Kult

Let's play something a little different!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... No, wait, wrong game!! Okay, let me start again, many moons ago a good friend of mine [Greetings Tom!] surprised me with a gift sent all the way from the land of the Vikings. Inside was a beautifully preserved -sealed- copy of Kult, something I had never played before in my life. He was adamant that this was a true 16-bit classic and I even remember it receiving good reviews. Heck, Atari ST User magazine rated it a perfect ten!

You are Raven, a psionic mutant, who saw a bunch of other mutants destroy a village and now wants to fight back! That's the gist of this story for what is a most confusing adventure. It's got a tough learning curve and there are many cunning puzzles. This is a game like no other I have ever played but it's that learning curve that you need to master, especially the user interface. The graphics are creepy-cool and all sound effects are samples - I love the speech effects.

I fear this game has more to it than you first realise? You're probably wondering how my first game went...

I've been getting to grips with this game today but the hard drive version fails to work for me (I think it's my SD Card) so I went for the floppy version, linked below, by Zuul and this worked perfectly. Well, after a couple of hours, I am blown away by this incredible and captivating game. The user interface might first appear confusing and quite laboured but in fact, it's actually anything but because navigation is a breeze. I also love how the rooms are titled, which certainly helps me a bunch!

I'm currently getting to grips with the locations and examining everything I see in the rooms. Objects are often tripped-out and plain silly - I've just polished the eyeballs on a fountain to get it working, why I'm not exactly sure yet but I've done it. I have also chatted to some strange looking fellas, so I followed them and used the attack function. Won this battle but then his friends ate the corpse!

I laughably love using the brain to select various instructions, such as inspect, attack, and talk. What a strange yet oddly obvious way to make decisions!! I've also learned not to trust people, I walked into a dark room and somebody told me to follow them. Stupid that I am, I did just that and promptly fell through a trap into a water-filled pit. Here, I was eaten alive by some kind of monster! Great...

This game is different to anything I've played. I love how its storyline is deep and involving but never overwelming. I feel that I've only just scratched the surface of what will be a unique experience!

Grab this game while it's hot!

8BitChip has created a version to be installed on your hard disk which is just brilliant.

Various floppy disks feature Kult and I recommend Zuul #195 via Stonish.

Wasabim has recorded a brilliant YouTube video.

Atari ST User scored Kult 10/10 - wow!! [AtariMania]

Guardian Angel

Dimamic get Dynamic!

Freddy Hardest is our Guardian Angel for Dinamic's scrolling beat 'em up in the Big Apple, which actually ain't too dissimilar to After The War. Manhattan always seems to be the perfect setting for a grim future with crime and gangs. I don't know why but it's got that Deathwish vibe and setting nailed so perfectly.

I've always had a soft spot for Dinamic and I think it's because I played their Army Moves via disk (instead of tape) back in my Spectrum +3 days (a short-lived machine as it died after a few weeks... sigh).

They've released some good Atari ST games and you can find them by searching at the top of this web page. Anyhow, we begin our Death Wish at the docks and are instantly assaulted by waves of 80s-styled thugs! Some have brought their toys, like baseball bats and knives. Where's Charles Bronson when you need him?

The docks are a great place to go looking for trouble as you can see...

Ahh, nuts! That guy is big and I hear sneaky footsteps behind me!

Yee Aw that sucka!

As a beat 'em up, we get around crime-infested streets using left/right. The fire button performs a punch, which you'll find is good against the weaker Sailors. Pulling down allows us to stomp on rats but offers little benefit against tougher dudes. Pushing up will unleash the fury of your infamous high kick which is your only powerful move. Energy levels will automatically replenish IF you get a chance to stand still for a moment.

Guardian Angel doesn't take itself seriously and has you laughing at the silly antics you see on-screen. I love how the baddies turn into zapped skeletons for a split second when dying - it's like a Tom And Jerry cartoon. Watch out for "Death Star", a forklift trucker called Ricky Chang who is the world's worst driver. However, my favourite is being kicked out of your cute yellow boots when suffering a final death blow. Hilarious stuff.

That's this game to a tea, it's stupid but so entertaining. The kind you play after a bad day at work...

What? You think ganging up is going to scare me away - not on your nelly!!

Aesthetics

The gameplay window is small with much of the screen being -mostly- pointless decor. However, I do like the backgrounds, even if they're too colourful for a bleak city scene! Sprites are large and well-detailed with basic animation but there are some cool scenes - Ricky Chang will always make me laugh. Fantastic!!

Forget the terrible theme tune. Thankfully, all in-game effects are made from good and meaty samples with the chainsaw guy being superb. In fact, I really love the excellent variety of sampled sound effects.

This game has sound and vision that will rock your 16-bit world and I love it all...

Now, this is a proper title screen with outstanding artwork.

The CryptO'pinion?

Guardian Angel sure has good qualities; a bucket load of humour matched by responsive controls, superb sprites, and sound effects. Sadly, it's typically Dinamic with incredibly tough gameplay and having only one decent attack move is insane! However, I have enjoyed it with a trainer enabled - but that's a bad thing, right?

I think you guys need to play this beat 'em up regardless of the trainer. Hilariously fantastic and fun!!

Stonish has Medway Boys #85 Floppy Disk.

Fuzion #185

Fuzion #185 is a cool intro that gave us the game Ork, by Psygnosis. I love this intro because it presents itself particularly well with lots of colour and an adaptation of one of the most memorable chiptunes ever created. It also makes use of the Atari STe hardware for even better results, but happily works on either machine just fine.

Credits

Dump - Music

Orion - Code

https://demozoo.org/productions/84067/