Crapman was originally featured within the Synergy megademo and later released as a standalone product in 1993. Most Atarians rate this as one of the best Pac-Man games, with spot-on perfect gameplay: those pesky ghosts are clever, and a cunning level design helps make this extremely challenging.
The graphics are marvellous, and the Scavenger music is just perfect - gorgeous and timeless! Crapman may have a silly name, but it's a fantastic twist on the original and immensely addictive. Right, I cannot stress this enough, stop what you're doing and play this game right now. Possibly the best Pac-Man clone?
Every so often, a game is released that breaks the mould and blows you away. Virgin Games released this point-and-click adventure in 1992, and it's something remarkable. A game of great character, lore and charm. Interestingly, it was developed by David Sykes and Tony Warriner of Revolution Software and appears to be their only Atari ST game. Damn, I cannot help but wonder what else they might have made.
The story begins with you waking up one day, only to find yourself locked in a dungeon. You are a nobody, a peasant, called Diermot. You were previously part of an attempt to free the village of Turnvale from Selena and her army of Orc lookalikes, the Skorls. That campaign ended in tragedy, and everyone was killed! Whilst the bloodshed reigned, you bumped your noggin and were knocked unconscious, only to be captured.
Upon waking, you find yourself banged up in jail with a bad-tempered Skorl as your guard...
The intro is fascinating to watch. Like a 16-bit mini-movie!
I love the opening scenes, which nicely introduce you to the world you're in.
As you begin to explore, you meet new people like this old chap idly relaxing...
It's Like Having A Second Life!
Immerse yourself in this wonderfully crafted adventure taking place within a gorgeous Olde English setting I adore. It's a point-and-click adventure controlled using the mouse: the left button guides your character around the screen and can also display status and object information. The right button is used to command and interact with characters and more. This system is well-designed, intuitive and easy to master.
Gameplay is experienced in real-time, with the populous merrily going about their business while you go about yours. Having woken up in jail, your first task is to escape, so it's fortunate Skorl's aren't the brightest bulbs in the box (by a long shot!). Your progress hinges on careful exploration, examination and communication. So pick up every object; you never know when you might need it. Talk to everyone and see what information they can share. Sometimes someone might ask you a favour before revealing anything.
The world is populated by some of the most entertaining and delightful characters that will win your heart. Just start a chat with someone in a tavern, for example, a dialogue guaranteed to entertain! This charm and charisma are evident from the start when you rescue a fellow inmate named Ratpouch, who instantly becomes a loyal friend. Well, when he's not in the pub! But watch out because he doesn't half get himself into trouble by saying the silliest of things to other characters. Such a mischievous guy and a best friend.
Let's take a look at a few more screenshots with subtle hints...
It's worth exploring everywhere and chatting with everybody... Even the half-naked man!
Or you could play dress-up and enjoy being a dude in a dress. Incognito is fun!
Relax. Have a beer and chill with your mate Ratpouch. Maybe you'll hear something interesting?
Looks And Audio
This adventure is visually stunning, and the artwork is a pure delight, perfectly capturing the enchanting medieval setting. The characters move with smooth animation, and I adore the intricate details like the bird perched on the fence for a few moments before taking flight. Such a delicate touch adds to the scene’s beauty and is impressive to witness during play. It’s these little details that enhance the atmosphere.
The sound effects are the only weakness, but don’t misunderstand me - they’re beautiful and crafted from high-quality sampled sounds. However, some screens lack any background audio, which, in my opinion, slightly detracts from the overall beauty of the game. Perhaps that’s the floppy disk’s capacity limitation?
I'm moaning about, right? Let's take a look at a screen, you will see a lot of...
Oh no, it's game over for another fallen adventurer. They think it's all over? It is now!!
The CryptO'pinion?
Undeniably an impressive adventure that you’ll thoroughly enjoy exploring. It’s hilarious, captivating and incredibly addictive, so I recommend making time for this game. Take notes and engage with everyone - yes, even those who might seem like a bum or a pub wacko knitting. Everyone has a story to share.
It keeps you on your toes with its unpredictable twists and turns cleverly woven into the storyline. It’s a massive adventure that might even lead you to fall in love (you'll see). Personally, I’d rank Lure Of The Temptress as one of the best adventures for the Atari ST, just a hair’s breadth away from absolute perfection.
Here's a thought: why not ditch TOS for a spanky installation of MiNT? That's been done - it's called ST MiNT by Marcello, based on Cripple MiNT (w/ extras). It's intended for a 4MB ST running in High Res, and all you need is a spare SD card for your Ultrasatan (or similar), to fly free in a multitasking world!!
I've installed this myself, and it's shockingly easy to get up and running. It's an impressive product...
