Guardian Angel

Dimamic get Dynamic!

Freddy Hardest is our Guardian Angel for Dinamic's scrolling beat 'em up in the Big Apple, which actually ain't too dissimilar to After The War. Manhattan always seems to be the perfect setting for a grim future with crime and gangs. I don't know why but it's got that Deathwish vibe and setting nailed so perfectly.

I've always had a soft spot for Dinamic and I think it's because I played their Army Moves via disk (instead of tape) back in my Spectrum +3 days (a short-lived machine as it died after a few weeks... sigh).

They've released some good Atari ST games and you can find them by searching at the top of this web page. Anyhow, we begin our Death Wish at the docks and are instantly assaulted by waves of 80s-styled thugs! Some have brought their toys, like baseball bats and knives. Where's Charles Bronson when you need him?

The docks are a great place to go looking for trouble as you can see...

Ahh, nuts! That guy is big and I hear sneaky footsteps behind me!

Yee Aw that sucka!

As a beat 'em up, we get around crime-infested streets using left/right. The fire button performs a punch, which you'll find is good against the weaker Sailors. Pulling down allows us to stomp on rats but offers little benefit against tougher dudes. Pushing up will unleash the fury of your infamous high kick which is your only powerful move. Energy levels will automatically replenish IF you get a chance to stand still for a moment.

Guardian Angel doesn't take itself seriously and has you laughing at the silly antics you see on-screen. I love how the baddies turn into zapped skeletons for a split second when dying - it's like a Tom And Jerry cartoon. Watch out for "Death Star", a forklift trucker called Ricky Chang who is the world's worst driver. However, my favourite is being kicked out of your cute yellow boots when suffering a final death blow. Hilarious stuff.

That's this game to a tea, it's stupid but so entertaining. The kind you play after a bad day at work...

What? You think ganging up is going to scare me away - not on your nelly!!

Aesthetics

The gameplay window is small with much of the screen being -mostly- pointless decor. However, I do like the backgrounds, even if they're too colourful for a bleak city scene! Sprites are large and well-detailed with basic animation but there are some cool scenes - Ricky Chang will always make me laugh. Fantastic!!

Forget the terrible theme tune. Thankfully, all in-game effects are made from good and meaty samples with the chainsaw guy being superb. In fact, I really love the excellent variety of sampled sound effects.

This game has sound and vision that will rock your 16-bit world and I love it all...

Now, this is a proper title screen with outstanding artwork.

The CryptO'pinion?

Guardian Angel sure has good qualities; a bucket load of humour matched by responsive controls, superb sprites, and sound effects. Sadly, it's typically Dinamic with incredibly tough gameplay and having only one decent attack move is insane! However, I have enjoyed it with a trainer enabled - but that's a bad thing, right?

I think you guys need to play this beat 'em up regardless of the trainer. Hilariously fantastic and fun!!

Stonish has Medway Boys #85 Floppy Disk.

Fuzion #185

Fuzion #185 is an intro for the game Ork, by Psygnosis. I love this intro because it presents itself particularly well, with lots of colour and an adaptation of one of the most memorable chiptunes created. It also makes use of the Atari STe hardware for even better results, but happily works on either machine just fine.

Credits

Dump - Music

Orion - Code

https://demozoo.org/productions/84067/

Monitor Switch Box

Flipping it

Okay, it's not exactly a modern option compared to what's available but I love my old monitor switch box. If there's one thing I dislike about the ST (no, it's not the joystick ports) it's swapping the cables when using colour and mono. So, this little device works wonders for me but perhaps it's time I looked to upgrade?

However, next on my wish list is a graphics card for my Mega STe.

That's been on my wish list for years... Can anyone help me with this dream??

Kid GP

It's time for Munsie magic!

This is the third Dave Munsie game to be featured on AtariCrypt but it's one I'd never previously heard of. The idea is to frantically run around each screen avoiding the baddies and collecting all of the diamonds. Originally aimed at the younger audience but I have found it incredibly fun so there's hope for all of us... Or I'm just simple?

Collecting diamonds may sound easy but there are a variety of whacky creatures zipping about the screens. Each one loves getting in your way whilst others are looking to give a good chase. However, bump into one and a life is lost!! So it's a good job we can use a hammer to smack these blighters and send 'em packing. Yeah!

The game rewards your vicious hammer attacks with lots of bonus fruits - before respawning them once again. Magic mushroom power-ups are available for a range of cool effects that may boost or alter your visibility. A bonus timer is counting down and, if you manage to finish with time remaining, then you can build up points by grabbing lots of extra goodies? What this lacks in (ahem) originality is more than made up for in brilliant gameplay!

Come on, I think we need to see a colourful screenshot with cute critters with beady eyes...

Okay, it might look ...umm... rather familiar but the gameplay is rock-solid awesomeness!!

Bubble... Rainbow... What?

Graphically, this is one sexy-looking game with bold colours and the cutest sprites. Those big-eyed blue faces will always make me smile - especially after I've clubbed them! This is exactly how an arcade game should look. Sure, it (ahem) might look familiar for any number of reasons but who cares about originality when it looks this gorgeous?

Interestingly, you can flip between 50/60Hz and also three game speeds, at any time.

The audio is slightly less impressive because there are no background chiptunes. I think that would have been really nice, so is sadly missed by me. Thankfully, the sound effects are fantastic and very zesty for a game of this ilk.

Screenshot time and how about one with some fruit? No? Well, here you go anyhow...

Wow!! Look at all that gorgeous colour and beautiful fruit. Yum Yum get it all eaten up!

The CryptO'pinion?

Kid GP is exhilarating!! Manically running around, collecting lots of diamonds and fruits, whilst avoiding the silly-looking nasties is surprisingly brilliant. The controls are perfect; always responsive and I loved the ability to have two different jumping options - because the hammer only works horizontally. Which is the only (meh) gripe I have.

Dave Munsie may have originally intended this game for kids (my 7yr appreciates that) but there is no denying the positive effect that it has on this big kid. Yes, I loved Kid GP a bunch. What a fantastic and addictive game!!

Stop whatever you're doing!!

Download this wonderful game right now.

EasyAraMiNT

Putting old hardware to good use

Aranym is a piece of software by Petr Stehlik to create a virtual Atari computer capable of running GEM software at lightning speeds. Most find Aranym rather awkward to set up from scratch, so a fella called Philippe Noble has developed something called EasyAraMint. This is a "ready-to-go" installation using EasyMint 1.18, which provides an incredible multitasking environment using the power of the host, be that a Mac or PC.

As you can see in my "expertly recorded" video, I'm using an old Mac Mini that was donated to me (thanks Mum!). My video shows me using unix 'scp', viewing images/PDF, listen to tunes, and playing Doom before ending with web browsing. Yes, this is as geeky as it gets. Love it!! :-)

EasyAraMint can be installed in minutes. It also comes pre-installed with many Atari programs. Philippe has done an outstanding job with this ready-to-go multitasking OS. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Aranym and EasyAraMiNT can be downloaded and tinkered with, so let me know what you create!

I accessed another Mac via FTP and chatted online with a friend. What a geek!!



The command line might not look much fun, so I jazzed up my screen with PixArt...

Not all websites display perfectly, but what do you expect for free? :o)



Why not read a PDF document and listen to some background tunes too!