The beST Game Ever

There can be only one

I hate questions like, what's your favourite game? An impossible question to answer because it doesn't take into consideration the genre or even my mood at that moment. Plus, my answer changes daily! However, people still ask me, which is understandable but also quite infuriating. Or am I in a grumpy mood?!!

Possibly!! Yet I'm actually wondering what my favourite Atari ST game is. We have a ginormous library, so how can I answer? Here goes: I'm ignoring ratings. I'm ignoring genre. I'm ignoring my mood. I'm ignoring everything to make this the most pointless article ever. Wait, it's wrong to pick Dungeon Master, right?

NO!! I cannot choose that because it's the game everyone automatically plumps for. Rightly so, but...

Anyhow, what about Defender of the Crown? What about Stardust? What about Rogue? Then there is Prince Of Persia, Gauntlet II, Joust, Magic Boy, Borodino, Zero-5, Stunt Car Racer, Speedball, Populous, Golden Axe, Time Bandit, The Secret Of Monkey Island, Death Chase, The Pawn, Rick Dangerous, Hostages, Kult, Resolution 101, Stormlord, Midwinter, Hunter, Legends Of Valour, Carrier Command, Mr Do! Run Run, Captain Blood, North & South, Starglider, Oids, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters, Turrican, and Out Run.

The list goes on and on and on... (I was joking about Out Run!)

So, with my back against the wall and a loaded gun held against my empty head, the dreaded question is asked. It demands an answer. I'm starting to sweat. What game might come out trumps? Well, after great thought (honest) I've made my decision - knowing full well this is a pointless venture that makes no sense.

Nobody will read this rubbish website, so I'm perfectly safe from ridicule.

I've done it and picked the best Atari ST game.

Do you wanna know what it is? Really, are you that bored? Right, scroll on...

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The CryptO'pinion?

I have picked Domark's Shadowlands as the best Atari ST game. Not only was it ahead of its time, but it was created, designed and produced to near perfection. It offers the player a fascinating, atmospheric, and captivating world to explore. What, you disagree with me? There's a shocker!! Am I that wrong?

I don't care, but click the above link to read my review. Hang on, can I change my mind? ;^)

Yes, this was silly and a pointless waste of our time. Regardless, if you had a gun held to your head and forced to make that dreaded decision, what Atari ST game would you choose? It can be absolutely anything except Dungeon Master. I'm eager to hear your thoughts, so let me know in the comments below.

Enjoy whatever you play. STay Atari.

Downloads for: Floppy Disks | Hard Drive

The title screen is superb and nicely animated too, which this screenshot fails to show!

The opening level outside is quite lame, but don't enter the dungeon without looking around first...

Once inside, the game perfectly introduces you to the lighting, puzzles, and monsters.

The first baddie is this fella, but don't worry because he's really easy to kill.

Another baddie and some pick-ups too. Hang on, is that a key I see?

Replaying this game again, from scratch, is proving to be fantastic. What an adventure!!

Make sure you read the manual. There are more than enough helpful hints to get you started.

Worm

I got worms!

Every so often, I come upon something so ridiculous it's weirdly enjoyable. Well, I've found an absurd kids' game called Worm. Oddly enough, the big kid within me still found it very amusing. Worm was developed by Craig Graham of Data Uncertain Software and is a public domain release. The title screen says it was released in 1991, but the game files are time-stamped 1989 on my floppy disk, so who knows. Maybe a default?

The story is that we're a worm called Ooey Gooey, who is on a mission to save the world from an unnatural disaster. Yep, we have been invaded once again by monsters that threaten our existence. These creatures have taken the worms' eggs, so it's our job to rescue them (hey, do worms actually lay eggs?).

I've just googled it, and worms do indeed lay eggs!! On that note, we need to see some screenshots...

The title screen oozes a professional presentation easily on par with the Bitmaps ;)

There is a designer to create your own levels. Look what I've started making. Hmm..!

Let's play

There are 25 wacky levels, and using the joystick, Ooey can crawl along the ground, ledges, and other objects looking for eggs. This isn't exactly mind-blowing, is it? There are some located in high areas, and worms cannot fly, so how can we grab 'em? Well, it's a good job Ooey has a hidden gadget - a helicopter pack! This is actually pretty cool, and he uses it to reach the dizzy heights no worm was ever designed to see.

Don't be too quick to rush off and collect the eggs because there are other items for points and helicopter fuel. Also, there are power-ups like extra lives, invulnerability, and ice, which can freeze enemies. Once all the eggs are collected, we are whisked into the next room to repeat the task on a tougher level.

Interestingly, the main menu has a scroller but it's incredibly lame!! However, it does mention about a possible cheat code "Craig Loves Andrea". Perhaps it's for the high score table or maybe a key combo? I didn't have any luck but YMMV. Let me know in the comments.

And that's about all there is to this bizarre game. It's dead simple and enjoyable in a terrible way...

Leave the title screen alone, and you get to view the instructions.

The evil eyeball looks drunk!

The CryptO'pinion?

To be honest, there's not a whole lot to this game, and its design feels very amateur with crude aesthetics. I admire what Craig tried to achieve, but the sprites are too big, and there is a bunch of truly dreadful collision detection. Sadly, this spoiled what might have been silly and childish, but fun.

Regardless of my whining, it's still enjoyable and worth downloading, especially if you have kids, who you want to punish for spending all your money and ruining your life. Whaaaaaaat did you just say?!! Weirdly, I actually found the concept humorous and enough to warrant writing about it. You should play this game.

You can find Worm over at Exxos' excellent Floppyshop archive (GAM-3341)

17BIT

Disk Magazine #6

The ST is fast approaching its 40th birthday, yet this old computer still manages to surprise me with something new. Recently, I rescued a floppy disk by Seventeen Bit Software called "Disk Magazine". It's labelled Membership 5000, which seems a little dubious, being a high number. Although I do wonder if that was the original owner's ID?

It appears 17BIT supported the ST for only about a year until late '89. They supplied commercial games for both the ST/Amiga platforms at a discount, along with tons of public domain software. Membership was required (free!), and that got you a regular disk magazine; I found number #6. (cheers to Atarimania's Marko for all his help)

The disk boots to the GEM desktop with a hilarious wallpaper - are these the guys behind 17BIT? The contents are varied from utilities to a couple of Spectrum 512 images, and also a megademo by XXX International. But the main reason was to advertise everything in their PD catalogue using a program by Andy Styles to browse through their stock.

I'm eager to find disks 1-5, along with anything else they produced. Sadly, I suspect the worst, but I have hope that their other disks aren't lost in the void! If you know more or happen to have their disks lying about, then get in touch. For now, at least no. 6 is safe because I've made a copy that you can download for either your Atari ST or emulator.

Wait! Before you go, check out these exciting photos and screenshots...

"That Bit Better Than The Rest", I really like their slogan!

This is where all the magic happens. Well...

QMOUSE is cool, and I wonder how SPEEDDISK might perform?

One of the readme files. Gripped with excitement now, aren't ya?

XXX International Demo by XXX International (must have taken ages to choose the demo's title)

One of the Spectrum 512 images.

Their program lets you browse everything they had in stock.