Menace [upgraded]

When something isn't quite right...

Menace is one of the few Psygnosis games that I respect. It's a good shooter. Okay, it should have been better with a little effort, but that's an Amiga company for you. Anyhow, it's still a decent game, and I enjoy it. But what's with the YELLOW ship compared to that other version? For years, I've hated its bland colour and wondered what they were thinking. And if it was possible to change it for something better?

So I contacted Atari ST wizard Peter Putnik about my dilemma. He's always up for a challenge and open to ideas. It wasn't long until he came back with a solution that worked well. As you can see in both the video and screenshots, our spaceship now has a new paint job!! The caveat is a change to the (badly placed) status pane due to the 16-colour palette. Of course, the game remains the same, but we now pilot a white ship!

You know, folks, this is what makes the Atari ST scene a marvellous place. Think about it, I wasn't happy with a commercial game from 30+ years ago. I asked a guy living in another country for his thoughts. What does he do? He fixes it without hesitation. Incredible. What an amazing community we have.

My sincere thanks to Peter for being gracious with my request. This version of Menace is the only one I will play on the Atari ST. Here's the download to the newly designed AtariCrypt White Star (geddit?).

Please watch the video trailer above and gander at these lovely screenshots...

I made this silly image. Can you tell? lol

Here it is, our brand new white ship!

Just look at it. Much better now, albeit at the expense of the status bar.

Skimming along through space in my spanky new ship!!

It might not be the best shooter, but the graphics are cool.

It has its haters, but this is better than most of the drivel Psygnosis produced for us.

Reanimators #6

Do The Math

Reanimators #6 features cool fx with a superb chiptune (hmm, it sounds familiar). You know me, I love sine scrollers, and this one is a belter and displayed using the full range of lovely rainbow colours. On the disk is Thunderstrike, an incredible 3D shoot 'em up with great graphics - like an early Cybermorph ;-)

Credits

https://demozoo.org/productions/92358/

wave upon wave

Musax!!

There are many amazing artists, and I've always had a soft spot for the guys that make up the incredible YM Rockerz. So here is the wonderful compilation called "wave upon wave", which they released 17 years ago! It features tracks by their awesome musicians: 505, D-Force, Dma-Sc, Tao, Lotek Style, and Milhouse.

It's impossible to pick a favourite, but I love Shifter by Tao, which you can listen to by clicking on the GEM green arrow. Check out the YM Rockerz website ... I think I'm going to listen to "Seven" again tonight!

Wave Upon Wave by YM Rockerz [demozoo download]

Credits

505 - Music

D-Force - Music

Dma-Sc - Music, Text

Exocet - Graphics

MC Laser - Graphics (ASCII), Music, Text

Milhouse - Music, Text

Tao - Code, Music

Midnight Sun

ST GLAM!!

I've just been going through the latest uploads on Demozoo, and there have been many incredible releases of demos, artwork, and music from both the Outline and Sommarhack parties. I'm constantly blown away by what the DHS boys can produce: the video is of Midnight Sun for the Atari STe (running overscan).

Credits for Midnight Sun by Dead Hackers Society

Crazy Q - Music

Evil - Code

Excellence In Art - Other (Sample sequence)

Proteque - Graphics

https://demozoo.org/productions/174400/

Now check out these screenshots for an idea of what the Atari ST #demoscne is capable of knocking out. Remember, YouTube is good, but nothing beats the experience of using a real Atari ST/e computer.

#JustSaying :p

P-47

Skim the landscape & shoot everything

P-47 was released in 1988 by Firebird and is based on the Jaleco arcade game. There are several levels through a variety of landscapes, so put on your Biggles outfit because you're about to reach for the skies.

Any shoot 'em up needs decent scrolling, awesome controls, and enemies to kill. P-47 has this by the bucketload. It's immediately obvious that the teamwork that went into development has certainly paid off. Choose either a 50/60Hz display with smooth parallax scrolling, great graphics throughout, and fast sprites that honour the original. Funky chipmusic plays alongside the pizazz sound effects, both of which are great.

The action is hectic as the planes whizz into view and tanks blast artillery - they're just asking for a MOAB!! Other levels have us flying through sunset clouds, pyramids, and over the seas (I love the missiles, which emerge from underwater). Oddly, the bosses are easy to defeat by positioning in a safe place and repeatedly dropping a payload of bombs. Each level varies, but the concept remains: fly, avoid, panic, and kill everything.

Where P-47 fails is the frustratingly great difficulty - the screen will always be cluttered with many baddies, and a collision is inevitable. Stick with it; collect the power-ups, learn the enemy's attack pattern, and keep on firing. Sure, this is imperfect, but it's also one I really enjoy and a darn challenging shoot 'em up.

• Atari Legend has the floppies, and I recommend New Order #20 Menu CD.
• Hard drive installable versions are available by both 8BitChip and D-Bug.
• Enter "ZEBEDEE" into the high score:
• Press F1 for a level skip
• press F2 for infinite lives. Have fun!!