Stardust

Meh, another Asteroids?

Stardust was released in 1994 by Bloodhouse and is not only one of the last commercial games, but also an STe-only product. Developed by famous names from our demoscene (thank you, Aggression), these guys burnt the midnight oil to deliver a wicked twist on the Asteroids arcade genre. Not only does it play like the old favourite, but it features modern aesthetics for extra zest. So what's the background story?

In the 22nd century, humanity’s relentless push into the stars has inadvertently caused a dimensional tear. A malevolent, ancient consciousness called the Void has emerged, systematically unravelling the fabric of space-time. As the last remnants of our fleet are obliterated, the burden of survival falls upon - you!

Let's take a look at our war plan, which translates to "kill everything and don't die!"...

A clear and accurate war plan, I'm sure you'll agree? lol

Bam! Bam! Bam! Blast the rocks!

Our mission is to dive into the heart of this cosmic war, weaving through debris fields and pulverising the Void’s relentless attacks. With the laws of physics collapsing around you, this is a one-way trip into the abyss where only superior reflexes and a twitchy trigger finger stand between Earth and total erasure.

This war takes place in five levels, with each containing six missions. All are host to a variety of rocks along with the expected baddies. After each level is completed, you must travel through a wormhole-like tunnel onto the next part of the galaxy - like Buck Rogers!! These tunnels are filled to the brim with oncoming rocks for you to dodge or destroy - no easy task, but it's a thrilling moment that I never expected.

Bonus levels regularly appear and feel like a particular Thrust clone. They are optional, but you must be daft to ignore them. Of course, a game like this wouldn't feel right without End-Of-Level Bosses. Each mission has them, and these guys are tough! Much perseverance will be required during these romps.

It's time to stop reading and enjoy the pixels! Let's take a peep at a screenshot...

Check out these outstanding and colourful visuals!! Amazing stuff.

Enhanced gaming!!

Stardust is on another level with gritty, fast-paced gameplay. The basic mechanics are what you’d expect: asteroids, and it feels more or less the same. This is great as you can jump straight in and begin playing without that learning curve. Heck, it's all about dodging and shooting. Are you tough enough?

The controls are familiar: left and right will manoeuvre your spacecraft. Pushing upwards will thrust forwards into hell, and we have a shield that aids during those sticky moments. Finally, our ship's main weapon is more than capable of gratifying rock-blasting!! Nothing wrong here - all this is super-spacey-gun-fun!

This next screenshot does itself no justice. Seriously mind-blowing effects...

Buck Rogers' side event is absolutely exceptional. Impossible not to be impressed.

Enhanced Aesthetics

Stardust is utterly glorious. Everything is bold and colourful with stunningly smooth animations. The rocks are also something else, with jaw-dropping 3D renditions that look beautiful. Not only that, but the display is running in overscan!! It looks so HOT in overscan, which means lots of extra pixels to blast.

Equally impressive is the audio with thumping stereo tunes, accompanied by BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! DMA sound effects. This is one shooter that's gonna blow your socks off. If I can offer one piece of advice: crank up the volume!! Yes, I guarantee you will love everything Stardust delivers, so turn it up high.

This is one of the best-looking/sounding Atari STe games released. Let's have another screenshot...

Look out! Move quick and keep on firing - are your reactions good enough?

The CryptO'pinion?

A spectacular showcase of what the Atari STe is capable of when in the hands of talented people. These guys didn't rehash an old idea or produce a weak Amiga port. No, they unleashed a product that feels fresh and exciting. The effort put into the gameplay, visuals, and audio is far beyond praiseworthy.

Stardust is a joyride of rock-blasting thrills and a perfect shooter. One of the best games I've played.

Download for floppy or hard drive.

uIP-tool

Easy-peasy transfers

As you may have read in my previous article, I've bought the NetUSBee. This is a gorgeous slab of hardware available from Lotharek. It has an Ethernet socket for easy connection to the outside world.

It's possible to connect your ST to a Mac/PC thanks to Mariusz Buras, who has developed a program called uIP Tool. This will transform your Atari ST into a file server with no configuration required. Just load it up, and it will automatically assign itself an IP, which you will use in Google Chrome on your Mac/PC. It's no different from accessing any website. Now you can access the Atari ST and begin transferring files.

