River Raid

Let's play with Carol

For those living under a rock for the last few decades, River Raid was developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari 2600 and is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up. It was ported to other machines like the C64, Intellivision and ZX Spectrum (the latter being what I played throughout the 80s). I thought this game rocked and it's only now, thanks to using OpenEmu, that I've had my eyes opened by the original. Wow, the differences are staggering!

Okay, we're flying up the River Of No Return which is endless so split into handy sections, divided by bridges. Viewed from a top-down perspective, we fly under the radar and shoot anything that gets in our way - but stay over the water because the land results in our humiliating destruction!! (Really?). The controls are superb and dead easy: we can alter our speed by pushing up to go faster and pulling back to slow down. Left/Right skims over the water using an awesome level of inertia and allows us to dodge the enemies we foolishly left alive.

Testing your skills and dexterity are many enemies: helicopters, planes, tanks and more (depending on the conversion). Kill everything using missiles and clear the way for a smooth flight up the river. Fuel can be replenished from neglected tankers or you could blast 'em to smithereens for lots of extra points? Yup, that's about as complex as this shooter gets - survive as long as you can whilst killing anything dumb enough to get in your way!

River Raid appears to have its fair share of lovers and haters but I love it. It's such a thrilling blast without complicated mechanics or pointless objectives. However, others feel this simplistic approach can become tedious - but they're weirdos. Enjoy what is nothing less than a fantastic and timeless shoot 'em up. Okay, let's play...

- ATARI 2600 -

As this is the original, I was expecting a fascinating blaster beyond anything I'd previously experienced and that's exactly what I got. Visually, it's a typical 2600 with bland backgrounds and enemies made from Lego. Okay, I'm forgetting how ahead of its time this wooden slab of late 70s technology is because everything moves fast and smoothly. The sound effects are grungy and raspy which is perfect for the engines and explosions.

Wow, this is so incredibly playable with well-balanced gameplay and great controls. It just feels right and obliterates the ZX Spectrum game that I grew up playing - so I'm now looking into time-travel technology. Sigh...

This is the best version of River Raid that I have ever played. Simple as that.

- ATARI 5200 -

I had high hopes for Atari's SuperSystem but there is very little to separate this conversion from the original. Sure, the graphics have been improved using rugged landscapes so the river is more interesting thanks to the contours of the shoreline. This design works well and helps pilots like me to survive longer, which is great because there are now lots of extra enemies. Plus what's better than blasting a bridge just as a tank is crossing over?

Sadly, I preferred the controls of the original but I'm not entirely sure why. The 5200 lacked something and God only knows how I'd cope using the machine's analog stick! Don't get me wrong, this is a great conversion but something about the original kept dragging me back and I cannot say the same for the 5200. Close, but no cigar.

- ATARI ST -

It's sad that River Raid never graced the Atari ST. However, there might be light at the end of this tunnel of disappointment, thanks to a game by REIsoft called (wait for it) River Of No Return. It was developed by Jürgen Reichenwallner using SEUCK and is described as a rescue mission with a military theme. Hmm...

Unlike the original, this river is littered with stranded soldiers eager to be rescued otherwise the idea remains basically the same. Controls are fine but the plane could have had a nip more speed and agility. I failed to understand the mechanics behind our weaponry which appeared to speed up to a rapid level and thus made the game easy. Weirdly, we're not restricted to water but some buildings can destroy you, whilst mountains won't. Ahem.

Visually, it's okay to look at, with nice landscapes and sprites that aren't too shabby. However, the scrolling is poor using a low framerate which is incredibly embarrassing. Sound effects are equally humiliating for our powerful 16-bit beast - which should have annihilated those "lesser" consoles! oh, and the firing will drive you insane!

Remembering that this was developed using SEUCK, it's not bad and I did get a level of enjoyment. However, those expecting a River Raid clone will be extremely disappointed by this shambles (the ST has zillions of better shoot 'em ups). I did play a few games - eventually reached the boss - but it beat me (twice) so I never bothered trying again. 

UBESWITCH

My best purchase ever?

