man game from most ST websites, but Peter, aka 8BitChip, has adapted the registered version, which you can download from my Dropbox (while his website is offline as I type). My personal greetings to Stuart Innes, Robert Thomson and Alasdair Macmillan for this wonderful game!!

Wait, don't go just yet!! Let's see some screenshots before you download this fantastic game...

An iconic opening intro. Love it!!

Oh yes, lots of STe-only features that you can tweak.

Super-duper colourful graphics to jazz up boring old Pacman.

Fine design spruced up using fantastic colour work.

What? This screenshot looks kind of dull. But the action is furious!

The final screenshot will send your eyeballs crazy with its psychedelic design!

Crackman In The Search For His Dealer

What a belting title!!

Crackman was released for the Atari STe by Teenage [Pung] and has one of the most idiotic storylines I've ever heard - make sure you read the docs. Okay, I'm sure you've already guessed, Crackman is a Pac-Man clone, but is also one of the most challenging I have ever played. Well, that's an understatement actually...

The maps are huge with a crafty design, but it's the ghosts that cannot fail to impress with insanely intelligent AI. This dictates practice before considering matching wits, as their AI isn't like previously seen; it's more like Lode Runner. My first game almost ended in tears - I needed many more attempts before recording a video.

Along with the crazy storyline are a few surprises like mines, hidden walls, and power pad support. I love the ghosts, and our little pill-popper has a full set of teeth, but my favourite is when he dies and turns into a puddle of gore. The Atari STe produces silky smooth 50fps hardware scrolling and superb DMA audio.

Everyone knows PacMan, but if you thought it was boring, then take a look at this - I dare you!! Is it better than Crapman? I don't know... but what I do know is that we have yet another excellent Pac-Man game!!

Robert HC Leong

All the way back in early January, I featured a mini-review of Annihilator. This is a familiar-looking oldskool shooter by Robert HC Leong, a much-respected name from the Atari ST homebrew scene, I'm sure you'll agree.

He has developed four games: Annihilator, Missile Alert, Pac-Man ST, and Space Invaders. Each was released under the Budgie UK label, and they were all hits with ST gamers. Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed playing them all too!

To say I was surprised to find out Robert read my review and follows AtariCrypt is an understatement. Talk about a shock! Anyhow, we got chatting, and it wasn't long before I threw out a few questions, and here we are. :-)

I hope you enjoy this interview. My gratitude to Robert for being a great sport (and a fan of AtariCrypt!)

Robert HC Leong
- The Interview -

Hello Robert, please tell us about the guy behind the games

I am from Malaysia and I moved to Ireland in 1980 to further my studies. I bought an Atari 520STFM in 1988 while in Ireland, after graduating. At that time, I had already owned a BBC Micro and was looking for a new computer. I was impressed by the plethora of colours that the ST could produce, and the increase in speed and memory.

I tried to program the ST in Fast BASIC initially, but that was too slow, so it was a natural progression for me to move on to 68000 assembly language using HiSoft Devpac, especially since I was already familiar with 6502 assembly language from my time with the BBC Micro.

Hey, wanna see Robert's Atari ST setup? Of course, you do...

Can you imagine going back in time and being there as he programs his games!!

What was it like developing ST games?

I have always enjoyed playing shoot-em-up games, so the first game I programmed was Space Invaders in 1989. I tried to keep the game as close to its original playability as possible, including the sprites and even its logo colours. It made the cover of the December 1989 issue of Atari ST User magazine.

I then moved on to do a simplified, 2-player version of Missile Command just for the fun of it – it wasn’t anything spectacular. After that, I challenged myself to do a version of Pacman. Many home computer versions of Pacman at that time had very small sprites. I decided that, for the cuteness factor alone, the sprites needed to be larger, and the way to implement this was to do a vertically-scrolling screen to increase the size of the maze. I tried again to keep to the original version and came quite close. I was not good at producing music so Gary Wheaton, a fellow programmer and musician, was kind enough to provide the music for version 2 and it sold quite well.

