Badlands Pete

On a steel horse, I ride. I'm wanted, dead or alive...

Sorry, I had to get that in! ARC released Badlands Pete in 1990, and it's an action-adventure set in the American Wild West. I love anything like this, so I couldn't play without the attire - I'm wearing a Stetson, chaps, spurs, etc. This helps me to write even if my wife laughs, but I know that I look like Clint Eastwood.

Badlands Pete is a platformer incorporating a pseudo-3D method of walking in/out of each scene. It's a bit like what we saw in Fred, and they're calling it Strip-A-Mation, which is a cool name. Using this movement alters what's visible. Switching positions might allow you to see more objects and navigate differently.

This is a neat idea that adds depth to the mechanics of each scene and allows freedom to explore everywhere in separate ways. Well, that's if it works properly; otherwise, it could be cumbersome and messy, therefore ruining the game. Sometimes it's best to keep a platformer simple to concentrate on playing the game!

Anyhow, let's take a look at some screenshots from the 16-bit American frontier...

This is where we begin, riding into town on a Union Pacific train. Nice!

There's a shifty-looking cowboy to our right. Try to chat with him and see how he reacts!

Get out of Dodge!

Arriving in town by train, the task is to rescue the Governor's daughters, who have been kidnapped by ruthless thugs from the Badlands. He enlists the help of Pete Coyote, aka Badlands Pete. That's you, the quickest draw in the west. Sadly, my first game didn't go well - I realised the town is full of irate cowboys, crazy Indians, sleepy Mexicans and townsfolk who appear to be innocently going about their business (don't be fooled!!)

First things first, the controls are easy: walking left/right is obvious, and you can also move in/out of any scene by pushing up/down. However, I would practice in the comfort of the train station area before daring to explore the town. Your guns are drawn/holstered by hitting the spacebar with the fire button to shoot.

The user interface shows Pete's energy levels, score, and ammunition. Energy is obvious, and when Pete is shot, his bleeding heart needs replenishing with food & drink. The belt of bullets is for ammo - running out leaves you defenceless in the frontier, so top it up whenever possible (dead bodies are a great resource!)

The score is shown as a dollar bounty, which goes up when collecting items or killing someone who's decided to shoot at you (beware: a negative bounty equates to others - your worth to them). Finally, the ladies you see at the bottom of your screen are the governor's daughters who require rescuing for a lucrative reward.

Let's take a look at some more screenshots from my "victorious" gameplay...

I entered a room and was ambushed, for no reason, so I killed him. What's wrong with these people?

Arrrgh, even a preacher pulls out his weapon (again, for no reason) and then starts shooting!!

Gunfright!

As you begin, a Wanted Poster depicts the task at hand with the reward. Walking around is kinda cool if I'm honest, thanks to the stunning artwork using an arid colour palette. Leaving the station depot for the town reminds me of Rio Bravo and other westerns (in fact, that's my favourite western ever). Almost all characters have a dollar value, but it pays to be coy rather than trigger-happy because those who draw first aren't well respected, plus serial killers only end up as wanted themselves... think about that.

After only a short time, you realise everybody is out to get you. It's rare to walk close to someone who doesn't pull out a weapon. Most people are nuts, even the preacher wanted me dead! After a while, this constant, pointless onslaught is irritating, as it halts any chance of progress, as you're constantly fighting off everyone.

You can help yourself to various items to replenish your health and ammo: look out for items like a hot pie cooling on a windowsill or a box of ammo, etc. It's worth remembering where these items are located because it won't be long until you're backtracking in desperation. And this is constant throughout gameplay.

In all honesty, I didn't understand why most characters needed to have such hostile actions. It's not like unlimited supplies are lying about town to compensate! Something is off balance here!

Anyhow, I think we need to see a couple more screenshots...

Great, now the Indians are shooting arrows at me. Why? I didn't do anything to provoke him!

Oh joy, I walked into the sheriff's office. What happened? Of course, another shooting match!

Aesthetics

I'm a big fan of westerns, and I love the old John Wayne movies. Badlands Pete is a cartoon representation of that era, and it works remarkably well. In fact, I adore the dusty frontier each scene sets, as it reminds me of being in Wichita, Tombstone or West Texas. That makes this Atari cowboy very happy indeed!

