Sam Nasty

A nasty new game!

It's a pleasure to see a new in development for our beloved Atari ST but Sam Nasty is different. This puzzle-based platformer was developed back in the early 1990s using STOS by Jerome Mahieux. Oddly, he never released it but found the floppy disk so here we are in 2019, playing the game. How cool is that!!

Upon loading, we're greeted with a title screen for help and other options to disable the sound effects/music. The game itself is a static-screen platformer and, for each level, we find ourselves trapped inside a prison and must find a way to escape. This might sound familiar but it's also got some rather unique features.

But first, let's check out a couple of screenshots with some rather cute & dodgy characters...

The coppa is seeing stars like in a cartoon. I love that!!



Talk about antagonising the enemy by sticking out your tongue! lol ace!!!

The Great Escape!

As you might imagine, the earlier screens are quite humble to break you in gently. So escaping is easy whilst you learn the basics. But it's not long before Sam finds himself inside prisons that must put Alcatraz to shame. There are always a variety of cunning pitfalls to avoid, so look out for things like laser beams that will zap you into an early grave! Also, there are patrolling coppers and some are even armed...

It's a good job our thug has the ability to punch. The screenshots prove how entertaining that is!!

Escaping is always going to be different for each of the levels. So look for anything that might help, like a switch for example. Today, my gaming skills excelled and I reached the fourth prison - not bad at all for a fella with terrible gaming skills (sometimes I wonder why I bother running a gaming website lol). Yep, a joyous occasion that sadly didn't last all that long, as you will see in my YouTube video recording.

Let's pause the reading and check out a couple more screenshots...

It's a tight fit there, so get down and crawl in silence.



Stars and tongues! That's this game to a tea and I love it!!

Aesthetics

The graphics are nothing like I expected and I mean that in a good way. Tiny design but, with superb attention to detail for each of the prisons. However, it's the sprites that I love the most: the laughing policeman, Sam sticking out his tongue, and those punched faces with their broken teeth. Fantastic pixel art and something that will make even the most miserable gamer smile with joy. Throughout, you will be impressed by the humour.

The music is chip and nice but Sam Nasty has the ability to disable that. So I did. Now, just listen to the sound effects and tell me you're not reminded of countless ZX Spectrum platformers!! Anyhow, I enjoyed the music but I absolutely loved the amazing sound effects. Seriously, just get this game and listen for yourself!!

This is something else! I love how it looks and sounds so let's see some more screenshots...

Okay, things are getting tough now and that copper has a gun!



The death scene is great and a little Rick Dangerous too... Can you see me?

The CryptO'pinion?

I'm impressed by the demo and, never in a million years, would I have imagined breaking out of prison could have been fun. Sure, there are a few bugs (that Jerome is in the process of fixing). Plus a few niggles that I'd like tweaked - like overly sensitive joystick controls and the desperate need for more lives. (WIP)

Sam Nasty is a fantastic concept and I'm gobsmacked he didn't release this back in the day. I'm sure it would have gone down a storm! So please take time to download the demo, have a play, and consider sending him your feedback and support. A thoroughly enjoyable and addictive game and well worth buying for pennies!!

2 euros for the full game - support Jerome & the ST scene!

https://en.tipeee.com/sam-nasty

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 retro 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 constant ballistic missile attack. Aliens from Krytol noticed how prosperous Zardon is so are free-rolling in and take 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 off slowly at and 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 whacky 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