Annihilator was my final game for the public shareware label. It was a Galaxians clone, but this time, I drew my own sprites and provided power-ups and end-of-level guardians to spruce up the game as it was the trend in shoot-em-up games at that time. After this, I started programming a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up but I did not progress much further because of a lack of time; I was spending many weekends and nights on-call while pursuing my medical career. This was the simple reason why I did not have a chance to release any new games for the Atari ST after that.

This is Annihilator and is stuffed with Galaxian action!

Do you have a favourite game?

I had no clear favourites but, looking back, I thoroughly enjoyed programming and play-testing Pacman ST because in my mind it was a step above the other Pacman clones at that time with gameplay approaching that of the original arcade version, and cute to boot!

Did you rake in the cash to buy a sports car!

Budgie UK Licenceware was a public domain label started by Camy Maertens in 1987, where a group of software programmers shared joint royalties on all the games sold. It was a fun concept, gave us some camaraderie, and made us some pocket change, but certainly not enough to buy an inexpensive car, let alone a sports car!

Any chance you will start coding again?

Unfortunately, when I left Ireland for the US, where I am now based, I sold off and gave away all my Atari ST stuff! Hence, it is unlikely that I will ever code anything new for the ST again.

It's Pac-Man and it's a cool version of the original arcade game.

Do you play games?

From time to time, I still reminisce about the good old days of the Atari ST, when I’ll try running an ST game or two on Steem, an excellent emulator on the PC. Of course, I still check Atari ST websites like AtariCrypt and Facebook.

What do you think of the ST world today?

I am frankly amazed, but pleasantly surprised, that the Atari ST scene is so resilient, considering that the machine was discontinued in 1993. For me, the ST has always been an integral and fun bit of my life, so I hope the community lives on!

However, the ST presence appears much greater in Europe, compared to the US, though there is still an active Atari club near me in Davis, California, it tends to cater more to the 8-bit Atari consoles than to the ST. Check out: http://newbreedsoftware.com/atariparty/2016/. (I hope they change! -AtariCrypt)

An excellent alternative spin on Missile Command. It's very, very difficult!!

So what are you doing these days?

I’m now based in the San Francisco Bay Area where I work as a consultant in the biotechnology industry. I remain interested in IT and programming, especially since Silicon Valley is just a short drive down the road. Facebook, eBay, LinkedIn, Google, Apple, Cisco, and Oracle are all around me. IT executives of all ages are driving Teslas.

When driving around in Mountain View, I give a wide berth to the autonomous vehicles that Google is testing out here. Even Atari had its corporate headquarters here on Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale, but that closed down in 1996 (http://www.atari.io/back-to-borregas-ave/). I have visited the location once or twice to reminisce, and to imagine how it would have been here during Atari’s heydey…

Take a look at my website: (http://fungames.zone/#AtariSTgames)

It was brilliant talking to Robert and I hope you've enjoyed this interview - Steve.

Space Invaders can run in a modern or classic mode and (above) is the classic version.

Mac Pan

Mac Pac, err, Pac-Man? What?

After yesterday's superb (but mind-blowing!) technical flight sim, I needed something less taxing on my old brain cells. So I'm taking an easier route with a Pac-Man clone called Mac-Pan. Weird name and there are already many PacMan games, but this one is more vanilla, so let's get pill-popping & ghost munching!

Mac Pan was released in 1987 by Richard Beith and works in ST High resolution. There are a few integrated features that I really liked: hold down the fire button, and you can temporarily increase the yellow guy's speed. Hang on, he's not yellow anymore! Anyhow, the game's speed can be tinkered with in the preferences. The graphics and sounds are pretty good, plus there is support for simultaneous 2-player.

