Space Zot

Zot o'clock

There are two things I love, my family and. No, I meant beer and travelling through the cosmos!! Do you remember when I roamed (and completed) the vast floppy disk universe in Cosmos Chronicles? Yeah, I spent many hours chatting to shady strangers in World's End bar, and loved every second of it.

But there is some bad news: the bar’s about to run out of booze. As an alliance pilot, I’ve been called in to rescue the situation by retrieving precious cargo (beer!) from a damaged freighter somewhere in the Caissel asteroid belt. The fate of every thirsty patron depends on my flying skills, so there’s no time to waste!

Space Zot, coded in 2023 using GFA Basic by Shaoth (the chap behind the brilliant roguelike Nano Cave), is one of those games that looks like one thing but turns out to be another. At first glance, you’d think it’s a shooter, but it leans more towards something like R0x - a game of avoidance? There are no blasters or lasers; your mission is to grab as many beers as possible. As you can imagine, this is a goal I can easily get behind.

Of course, space isn’t just full of free booze; it’s also packed with rocks hurtling down your lovely SC1224 display. You’ll need sharp reflexes to weave through the space junk. By the third level, things get hairy - faster rocks, trickier angles, and a screen so cluttered you’re gasping for breathing room. Thankfully, the controls are tight and responsive, which is essential when survival depends entirely on dodging rather than blasting.

I first played Space Zot on another world, and now I’ve been enjoying it back home on my Atari STe (a pretty bold statement that I hope doesn't confuse anyone). This is a cracking little game, and even if I’m a couple of years late, it comes highly recommended by yours truly. Right, it's time for another beer run...

• There is a free download at itch.io, and Atarimania has a copy too.
• As the Blitter is being used, Space Zot goes into the Enhanced Games list :)
• Hmm, you were confused? Then look at this screenshot from my Cosmos Chronicles quest.

You get points for all pick-ups, especially the beers.

Collect the letters for an extra life.

This was my second attempt, and I reached stage 6. Can you beat me?

Mega Twins

Chiki Chiki Boys

Once upon a monster-infested time, when the peaceful kingdom of Alurea was overrun by a horde of nasties, leaving the royal castle in ruins. With their father, the brave King, tragically slain, his young twin sons were left powerless to stop the chaos. But time passed, the boys grew stronger, and now they’re ready to take back what’s theirs. Armed with courage, oversized swords, and matching outfits, the dynamic duo set off on a quest to reclaim their homeland - and track down a mythical stone said to hold the key to peace.

I’ve wanted to feature this platformer for ages. It’s been sitting in my downloads folder for several years, and today I finally booted it up! Who says I’m slow? Mega Twins is an absolute corker of a platformer - instantly fun, with slick joystick controls and colourful, comical visuals. The earlier bosses aren’t too tricky - even I managed to beat them - with a few credits! The latter ones are a real challenge for anyone playing solo (so use your extra powers wisely). Wait, that’s right, two people can play at once - which is absolutely fantastic!

The visuals are absolutely superb, with a charming cartoon vibe running throughout the levels. The sound effects are excellent, but oddly, I didn’t notice the lack of in-game music until the underwater stage - probably because I stopped hammering the fire button to figure out how to clobber things down there!

I'd rate this platformer a Double Trouble 85% because it's brilliant with perfect controls, loads of levels, and supports two players. However, be warned, some of the later levels are way too hard without a cheat or better reactions than mine! Enjoy my gameplay video of the opening level before clicking on these links...

• There are great floppy downloads available at Atari Legend (I used the Fuzion disks).
• Peter/8BitChip has a superb hard drive-installable version.
• More floppy cracks are over on the Atari FTP Archive.

The first level is so good that I almost wanted it to continue throughout.

TWO players can, erm, play - at the same time. BRILLIANT!!

We've now gone underwater. The controls are very different, but still cool.

Didn't want to kill this cute beast. But I did.

One of those bosses that moves/jumps too fast for our little hero.

Those blue bats are gorgeous. Then again, everything in this game is!

Probably the best of all the bosses before a Nebulous stage, that is superb.

We're on the way down - as it explodes!

Made it to the end. Wait, no... There is one more boss before we're done.