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!

Square Off

Great, another Tetris...

Some puzzle games just feel right the moment you boot the disk, and Square Off is definitely one of those. Released in 1995 by legend Dave Munsie, this is his take on the Tetris formula - though it's much more. Compared to other versions, it isn’t exactly going to dazzle you, but it is bright and colourful. The audio is the same, really: no-frills, but with plenty of great samples (especially on the Atari STe).

Hey, when did games demand fancy aesthetics to be enjoyable?

At its core, the rules are the same as Tetris: rotate and drop pieces to complete lines, but stack too high and it’s game over. Munsie has added some neat ideas to shake things up: Classic Mode is the purist’s choice, while Arcade Mode ramps things up across twenty levels of steadily increasing difficulty. Each stage demands a set number of lines, with backdrops changing every couple of levels to freshen the view. Later rounds even start with junk blocks already placed, though the occasional fire bomb power-up can help clear some much-needed space when things get tight. And for those lucky enough to have friends (unlike me), there’s a fantastic Battle Mode where you can cunningly punish the other player by dumping extra lines on their board.

The mark of a great game is when you suddenly realise you’ve been playing for ages without noticing. That’s exactly what happened as I grinded through Arcade mode. Square Off takes Tetris and adds just enough to make it feel fresh, thrilling, and different. My only gripe? The music option that does absolutely nothing – at least for me here (4MB STe). Regardless, Square Off might just be my favourite Tetris on the ST/e!!

I had problems with various disks (real hardware), but the adapted version by 8BitChip ran fine.

All screenshots were taken from my very first attempt. Not bad for me!

Hey, what's this? It looks explosive...

Kaboom - blocks cleared!! Yes, I think that will come in handy.

New level, and junk blocks are automatically placed on the board.

Oh dear, things are getting a little mad for me here...

This level starts with junk blocks that make it quite impossible (for me!).

Yep, that's me done. Still, 32530 is a good score!

Dammit, I missed the deadline! I wonder who won?