Archipelagos

Killer trees?

Astral Software's Archipelagos was developed in 1989 by (for me) a coding legend, Paul Carruthers (the man behind Resolution 101 and Quadralien). This is a surreal game that doesn't look, sound, or play like anything else, and still feels unique even today. You’re dropped into a strange, dreamlike world of floating islands, where your job is to smash eggs, topple an obelisk, and try not to get eaten alive by mutant trees.

Archipelagos is a first-person puzzler within hundreds of procedurally generated islands. Each map has egg-like stones and an obelisk. Smash all the stones, and you trigger a countdown, forcing you to leg it to the obelisk before the land collapses around you. To get there, harvest energy to build bridges and cleanse corrupted tiles, all while corkscrew trees creep closer, spreading their taint and making life miserable. It’s all about planning your route, staying one step ahead, and then surviving the panic of the endgame dash.

The islands were once part of a paradise world that pesky humans have probably ruined. So, Mother Nature hit back hard - mutating trees into some kind of twisted lifeform like something from an old 60s horror movie. This also left the land shattered into chunks, drifting in a toxic void. Yeah, this place sounds great, eh? Well, that’s where we come in as a "restorer" tasked with cleansing the islands by destroying corrupted stones(?) and toppling the obelisks that anchor the blight. Just don't get eaten by the monstrous wildlife.

This is one weird game - I mean, it's an FPS without a shotgun! However, it is uniquely different in terms of hypnotic aesthetics, most certainly unlike anything else I can remember playing. It's not easy, and occasionally cruel, but the mix of exploration and frantic strategy is exciting. So, smash those obelisks - only another ten thousand to go! This is one of the most captivating games you could play. And you should.

• There is a range of menu disks at Atari Legend for those wanting the floppies.
• The installable game for the hard drive is available at 8BitChip.
• Atarimania has access to a nifty cheat and loads of magazine ratings.

Alien Busters 4

What happened to the first three?

Back in 1996, Daniel Fielding released Alien Busters 4, a multiplayer shooter with one simple rule: kill your mates before they kill you. The action takes place in an arena where up to five players can jump in and shoot the living daylights out of each other. Hey, I remember the carnage of Death Chase, so this should be great!

Gameplay is simple: move your man with a joystick or keyboard, grab whatever weapons appear, and blast anything that moves until it explodes in a shower of blood and dismembered body parts. Pistols provide endless ammo, but the fun comes when you grab something better: machine guns, lasers, and rocket launchers. Even the scenery isn’t safe: trees get shredded, rockets blast rocks into smithereens, and barrels love triggering chain reactions. Rounds are fast and furious, and only end when every other player is brown bread.

While the game technically supports up to five players, you’ll probably need a parallel port adapter once you’ve got more than two joysticks already attached. I haven’t fully tested that, but just imagine the glorious chaos around an ST with a full party of eager shooters. If you’re a sad, lonely gamer, then simply hit keys 1-5 on the player select screen and your Atari ST will happily pretend to be your murderous mates.

Alien Busters 4 is all about gathering your friends around the computer for a riotous time. It’s a pixelated party full of guns, gore, and hilarious carnage - made even sweeter by the superb DMA samples on the STe. What an absolutely excellent multiplayer with chaotic, quick-fire, addictive carnage. I absolutely love it!

• Gather your mates and grab the download from Atarimania.
• Seeing as this game is enhanced, it gets instantly added to the STe gaming list.
• While you're here, check out another outstanding game by Daniel - Death Chase.
• If you enjoyed duelling against mates, then there are more here.

Have some of my rocket pie...

...Yeah, that little man didn't stand a chance!

Yep, it's always the same rule. Use real hardware for best results!!
Emulation won't be good enough. You'll see...

Happy Halloween

Insert Disk… If You Dare

For me, Halloween isn't anything close to a proper holiday, but our kids always loved wandering the streets begging for free food. And, for one day, they get to be in fancy dress, which is nice. Okay, let's get serious: I've picked out a rather awesome menu disk by Serenade, which suits the scary day. It's their 18th release and features three scrummy games: Mrs Munchie, Hunt for Grey November(lol), and Viking III.

Booting up presents a great menu coded by the genius who is Mac Sys Data. The spooky pixel art is by (I think) Mass Deporter, and cool chip music by Count Zero, one of my fave musicians. Oh, I tried my best to rework their title screen to make it look more horrifying (I can only apologise for my lack of artistic skills!!). Make sure to read the scroller like a kid again in your parents' house. Hey, I always read scrollers, what about you?

Okay, enough reminiscing, and let's check out the three timeless games on this menu disk...

• The first game is Mrs Munchie, an obvious version of Pac-Man. There's nothing here to shock, but it plays well. I liked the cute aesthetics with nostalgic chomping sound effects. If I'm honest, I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but this game is pretty cool with different mazes, weird fruits, and he's now wearing lipstick. Come on, we all know it's really Pac-Man going fruity on us.
• The Hunt for Grey November is the one that surprised me the most. The story is: terrorists have stolen the navy's submarines and are blowing up our ships. We must fly over the seas, scanning for any suspicious activity in each segment. When found, we need to think like in Minesweeper to calculate where they might be hiding. It's really tough, but I liked this game a lot.
• You might look at Viking 3 and think it looks cheap. Well, I guess it does, but give it a try. At first, it reminded me a little bit of Oh No! Not More Radioactive Mineshafts or even Missile Command. In fact, I started playing it like the latter, shooting everything. But it's more, let some of the packages drop - to help defend from alien attack. It's a simple concept and one I thoroughly enjoyed!!

So that's that, three non-horrific games with a scary menu. Well, it's good enough for a fake celebration that doesn't even get you a day off work. You can find this menu disk over at Atari Legend.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I love it when games feature a decent information screen! I know, I know...

I'm not the biggest Pac-Man fan, but this game is incredible!!

It's a bit like Minesweeper mixed with Battleships, and it's very good.

When you think you have found a sub - try to blow it up. If you can!

At first, you'll blow up everything like in Missile Command...

...but that might be a bad idea when the aliens begin firing rockets!!