Lotus Esprit music disk

Pedal to the... Musix!

It's been half a decade since the enhanced version of Lotus was released. Where does the time go? You may recall that Jon Thomas took the original game and completely revamped it with his coding expertise, creating a dedicated Atari STe version. While the chip music stayed the same (not that I’m complaining), the improvements to the game were incredible. It showcased what our machine is capable of when in the right hands.

Well, the Atari ST community stays ever active, since I just spotted an X/Twitter update from "Chris Hospes," who created a music disk featuring his remixes of Shaun Southern's soundtracks. It's superb and offers a fresh new way to enjoy these banging tunes (right now, in the background - as I write this text!).

I asked Hospes what prompted him to make such a release, and here's what he said...

The main reason was sadness that, after doing so much work on the Lotus STe version, the music still sounds like “crap.” (Hey, I love chip! -Steve). We are in the 21st century and have unlimited disk space, so it hurts that the author of the conversion didn't decide to sacrifice 20 MB of HDD space for the audio track. After all, we have great versions of Giana Sisters, Xenon 2, and Cannon Fodder. But even in the new version of Lotus for Atari STe, the old Yamaha bleeps.

I’m also currently working on my own remixes of music for other ST games that deserve a new life. I'm looking for (coding) assistance in replacing the old chipmusic from these games.

I've recorded a teaser video that plays a minute or so from each track. Why only a teaser? Well, nothing beats downloading it for yourself, especially on real hardware! So, what are you waiting for? Go and grab this download and enjoy listening to these outstanding tunes on your Atari STe. Here are the links you need...

• Download this music disk from Atarimania.
• Follow Hospes on X/Twitter, and get in touch if you can help him out.
• Enjoyed that? Good. The Atari ST/e has loads more music right here.
• What, you missed the enhanced version of Lotus Esprit? Tut, Tut, Tut!! Better click here then.
• We have listed many more enhanced games for the Atari STe :)

PHF Rally 2 - Zero Bitplane

Sommarhack Awaits!

Say hello to a game without any pixels. What, a blank screen? No, everything is created with palette swaps, which is something I admit to not fully understanding. But the result is something quite unexpected and, if I'm honest, very cool. The screen is made using colourful blocks representing a winding road through forests, deserts, snow, night, etc. This style and transition remind me of Enduro on the Atari 2600.

PHF Rally II is obviously the (2024) sequel, and coded by Grazey (aka Phil Graham) of Psycho Hacking Force. This is a racer similar in concept to Spy Hunter, as we drive a "never-ending" road to Sommarhack in our Toyota Celica (I swapped that for my Ford Focus!!). Anyhow, the objective is to last as long as you can without crashing into the roadside. It's dead simple, but a ton of fun - and one I was actually quite good at (for once). The controls are easy; simply use the cursor keys to move left/right, and avoid crashing!

Running at 50fps, this is one slick racer zooming down your screen. It's fast-paced and probably too fast if it wasn't for the use of overscan. This means you can see a lot more of the road ahead, which compensates for the terrifying speeds! The result is perfectly balanced, making it both enjoyable and challenging.

You can play this on either computer, but (I thought) it looks best on the STe thanks to the superior palette. The use of overscan alongside this insane idea of zero bitplanes is what makes the ST scene so exciting and innovative, especially with the stunning chip music by gwEm (aka Gareth Morris).

PHF Rally II is superb and rated an engine-breaking 85%. Try to beat my high score if you can!

• Grab the download either from Demozoo or Atarimania.
• You should take a look at Psycho Hacking Force on Demozoo, an incredible archive!
• If you fancy playing the first Rally game, then click right here.
• If you have an Atari STe, then check out our list of other enhanced games.

Level one takes us through lush blocky woodland.

Oh no, winter appears from nowhere!

But we travel so far that we eventually reach the desert!

Who turned out the lights? Oh, is it nighttime already?

This is as far as I got, a rocky canyon (not far from Sommarhack?)

Can you beat me?