Rolling Ronny

A wheelie good platformer

This is an attractive platformer developed by Carsten Neubauer of Bones Park and published by Virgin Games in 1991. Before I begin, we're not using our feet to walk - because we're on skates! This is in the quiet town of Fieldington, a lovely place that has just suffered the theft of its crown jewels. I know, I know...

Fortunately, the gang of bumbling thieves were disturbed, but they still had the time to hide each jewel inside glittering boxes and scatter them about before fleeing. Why? I don't know, but Scotland Yard decided it was a good idea to enlist Ronny as their secret agent to recover the jewels in return for a generous reward.

Ronny uses his skates to get around this oddball town, but he can still climb ladders and leap across most platforms. He will need every ounce of agility to avoid/kill the nasties lurking. There are many silly creatures, so defend yourself by hitting the fire button to fling your killer salamis. Yes, you heard me correctly!

This is starting to sound rather unbelievable, right? Well, we need a screenshot then...

Ronny needs to watch out for various nasties, even those cute little birdies!

Run, Jump and Kill

Any platformer needs decent controls, and thankfully, these are responsive and allow Ronny to leap from ledge to ledge, but as usual, reaching for the function keys to activate a gadget is a bit of a pain. The status panel displays various pieces of information: love hearts indicate health, a clock is counting down, the number of remaining jewels, and the gadgets enabled. Along the way, you can be stopped to run errands for extra credit. This is an excellent way to top up your earnings, so not really an optional part.

Ronny's inventory is his four spare pockets to store gadgets (essentially power-ups). These provide functions, like a Super Jump or the Magnet, which attracts any out-of-reach items. There is a massive range of different power-ups, and I really like Power Sneeze!! Coins can be collected to spend in the town's shop. However, be wise and leave enough cash for your bus fare to access the next level. Yeah, that is very odd!

I love it when a platformer comes with gameplay that matches the aesthetics perfectly! The controls are a joy and complemented by interesting ideas and amusing mechanics. Simple, and it works. Why didn't I know about Rolling Ronny back in the day? I missed this one and I'm gutted about that!

Right then, let's take a little break for another colourful screenshot with our red-nosed fella on skates...

This jump across the water looks tricky! Surely, I can make it in one?

16-bit Sex Appeal

The visuals are fantastic with cartoon quality, comical sprites, and smooth scrolling. It's obvious that colour is a big deal because of the richly decorated backgrounds; even the title screen is a stunning Spectrum 512 image. I believe this was Bones Park's only Atari ST game? They should be proud of their achievement.

The audio is a sweet title tune (that I can't get out of my head), all thanks to Adrian Dalecki. The sound effects are accompanied by an obsessive tune that manages to get my foot tapping. No complaints here!!

And on that note, let's view the final screenshot...

Hang on a moment, there's an actual droplet of water chasing me? Or is it a ghost lol

The CryptO'pinion?

Rolling Ronny doesn't exactly break the mould, but the addition of a skating clown is a rather odd idea that works (even if he has mad hair - just look at the hideous barnet - lol). There are a few niggles which I didn't care for, the most irritating is failing to collect enough cash for the bus fare. I hated it when that happened!!

There is something about this quirky and extremely entertaining game that I love. It's so challenging and keeps you coming back for more. Also, this ain't no lame Amiga port - it's obvious that a lot of love went into making Rolling Ronny. One of the best platformers for the Atari ST. Yes, I actually said that.

Floppy & hard disk versions from Klaz!

H.A.T.E Hostile All Terrain Encounter

8-bit Legend

Vortex Software released amazing games for the ZX Spectrum, and they were one of my favourite companies. I still remember the day I saw Android, and I played Revolution to death! Which is odd, as I usually hate (no pun) games like that. Their legacy ended with H.A.T.E, a scrolling shooter similar in "style" to Zaxxon.

The year is 2320, and aliens are invading our galaxy. What can we do? Fight back, of course! It's our quest to defend everyone from this invasion, so head out to Stripworld. That's where pilots go to train. Ahem.

Yep, you might think this is a Zaxxon rip-off? It's not, and it's very different...

This game is tough, but what's even harder is trying to capture screenshots when playing!



Hey, I'm a tank. Let's go and blow stuff up!

A boring Zaxxon clone?