Sadly, Arc somehow decided against utilising the Atari STe as they did with Chronicles Of Omega. So the game feels very sluggish. Slow to move and also slow to scroll. I think a little help from the Blitter would have been a marvellous improvement. Having said that, there is no reason that it's this bad on the STFM!

The idea of Strip-A-Mation and walking in/out of each scene is superb. This not only unveils objects that you might have missed but also offers alternative ways to explore. This game design is by Steven Cain (Black Lamp), and Badlands Pete appears to have evolved somewhat from that.

Musically, things aren't bad with a title screen tune that sounds great, considering ARC foolishly made no use of the Atari STe. Gotta say though, I liked it a bunch! Sadly, the in-game effects are lame by comparison. I'd have loved samples from Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars. Heck, any stock samples would have worked.

Hmm, I'm getting a whiff of a rushed conversion. Let's see a couple of screenshots...

Hey, this town has a mine. Let's use Strip-A-Mation to walk in to see what's lurking below...

The steps lead off and down. I wonder what's here? I'll save you time - another pointless gunfight!

Hints & Tips

I wondered whether it was worthwhile writing this section. I imagine nobody has scrolled this far, so I could probably write whatever nonsense I like: Atari Legend sucks. Commodore wimps love to whine like big crybabies. ARC hated the ST. Commodore is the best. I love Amigas. Amiga forever!! I'm pregnant!!

That was fun, but I think I'd better write some tips, which are extremely difficult for this game...

• Have many practice games and learn the controls, especially with regards to quickdraw.
• Don't get too close to somebody you intend to have a gunfight with. Very weird!!
• Be patient, let the bad guys draw first. I know, I know...
• Never draw your weapon in front of a lady. Ooer!
• Look for items and also top-ups for health and ammo.
• Don't go looking for trouble, run away if you can. If you can...
• Arc obviously had no beta testers so we desperately need a trainer!

I entered the town's jail. Looks quiet, right? No!! After I took this screenshot, they began firing!

This is a screen that you will see a lot!!

The CryptO'pinion?

I love the idea behind Badlands Pete, but it's far too difficult, so I failed to make much progress. No matter where you go, someone pulls out a weapon and begins firing. It's weird, and this relentless attack soon becomes irritating, especially as you find yourself repeatedly looking to replenish health and ammo.

The idea behind Strip-A-Mation is great, but it would be more suited to an adventure rather than action. Along with Carlos and Chuckie Egg 2, this is possibly one of the worst games I've featured here on AtariCrypt. Ignoring the theme and excellent visuals, I've nothing much more to say about Badlands Pete.

• For those wanting to be a lame version of John Wayne, download Automation #409. Good luck!

Street Fighter

A disgruntled gamer

Back in the summer of 1988, I was the only guy in college with a ZX Spectrum. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Speccy but had grown out of it. I spent much of that year dreaming of Atari's new supercomputer. It was tough seeing magazine reviews as the Atari ST games had graphics lightyears ahead of everything else.

I always remember the advert for Street Fighter. It featured screenshots taken from various systems, the Atari ST being one. It was a jaw-dropping moment seeing amazing details and bright colours (the image above). In reality, the advert was a lie because that image was actually taken from the arcade version!!

Not that it mattered because this beat'em up was something of a shambles, thanks to Tiertex chimps randomly hitting their keyboards until it was ready for release. I honestly don't know how they got away with it - not only the jerky scrolling and laughable animations, but the sluggish control system is vastly unresponsive.

After months of yearning for the Atari ST, I finally got one at Christmas. Ignoring Street Fighter, this slab of grey power lived up to my hopes and desires! You can imagine the joy on my face when I first booted up Xenon, Buggy Boy, and Beyond the Ice Palace. Magical moments in my history. (Atari STFM Super Pack)

If you're still interested in playing Street Fighter, you're obviously insane. But here are the links...

• 8BitChip has the download for hard drive/ultrasatan installation.
• Floppy disks can be found using Old Games Finger (Automation #41)
• Wasabim has recorded a fantastic YouTube video!
• Type "STREETCHEAT" on the title screen and you can hit the Help key to skip levels.
• Maybe you're curious how Street Fighter would have performed on the Atari STe???
• Hey, why not check out our Beat'em Up section, go on and click the links! 

