Wings Of Death

Quick play video

This is one of the classiest games for the ST and is even better when played on the Atari STe with loads more colours, better sounds, and so on. You play as Sagyr, a powerful wizard who’s been cursed by the evil sorceress Xandrilia. To break the spell and defeat her dark magic, you must battle through hordes of enemies across seven dangerous levels - ranging from forests to dungeons within a dark and gothic world.

This isn't a review. I simply wanted a reason to post my gameplay video recordings. Plus, every ST Nutter out there already knows just how cool this shooter is! Am I right? So, here are some of my tips...

It pays to practice as much as possible because this is a challenging shooter. With each wave of enemies killed, bonuses and power-ups are dropped, offering multiple options for new firepower. I would say learn what each one does and "know your weapons". Some are great, whereas some are less effective. Stick with what you like and don't blindly upgrade for the sake of it.

It's often a good idea to stay clear of the skull icons, which annoyingly offer a downgrade - not what you need in the heat of battle. That "HaHa" you hear can become intimidating, so learn the weapons and ignore the skulls. Additionally, perhaps consider abandoning any thoughts of staying in the central part of the screen, as this is a hotspot of activity. Likewise, don't remain along the bottom as the baddies do attack in an array of patterns. Hey, perhaps you can memorise those?

I hope that helps some of you guys. Wings of Death is a standout shooter, combining slick visuals, stunning audio, smooth scrolling, and a brilliant variety of weaponry. It’s tough (very tough) but also kinda fair, and its gameplay holds up incredibly well. Easily one of the Atari ST/STe’s finest arcade-style shooters.

Look, despite my joystick skills, I've recorded another video to complement the one above. Why? Because I love this shooter so much. Yes, even though I'm terrible at it and require the reactions of a 12-year-old!!

Specs (Credit Atarimania)

Supports Blitter

Supports STe DMA sound

Supports 1, 2 or 4Mb of RAM

Supports audio cartridge

Features up to 154 colours on-screen simultaneously (introduction screen)

Features up to 144 colours on-screen simultaneously (options or static screen)

Features up to 26 colours on-screen simultaneously (in-game)

Features digitized title soundtrack at 12.5KHz (stereo) on STe

Features digitized title soundtrack at 12.1KHz on ST

Features partially digitized in-game soundtrack at 6.25KHz on STe

Features partially digitized in-game soundtrack at 6.1KHz on ST

Features digitized sound fx at 6.25KHz on STe

Features digitized sound fx at 6.1KHz on ST

Finally, here are some screenshots to drool over before you click on a download for Wings of Death. Here are the options for either hard drive (D-Bug), hard drive (PP), or a menu disk on floppy (Atari Legend). Enjoy!

Eye Of Horus

Walk like an Egyptian...

I've been trolling through my old videos and found Logotron's Eye Of Horus. I remember this platformer thanks to its confusing labyrinths with many peculiar enemies. I was impressed but oddly, left feeling a little cold too. It's one of those games that looks, sounds and plays great but it has relentless enemies. Kinda like Black Lamp in this respect.

We are the hawk-headed God, Horus, a good fella for the ancient Egyptians. Our task is to explore the labyrinths of Osiris' burial chamber because he was murdered by Set who scattered his body parts everywhere. We need to collect them and rebuild him. It sounds cool and quite gross but it's time that I revisited this peculiar platformer for a second go.

So, let's waste no more time talking, and get him rebuilt like the six-million-dollar mummy...

I think Eye Of Horus nails the ancient Egyptian scenario perfectly using awesome visuals.

Hard as nails

The ancient tomb contains many traps and even the decor appears angry, so finding the body parts is not going to be easy. Thankfully, being a demigod means we have the ability to morph into a hawk, even if birds don't have any hands to carry things... Keys and Amulets can be used - from operating particular elevators to summoning other so-called gods.

I can see why I originally felt overwhelmed: the level design is pretty confusing at times which isn't helped by the repetitive backgrounds. The mechanics behind the elevators/coloured keys are unnecessarily rubbish plus I think that there are far too many amulets. All enemies are unique and it's peculiarly funny when the fixtures and fittings begin wobbling in anger. Well, at least our demigod is armed with a paper gun! No, really we are lol

Sounds rather strange yet uniquely intriguing? Well, at least the graphics suit the theme...

