Saboteur III - The Egyptian Mission

Durell on the Atari ST?

Saboteur 3 was released in 2012 by Shadow Team for the Atari STe and Falcon (STfm if you have a Blitter and TOS 1.04). It was developed by George Lefèvre [Shadow 272] with graphics by Mister DID and music by Mathieu Stempell [DMA-SC]. Okay, I'll start by saying I'm a huge fan of Saboteur 2: Avenging Angel on the ZX Spectrum. It's a game I played to death and mapped - so I'm excited to see this release. Although I'm anxious and wondering how it will compare.

It's obviously an unofficial fan game based on the original games by legends Durell Software. Incredibly, it was programmed using GFA Basic. I know nothing of programming but it seems the perfect tool for developers - to this day!

Saboteur III The Egyptian Mission takes us into an ancient world looking for fragments of a key to unlock a treasure-filled sarcophagus. However, (this might not be much of a shock), but somebody has rigged most rooms with traps! Beware of killer spikes and scary creatures like mummies, bats, and scorpions. So don't expect this quest to be easy!!

Let's pause the read for a screenshot...

Ok, let's begin the mission... Yeah, that means killing Mommies!

Authentic or worse?

Each room is a pleasure for this oldskool gamer - it's like looking at a surreal retake of the original. I like the design layout employed by most rooms and there's always something that needs to be kicked to death using my ninja skillset. Looking at the map, Saboteur 3 is smaller than the previous games on the ZX Spectrum but who cares about that.

Movements are more or less what you expect with a few changes - down/fire makes our ninja hit under the belt without using the kicking mechanic. A slight change, yet not damageable to the playability. In fact, the joystick controls are responsive and I'm impressed with the fluency of our actions, helping make it feel authentically pleasing.

I expected differences but some changes to the gameplay mechanics irk me - like falling off a ledge. That is instant death rather than simply draining you of (replenishable) strength. Yes, I miss that bar and wonder why it was dropped. Also, I fail to see the point of those large spikes that pop up to impale you each and every time. And even during mid-jump!! However, the most annoying oddity is the ladders because too many go nowhere and that's just absurd.

Quite harsh there, eh? Better calm down a bit and view another screenshot...

As you progress, things get odd and very difficult! Perhaps too difficult?

Aesthetics

Visually, it's superb albeit overly colourful with too much yellow? Or is that how Egypt looks! However, I'm glad they didn't try replicating the original look and style (can you imagine the horror of mostly monochrome graphics?). The characters and their animations are great which makes kicking the baddies to death - an absolute joy!

The in-game music is by Dma-Sc and thus a beautiful example of his extraordinary chiptune talent. I still would have liked an option for (DMA) sound effects to play alongside the music. But I'm now being rather picky I guess?

I think we've got time for one more screenshot? How about one of me, dead...

Sooner or later, I usually end all my games looking this good! ;o)

The CryptO'pinion?

Saboteur 3 is a good platformer beat 'em up but, far from perfect. Sadly, I fear hardcore fans will enjoy picking at it as many official Saboteur characteristics are altered or missing. However, this is still a great game in its own right and I think that even Clive Townsend would enjoy playing this alternative take on his classic Saboteur. I sure did!!

A highly challenging platformer; admiringly recommended for both Saboteur fans and new Ninja wannabees.

Grab the download if you think you're tough enough!

Creatures

Cute & Cuddly Gaming

Somewhere in the far reaches of the universe is a planet called Blot. Much like Eden, this is a wonderful place; everything is perfect and everyone is happy. The inhabitants are creatures called the Blotians. However, for some peculiar reason, these guys got bored with their paradise and wanted something better so came up with the daft notion of a brand new identity - on a different planet. They're now called Fuzzy Wuzzies!!

Creatures was released in 1992 by Thalamus and programmed by Philip Watts of WJS Design. Yes, he of Leander and Ork, two decent scrolling games you should check out.

