Sleuth

I've been searching...

After the jaw-dropping Berzerk, I searched what might lurk inside the ST's archives. Eventually, I found Sleuth a PD game released by Larry Scholz of MajicSoft in 1993. The year is 2525 and man's existence is threatened by evil cybernetic organisms (yup, robots!) created by Dr Spirit. A simple storyline for a familiar game. Okay, it's not what you would call an authentic clone (ahem) but the premise is there for another Berzerker!

We are Inspector Sleuth and about to infiltrate the doctor's lair to show these clumps of metal who's in charge! Gone are the randomly generated screens, replaced with a map populated by six different models of the doctor's robots. These range from the Hemroid which is a low-level (wait for it) "pain in the butt" to the Hopperoids with warp technology, so don't get too close. Come on, you must love Larry's humour?

Movement and firing are performed in all eight directions using the joystick. Defend yourself using an armour-piercing gun that features a nuclear charge to incinerate all robots from the inside out. You still need to stay clear of the electrified walls and if you hang about for too long, something freaky appears after a short time to chase you across the screen. Now we're back on the familiar Berzerker ground lol.

So, is it better than Berzerk? Not on your nelly! Sleuth feels like a tacky ripoff with rubbery controls and dodgy graphics. I can imagine that shocks you? Have I just wasted your time writing this mini-review? No. Regardless, Sleuth is a good game in its own right and is nice to play something different. You may have noticed I've not mentioned the audio? The chip fx are good but, the music? Wait and see for yourself!

For what it's worth, my 8-year-old daughter loves this shooter. She played several games badly and never understood why the walls killed her. But, she loved it!! I must admit, so did I. Remember, it's not Berzerk so keep an open mind and give it a fair playtest. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Sleuth can be downloaded over at the legendary Demozoo website.

IGNORE the graphics!! Gameplay counts the most, whether it's perfect or not.

Shoot anything that looks... erm... weird. Don't think, just shoot!!

Bombs And Bugs

Another lost soul has been rescued!

Bombs And Bugs is a multiplayer Bomberman clone developed by Stefan Eilert of Awkward Software. The full version was never released but, as of today, it has been found and downloadable from the AtariMania website. Supporting two or three players, it has superb power-ups and lots of jazzy graphics. I'll be honest, I missed an option for single-player but, it's such a brilliant multiplayer. My video shows gameplay by me and our 8-year-old daughter - we both loved it!! It's fun, freaky and very silly. We loved it and so will you guys!

Games I hate!!

My ST love is DEAD!!

---

I decided it might be 'fun' to play a handful of games I have always hated. Good idea, right? As it turns out, there are many games I absolutely loathe! Perhaps I'm just being a miserable guy (there's a shocker) but let's do this! Here is a handful of dreadful games...

1) Lemmings is a game everybody went crazy for but I couldn't find any joy in herding those docile and idiotic critters. A few screens in, I would soon discover that I had no tolerance for their stupidity and thus, found it irritating. Instead, I would deliberately watch them plummet to their death or explode. Now, that was fun!!

2) Next is a conversion of the monster arcade hit, Hard Drivin'. This sure looks the part with its fancy polygons and whacky stunts enticing you to try your luck. However, it never goes to plan for me as I cannot steer the car in anything that resembles a straight line. In fact, I drive and corner worse than a drunk Stevie Wonder.

3) Next is Strider, a game I saw in ST Format and it looked amazing. They gave it a glowing review so I went out and spent all my pennies. Well, I certainly won't be giving it a glowing review because I cannot stand this platformer for more than a few minutes - without throwing down the joystick!! A terrible Tiertex port. (UPDATE) < < < < <

4) Yolanda is a platformer that I've always thought was curiously interesting. The sprites are superb and it has a funny title screen so I've often wondered if it played as well as it looked? Well, this is my experience:

Start the game... Wonder what to do. Die. Start again... Run left. Die. Start the game again... Run right. Die. Start for yet another go... Panic. Die. Reboot the Atari ST as that's all there is to it!!

The CryptO'pinion?

---

In case you're wondering, this article was for a bit of fun. Except for the part about Lemmings as it's another lame Amiga port by Psygnosis (explain its intro if you can). Okay, ignoring the odd game like Blood Money & Anarchy, they sucked with their rushed ports. My apologies to their fans throughout the world.

Sorry, not sorry. :p

Are there any Atari ST games you hate? Let me know in the comments below...

This is a recording of my typical game. All over the road and driving like a drunk!

A typical game. Seriously though, I need to play this again to see what it's all about.