Installation is easy, and Marcello has even provided helpful instructions to recreate the image. However, I thought I'd also add my own experience just for us Mac folk - but it's dead easy to do on any computer:
1) Download ST Mint disk image. 2) Insert the SD card(if an alert appears, choose ignore) 3) Open up Terminal.app and enter in three commands: 3a) diskutil list(this displays the necessary information to identify your SD card - diskX on my iMac was disk1) 3b) diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX(now that you know the device ID you can unmount it - but leave physically inserted!) 3c) sudo dd if=st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/diskX(dd is the command that transfers the data onto the SD card and will take several minutes. Enter your password and wait!!) 4) Now eject and insert the SD card into your ultrasatan 5) Switch on the Atari ST and enjoy a baby MiNT OS
This next bit is optional and only for those struggling to identify the SD card device ID. This is a copy of my Terminal activity, and, as you can see, I entered the "diskutil list" command twice. Once before I inserted the SD card, and afterwards just to compare the differences in its output (before running the above)
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list /dev/disk0 (internal, physical): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 999.3 GB disk0s2 3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3 /dev/disk3 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: Apple_partition_scheme +18.1 MB disk3 1: Apple_partition_map 32.3 KB disk3s1 2: Apple_HFS Flash Player 18.1 MB disk3s2 iMac:~ ataricrypt$ iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list /dev/disk0 (internal, physical): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 999.3 GB disk0s2 3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3 /dev/disk1 (internal, physical): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: *1.0 GB disk1 /dev/disk3 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: Apple_partition_scheme +18.1 MB disk3 1: Apple_partition_map 32.3 KB disk3s1 2: Apple_HFS Flash Player 18.1 MB disk3s2 iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1 Unmount of all volumes on disk1 was successful iMac:~ ataricrypt$ iMac:~ ataricrypt$ sudo dd if=~/Desktop/st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/disk1 Password: 1228800+0 records in 1228800+0 records out 629145600 bytes transferred in 986.684138 secs (637636 bytes/sec) iMac:~ ataricrypt$
Sorry, I meant to say, here we have Gauntlet 3 developed by Software Creations for US Gold. Yet another sequel to the incredible arcade game we love. Only this time, somebody thought that the winning formula of speed and frantic action wasn't good enough for the 1990s. Here we go. Yup, somebody decided that a modernized version with a new isometric design was needed to replace the classic overhead view.
Please note that I tried to keep an open mind throughout. Rather than being a grumpy old man wondering why his favourite game had been drastically changed. It's not all bad surely? Of course not, but why change a winning formula? Nevermind, let's crack on with the review...
Yes, it looks different, but in a good way, actually. I liked how we begin the opening levels in a spooky forest; this stage looks the part. All the familiar Gauntlet elements are lurking in these woods: ghosts, generators, treasure, and food. The idea remains much the same as ever - we hack and slash through to a medieval church, killing everything in our wake. Not only that, but the levels appear huge; this is a big game.
Let's view a cheap & tacky screenshot that I took with my phone off my Atari ST...
The ruins of an old church deep in the woods. That tree looks scary, so let's get inside quick!
Let's kill monsters!
First things first, who do we want to be - Warrior, Wizard, Rockman, Lizard Man, Elf, and more. That's right, there are many more characters! One or two players can team up (definitely better with two), and the classic gameplay mechanics remain much the same. We're still throwing axes, arrows, magic, and more directly into the faces of ghosts, goblins, and other hideous creatures that emerge from their generators.
The levels are vast and divided into several smaller sections, which you can revisit whenever you like. Monsters constantly spawn, so blast the generators! Remember your usual strategy: collect treasure and eat food. Shooting a potion clears the screen of enemies, or you can collect them for later use. Escaping to the next realm is only possible after completing simple tasks like collecting keys and that sorta stuff.
Essentially, they wanted this to be Gauntlet but with an isometric perspective. Unfortunately, I doubt that’s feasible. The original’s timeless appeal stemmed from the ability to start blasting monsters instantly, whether solo or with others. The action was fast-paced, but this isn’t the case with Gauntlet 3. Not even close.
I've progressed into the weirdly designed church for this next screenshot...
Inside the church are many ghosts and awkward objects to try to walk around...
Fighting in slo-mo?
The gameplay is a lot slower, so gone is that instant enjoyment of mass killing we love. The thrill has been replaced with a more sedate exploration that happens to include killing. That's how it feels to me; the frenzied action has gone. That's made worse thanks to the level design and terrible control mechanics.
Even walking is an issue, as the levels are littered with objects that need to be walked around. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is. I was sick & tired of getting stuck on the scenery. This applies to your weapons, which are often blocked when trying to hit a target. Heck, even the ghosts suffer from this problem!
The controls are lethargic and verrrrrry sluggish, making walking incredibly tiring. Furthermore, the attack speed is far too slow. This means we can’t destroy generators unless we walk and fight through hordes of ghosts, losing energy in the process. A faster firing rate would have instantly fixed this problem.
Surely, it's not all bad? No, but let's view one final screenshot before my judgment...
Looks like we've just walked straight into an ambush. Shoot the generators, if you can!
The CryptO'pinion?
Gauntlet 3 was programmed by Bill Barna of Software Creations, and I wonder if his job was to rush through a nasty Amiga port. It certainly feels that way. This is very disappointing given the company’s history of producing classics like Bubble Bobble, Ghouls & Ghosts, and Bionic Commando. What went wrong?
Ignoring that it's supposed to be the third in the series, this is actually enjoyable in its own right. I liked exploring the various lands and killing everything in sight. While the controls are somewhat problematic, it’s still a decent game. However, it falls short as a "Gauntlet" game and only redeems itself in co-op with a friend.
Update: I have contacted Peter Putnik (8BitChip) to ask about a hard drive version that supports faster Atari computers. Once again he worked his magic and I've been enjoying Gauntlet 3 on my 16MHz Atari STe and yes, I said the word with enjoy in it!!
Sure, it still isn't perfect but, if you have a faster computer, then this update will help to eliminate some problems, especially with the unresponsive controls.
And that's big news!! Gauntlet III is playable, at last.
