Missile Command

[ my video recording shows both colour and monochrome games ]

Let's take a big step back in time

Straight out of the golden age of Atari's gaming archives is Missile Command, a phenomenal shooter I played a lot, but more so on my old Speccy thanks to Ocean's Armageddon, a fantastic conversion.

This Cold War-era crosshair shooter is about protecting the cities of Zardon from a ballistic missile attack. Aliens from Krytol noticed how prosperous Zardon is, so they are free-rolling in and taking everything. You are Zardon's only hope; grab hold of the mouse and use your arsenal to defend us from annihilation!

Doesn't matter whether you run in colour or mono, so check out these screenshots...

Angry aliens, again?

This has always been a cool game, and the ST received a faithful conversion that feels as good as I remember. There is support for 1/2 players, which can be configured to enable/disable other features, like the enemy's multiple warheads and smart bombs. Initial attack waves start slowly at a sedate pace (skippable), but the war soon gets crazy when the Krytolians use faster missiles and smart bombs. Trying to detonate them is tricky, especially during the heat of battle when you don't wanna run out of ammo!

Unlike other home conversions, the ST makes convenient use of its tank mouse for perfect and precise control. Both mouse buttons are used to fire a limited supply of ammo - the left button fires from the left base and, well, I'm sure you've guessed what the right button does? The controls are simple and genius.

Okay, it's time to view some apocalyptic screenshots of doom...

8-Bit graphics and they rock!!

Ok, visually, don't expect to be blown away. The graphics are typically crude for an early arcade game - most of the screen is a blank canvas waiting to be covered by missile trails. However, that's the charm of early retro games when gameplay mattered most. You know, I do admire those blocky cities (which I'm supposed to save from an explosive death), but I also love the wacky colours and font. Yep, it's silly... but so am I.

The effects are fine, but I am a little disappointed Atari didn't roll their sleeves up and go that extra mile! We have heard far better from the YM chip, and the game is hardly pushing the Atari ST, so why not use samples? Hmm, it's a little bland in the audio dept and definitely needed something with a little pizzazz.

Yes, the audio needed to use samples, but that won't stop the next roll of screenshots...

The CryptO'pinion?

Missile Command is such a simple game and also one of the best from that early era. Fans of the original should appreciate what an authentic arcade conversion is, and one that certainly brought back lots of great memories for me. This is fast, frantic and bucket loads of fun, so that's a thrilling win in my book.

A timeless classic, and I'm proud to rate this a nuke skin-blistering 92%.

Missile Command easily earns the accolade of an AtariCrypt SMASH!!

Grab a floppy or hard disk version.

Defend Zardon from its inevitable annihilation!

I hope you last longer than I did in my video recording? Not hard, is it... lol

TOS Legends

Turrican?!!

It's funny the things you find when surfing on the waves of the interweb. Today, I somehow ended up finding TOS Legends by Sébastien Claret. From the moment I booted it up, I was gobsmacked because it's absolutely fantastic and something every Atari ST guy will surely adore. Forgive me jerky recording, as it plays smoothly on my old Mac. The downloads for Mac/PC are best, or you can play inside a web browser.

Check out these screenshots below, then grab the download from Sébastien's website.

This is what happens when Turrican invades Rick's world!

But that damn boulder still chases lol

Hang on, everything changed! Where have I seen her before? Hmm...

The postman has been!!

Hibernated 1 - This Place is Death

I've taken delivery of the latest Atari ST game release, Hibernated 1 by Stefan Vogt. I feel like I've waited years for this to pop through my letterbox, but here it is! I'm ecstatic to report a fantastic product that's beautifully made to a high standard. I'm unsure whether to remove its plastic seal... (lol)...

Of course, I've already unwrapped it!! For those who may not know, Hibernated was reviewed back in August (click that link!!), and I included an animation to demonstrate the game's awesome sense of humour during my exploration. You shall find all links and a download/purchase available using that link.

Wanna see the box and what goodies are inside? Of course, you do...

Taken right before ripping off the plastic!

Check out these lovely goodies!! :D

Merry Christmas

We're almost at the end of the year, so here is a Christmassy slideshow I found whilst digging through the AtariMania archives. It's from a disk magazine by Effect and is stuffed full of text and features the most annoying rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" I've heard, but at least it supports the STe audio!!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and ST commitment over the past year. I've met some great people and seen things which I thought would never happen after the ST "died" in the mid-90s. There are so many awesome games and demos recently released, but my personal favourite is, of course, Manic Miner, which is a fantastic remake of Matthew Smith's ZX Spectrum classic from 1983!!

Also, I'd like to thank Tom/Karim for all their sharing across various social media. Peter for adapting these merry ST games (and my requests for more!!). AtariMania has always been my go-to place. Atari Legend for being ace and getting me addicted to Ultima V. And, of course, every one of you guys visiting my website :-)

All the beST and Merry Christmas †

Time Soldier

Let's kill people!

