Kid GP

It's time for Munsie magic!

This is the third Dave Munsie game to be featured on AtariCrypt but it's one I'd never previously heard of. The idea is to frantically run around each screen avoiding the baddies and collecting all of the diamonds. Originally aimed at the younger audience but I have found it incredibly fun so there's hope for all of us... Or I'm just simple?

Collecting diamonds may sound easy but there are a variety of whacky creatures zipping about the screens. Each one loves getting in your way whilst others are looking to give a good chase. However, bump into one and a life is lost!! So it's a good job we can use a hammer to smack these blighters and send 'em packing. Yeah!

The game rewards your vicious hammer attacks with lots of bonus fruits - before respawning them once again. Magic mushroom power-ups are available for a range of cool effects that may boost or alter your visibility. A bonus timer is counting down and, if you manage to finish with time remaining, then you can build up points by grabbing lots of extra goodies? What this lacks in (ahem) originality is more than made up for in brilliant gameplay!

Come on, I think we need to see a colourful screenshot with cute critters with beady eyes...

Okay, it might look ...umm... rather familiar but the gameplay is rock-solid awesomeness!!

Bubble... Rainbow... What?

Graphically, this is one sexy-looking game with bold colours and the cutest sprites. Those big-eyed blue faces will always make me smile - especially after I've clubbed them! This is exactly how an arcade game should look. Sure, it (ahem) might look familiar for any number of reasons but who cares about originality when it looks this gorgeous?

Interestingly, you can flip between 50/60Hz and also three game speeds, at any time.

The audio is slightly less impressive because there are no background chiptunes. I think that would have been really nice, so is sadly missed by me. Thankfully, the sound effects are fantastic and very zesty for a game of this ilk.

Screenshot time and how about one with some fruit? No? Well, here you go anyhow...

Wow!! Look at all that gorgeous colour and beautiful fruit. Yum Yum get it all eaten up!

The CryptO'pinion?

Kid GP is exhilarating!! Manically running around, collecting lots of diamonds and fruits, whilst avoiding the silly-looking nasties is surprisingly brilliant. The controls are perfect; always responsive and I loved the ability to have two different jumping options - because the hammer only works horizontally. Which is the only (meh) gripe I have.

Dave Munsie may have originally intended this game for kids (my 7yr appreciates that) but there is no denying the positive effect that it has on this big kid. Yes, I loved Kid GP a bunch. What a fantastic and addictive game!!

Stop whatever you're doing!!

Download this wonderful game right now.

EasyAraMiNT

Putting old hardware to good use

Aranym is a piece of software by Petr Stehlik to create a virtual Atari computer capable of running GEM software at lightning speeds. Most find Aranym rather awkward to set up from scratch, so a fella called Philippe Noble has developed something called EasyAraMint. This is a "ready-to-go" installation using EasyMint 1.18, which provides an incredible multitasking environment using the power of the host, be that a Mac or PC.

As you can see in my "expertly recorded" video, I'm using an old Mac Mini that was donated to me (thanks Mum!). My video shows me using unix 'scp', viewing images/PDF, listen to tunes, and playing Doom before ending with web browsing. Yes, this is as geeky as it gets. Love it!! :-)

EasyAraMint can be installed in minutes. It also comes pre-installed with many Atari programs. Philippe has done an outstanding job with this ready-to-go multitasking OS. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Aranym and EasyAraMiNT can be downloaded and tinkered with, so let me know what you create!

I accessed another Mac via FTP and chatted online with a friend. What a geek!!



The command line might not look much fun, so I jazzed up my screen with PixArt...

Not all websites display perfectly, but what do you expect for free? :o)



Why not read a PDF document and listen to some background tunes too!

Jug

Big Jugs

This is a scrolling shooter by one of my favourite companies, Microdeal. It's set in the future, and we are tasked to save Spiraeus, a living planet suffering from a nasty tumour that urgently needs to be eliminated. However, the autoimmune system thinks you're a threat, so it unleashes its defences, intent on your demise!!