Even though a trainer was enabled, I endured much pain to get these screenshots! I wanted to play through it, but it went on forever. I hope you appreciate the hell I went through to get these!

Dare I ask if there are fans of the ST beat'em up out there!

I hope you enjoyed my silly post (a disgruntled gamer), remembering US Gold's misleading advert? O_o

Look at him trying to punch me even though I've jerkily leapt 15 feet in the air.

Look at the magazine advert and then try, and tell me that it's the same as the ST game!

Look at the size of this bad boy. Hmm, let's punch him in the nuts - that'll work!

Another giant dude to fight, so I decided to cower in front of Ian Dury's little car heh.

You'll see something like this at the end of each stage. Great, uh?

Look at all those strange faces watching. Quite scary!

Another clipping of the advert (enhanced using online tools, hence the weird text)

SDI: Now The Odds Are Even

The Star Wars program is happening!

It's incredible how quickly time passes, as I've not played this since I got my first Atari ST. The Sega shooter was converted by Alaric Binnie for Activision and released in 1988. I remember being impressed and unimpressed in equal measure - probably because I liked what I saw but was absolutely terrible at playing it!

As most of us, older gamers might remember, SDI stands for Strategic Defence Initiative and is based on the original Star Wars concept by President Regan devised during the Cold War. This technology was supposed to defend Earth from the inevitable Soviet attack. Yeah, I know, it never happened... shocker, right?

The game is an action shooter set within the darkness of Earth's space. As it turns out, the defence initiative is just a lone satellite armed with a laser gun! Use that to protect mankind from a legion of Soviet nuclear missiles, fighters, and more. Why only one satellite, I don't know, but that's the game, so let's crack on.

Okay, let's take the first break from reading with two sexy screenshots...

The Soviets are sending everything they have. Well, in stages, thankfully.

At first, it was distracting to see the moon moving by. I should have been concentrating!

The fate of mankind...

Our quest begins with the Space Shuttle dropping us off before a barrage of Soviet missiles appears. The game is split into two separate modes, depending on your performance: offensive and defensive. The first is not unlike other horizontally scrolling shooters, attacking everything that swarms onto the screen. The second is like a 3D Missile Command and a final chance to save everyone from the previously missed missiles.

You'll soon discover that SDI isn't a complex game at all. It's a frenzied shooter battling squadrons of enemy artillery. So shoot everything as quickly as you can physically move the mouse. Each stage gets more aggressive, right up until the point my hand-to-eye reactions simply cannot cope anymore (see the video!).

No need to fret, you're not alone, as allies will periodically send power-ups. Sadly, during the heat of battle, these look similar to everything else! Especially when you're in a mindset of blasting everything as quickly as possible. This means they’re destroyed far too quickly to collect their cargo as you watch it drift away. Sigh...

The damage meter at the bottom of the screen shows your performance’s current state. Survive, and the Space Shuttle reappears to whisk you off to safety, where that performance is rated on a scale. Anything less than perfect and you're sent through to a defensive stage to help defend from the attack. A perfect score gets you lots of extra points with a blue dancing duck. (And that makes it all worthwhile!!)

Are you bored with reading this? Chill. Take five. Look at these screenshots...

The blood-red moon looks awesome. Don't admire, concentrate on the killing!

I let some missiles get through, so now I'm defending the base Missile Command style!

Input

SDI might seem tricky because you need to do two things simultaneously: keep the satellite safe and select its firing direction. Arcade games can sometimes lose functionality when converted to a home computer. Not here; all controls are fully configurable using a combination of mouse, joystick and keyboard.

It is possible to use only the mouse, but I wouldn't advise it. I use the keyboard to direct the satellite and my mouse to aim/shoot. A joystick would also be a good idea, but only if it has good suckers to stick onto your desk. The keyboard/mouse method is kinda like the WASD/mouse combo as used in FPS games.

This plays great, but that doesn't mean we don't want screenshots. So, here you are...

It's not long before things get crazy with lots to shoot at. Trigger-happy heaven!

Ignore the asteroid shower because it's time to shoot more of that Ruskie hardware.

Output

Space is mostly empty, but the good thing about this Cold War is celestial objects as backgrounds rather than being empty. All graphics are by Bryn Redman, who treats us to images of the Earth, its Moon and an asteroid field - I believe later levels feature the Death Star? My gaming skills won't allow me to witness it!

