Pssst, wanna play a game bursting with frantic fun and originality? Then check out Bug Spray, developed by Philip Bishop which should please gamers with both green fingers and a natural love for killing nasty insects. In fact, it might look familiar if you're old enough to remember the 1983 Speccy original by Ultimate Play The Game (that ran in 16Kb).
Sunflowers need our protection from various hungry pests who love to nibble at them. To stop this, we use three different cans of bug spray as each type is designed to kill a specific creature. So spraying a bug with the wrong type will only stun them. Sadly, our gardener can only carry one at a time so it's a rush battling the critters as they swarm.
Just like Jet Pac, this is so much like the original but it isn't an exact replica. However, it's close enough and brought back many happy memories for me. The graphics are pretty much ZX Spectrum standards and the sprites are cute, especially the spiders. Sound effects are adequate but there is an option for chipmusic which is a far better option.
Bug Spray is a blatant rip-off but it works so well. My only criticism is manoeuvring the gardener into the gaps which feel quite tight. That aside, I've enjoyed playing what is essentially a fantastic 16-bit conversion of Ultimate's Pssst!
I was going through old video recordings and found this which is an absolute classic!! Download available on Demozoo - just make sure you turn up the volume
Credits: "Alan, Bill and Dave"
(I wonder who these people were because there's little information out there!)
Ever since I first played Erik And The Floaters on my ZX Spectrum, I have enjoyed many different Bomberman clones and here is yet another one called Bombaman. Developed by Kevin Callahan for the Atari STe, this conversion is multiplayer for two-four people, with support for those enhanced joystick ports lurking on the side of the computer.
Blowing up stuff is superb thanks to light and responsive joystick controls. Tons of power-ups are available and contain some favourites, like a molotov cocktail and chucking bombs over a wall. Others can increase the number of bombs we are able to drop - but watch out for chain reactions during their explosions as that will detonate others. Roller skates speed up gameplay whilst flap jackets protect us but slower players better watch out for zombies. Fun is the name of this game!
Want a screenshot? Well, brace yourself and get ready to squint...
It starts tame but soon you're using power-ups and blasting everything!
Aesthetics
The visuals are incredibly colourful but may require sunglasses to protect your eyes from all that glare!! Okay, the colour is completely over the top and looks like a child would have picked the colours but who said Kevin was an artist? Thankfully, everything runs smoothly at 50fps thanks to the Blitter and is displayed in overscan too I might add.
Chipmusic plays throughout, which I really enjoyed because it's downright awesome. Thankfully, it never overpowers the DMA sound effects bursting out of your Atari STe and that is how all games should be!!
Yeah, the colour palette is very trippy so let's annoy your eyes on final time with another screenshot...
All that colour could drive you insane - if it wasn't such a great game!!
The CryptO'pinion?
This is a brilliant multiplayer which has lived up to my expectations and I'm sure you will love gathering around the ST to play this. Okay, okay, I admit that I would have loved a single-player option but that's my only gripe as we have thoroughly enjoyed Bombaman - my daughter says it's her favourite Atari ST game [watch our video recording].
This is a cracking game for those who enjoy throwing bombs at their friends. Who doesn't? So download it. Now.
Update: Kevin has since found the floppy disk of the registered version. This is now safely stored on AtariMania. Go on and grab it now!