Time Soldier was released in 1989 by Electrocoin and is based on the vertically shoot 'em up, not too dissimilar to something like Ikari Warriors. I've not played the arcade game, but there is a slight name change - that means we're running solo. This would be understandable, but we are given only one life, which should make the quest rather difficult - unless it's rewarding during play with bonuses/etc? Hmm, we'll soon see!

The story goes that Gylend has captured a few of our friends who are held captive in different time periods. Guess whose job it is to rescue them? Of course, it's up to us to rescue them all! Gotta say, I like the idea of the time zones. Before beginning, we're given the name and location of our captured warrior - but the teleporter can send us anywhere. Which is odd and means you gotta plough through to the correct portal.

Initial impressions are a little worrying. Let's take a peep at some screenshots...

I love the colour schemes throughout, which nicely represent the original game.



Lots of action and even more death and destruction. I love it!

Shoot. Kill. Kill even more!

Each time period has a change of graphics, but basically follows the same format as you might expect. These areas are stuffed with enemies, which is most satisfying. Those slain in battle leave goodies that should be collected for a power boost. Health can also be replenished, because every contact drains you dry.

A boss is featured at the end of level and most are rather easy to kill. However, my power-ups sometimes ran out during the lead-up to this fight, which then makes it nigh on impossible to win!

There's nothing mind-blowing about Time Soldier; the gameplay is a cross between something like Wanted or Commando. I wasn't sure about the scrolling, which often left me vulnerable to baddies off-screen. I was never going to like the one-life aspect, which is often rubbish unless we get the option to continue on.

Now't is perfect, so that won't stop me from pushing out more screenshots...

Even Rambo wouldn't be able to survive this onslaught!



Those higher up have an advantage. But I'm still going to kill them.

Aesthetics

I like the graphics in Time Soldier; from start to end, it's colourful and detailed. The backgrounds are great, but we also have some of the silliest sprites. Not so much their appearance, but how they attack in waves, which means the screen is often cluttered with bullets and explosions! It's maddening and chaotic.

Heck, the game is making use of overscan without any negative impact on the scrolling, which remains smooth! So I am very impressed with the technical efforts that went into making this shooter.

The music is well-balanced against the sound effects and suits the gameplay well. Zero complaints.

Hey, one final run of screenshots...

The purple works a treat, providing another environment that is unique and fun.



This looks scary and tough. Well, more tough than scary, but hey, what more can be said about it?

The CryptO'pinion?

This game was fun to play! However, I wasn't too keen on the scrolling method, which can often fail to keep up. Also, having one life is restricting, so forces you down the road of a trainer. Don't get me wrong, it's quite an authentic conversion in many respects, but this insane design makes it very difficult. Cheat time!

Having said that, Time Soldier is an entertaining shooter. The levels are always interesting and brimming with lots of meaningless gameplay. This is pure gun love and will provide a few hours of fantastic action. For all its flaws, I enjoyed this peculiar shooter. Just be prepared to play with a trainer for extra lives!

Time Cops can be downloaded for floppy/hard disk.

Reach For The Skies

Why am I thinking of S Club 7?

This is a flight sim by Rowan/Virgin released in 1993 and attempts a recreation of the Battle of Britain era between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe. That was a crucial part of the war and is split into four mammoth sections. If you're up to it, you can be a brave pilot or the controller for an entire squadron.

Obviously, the first thing I did was skip the manual and read nothing more than the keycard. This humble sheet of paper displays an array of keys used to successfully pilot the planes. Also, there is a practice mode, which is great for newcomers who can bypass the complex take-off procedure and pretend to be a stuntman like Colt Seavers, whizzing across those lovely 16-bit skies. Well, ahem, I did :)

Those who prefer to take things seriously can learn the cockpit and keep the keycard sheet at hand. As you get accustomed to flying the skies, you note some external views: I enjoyed these, and you can watch me messing about on my YouTube channel (shown below). There are other features - video recording!

This is a demanding flight sim with some neat features that are brilliant for novices and pros. I love the authentic cockpits, and the external views are stunning, but learning to hunt down and destroy the enemy will take much practice. But that's definitely a good thing, right? Reach For The Skies is one of the best flight sims, something I will enjoy time and time again. Tally-ho and chocks away, old bean!!

Be the best pilot and download the hard drive version (floppies on Atari Legend).

Now, this is what I call awesome pixel artwork. Look at the details. Love it!!

The German on the right looks like Colonel Von Strohm, I thought.

Awesome pixel art throughout, and I love the moustache and pipe. Very British lol

Is anything here catching your eye, hero?

Love the dated information that presents the mission ahead perfectly.

Those plucky Germans with their technology, commitment, and wishful thinking!

The camera views are superb and I loved messing about with this feature. A lot!!

The graphics are incredible. It's like you're really there, well, for this 90s gamer anyway...

Oh no, pull up!! Pull up!! Why do I always die...?

