Reliving 1984

Horror, by Sandy White

A while back, I was watching a video by Gears of Games. It wasn't even an ST game either! No, it was Ant Attack for the ZX Spectrum, and that got my thinking. Whilst I enjoyed that game as a kid, I wouldn't say I was captivated by it. Not like I was its sequel, Zombie Zombie. I remember being late for school many times, as we'd be playing it on a mate's computer (I didn't get my ZX Spectrum until Christmas that year)

So, bearing in mind that I love emulation... I booted up my Atari ST and loaded the brilliant ZX Spectrum emulator by Christian Gandler. Now, this emulator is good on the stock ST so long as the game doesn't use scrolling or feature in-game music. For example, Manic Miner (with music turned off) runs about 90/95% of the correct speed, which is just insane for me to fathom. Sadly, Zombie Zombie has scrolling, so its demands are heavy. It's still playable (but perhaps I'm best digging out my Mega STe to play it properly?).

For those unfamiliar, it was released by Quicksilva in 1984. Taking place in an 'open-world' isometric post-apocalyptic city with no people. Well, no living people!! Of course, there are a few roaming zombies to keep us entertained. The gameplay is easy to grasp yet challenging to master, whether you play as a boy or a girl. Moving around the abandoned city is easy because we have a helicopter!! Whether you walk or fly like Howling Mad Murdock, this is a free-roaming game. The challenge lies in staying safe, ensuring you don't get cornered, so strategically use the environment to your advantage. As in Dying Light, find a safe house.

I must admit, I was pleasantly shocked at how well my trusty Atari ST ran Zombie Zombie (stock 8MHz STe with 4MB RAM). I figured the scrolling would eliminate any possible chance of playability. Sure, it's slower and everything inside of me screams, "Steve, just use the Mega STe!", but I had bucket loads of laggy fun. I would estimate that the game (on a stock ST) is about 70% of the original game's speed. Not too bad most of the time, but the zombies are still far too quick for me. Yep, just use the Mega STe, Steve!!!

So why am I sharing this nonsense? No reason at all. I just love it, and emulating other computers using my Atari ST never fails to impress me. Anyhow, I enjoyed playing this great game after many years :-)

See you soon for the next [ST] game...

• The ST can emulate even more computers, which you'll discover by clicking here.
• Christian's excellent ZX Spectrum emulator can be downloaded from World of Spectrum.
• Gears of Games has a great YouTube Channel you should check out.
• I'd like to thank my two good friends, Doug and Paul, for their recent help.

Yeah, it needed 16MHz to be playable, but I still had fun like a 13-year-old!

When you begin, go for a fly about and explore from a safe distance.

When you're feeling brave, walk and climb the city's remains.

Hitting fire changes the camera view.

Unfortunately, I was still new to the controls and fell to my death!

Up on my feet again, I go exploring... and... I see a zombie!!

It's sad when a dead person has quicker reactions than me!! Sigh...

Douglas Rockmoor

Cave In? Cave On!

Boulder Dash is one of those games I used to see in magazines when I was a kid. Everyone seemed to rave on and enjoy it. However, I played a version on my ZX Spectrum that I didn't like because of the eye-popping scrolling. That's about as much as I recall if I'm honest. Fast forward to my Atari ST years, and I played a few more, but I wasn’t impressed with the less-than-smooth scrolling. A necessity for a game like this.

Then I saw Douglas Rockmoor by Gary Wheaton (aka Goth), which Budgie UK released in 1990 (I bought this, but not the sequel released a year later). The premise is exactly what you expect: we're in several labyrinths of caves filled with soil, diamonds, rocks, and a few nasty creatures. As you move, dirt is removed to create the pathway you've travelled. Sometimes, enemies are scarpering about, so look for any nearby rocks to cunningly eliminate them using gravity! You can also push rocks if there's a space behind them, but try to avoid being crushed yourself! Collect the diamonds, don't get trapped, and look for the exit to escape!

I've played both games today, which are much the same. The sequel has more levels and nicer graphics (not much!). In fact, I'm tempted to ask if these run in medium resolution, as only 4 colours are used (for the game). Sadly, a timer is present, and you know how much I hate those! But it begins to count down several seconds before the game is ready!! Also, it's worth noting that the silky-smooth scrolling runs at 50fps. Impressive, but also strange because the screen scrolls slower than the player moves, which is weird.

Anyhow, for someone who never enjoyed Boulder Dash, I quite liked these two games. However, they are extremely difficult and too tough for the likes of me, who found the first caves quite impossible! Regardless of my whinges, fans of the genre will no doubt be cave-struck with both Douglas Rockmoor games.

• Both games are downloadable from Atarimania.
• A hard drive version of the first game is over on 8BitChip.
• Wondering how smooth, eh? Check out Hundgirrid's excellent video recording.

This is the type of puzzle we face - how to kill that blocky alien!

Of course, you may also get yourself stuck!

This screen is scary! RUNNNNNN!!

Argh, I did it again and got myself stuck.

I started this cave and was immediately stuck!

Believe it or not, I only took this screenshot because I liked the colours!