The wife went out shopping and gracefully left me the housework! There is no way I can do these boring chores in silence, so let's power on the ST and play a few toons from the SNDH Archive / SNDH Record
Here is just a selection of my favourite chiptunes at this moment... What are yours??
Nowhere by 505 ( listen / or click the GREEN arrow below! )
Like anything in this life, nothing is perfect. Shockingly, this applies to our Atari ST which has one characteristic I never cared for: its obscure, ugly, stretched medium resolution. Well, since my colour monitor decided to blow up, I have been happily zipping along in monochrome which would explain the recent run of high-resolution articles. All were written using the classic, 1st Word Plus. (Go on, you can call me a geek!)
It's hardly a modern word processor bursting with features but it does the job well. Sure, I can't wait to get my new colour monitor bought as I'm missing games in glorious 16-bit technicolour. However, I have definitely fallen in love with this crisp black and white display which has met each and every requirement lately.
Who needs an expensive modern computer? Obviously not me!! Yes, I am mad... :^)
Asteroids is a true arcade classic that has been converted for every home computer. Not to be left out, Megamax released Megaroids in 1985 for the Atari ST. That's right, 1985, when the ST was a baby. Interestingly, they developed it using their own (brand new) C programming tool. Now that's fearless for the time!
The gameplay is, obviously, Asteroids and faithful to the original. Shoot the rocks for points, but don't forget to blast the alien ships - for lots more points! Joystick controls are dead easy with Z and X rotates your craft and SHIFT to fire. Thrust uses ? key and SpaceBar activates a hyperspace when you're in trouble.
Graphically, it's different from the original; gone are the vectors in favour of bitmaps. The ST's high resolution looks stunning, and Megaroids' framerate is superb. The rocks sweep across the screen like butter off a hot knife. Thankfully, colour systems aren't forgotten, as it's compatible with medium resolution. But this is interlaced to produce 640x400, but with colour. That's right, essentially 640x400 in colour on your TV!!
Sounds are nothing more than you would expect for asteroids. They're nice and work very well. Especially when you remember this is a 1985 game for a 1985 computer. I'm really impressed, all things considered.
Megaroids has an authenticity I admire. The gameplay feels perfect, and I'm shocked that something this good was released the same year as the ST. I'm impressed by the silky-smooth framerate and flicker-free interlace support for colour systems. This is a wonderful conversion with bucket loads of rock blasting!!
N.o.B.I Racing was released by Joytrick (1994) and is a 'snake' clone where we guide 'Alfred' through a series of mazes. Always hungry and on the move, Alfred needs our assistance as he munches everything in his path. However, every time he eats, he grows longer, and this can become quite embarrassing, especially if he bites into himself. So our task is to help Alfred through the mazes without bumping into his own tail.
Two types of bonus levels appear at frequent intervals, featuring two-player gaming, DMA audio, and support for multiple resolutions. Simple stuff for dexterous players, but soon becomes incredibly fast on later levels against the clock!! NoBI Racing is old school, and that means it's extremely addictive and a bucket load of fun!!
After yesterday's superb (but mind-blowing!) technical flight sim, I needed something less taxing on my old brain cells. So I'm taking an easier route with a Pac-Man clone called Mac-Pan. Weird name and there are already many PacMan games, but this one is more vanilla, so let's get pill-popping & ghost munching!
Mac Pan was released in 1987 by Richard Beith and works in ST High resolution. There are a few integrated features that I really liked: hold down the fire button, and you can temporarily increase the yellow guy's speed. Hang on, he's not yellow anymore! Anyhow, the game's speed can be tinkered with in the preferences. The graphics and sounds are pretty good, plus there is support for simultaneous 2-player.
It's not the best PacMan but I still enjoyed it, and being able to choose the game's speed is a superb idea. It's easy to imagine German office workers in the 80s playing Mac Pan during their lunch break. Monochrome users should jump up & down with excitement because this is an excellent clone of the classic.