Please note: the video recording is based on my Mega STe (16MHz).

Also, I have tried to show the game's basic elements for both the German and the British sides.

I didn't show the standard 8MHz computer, as there are already lots of videos on YouTube, so I wanted to be different and put the extra grunt of this computer to use!!

It is worth noting that the standard Atari ST performs very well (no change there then).

Ballerburg for mobile phones

[This video shows the wonderful Atari ST game, because I don't know how to record directly off my phone!]

An ST classic goes mobile

Let me start by saying that I never play "mobile" games as I don't see the point of using a tiny screen and virtual controls! However, I was waiting for my wife in the car - totally bored stupid (it didn't take very long). Then I remembered Eckhard Kruse's Ballerburg had been remade by a company called DonkeyCat. To say I'm blown away is an understatement because this classic mono game looks and feels very authentic.

The gameplay is just the same, with wind, angle, and speed to decipher. Choose your kingdom and blast cannons over the mountains. I admit, I prefer the Atari ST original, but this mobile game is jolly good fun. Waste no more time, get on your chosen App Store and download this mobile artillery action (both iOS and Android).

Considering this isn't on an Atari ST, I had buckets of fun with this game. Highly recommended.

- ST DOWNLOAD & SCREENSHOTS -

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny

Father Christmas has come early!

Atari Legend is playing Santa with a fantastic run-up to Christmas by releasing something special every day throughout December. It wasn't until the 7th when they released an HDD-patched download of Ultima 5 that I became intrigued by their offer. Wow, that doesn't sound right, 1-6 where ace. Doh!

The land of Britannia has lost its king, Lord British, and is now ruled by a tyrant called Blackthorn. As the Avatar, your mission is to return to Britannia. You must uncover Lord British’s fate, rally allies, restore the true meaning of virtues and overthrow Blackthorn’s regime to restore balance to the kingdom.

Yeah, it sounds corny, with the good vs evil problem. But this game looks very interesting, and I love the look of the overhead visuals. I’m curious about the character I should create to explore this strange world.

Okay, guys, it's screenshot time! Let's take a look...

Looks like I'm in a pretty cosy place and very glam too.

Okay, let's get out and explore the lush countryside.

Oh no, a two-headed Ettin has found me when walking over the hills...

I'm too weak and need better weapons - I should have run away!

First Impressions

Creating a character is an unusual affair, and something I didn't expect, but this process eventually got Stevie configured and into the thick of it. Boy, are there a large number of keys to learn for each and every additional action, which basically means your interaction within the world at large. In fact, the world is huge, and the battles are challenging, so exploring Britannia is going to be fun (or agony?). I can take it!!

I am genuinely enjoying my first walks through the grasslands and forests, until I found a small bridge with a Troll. Luckily, I made it across without him noticing me, but I then ran into red demons who decided that they wanted a piece. You know, those pieces that I need to stay alive... Yep, my first battle didn't go down well if I'm honest - DEAD! But wait, I've been resurrected for another bash! Let's hope I can do better.

This is one seriously immersive RPG. I'm talking months of my life, gone...

Vicious snakes decide to spit venom at our plucky adventurers.

Now I feel Ultima V is finally starting to show its true colours.

What a game, and I must say that I adore the graphical style and detail. Amazing!

Hey, look, I've just found a map! Time for a drink before leaving...

Have my plans changed?

Yes, they certainly have. I’ve decided to spend Christmas in the world of Ultima V, complete with whiskey, turkey butties, and mince pies! I’m really looking forward to learning more about the game and have enjoyed a few interesting attempts (ahem failures). I love the style of Ultima V; the graphics are fantastic, and the adventure is incredibly captivating. I’m afraid I haven’t fully mastered the combat system yet, but I’ll get there.

I’m excited to take this game seriously and see how my next adventure unfolds. Watch this space, folks. Now, if you're totally a noob to Ultima V, then I'd love to hear of your progress. Enjoy the Christmas gift!

Thanks to Atari Legend for the daily treats.

STay Atari. Or die!

MANDELST

Let's mess about!

MandelST is a fractal generator developed in GFA Basic by Manos Kantzos (thanks to GeoAnas for the heads-up). I love messing about with funky fractals, and this program is a cinch to use, which is ace!

Mandelbrot/Julia productions can be generated within moments, but faster computers will benefit from that extra grunt. Of course, emulators are an excellent idea, unless you prefer leaving your ST on for long periods? Images can be exported as Degas PI1 or TIFF. Also, basic animations are possible, and these take us deep into an infinite mathematical world like nothing I've seen before. A stunning idea with great potential.

I've enjoyed creating peculiar and wonderful images and animations, which I'm quite proud of. Also, it's fantastic to see something new being developed for the Atari ST, so I'm hoping Manos continues on and improves his work in the future. This is a great program, so have yourself some geeky fun zooming in on infinite!!

- My Funky Creations -