The darkness of space dictates a sombre palette, which suits the Cold War scene, but there are brighter moments to behold. I love the red moon that boldly stands out; it looks amazing. Sadly, there is some slowdown during the later levels that are bombarded by tons of enemies. Meh, I can live with that as it's not too bad.

Paul Summers is responsible for the audio, and he did a stellar job (see what I did there?). The title features a grungy sample, but nothing compares to the in-game chiptunes. These are subtle and suit the ambience whilst also complementing the zappy effects. To say I adore these tunes would be an understatement!

Breathe and relax as it's the final screenshot break before the gripping conclusion...

Come on, the defensive stages really are Missile Command. Rip-off but brilliantly done!!

Do well and make the high-score table. Hang on, this feels like a game in itself? ;-)

The CryptO'pinion?

SDI could easily have been a bust due to the control system and visual demands. Alaric Binnie has done a fantastic job, not only aesthetically speaking but also in migrating the arcade's control system to the ST by using its keyboard/joystick and mouse. This combination works a treat, a commendable effort.

I usually find something to moan about, so here we go: I failed to see the logic in having a dark blue cursor against the dark backgrounds. Also, the power-ups are so difficult to catch. No, impossible (for me) to catch!! Finally, why aren't we treated to a nuclear explosion at Game Over? Oh, how I wanted to see that...

Some might say it's an alternative to Missile Command, and I get that; the similarities are there. SDI is an exciting shooter and one that is utterly addictive, albeit I'm shockingly bad at it. Make sure you choose the control method that suits you to prevent Western civilisation from catastrophic demise!

Let me know in the comments what you think about SDI (download for hard drive or floppy disk)

Cybernoid maps

We're back!

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last updated my website. For various reasons, I've had little time to play/write, which means putting everything on hold. In fact, 2022 was even the year I almost threw in the towel, but things are getting better, so I'm back and ready for ST action. Hey, wasn't that a magazine?

So, whilst getting back into it, I came up with the notion of mapping. Now, if you've been following AtariCrypt for a while, you should already know that I'm a sucker for making maps with pen & paper. I guess they are more like rough scribbles in Steve-talk? That is great for me, but I wanted to make something 'better'.

As you have guessed, I have begun my quest with the Hewson blaster, Cybernoid. Ignoring the peculiar slowdown, this is a brilliant shooter, and I'm a big fan. The ST game is a remarkable conversion developed by Tony Cooper with challenging gameplay, superb graphics, and audio that lovingly bursts the eardrums with stunning music. Okay, there is the odd killer screen which discourages some gamers - I don't get it, haven't they heard of practice/practice/practice or infinite lives? Guess which method I chose?

Anyhow, here are the essential links and a cool interview I enjoyed reading...

• The mighty D-Bug have a sumptuous version featuring their excellent presentation style.
• The man himself (PP) has adapted Cybernoid for hard drive installation.
• Atari Legend has an excellent review, which is more than my lazy website can offer! :}
• Eurogamer has an interview with Raffaele Cecco, creator of the original game.
  (sadly, I've not been able to source anything similar for Tony Cooper)

So, how did I get on? Well, this new mapping venture has begun strong and I'm proud of myself for completing the first three levels. However, the fourth has one killer screen that I cannot beat. No matter how much I try, it's simply too tricky for my meagre gaming skills. So I'm leaving it be (before I violently damage my already-dodgy joystick in anger). Can't win 'em all, but I'm happy with how this turned out.

Here are the Hi-Res images you're all itching to grab and print out - thx Atari Legend for hosting!!

Merry Christmas, and I wish everyone all the beST for 2023. Heck, even the Commodore boys ;)

Level one is shockingly easier than most people think. If I can do it...

Careful timing and furious fire button-bashing are required more than ever for the second level!

Nobody will ever play Cybernoid without infinite lives, and the third level demands that so much!!

This part of level 4 is oddly incomplete because I'd overwritten my saved game... :(

I really enjoyed level 4, right up until THAT screen. I never managed to beat it :(

Greetings to our supporters - Loggins, Tweety, Mug UK, Marko Latvanen & Peter Putnik for their friendship whilst AtariCrypt has been off the air - a fantaSTic community!! Thank you :)

Okay, get playing Cybernoid and let me know in the comments if you can beat level 4.