This sounds really silly, but stick with me because Jug was programmed by Paul Hunter (Armour-Geddon) and is no lazy Amiga port. In fact, quite the opposite and certainly pushes our old STFM to the limit in terms of the visuals. Playing Jug is a strange and frantic affair, as it combines elements from games like Blood Money, Droid, and Return To Genesis. Sometimes combinations like this fail, and sometimes they work.

Check out this screenshot...

Some eye candy is ghastly, whereas others are great examples of beautiful pixel art.

One smooth shooter

Our ship can move left and right and even fly, but this is affected by gravity like in Alien World and requires fuel top-ups. The controls are responsive, but the movements are a bit sluggish, making it hard to dodge the nasties without depleting precious energy. The action is relentless with baddies constantly zipping across the screen in waves of attack; it’s a frantic, never-ending hell. If you crave excitement, you've got it!

However, they aren't the brightest bulbs and appear to move/shoot blindly with little AI, thus it's like they aren't aware of our presence. Weaponry is an upgradeable mixed bag; however, the plasma gun is mounted far too low to be fully effective. How did that happen? Anyhow, replacing that with a laser cannon is lots of fun!!

Playing Jug is never dull, because the action is near-constant and challenging. It will take practice to beat, as the map layout is quite confusing. The enemies increase gameplay to a crazy pace, and this makes the whole journey thrilling. Or at least try to - this is a tough game that will eat away your spare hours.

Well, I'm sick of typing and wanna show off a screenshot...

Look out for teleporters... And when death comes, it's pretty demoscene-y. Which I love!

Aesthetics

The best thing about Jug isn't its humorous name (based on the ship's barrel-chested assets!!) but its visuals, gorgeously designed by Martin Kenwright. It boasts ultra-smooth parallax scrolling with a metallic palette - so you should use a real Atari ST to fully appreciate the graphics breezing across your screen.

The music is a masterpiece by Paul Shields, so leave the main menu be, to enjoy its chiptune. In comparison, the sound effects are overshadowed, but they do their job well enough compared to the stunning music.

Let's see a screenshot of my successful gaming skill...

Arghh, not again? Is it me? Am I actually this bad at games? How could this be? O_o

The CryptO'pinion?

Jug has all the makings of a brilliant shoot 'em up, but some strange mechanics dampened my enthusiasm. Instead, I recommend any of the above-mentioned games along with Uridium, Cybernoid, or Sideways!! The difficulty is overwhelming thanks to a confusing map and the constant enemy onslaught.

Technically superb, but I'm on the fence because it's left me with mixed feelings. Plus, the need to use a trainer. Or am I wrong?? What do you guys think about this game? Well, let me know in the comments.

If you have a hard drive or Ultrasatan, then grab this superb download.

Floppy disk addicts can find Jug on the Atari Legend website.

Finally, and untested by me, here is how to get infinite energy and extra lives:
 Press and hold down the ESC key on the title screen and then use the mouse to click on the right-hand edge of the screen. This should help the game be a little more achievable. You'll need it!!

ZombieCrypt

I've made a horror slideshow!

A few months ago, I conceived the idea of a slideshow based on a zombie or horror theme. I love George A. Romero and movies like Evil Dead and Resident Evil. Not to mention Milla Jovovich!!

I used Imagecopy 4 to convert several JPGs from various movies, but that's where my artistic skills ended! So I asked a few friends if they'd like to donate some gruesome pics of their own. My thanks to the boys listed below for their images and Peter Jørgensen for his awesome slideshow. This program removes the lower border for a cool scroller, plays fantastic YMT music, and can be launched from a floppy or hard drive.

I've enjoyed working on this project, and I hope you ST nutters download it. Let me know :^)

- The Credits -

Production ideas and childishly drawn images are by Meeeee!! :D

Artistic skills: Stuart Johns / Peter Jørgensen / Karim Mezaouri / Aurélien Vaillant

Also, credit to the "unknown" for the images I nabbed off the web!

Slideshow programmed by Peter Jørgensen.

Addams Family theme tune by Vic Wizzy (converted Peter)

- Sample Slideshow Pics -