After two years, I can finally update our hardware section with my latest Atari ST purchase. I dumped my old monitor switch box for a Ubeswitch by Urban Jonsson, which I bought off the Exxos Web Store.

It's amazing how fantastic this works: plug it in and power on your Atari ST (mine defaulted to high resolution but that can be changed by holding the top button for a couple of seconds). Changing resolution is simple, tap the same button to send a signal to the ST that you wish to switch resolution - and you can flip between colour/mono at any time. I'm using an NEC 1970NXp multisync which works very nicely.

STOP!! You should first check that your monitor is fully compatible and listed here:

Best-Electronics
Atari-Forum Wiki
15khz.net
Wikidot

What a cracking piece of hardware with an incredible design that makes using it so easy. If you have a monitor that can support the ST's awkward 15Khz display demands, then head over to the Exxos web store and get this adapter bought. Fascinating witchcraft and I wish I'd have bought one of these years ago!!

Forgive my handy camera skills! Click it for a bigger view of my Ubeswtich love.

Minefield

- You sunk my battleship!! -

Everyone loves the Battleships board game? Well, I know I do! So here is Minefield by Donald Campbell which is a PD game based on the idea. Only this time we're driving tanks across a minefield made from 64 square tiles. Our opponent is your beloved Atari ST who is trying to do the same and the one with the most through wins!

There are three difficulty levels with the first being "Dead Easy" which makes your Atari ST appear rather dumb. Especially as it fails to learn from its mistakes... The second level is "Quite Easy" and a marginally better opponent. Finally, we have "Intelligent" which is the most fun and even uses its cannon to locate mines. Sounds like fun, right?

It sure does! So, let's take a gander at a screenshot before we carry on reading...

As you can see, I shot the square ahead to reveal a mine. Wow, that was a close call. Phew :)

- Play The Game -

We begin each game by placing five mines secretly on your opponent's board (the ST will do the same on yours). Each player takes turns to safely guide a tank from one edge of their board to the other. We start each game by selecting any square from along the bottom row. Our tank can only move upwards or diagonally upwards and once a square tile has been used, it's removed from play. Of course, this is obvious and will also restrict your options later on.

Remember those five hidden mines? Well, to help locate them, use your cannon and fire at any square tile. The explosion will either result in a face or a skull: a smiley face means the tile is clean and free to use. However, if you see a skull then stay clear otherwise it's instant death - and for the duration of the game. Both players repeatably take turns until no tanks remain and the one with the most safely home is the winner. Gameplay is simple and easy peasy to learn!

Those who are clever and don't care about flashy graphics are still here! So let's see another screenshot...

Sometimes this game shoots itself in the foot thanks to its earlier (bad) decisions...

- Graphics & Sounds -

Visually, this game will blow your socks off!! I'm talking 200+ colours, 50fps hardware scrolling and all in overscan... Okay, okay, there's nothing like that whatsoever but a game like this needs nothing more than to be functional. The board is basic but clear, the smilies are cute and the skulls look cheap but I really don't care. Nor should you.

I wasn't expecting much in the audio dept and that's exactly what I got. The old YM chip struggles as I fear Donald wasn't much of a musician? There are a few basic effects but it's all pretty lame and the tanks sound like a wasp is trapped in a spider's web. Not good. However, just like amateur graphics, it really doesn't matter tbh.

That's right, fancy aesthetics are nice but never necessary so let's take a look at the last screenshot...

...and, ahem, as you can see we humans aren't too clever also. Sigh!

- The CryptO'pinion -

This game is superb fun no matter what you might be thinking. However, it's not perfect and I have a couple of quibbles. For example, it's a massive shame that there's no support for two players. Also, I'm not convinced about its three difficulty levels, especially when watching the computer make some terrible mistakes. Also, the 8x8 grid layout is restricting and can leave both players with zero options towards the end - even though a couple of tanks might remain.

Okay, it's time I stopped being an idiot and remembered this isn't a commercial release. Technically rubbish, yet here I am about why you should download Minefield. I can't give you much of a solid reason! Other than I've played dozens of games and loved every single second of it!! Minefield is one of the most enjoyable "PD" games I've ever played.

- FLOPPY DISK DOWNLOAD -