NetUSBee with uIP-tool makes transferring files to/from your Atari ST a cinch...

In fact, you don't need to use a web browser at all. Load up uIP-Tool, then copy a file to your Atari ST using the command line. It's geeky, but it works very well, so it's lots of fun! Here is the example command to copy 'myfile.zip' over to the D-Drive on my Atari ST...

curl -0T myfile.zip 192.168.2.2/d/myfile.zip

uIP-Tool makes it very easy to get files onto your Atari ST. It's simple to use, with a great interface, and it gets the job done. Yep, NetUSBee is a fantastic piece of kit, and uIP-Tool marries up well.

This is excellent software!

Help for those using WiFi
If your router is in a different room to your Atari ST then you might think uIP-tool isn't compatible with your setup unless you have a mega-long ethernet cable? Not so. My router is located downstairs so I bought myself a very short ethernet cable to physically connect the Mac to my Atari STe.

To provide uIP-Tool with a working IP address - just enable the Mac's Internet Sharing. Sorry, I don't own Windows or Linux, but I expect a similar function exists? Just follow this:

 1) load up System Preference (via the Apple menu)
 2) click on Internet Sharing (view me)
 3) choose WiFi in the dropdown menu & tick the ethernet box (view me)
 4) lastly, tick the box left of "Internet Sharing" to activate this service.
 5) now quit System Preferences.
 6) load up uIP-Tool on the Atari ST and note the IP it displays for you.
 7) enter that IP into Google Chrome so you can now access your Atari ST. Job done!

Mouse Trap

Not the board game!

Billed as "old in style but brilliant in design" is Micro-Value's 1987 platformer, Mouse Trap (originally for Acorn Electron). I love platformers, but not the Mario/Sonic kind, the ZX Spectrum kind I grew up with: Chuckie Egg II, Manic Miner, Monty Mole, Saboteur II, etc. As you can imagine, I was eager to give this a go!

We are Marvin the Mouse, who wants to win back the heart of his ex-girlfriend who left him for another. She must be quite the materialistic female, as the plan he's come up with to win her back is mad: scrounge dozens of rooms looking for precious items that are gonna impress her. Women, eh?

This is a cruel and unforgiving platformer: make a mistake, and it's often impossible to go back and try again, which means a life lost. Each screen requires all items to be collected before you can progress. Finishing them is a matter of working out the best route rather than the one that appears quickest.

There is a time limit, so hit the 'F' key to pause - now study the layout to figure out the route.

No, he's not floating but simply in mid-fall. And that aspect took me a while to master...



Wow! Those colours... This game is incredibly different from the norm, and I love that.



Some levels are simple. Not only to look at, but to complete quickly. Like this one!

Input & Outputs

The controls are excellent, but I initially found them fiddly and quite perplexing. For example, if you're facing left and then tap "right" (to turn around), Marvin will not only do that, but also walk a couple of steps in that direction. This frustrating mechanic took me some time to master. But I did, so can you!

Mouse Trap looks like an 8-bit platformer, but with the extra pixels and colours. It's weird and features the oddest sprites: check out the old man with the big nose who appears on level two!! A strange game with sprites that are either excellent or plain crud: like the terrible floating skulls. Yet somehow it always works.

Music is eerily enjoyable, but it will get annoying, so press M to turn it off when your ears ache.

This baffled me at first, but it's a lot easier than you realise. Love the sinking ledges!



Some of the levels are far simpler than you first think. Just take your time...

There is the odd dodgy screen, but then it redeems itself with this blue beauty!

The CryptO'pinion?

Mouse Trap is a charming platformer with an incredible variety of screens. All are as difficult as they are quirky, and you will be drawn back for that one-more-go! The only negative aspect is the lack of passwords or a save-game feature. Baffling, because there are many levels to plunder (IE, you are forced to replay).

I've enjoyed Mouse Trap. It's a blimmin' excellent platformer, so (nearly) top marks from me!!

Download for hard disk or floppy.

Only after a few games, I'm rocking the high-score table. Can you beat me?
No, I didn't think so!! :p