Clod Hopper

Big feet, big... shoes!

Clod Hopper was released through the Budgie UK label in 1992 by scener Goth, aka Gary Wheaton. It's a platformer that features a fella called Bill who's in search of his girlfriend. She foolishly wandered off into the nearby plutonium mines which are inhabited by crazy creatures, numerous whacky puzzles, and dangerous hazards. Women, uh? Luckily, she left a convenient trail of footprints that we can use to track down our beloved. And save the day, of course!

Bounty Bob/Miner 2049 fans will love this: each screen contains platforms that need walking over before we can exit and progress deeper into the mine. This isn't as easy as it sounds thanks to tricky level designs and cunning puzzle elements - these often need completing in a particular order. Watch out for those slippery slides, dangerous falls, and the nasty inhabitants who love getting underfoot. Thankfully, there are magical items we can collect that will render these creatures defenceless, if only for a short period of time (so think tactical before picking them up)

The third level features working machinery, necessary to operate to help you finish. It's a fascinating concept that works well but I doubt I'll ever see the fourth... Sadly, as with many older games, there is a time limit so don't dawdle for too long as Bill has about five minutes of air supply. I must admit, I hate them but this time limit is decent.

I would have loved to have shown you many more screenshots but Clod Hopper is a tough cookie alright. I managed to get onto the third level - which is a killer. I know how to complete it but there are many slides and ... just ... one ... wrong ... move!! ARGHHHHH this platformer is incredibly tough. But I'm blaming my wonky joystick! Ahem.

On that note, let's see some screenshots of this Bounty Bob platformer...

Level one breaks you in gently to paint those platforms with your feet...

The second level is far trickier and needs to be completed in the correct order.

The devilish third level. I know how to complete it but my skills deny me the pleasure!

Looks and Sounds?

Graphically, I admire Clod Hopper. The look and design are reminiscent of those early 8-bit days and this style works very well. Plus everything moves as smooth as silk with a console-like feel with awesome animations. The level designs took me right back to when I was a kid and without looking like a cheap or tacky ripoff. A superb 8-bit vibe throughout.

Along with the 8-bit feel and smooth performance, Gary uses overscan for the score/timer display!!

As for the audio, the music is absolutely beautiful using an Atari-Console quality that I loved. The effects are great, from the raspy level intro to all the other in-game sounds. A lot of effort went into how this game sounds!

Do you want more screenshots? How about a video recording and screenshots? Here ya' go then...

Check out this intro!

Can you make the hi-score table? Not on your first go, you won't lol

Would you believe it? Gary only lives up the road from me...

The CryptO'pinion?

Wow, have I enjoyed playing this olde platformer!! Of course, it will appeal to fans of Bounty Bob and indeed any console owner from the early/mid-80s because this quality platformer is reminiscent of the era for gameplay, sounds, and visuals. The effort and dedication that's gone into this shine through, to think it wasn't commercial. Outstanding!

However, there's always something to moan about, and my only gripe is the measly three lives - which aren't enough for such a challenging game. A game this tough needed many more because it's so damn difficult. I managed to reach level three but those slides are insanely tricky - one wrong move and there's no way back up again.

Having said that, this is a brilliant platformer and a freakishly outstanding old-school romp. Oh yeah, I loved it!!

- DOWNLOAD -

Army Moves

Reliving Christmas 1987

The last time I played Army Moves was probably on my Spectrum +3 before moving onto the Atari ST. I remember this coming as part of Ocean's Live Ammo and what a great compilation that was. However, it was extremely sluggish and very hard plus I was rubbish at it too. Yep, so I never managed to beat the first level (stop laughing).

Army Moves was developed by Dinamic, the same guys who brought us After The War, and this is a scrolling shooter with many ingredients 'borrowed' from a variety of great(er) games. It begins with us happily trundling over a damaged bridge in a surprisingly well-armed jeep. Firing the infinite supply of rockets at the constant flow of enemies whilst hopping over potholes in the hope of safely reaching the other side ...cough...Moon Patrol.. cough...cough!

I think we need a screenshot of this opening level so here it is...

The jeep is brilliant with realistic handling and fantastic leaping abilities! Yeah!! ;)

When variety isn't the spice of life!

The following level has us flying a helicopter over enemy territory that is protected by planes - who blindly shoot whether you're in their sights or not. The controls are agonisingly lethargic and it makes avoiding the enemy rather difficult. Oh, and don't forget to manually land on the helipad at the end - otherwise, you suffer a suckers death!

The next part is more of the same theme, ie nothing-you-haven't-seen-before. The final levels take us through the jungle avoiding grenades and silly buzzards before it flips into something resembling Joe Blade. Oh all the levels, I oddly enjoyed the first the most whereas others are far too tough with too many enemies.

Wanna see another screenshot? How about one that feels wrong as it scrolls in the wrong direction...

Reversed scrolling is pretty weird and doesn't feel right so makes stage two quite frustrating!!

Speccy aesthetics?

Visually, I quite liked Army Moves but that's probably because I'm fondly reminded of my colour-clash days on the old 128K Speccy? The graphics are barebones for the Atari ST but, I must admit, everything scrolls along nicely and I do like the detail in the sprites. The helicopter levels feature parallax scrolling, which is a neat touch I appreciated.

David Whittaker's music plays throughout and isn't his best work but is still good. Nuff said.