Okay, Okay, let's keep this civil... but Hall Of Light has awesome maps, which I feel are essential.

Aesthetics

Graphically, this game is gorgeous and reminds me of how a game of Stargate might have looked. It also reminds me of Death Trap and its intro whiffs of Ice Palace. Anyhow, the scrolling is super-smooth with gorgeous animations and the hieroglyphic backgrounds are stunning. This is a beautiful platformer and a lot of love went into its design.

Sound effects are very zesty and accompanied by gorgeous Whittaker music. Not his best but still superb.

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a cunning platformer with lots to offer. It's different and I loved exploring the tomb but the ability to flip into a hawk is a genius move albeit with its own restrictions. Just have a pen and paper ready to make a map (until the right amulet is found). Overall, I still found it confusing in terms of memorising the map plus the constant onslaught of enemies does not help. The only way you're gonna love this game is if you are willing to put in the hours (pun intended)

Otherwise, don't bother because this fantastic platformer demands your time and respect. I hope you play it.

Budding Daniel Jackson wannabes can download Eye Of Horus for floppy or hard drive.

Strider

Ugh, another lame Amiga port?

I remember reading the review for Strider in ST Format which basically said it was great. And, although the ST version had smaller sprites, the gameplay was faster and better than on the Amiga. I foolishly believed them and wasted my cash on a game I could not play. Boy, this was nothing more than another terrible Tiertex port I thought!! I recently gave it a silly mention and wasn't too kind when I remembered its eye-popping scrolling and ridiculous difficulty.

Since then I've mellowed - and I've also come to realise that my gaming skills suck (well, there's a shocker). So, I figured I should give it another go. And you know what, I think I'm not only older but also a lot wiser. Well, ahem... Anyhow, almost three decades have passed since I last played this game so let's see what I think of Strider today.

Before we begin, here's a screenshot of the opening start of this wonderful arcade platformer...

The first level is unique and kinda Ruskie. It's the place where you'll learn the controls and that swoosh!

Me? Wrong? Never!

Well, after several games, I still found it extremely difficult and failed to beat the first boss - a Flash Gordon wannabe. However, eventually, I did it!! But then fire rained down and halted my cries of joy. Thankfully, I beat him on my second attempt and proceeded to a whacky level that I absolutely enjoyed, but was also wishing was larger. Sadly, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't beat the next boss so that was that and I gave up [see the first part of my video recording]

For some odd reason, I felt brave and booted up Strider once again only to enjoy my greatest success. Heck, I even beat the worm thingy and made it onto the following stage - which I've never seen before. This starts off great with big cats that wanted to eat me before a giant mechanical creature thing tried its luck. Banging on the fire button proved profitable and I beat him quite easily but I died later by a circular saw which came outta nowhere. Quite unfair as it's impossible to see it approaching off-screen... [see the second part of my video recording]

Oh, how time flies and can also change the perception of many things. Games being one! Check this out...

That swoosh is absolutely superb as are the enormous monsters. Love it!!

Aesthetics

Graphically, Strider is beautiful. From the very start, it looks the part and I think they did a cracking job of converting the arcade backdrops over to the much-lower-resolution ST. The sprites are just freaking incredible - they all look impressive and some are huge. This is a beautiful game but, of course, something had to give for all that glam and that means we have a slightly reduced play area and the scrolling isn't nearly as smooth as it should be. Don't get me wrong, the scrolling is good and works very well but dies alongside other ST games, like Turrican.

The audio is tremendously entertaining, I love the beautiful tunes which are so apt for this conversion. From the very start, I was hooked, just click on the green arrow below to see what I mean. The effects aren't massive in quantity but who doesn't enjoy swooshing through each level? Yes, I love that swoosh lol. I think they did a great job all around.

Before I give my opinion this needs to be said: Dear ST Format, I've hated your review for years but today I hold my hands up and apologise!! After all these years, you was bang-on correct so please forgive me! You guys rocked and I shall blame my old opinion on my joystick skills ;p

The CryptO'pinion?

Strider is absolutely superb so now I'm tempted to whack on the trainer and play through to the end? Okay, the scrolling could have been better but the gameplay is furious and makes the Amiga conversion look dull as dishwater. Strider is sleek and with bucketloads of fun so don't be a fool and load it up right now. More fool me, brilliant game!

Klaz has a spiced-up version for both floppy & hard drives (it includes an option for faster gameplay)