Prophecy I - The Viking Child

Brian the Viking!

Viking Child is the tale of a young boy thrown into an adventure through several medieval lands in search of his friends. He needs to rescue them from the clutches of the evil demigod, Loki. Now, it might look spookily familiar to a console gamer, but don't be put off; this is a great Atari ST game in its own right.

There are a humongous 16 levels to plunder, with 8 bosses to battle long before you reach Loki. Walk and leap over obstacles and use your weapon to kill anything that looks likely to hurt you. After a monster is slain, coins are dropped. Use them as currency in the local store, which offers weapons and the usual assortment of goodies. I love the fire weapon, but I advise upgrading your weapon from that short dagger.

Graphics are exceptional, with super-smooth scrolling proving yet again that the STFM is more than capable when in the hands of talented people. I love the gorgeous cartoon-like scenery, and the sprites are well-detailed, even if the animation is humble. The music and sound effects are great, with the choice being yours.

Viking Child is both a creative and technical masterpiece. What it lacks in originality is more than made up for in playability. It's interesting and challenging gameplay includes aesthetics to drool over! This is a cracking platformer, and you soon realise why it's one of my favourite platformers on the Atari ST.

Looks as good as it plays. Yep, I highly recommend you play Viking Child!!

• Download for hard drive at 8BitChip.
• Floppy disk can be grabbed at Atari Legend.
• The level codes to skip deeper into the adventure:

 Forest level: DENIS<E>

 Landbridge: THE BLIZ

 Labyrinth: SHARKMAN

 The Desert: NYMHARSW

Overscan Invaders

The invaders are back!

Released in 1994 by Janet Dean under the Budgie UK licenceware label, Overscan Invaders is a remarkable clone of Space Invaders with a surprising twist. It runs in overscan and exceeds the 16-colour limit, though ironically not the most striking aspect of its aesthetics - the sound effects truly shine, offering superbly authentic arcade recreations. Listening to my video recordings will undoubtedly evoke fond childhood memories.

While overscan, increased colour palette, and sampled effects are undoubtedly fantastic, what sets this version of Space Invaders apart is its gameplay. It’s spot-on with an authentic feel and joystick control that perfectly complements the aesthetics. A great deal of love and effort went into creating this game.

Overscan Invaders is one of the better clones, and I’m sure Invader fans will enjoy it. I certainly did.

• Atari Legend has a great menu disk download by Tommi of Finland.
• The official floppy disk image can be grabbed at Atarimania.
• A Floppyshop disk can be found over at AtariUpToDate.
• Along with the video above, I have another recording to watch :^)