Honestly, I swear that jeep doesn't fly all the time!

The CryptO'pinion?

I like some of Dinamic's ideas here but it tries too much so doesn't seem to be great at anything. Plus they spoiled it with ludicrously-long levels which is made worse by being sent back to the start after losing a life!! Ignoring the nearly-fun Jeep stage, I find it difficult to recommend this game - just play Moon Patrol, Silkworm or Joe Blade instead.

Army Moves could very easily have been great but feels like a rushed 8-bit conversion offering little fun and a massive fist full of frustration. Unlike the Spectrum game, our conversion feels like a glammed-up quick port and one that lost much playability thanks to faster mechanics; scrolling, enemies, etc. I don't get it, what was Dinamic thinking?

Overall, the first level is the best but the rest of the game is far too difficult to be entertaining.

Wear camo and grab the floppies or hard disk version!

Jinks

This looks sucky!

Jinks appears as a horizontally scrolling 'Breakout' but is technically one of the worst Atari ST games. A shameful port by Rainbow Arts with incredibly jerky scrolling that is enough to make your eyes bleed after only a few minutes of horrendous play. Honestly, it's that bad and I pity whoever spent their cash on this!

Thankfully, Peter Putnik has begun work on a version making use of the Blitter for far better results (see in the video above). Sadly, all current copies of Jinks contain bad data so Peter is looking for somebody to supply an image of the original floppies. Then he can repair this piece of hiSTory for this enhanced version.

Please get in touch if you can help.

• This new Blitter-powered version is downloadable from Atarimania (Atari STe / TT / Falcon)
• If you want to torture your eyeballs then the original game can be found via Old Games Finder.
• Trusteft has a humorous recording of the original jerky game...

Collaboration Two

Oh no, not another disk?

Following on from last year's success, Collaboration #2 has been released. The STatariART gang have been busy and created more funky pixel art - by many different people who kindly submitted their Degas dabbles. You will even see a few images from yours truly. Brace yourself for that horror; don't get your hopes up :o)

A lot of hard work went into this production and it's always fantastic to see so many people coming together like this. People, like us, aren't often associated with the "scene" so let's hope we see many more disks. Any ideas? Contributions? Get in touch. Until then, Clickety-Click and download Collaboration #2 via Demozoo.

Credits

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AtariSTaffroom - Graphics

Atarian1982 - Graphics

Bionic Nerd - Code, Graphics

Dj Sergant - Music (We hope you don't mind ;))

Forgotten Grove - Graphics, Other (Started the whole idea)

Loggins - Graphics

Scarlettkitten - Graphics

Stefan Lindberg - Graphics

karim - Graphics

I hope you enjoy this show? Let me know what you guys think in the comments below...

- SAMPLE IMAGES -

r0x

Asteroids?

Set within deep space, you are Commander Perez who humorously finds himself alone in uncharted space during a meteor storm. R0x was released in 2009 by NoExtra / RGCD and is an Atari STe game that requires quick reactions to pilot your spacecraft through a continuously hectic (and colourful) asteroid field.

Before you load it up - make sure you read the storyline within the 'Readme' file included in the download. What a brilliant read and it had me laughing at loud. It's superb!!

Hang on, this isn't Asteroids!

This isn't the arcade shooter that I first imagined. Instead, it's an avoid 'em that requires skill and careful timing to skim past hundreds of rocks about to zoom down your screen. It may sound simple but the rocks are flying furiously at great speeds and range from iddy-biddy stones to huge planet killers. There is a distance counter at the top/right of the screen that indicates how long you need to survive before the level ends.

The longer you last, the faster the rocks move - many zooming diagonally - and intent on squashing you into pieces. Your ship is equipped with smart bombs to zap the local area when things get too hair-raising. This also offers a brief moment to rest from the rocky onslaught but it's not long before they're back!

This is different. I like different!

A range of bonuses are available for daring pilots to collect - bonus letters that spell out "EXTRA" for another life but watch out for the fakes, especially the blue one which inverts your controls! You shall see Treasure Rocks, these look different to the rest and offer up points should you bump into them. There are even teeny cosmonauts floating helplessly in space just itching to be rescued - a lot harder than you imagine!

Skilled pilots can scrape their ship alongside any rock for a massive hike in bonus points but the risk of being obliterated makes this a dangerous job. Interestingly, co-op is supported for those lucky enough to have friends or, like me, a gullible 7-year opponent who is eager to be my next victim!! This game mode also involves dodging more of those space rocks but with the added incentive to rescue 20 astronauts for the win.

For such a humble game the graphics are fantastic with beautiful colours and smooth movements by C-Rem, Heavy Stylus, and Templeton. Audio is the bee's knees with utterly fantastic chiptunes by Crazy_Q, TomChi, and DMA-SC. I will fight anybody that dares to disagree with me!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Shoot 'em up fans might be disappointed that R0X isn't ... well ... a shoot 'em up! It's a game of avoidance, I guess. It's straightforward and easy to pick up and play but tough to master. Each level becomes progressively challenging and I guarantee it's nowhere near as easy as you imagine. The rock-scraping mechanics add to the appeal and longevity. R0x is unexpectedly different and tremendously addictive!

The latest version is available from RGCD along with everything else you need to know. Also, a secret menu is unlocked when your high score betters 800,000. Easy, right? Send in your screenshots!