An amazine Weekend!

Time for a good read

I've not been feeling too good over the weekend, so I've not been able to play, record, or write for my favourite Atari ST website. (Yes, this one!!) Typical, isn't it? After being at work all week, I catch the dreaded man flu. Let me tell you, women, there is nothing worse than this illness. Scientific fact.

As I've not been in the mood, I just popped over to Fujiology and grabbed a random diskmag. I love reading these when I get the chance - and the ST has so many to choose from. I downloaded Amazine #4 by HMD, which is probably one of the shortest-lived magazines ever. I wonder what happened to No.5 /etc? :/

Amazine #4 opens with a fantastic intro by Animal Mine, featuring jaw-dropping fx. The magazine itself is displayed using medium resolution, so it looks gorgeous and is very easy on the eyes. Inside are all kinds of information relevant to the early 90s, which is both incredibly interesting and also a shame, especially when you see various productions that never got finished - Yuppies Land. I also enjoyed the interviews and then seeing who topped the leaderboard for best artist, musician and more. Geeky fun!!

Sometimes ... ugh... I wish I could be ill more often so I can take the time to relax with a good diskmag like this. The Atari ST has an impressive library that covers a wide range of topics and interests. I enjoyed this one: it's interesting, funny, geeky and something today's youngsters will probably never appreciate.

Anyhow, enough of my waffling on! Check out these screenshots...

I love megademos, but they can be spread too thin with fillers. I prefer dentros!

I like the GUI and how it pushes the pages across... Looks cool in ST Medium resolution too!

What? Fuzion is dead?? Right, come on guys, own it - who killed the Fuzion boys??

This was an interesting and sobering read, and I would have enjoyed Yuppie's Land...

World Championship Boxing Manager

Do not talk about fight club

Outside of stock car racing, I can't say I'm a sports fan, and boxing has never appealed to me in the slightest. In the interest of keeping things as varied as possible, I'm always looking to try new stuff. So, I downloaded World Championship Boxing Manager by Krisalis, which they released in 1991.

I admit to being dubious about anything with "manager" in the name because it usually means boring or for the uber-geeks. Then I noticed AtariMania had this listed as STe Enhanced, which whetted my appetite. Well, what can I say, I'm a sucker for anything STe enhanced!! Let's just hope I don't die of boredom. Ha!

Let's take a peep at some screens that push the ST to its limits... ahem...

  
Here's the place to get things organised and to ensure the care of your fighters. Gripping stuff!

Silly faces you can punch!

We're first greeted by a range of dodgy blokes, who are all after a contract, so pick who you fancy before heading out to the office. It's here you can arrange a fight, train, view contracts, and even watch a fighter receive his physio. The fights are watched from behind the commentators, who will describe everything that is going on. However, I soon felt the life force drain from me, so I hit the fast-forward button!!

I can't say I was converted to the sport, or even hooked on this style of game, but I continued on and headed back to my office to see what other wonders awaited me. I noticed hands on the right side of the office, but clicking them did nothing, so I figured they were just part of the background.

Until I clicked the filing cabinet. I'll say nothing more lol

Oh, okay then, yes, I almost spat my coffee out when I began to watch my assistant walk across the office - an eye-popping moment in 16-bit sex appeal. Walking in those heels obviously looks tough, but she certainly excelled at handing over my documents!! A killer moment and worth booting up just for this!

LOL... It's time for some more screenshots...

  
The car animation is cool, as are the opening scenes within the stadium. Very exciting!

The CryptO'pinion?

Boxing Manager isn't a bad game whatsoever, and I imagine it will appeal to sports and strategy fans. It isn't something that I found particularly entertaining. Except for the girl strutting her stuff and flashing her legs and boobs. Yep, I can imagine the folk at Goliath Games had themselves a right laugh making this!

Strictly one ideally suited for Boxing enthusiasts with lots of spare time on their hands.

(Mantronix #6) is great floppy disk at Atari Legend.

Dark Mode

FTL!

Finally, Amazon delivered a new ST book - Faster Than Light. It's a cracking read, and I couldn't help but giggle when reading about ST Writer's dark mode. This line hit home with me about Dark Mode: "The ST had that in 1985". Today's companies would rave about a feature like that. As if it were brand new.

Absolutely superb STuff!! Get this book, it's brilliant!!

Blob Race

Worms. Gambling. Death!!

Introducing my daughter to gambling isn’t necessarily a good idea, but I thought racing cute blobs would be worth the risk of the police knocking on my door. Yup, you heard right, today we’re betting on green blobs. It’s similar to the horse racing machines at the seaside arcades, but it won’t cost you a penny!

Set in an absurd world where green blobs compete for glory, Blob Race casts you as a punter betting on a series of unpredictable races between these eccentric little creatures. There's no grand quest here; the fun comes from the light-hearted take of gambling on these wobbly competitors and trying to outsmart the odds.

Tidbit... 

Developed by Kev Davis back in 1991, Blob was never released for some insane reason.

Well, not until 1994 after he saw an unreleased beta on a Menu Disk...!

You know me, I'm a huge Atari ST game fan, and our PD scene is truly something special. There’s so much out there just waiting to be rediscovered. It’s often where you’ll find hidden gems and innovative ideas from passionate people. Blob Race is just that, and I must say Kev has a great sense of humour!

What am I waffling on about? Let's take a look at a screenshot before you read on...

Ricky D. would be proud of that boulder... until it squashed a blob to death!

Wacky Races

Racing a blob is pure gambling without the risk of losing real cash. We start with £100 in the kitty. It’s similar to the arcade games: choose a likely winner from six candidates. Each blob has a name and unique characteristics: speed, reaction time (how well it maintains speed), and the number of tricks it can perform.

Before each event, study the statistics - speed, reactions, and trickery. All to decide which blob is most likely to triumph, then sit back and watch the chaos unfold as they stumble, sprint, and unleash bizarre antics to gain the advantage. Blobs can also possess special tricks against competitors, such as throwing bombs, riding a bike, and sprouting helicopter wings. And if that wasn’t enough, some blobs can teleport or explode!

The betting system is simple but different from what you might expect. First place wins your winnings at the specified odds. Second place gets half of that, and third place returns your money. Finish worse and you get absolutely nothing. This system actually works well, encouraging progression and longer play.

It's time for another glorious screenshot of technically amazing graphics...

One gets crushed by a ton weight, and another develops helicopter hair.

High Roller Racing!

This is an incredibly fun game where you pick a blob and watch it squelch across the screen. The humour is superb: the falling ton weights, bombs, and other worm-like incidents are hilarious. The news headlines are also funny: avoid cliches like the plague!! Things like that pop up and had me in stitches.

My only criticism is the short race lengths. The chaos is the best part, so they should be longer. Otherwise, Blob is ace and gets a thumbs up from both of us. In fact, my daughter is now a hardened Blob gambler. What have I done to her? Look, gather the family around your ST (or solo). Everyone will love playing this.

• Grab it from Atarimania and give this stupid game a run for its money. Let me know what you think.
• Atari Legend has a cool menu disk by Adrenalin (with other games!)
• Looks like Kev released a text adventure, too. I might try this one day!