Enduro Racer

Wheelie good fun

The Atari ST received a great conversion of Enduro Racer, programmed by Ian Morrison, who also made the amazing Road Blasters. There are five races to compete in against a whole load of other bikers on tracks littered with many hazards. The controls are superb, and I found cornering tight and exhilarating. Watch out for the timer, which is happy to tick down, so learn and practice the tracks! This is the only way you'll beat it and maybe show off those skills by doing a handlebar handstand? It's crazy, but it's cool.

Visually, things are a little sparse, but that helps to produce a better framerate. The music is nothing short of fantastic and typically Dave Whittaker - in other words, brilliant. Enduro Racer might be showing its age a little when compared to other ST racers, but I still think it's worth booting up. Cars are best, but this proves that even bikes can look cool when leaping over the jumps and thrashing around tight turns.

This is what excellent racing looks like, and I guarantee that you will love every second of it.

Floppy Disks  |  Hard Drive

Bellum Internecinum

Galaga!

Released in 1989 by M Goss-Custard, Bellum Internecinum is a Galaga clone.  Shoot first and ask questions later, as these incredibly trigger-happy ETs attack in formations. Don’t expect to take any prisoners. They also swoop down to clutter the screen for frantic action, gaining speed and ferocity as you progress.

The joystick controls are great, offering full directional movement. However, your ship has a limited amount of damage before parts start falling off, so be careful (which is actually a superb effect to see!)

Bellum Internecinum is a rock-solid shoot ‘em up, and I’ve loved every second playing it.

• Downloads can be found over at Atarimania.
• Wanna play more arcade games from the public domain?

Chubby Gristle

Oi, Fatso!!

This is a story of a fat, obnoxious parking attendant who loves to eat food - a pillar of the community! Chubby Gristle is always hungry and will roam looking for grub to nosh on in Grandslam Entertainment's 1988 platformer. This is a platformer and feels like games I played on my ZX Spectrum. Never a bad thing.

Each screen is designed in a fashion similar to Monty Mole. Chubby Gristle is incredibly tough and perhaps too difficult for the average gamer. As with all platformers, each screen has ledges, moving platforms, ropes, and the expected angry sprites zipping back n' forth (awkward to avoid, without losing a precious life).

Visually, it's perfectly 8-bit with 16-bit enhancements. And I mean that in a good way because it happily blasted me back into the 1980s. The sprites move smoothly and are animated using a style Peter Harrap would be proud of. Sadly, I'm disappointed with the audio, which plays the same tune over (and over). It's great, but we really needed a varied selection, and I found no way to replace that with the sound effects.

Chubby Gristle could have been a hit, but the joystick controls fail, making it too hard. There's so much going on, and it's too easy for the fat man to bump into something or fall flat on his face. Many extra lives are needed to balance it out. There are some great screens, but you won't get to see them without cheating.

This is a game that loves to see you suffer. Whoever playtested this should be shot!!

• Klaz' Hideaway who has the floppy and a hard drive installable game (with lives cheat).
• I've recorded a video of my dispare, dare you view it?
• Cheating is never good but Chubby needs extra lives like no other game on the planet. To enable infinite lives, type "buuurrp" on the title screen. You will hear a burp that confirms success. (untested by me)