It's been a while since I posted something cool in our Music section. So, I went looking for something extra special, and then I remembered this gem: a "Dark Rock" remake of the Rob Hubbard original.
This completely blew me away!!
I'll award 100 points to those who can answer this question: What game is this music from? Noooo, don't look at the title hehe. Pah, nevermind. All credit to Yoshitaka Hojo, who you can check out on Soundcloud :)
I'm on the lookout now for other "dark rock" or "darker" remakes of ST tunes...
Yomo is an old-skool-styled shoot ’em up by Aaron Fothergill for Mandarin Software. It even managed to place runner-up in the 1989 Games Writer of the Year competition, which is no small feat. I’ve had this one on my bucket list for years, largely because of its 8-bit vibe, which reminded me of games I played as a youngster back in the early '80s. Is anyone else a 50-something and reminded of Harrier Attack?
The action unfolds in a two-dimensional world filled with destructible buildings and an assortment of vehicles, all governed by wonderfully infuriating physics. You play as a tiny stickman tasked with recovering a dodgy nuke dropped behind enemy lines. Naturally, the locals aren’t thrilled about this, and you’re soon under constant attack. They're the baddies, so why not fire off heat-seeking missiles, leap into whatever creaking aircraft happens to be nearby, and cause as much destruction as possible? Going on foot is rarely fun, but if you spot enemy stickmen wobbling across the screen, a quick tap of the fire button will gun 'em down!!
Visually, this is no Bitmap Brothers showpiece, so keep expectations low. The graphics are crude, with tiny sprites and rough scrolling that had my Atari STe crying out in agony. Boy, is the scrolling bad. That said, the sound effects fare much better, with plenty of crunchy samples, the crack of lightning being my favourite.
Yomo is, frankly, a bit pants, yet it’s also undeniably lots of fun. The freedom to jump into almost any aircraft is genius, even if limited ammunition and the fiddly process of resupplying can be maddening in the heat of battle. It’s frustrating and unfair, but if you enjoy blowing things up, Yomo is probably worth your time.
21st Century Entertainment released Rubicon in 1992, and is something I've enjoyed for years. It's my kinda game because it's a ludicrous mix of platformer and shoot 'em-up genres. A great run and gunner!! However, I admit I'm also rubbish and fail to reach the third level - sometimes I cannot beat the first!! So, I've whacked on the trainer and played through to the end (watch my video if you don't believe me lol).
Developed by the Fingerbobs, who certainly had a grim view of the future, by 2011, there would have been a nuclear accident which transformed the local wildlife into vicious mutations. Apparently, the situation was so bad that Finland and Russia were evacuated. Okay... It's our mission to kill everything before these creatures find a way to blow us all up!! Tool up, soldier!! So yeah, an original storyline, I'm sure you'll agree?
Hey, wanna see some amazing screenshots? Well, whatever you said, here they are...
Level one introduces us to the unfair mechanics, it's not long before enabling infinite lives!!
It's now that you realise the beautiful artwork too.
I love level two with its enormous enemies and trapdoors, which host something silly.
Oi, pick on someone your own size!!
Right, I'm impressed
The first thing that hits you is the tracker music, which is stereo on the Atari STe and nice (which is high praise from this chiptune guy). Why couldn't other developers go that extra mile? Anyhow, the aesthetics keep on getting better with superb in-game graphics: smooth scrolling across gorgeous landscapes with a wide variety of mutated monsters all intent on killing you. The attention to detail is constantly outstanding, but the animations are hit-and-miss because some are great, whilst others are oddly void of any extra frames.
Sadly, a slowdown occurs when particular (ie, ginormous) enemy sprites are displayed. I must admit that I'm disappointed they didn't also utilise the Blitter along with the DMA - that would have helped with these sprites! Curiously, this framerate drop occurs for unanimated sprites like the Ceratopia, which is surprising after battling a screen-sized skeleton and a squid! But who cares about a little slowdown? Let's play!
I can live with a little slowdown here and there, so let's check out more outstanding screenshots...
Level three continues the theme, but in the snow! That tank driver should have ducked down...
Get out of that tank and fight like a man!
We're Pitfall Harry for level four with sinking stepping stones, spikes and lots of monkeys!
That is gonna hurt...................
I need a big gun!
This game is fun, but throughout the seven levels, it's much the same with different graphics. I loved the last two levels, which reminded me of Thunder Jaws and, of course, Aliens. Our hero has access to lots of weapons, and the single-shot gun initially does the trick well, but it's not long before you need to upgrade to something with a little more muscle because those bigger enemies are nigh on impossible to kill with your peashooter.
Weapons are excellent, but the laser sucks. Thankfully, there are many other weapons to choose from, like the "Scatter" and "Napalm" (my fave). However, we start with zero ammo for everything other than our basic gun, so collect ammo boxes that are periodically dropped in. This isn't bad, but it can be awkward because you must press the required Function Key to choose your desired weapon before making the pickup. I would have preferred random types of ammo dropped to save us from fumbling for the right key before it disappears!!
Nothing makes more sense than a fun and senseless game of killing, so let's see more...
Level five is incredible, with many obscure enemies, so upgrade your weapons!
Check out my flame thrower. Take a closer look!
Level six takes us into deep waters, and I dare anyone not to love every second of this.
I'll kill you and eat you for my dinner. Well, no, I won't, but I sounded macho!
The CryptO'pinion?
Rubicon is fantastic, but doesn't break the mould with any originality. It's stupidly difficult at times, especially on levels two and three. Having said all that, it's another Torvak the Warrior - a game I love to play regularly. I love the action this freakishly weird platform offers - levels six and seven are my favourites.
Rubicon is far from perfect, but it's still bucketloads of fun and definitely worth your time playing.
If you fancy going shirtless and flexing your rippling muscles before taking on the hoard then you have this choice: grab either the floppies or one of these versions for a hard drive: 8BitChip or D-Bug.
The final level has us battling Aliens, Facehuggers, giant eggs, and even the queen herself!!
