Fuji Boink ASCII

Always read the documentation!

I really enjoy digging through the ST's deep archives to see what forgotten goodies I can find, and here is one of the best I've ever seen. It's called Fuji Boink ASCII and deceivingly appears to be nothing but a humble text file. Sadly, I've no idea who to credit for this piece of GFA Basic wizardry, but what I do know is that it's absolutely brilliant and definitely not what I expected to "read" after double-clicking the icon.

I love finding stuff like this!! STay Atari, folks.

Color Clash

To compensate for the lack of sound, I added a background tune by The Phantom.

ZX Spectrum colour clash?

No, Colour Clash is a puzzler released in 1992 by AnimalSoft and stars Antonius the chameleon, who has been captured by a mad scientist. Yup, there is usually some crazy fool trying to rule our world, and this one has decided to force a chameleon to complete a maze. The task? To find dead flies - and eat them.

The first room demonstrates the game's mechanics, whilst giving a feel of how to control Antonius. Here, we learn that he can jump, but can only eat the flies from a horizontal perspective. There are always nasties to avoid, which can cause our critter to explode into pieces with a touch. Ouch, uniquely funny!

You'll need to stop and think a lot, so check out these screenshots for an idea of what to expect...

I found this level very easy.

But this was something that had me stumped for a *long* time... sigh!

My brain hurts!

It's not until the later levels that you realise we can gain a few extra abilities to help us out. These are enabled by collecting coloured cards that not only change our chameleon's appearance but also grant abilities:

• Red allows us to reach high places by inflating ourselves, like a balloon!
• Green is pretty cool because we can now use our tail as a weapon.
• Blue gives us a long and sticky tongue which is great for moving objects.
• Yellow turns us back to our default colour and we can also jump.

Figuring out how to complete each room is taxing on the old brain cells. This kind of game will catch you out about planning the best route - and how best to use your special abilities. After all, any card can only be collected (and used) once. This means that whenever you return to default, you cannot switch to another colour unless there is a card to collect. Thankfully, there is no time limit!!

Colour Clash has a password feature - so blow on a trumpet whilst dancing naked in the streets!! This is a fabulous addition and something I wish more games had, as it makes your progression far more achievable. No longer will you need to restart from scratch each and every time. Well done, AnimalSoft, top marks.

Fancy another couple of screenshots. Of course, you do so, here you go...

Come on, this level is easy and so obvious!

But this is the dreaded level 11, which has me stumped!!

Input & Output

The joystick controls are dead simple to move Antonius, and the fire button performs a leap (or a special ability). Pushing upwards will pause the game, where you can also access the menu bar, which provides three choices: DEF means default and will turn Antonius back to his default colour of yellow. NOT will do nothing and return you to the game. KIL explodes our loveable chameleon if ever you need to restart.

Aesthetically, we have a basic appearance with little audio. That may seem naff, but no game needs spanky visuals to be enjoyable (especially a puzzler). However, having said that, and in true AnimalSoft tradition, the sprites are gorgeous - cute and beautifully drawn. However, I wish there were a background tune.

It looks like an Amstrad game (with superb sprites), but I'll dump more screenshots on you...

This had me stumped for ages, but it's so frustratingly obvious!

Now we're in tricky territory, and this level requires serious thought.

The CryptO'pinion?

I've enjoyed this brain-blaster, and that's not something I often say about a puzzler, thanks to my short temper! As I write, I still can't beat level 11, which has me stumped!! Still, the game loses none of its appeal during these moments. Each day I've found myself staring at my monitor - baffled but optimistic.

A torturous puzzler and one I thoroughly recommend, even if they spelt colour clash incorrectly :^)

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A shoutout to one of our kind Patreons who suggested I play something by AnimalSoft. Richard Davey, you were absolutely right about AnimalSoft and their cunning puzzler!!

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My Level Codes

Level 1  - Starring

Level 2  - Antonius

Level 3  - Coloring

Level 4  - Rainbows

Level 5  - Bestowed

Level 6  - With The

Level 7  - Enormous

Level 8  - Quest Of

Level 9  - Escaping

Level 10 - From The

Level 11 - EvilOnes
Level 12 - ????????

Update

See the comments for every level code (credit Pelle).
This image of all 36 levels was donated by Richard Davey.

A massive /|\ thank you to both guys!! :-)

Ironman Challenge III

Running The Gauntlet!

A couple of years ago, I asked Mike (The New Retro Show) to play Atari ST games. An alternative selection that I knew would push this bloke to his limits. It was fun watching him endure Fire and Brimstone!!

Two years is long enough, so I challenged him to an "Ironman" video which he agreed to! I picked games from the PD/Shareware scene, four platformers and three conversions of arcade classics: Clod Hopper, Crapman, Frogger, Hector vs The Mutant Vampire Tomatoes From Hell, Hoog, Space Monsters and Winglord.

Watch the video of Mike torturing himself playing these games!

My thanks to Mike for taking on the challenge. Oh, and this video is actually an early screening just for Atari ST gamers and it will not be made public until this Wednesday!! One more thing... Mike, I've got some cool (and cruel) ideas for a fourth challenge if you're interested? Go on, I dare ya!

    
Three belters: Winglord (Atari STe), Crapman and one of the latest games released for the ST, Frogger!

  
Hoog is one mightily impressive jaw-dropping platformer and Clod Hopper feels so authentically 8Bit.

  
Hector... must be one of the best titles ever and who doesn't love a fantastic conversion of Panic?

Gameboy

Taking a break from the norm

Handheld console fans rejoice, for the "Gameboy" has arrived on the Atari ST, thanks to a piece of public domain software by Ingo Linkweiler. Well, no, it hasn't, but instead we have a program that features three games: Tetris, Pacman and Snake. It runs in GEM - any resolution - and can be installed as an ACC (preferred).

Open the ACC and hit a key to begin. The cursor keys are used to control all games: in Tetris, Left/Right moves the falling blocks, Up turns them around, while Down drops 'em to the floor. Pacman uses them to make haste around his maze of weird 'ghosts'. And Snake is quite the discrepancy, but I enjoyed it. A lot!

The Atari ST has hundreds of nifty ACCs, many of which are games, and I love finding nuggets of ST history like this. Gameboy is a fantastic ACC, and Ingo created something good, especially with Tetris. Sadly, Pacman's controls are quite tanky, and Snake is certainly a challenge! What did you expect in 20Kb? Exactly. So this program is worth checking out because my opinion rules. Ahem, of course, it does...

Click here if you're dying to make GEM cool again. Let me know what you think!

Gameboy Emulator

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Wait, don't go!! The fun doesn't need to stop if you're willing to reboot your Atari ST for something different? If so, then The Untouchables have something rather neat for you. It's called the "Gameboy Emulator", and it looks the part with a version of Space Invaders and Tetris which includes a sampled background tune.

Okay, their Space Invaders is harsh and incomplete, but it's smooth and very likeable, at least for one game. Yes, I said one game (hit ESC afterwards). Tetris is excellent and very impressive. It reminds me of what I saw on a friend's Game Boy back in the day. Yup, definitely a nice albeit fake emulator, and I liked it a lot.

Clickety-Click to see more and download the Nuntundu Uboy.

Nesulator

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You may be interested in an NES emulator by Ed Cleveland? Sadly, it's power-hungry and requires a lot of processing power - a lot more than the stock 8MHz ST can deliver. Also, it's beta and was never finished, so there's a lot to be desired. However, it's fun, and my Mega STe performed "adequately".

Take a look at NESulator and remember to check out the "Emulation" sections on this website :)