It's not the best PacMan but I still enjoyed it, and being able to choose the game's speed is a superb idea. It's easy to imagine German office workers in the 80s playing Mac Pan during their lunch break. Monochrome users should jump up & down with excitement because this is an excellent clone of the classic.

Downloads are available using AtariUpToDate.

Time Bandit

HiSToric gaming!

Microdeal released Time Bandit in 1985, ranking as one of the first Atari ST games. Programmed by Bill Dunlevy, long before any developers knew how to push our 16-bit computer. However, my first impressions weren't good, as I felt this was a cheap Gauntlet ripoff. I continued to play until my sanity returned.

Ignore my foolish first impressions because I fear there might be a funky game lurking behind those old 8bit visuals. Fwiw, Time Bandit was released for the TRS-80 a couple of years before Gauntlet.

Time Bandit is an isometric arcade adventure where we play as a roguish thief hopping through different eras of time in search of valuable artefacts. We begin in The Timegates, a place that permits access to the many strange worlds. Each one is a compact, monster-infested, trap-filled place where the objective is simple: grab the loot, avoid or outwit the enemies, and make it to the exit alive. Simple stuff, right?

These different words help make this game weird, as they range from ancient Egypt to a bomb-making factory and other surprises - like Pac-Man land. They have their own style and objectives with gameplay reminiscent of Gauntlet. This is quite unique, blending genres: primarily, it's an action-adventure, but it incorporates puzzle-solving elements and even short text-adventure segments depending on the world we are exploring.

For each world, the exit is blocked, so we need to find the key(s) or complete tasks to escape. Interestingly, each world can be played again for an increased level of difficulty and fascinating design changes, all of which keep the gameplay interesting and progressively challenging. Battles are fought using a rocket launcher and, best of all, you've been blessed with unlimited ammo too!! Very nice, and that suits me just dandy.

Time Bandit is a cracker with interesting levels to plunder that offer a unique charm. It might look like Gauntlet, which it predates, but it's so much more!! Additionally, each world is very different, with such a huge variety of gameplay that increases in difficulty with each attempt. No other similar game comes close to having so many styles, yet it keeps its own uniqueness to become a true Atari ST classic you shouldn't miss.

Yes, I said all that, and (shockingly) for a 1985 game, too! Truly one of the best Atari ST games.

• Budding time lords should download this game for floppy or your hard disk!!

- Sixteen whacky worlds -

 
Underworld Arena has many spectators, and Darkside Dare is incredibly odd with unexpected twists.

 
Castle Greymoon is one of my favourite levels, as is the dingy Excalibur spaceship!

 
Shadowland? Nah, this is a Pacman ripoff lol. Welkin Island looks rubbish but is so cool.

 
Omega Complex, one vowel off being blocked. The Sentinel reminded me a little of Tutankhamun.

 
Gridville appears to have rude tomatoes, but Hotel California allows us to play as John Wayne!!

 
Watch out for strange aliens in Major Hazard, but the Old Bomb Factory takes that to another level!!

 
Cheops' Curse offers more than you think, but there's a spooky graveyard in Ghost Town.

Guardian is tough even on the first attempt. Watch out for the creepy crawlies in King's Crown.

H-Mec II

Pac-Man is back!

H Mec II is a version of Pac-Man for the Atari STe. However, it's very different thanks to the monster AI, which makes this more of a game of chase. Like a mix of Lode Runner and Pac-Man. The graphics are excellent and make use of the hardware scrolling, Blitter, and all those extra colours. Music is by a whole host of famous people like Tao, Big Alec, Count Zero, and more. Timeless and utterly stunning tunes.

I could say this is one of the better Pac-Man games out there, but it's not. Sure, H-Mec 2 looks like PacMan and there are pills to nosh, but it plays differently when being chased around a maze by angry monsters. It really is more like Lode Runner and darn addictive. You will love every second - it's a Christmas Cracker!!

So waste no more idle time and get it downloaded from Atari Legend.