What these sad creatures didn't realise was that evil demons already lived on this new planet. And are a bad-tempered bunch too! Needless to say, they should have been happy where they were because everyone has been captured and awaited a cruel and bloody fate. You are Clyde Radcliffe, your breath stinks terribly but it is your job to rescue all of your simple-minded friends from these fiends! So good luck - you'll need it.

What an insane story, so let's view an authentic screenshot taken with my phone...

Actually, this is quite sadistic!

Clyde is the cutest thing and is equipped with a rapid-firing weapon, which is handy because many of the baddies annoyingly take numerous hits. Power-ups are available, I love the 'wriggler' but there are many others to choose from. However, your superpower is the funniest weapon of all, press and hold the fire button to breathe bad breath over anything that gets too close. A bad-breathed hero must surely be a first?

A good tip for Creatures is to not rush. The enemies can take more than a few hits which is a little weird and can often feel a little OTT. Try to kill what's already on the screen before moving on and being overrun by evil cute critters. That's a simple and obvious tip, but there ya' go. Take it or leave it!

Controlling Clyde is a cinch thanks to great joystick controls and fantastic level designs which are fun to navigate. The monsters come in all sorts and manage to bring a smile to this ugly mug of mine thanks to great attention to detail and cruel personalities. End-of-level scenes are particularly cruel (but funny) but employ a harsh time limit before a fellow Fuzzy Wuzzy meets their bloody death at the hands of a sadistic demon!

Wait! It's not screenshot time. Oh, no let's jazz this up with a video recording...

Sexy Pixels & Smooth Audio?

I love the lush aesthetics with beautiful colours and artwork - the attention to detail is amazing. Wow, the sprites are as cute as they are evil and never fail to impress. However, everything might look nice, but is spoiled by rubbish push-scrolling! Sure, that method works fine for games like Rick Dangerous, but not here.

The audio is excellent with a theme tune that has you bobbing away to its funky beats. I love it. The sound effects are making use of the DMA hardware - if you're lucky enough to own an Atari STe? They are ace!!!

Let's break up the silence! The shock of that push scrolling means we have another screenshot...

The CryptO'pinion?

Creatures is enjoyable with well-balanced gameplay and a fantastic (sadistic) sense of humour. However, it was originally designed as a scrolling platformer and a scrolling platformer needs to SCROLL. It sadly falls short of the mark compared to other versions and appears a rushed port. Maybe I'm too fussy? Tell me!

Don't get me wrong, Creatures is worth downloading because it is a good game with a superb theme, humour, controls, and audio. However, it's a shame they didn't make full use of the Atari STe. Or even push the STfm like so many other companies did with their platformers already out by 1992. Disappointed, Thalamus.

Help Clyde now and grab it on floppy & hard drive.

Annex

Yet another FPS game!

Annex is a homebrew first-person shooter published by LAPD in 1995 and attempts to blend together the action of Doom using the gameplay mechanics of Dungeon Master. Nasty aliens have taken control of the science space station, Annex. Guess what? It's our job to kill every last one of them whilst fixing the life support reactors. Oh yeah!

At first, I didn't think this would work using the old 90° turns but it works out very nicely. Movement is performed using a combination of the keyboard and mouse: the keyboard walks and activates switches with the used mouse to aim and shoot. As you can imagine, this works well and whenever a bad guy sees you - they actually speak. This conveniently acts as a nifty "heads-up" alert so you're not taken by surprise. So, annihilate them for a gory blood splatter :-)

The graphics are great but lack variety for both colour and texture, thus things tend to get a little samey after a while. Sadly, there is also no map function to help us out - the docs do suggest making your own. A very good idea.

Annex is great. I like the way it combines action with adventure but you really need a pen and paper to map it (otherwise, it's easy to get lost!!). Far from perfect but fans of the first-person shooter genre should definitely take a look.

• AtariMania has a download available from their Atari ST database.
• Zogging Hell has a nice selection of the LAPD library.