Our all-terrain encounter takes us through numerous isometric levels using a variety of crafts, from planes and tanks to a hovercraft. Our ultimate mission is to destroy the nuclear generators - hit 'em where it hurts! This reveals plasma cells, and collecting them determines how many lives we are awarded. It also acts as a shield to protect us from harm during the current game, which I personally think is genius!

Unlike Zaxxon, the gameplay is constantly changing, which I found interesting. The enemies appear in various guises, from ground-based machinery that spews out deadly mines, missiles, tanks and aircraft. A lot is going on, so you will need to use evasive manoeuvres, especially when piloting a plane, as the enemy will often attack in waves. At the end of the level, a mothership whisks us off for more action with different graphics.

The controls are initially confusing, but I soon got the hang of them after a couple of goes. The craft can move left or right, with the fire button used for the main weapon. There are differences depending on the craft being used: land-based tanks can move forward and backwards, whereas planes increase or decrease their altitude. Also, pushing up whilst firing will activate a secondary weapon, such as lasers and bombs.

It's time to take a gander at some more sexy ST screenshots. So, here you go...

Hitting the water in my hovercraft just adds massively to the enjoyment.



I'm back inside my ship, and there are bouncy spikey balls. Let's destroy 'em!!

Aesthetics

The graphics remind me of Highway Encounter, but with more variety. The attention to detail for buildings and structures is superb. I gotta say, I love the shadows, especially when carrying the plasma cells. The only negative is that some levels are quite bland, which is a shame as they look as sexy as a bruised banana!

Timid music plays during gameplay to provide a subtle background to complement the zip-zappy effects. The title music is a gem and most certainly one of the best chiptunes, thanks to the magic of Ben Daglish.

So, it looks and sounds great! Let's celebrate with the last couple of screenshots...

This is a screenshot with... more action going on. Yep.



Gotta say that I love the graphics. Great attention to detail throughout.

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a fantastic conversion of Costa’s classic 8-bit game, but it’s not perfect, and a couple of issues really annoyed me. Firstly, loading times are incredibly slow, especially after losing a life. It’s a bit of a pet peeve, but it’s frustrating! Secondly, my tank exploded because I accidentally touched a building. ARGHH!!

Hostile All Terrain Encounter has its problems, but it's a thoroughly excellent shooter with challenging and addictive gameplay. I've spent several hours playing H.A.T.E and I have L.O.V.E.D every second.

This is an exciting and fantastic shooter. Miss it at your peril, you silly boy!!

Grab the download for floppy disk or hard drive.

Quartz

Be Trigger-happy!

I've spent much time trolling through loads of disks using the nifty Floppy Image Runner and eventually came across this beauty. Quartz was released in 1988 by Firebird and is a tripped-out 8-way shooter that has us playing inside a cloud of sub-atomic particles. Each stage is a variety of short mini-stages similar to Asteroids, but there are also incredible horizontal and vertical shooters, along with impressive 3D effects.

Our job is to shoot the colourful hadrons, transforming them into quarks, which we blast into tiny neutrinos. Collecting these eventually offers a selection of power-ups ranging from ship repairs to awesome weapons. The end-of-level boss is perfect for the physicists lurking within and needs to be shot several times until it spins into oblivion. Lives are limited, but you're offered the chance to continue on - if you're willing to give up a weapon, which is a strange idea but one that forces you to play better rather than whining for extra lives!

I'm gobsmacked by how brilliant this is with its frantic action, rich graphics and chirpy audio, not to mention its beautiful parallax scrolling. My 8-year-old daughter gave this a playtest, and she found the controls daunting but soon got the hang of it and said it was crazy but lots of fun. I think that sums up Quartz nicely!!

Grab it for floppy or hard disks right now!

DBA Magazine #06

A new era

Synergy's famous DBA Magazine intro helped to create one of those moments in time when everything changed. I've watched it hundreds(!) of times over the years, and it never gets dull. It's magnificent with lovely visuals and groundbreaking SIDtastic audio by Joris Maarten de Man. One of my favourite intros ever made.

This jaw-dropping experience can be downloaded from Demozoo, but come on, use a real Atari ST!

Credits

BAT - Code, Other (FX Design)

Rapido - Code

Scavenger - Music, Other (FX Design)

Zanac - Graphics