Oh No! Not More Radioactive Mineshafts

A simple idea perfectly executed

Not since Rumbo or Hector vs The Mutant Vampire Tomatoes From Hell have I loved a title. I mean, come on, Oh No! Not More Radioactive Mineshafts - how fantastic!! This is a catch 'em style game released by Breakpoint Software (Jon Garry) for the Atari STe and, once again, the 'PD' world comes up trumps.

We are a penguin who has somehow fallen down a mineshaft. To escape, we need to collect colourful blocks which are raining down from above using our heads. Yes, I said using our head!! Before a level begins, we are instructed on the number and type of each block to be nutted by our noggin before a timer expires.

The ones that you miss will fall onto the ground, and these then become radioactive (I presume). And that also means they will slide away to the sides of the screen. Your job is to hop over them without dying, and that's as technical as it gets. Thankfully, there is a password system to skip directly to any level - brilliant!!

Surely I can beat Tony Hart and Les Dennis!!!

Input & Output

Controls are best using a joystick (keyboard sucks). You can move left/right plus hitting the fire button (or pushing upwards) allows you to leap over the radioactive sliding blocks. Right from the start, the gameplay is fast, and I'm impressed with the superbly responsive controls. In fact, they are perfect.

Graphically, these mineshafts aren't half bleak: a black screen with colourful blocks. Okay, the penguin sprite is cute, the palette is always bright and bold for those squares, and everything breezes along at a smooth pace. I love the menus, which are very kaleidoscopically, and something like you would see in a demo!

Audio is where things shine, and throughout are some of the most spectacular tunes by musicians like Tao, Big Alec, Sally of STAX(hello Jon!), Mad Max and Count Zero. All are electrifying and something special.

A password system? Ohh, brillopads!! ^ ^

The CryptO'pinion?

This is a frantic game that I've thoroughly enjoyed - even if it did drive me nuts!! I'm unsure whether it will appeal to everyone, but give it a go because you never know. My only criticism is the lack of a points display, which means you won't know whether you've done enough to progress - until the timer has expired.

Oh No! Not More Radioactive Mineshafts is infuriatingly addictive and will have you screaming at your SC1224 in no time. It is irritating, agonising and yet ever so simple and addictive. An exhilarating game!

Download from AtariMania or

Atari Legend - Pure Energy menu disk [video]

Dusty Old Disks!

Arghh, floppies everywhere!

I figured it was time to do a little housework. No, not the dusting-and-hoovering kind, because that's a woman's job (the wife just hit me!). Anyhow, I've got zillions of cover disks scattered about the house. Well, over a hundred!! And I can never find the one I want without hunting through this mess. BooHoo, right?

I'm amazed at how many coverdisks were released by magazines like ST Format, ST Review, and ST User. But there are also others: The One, ST/Amiga Format, Computer Express, Zero, and my favourite, ST Action.

Unsurprisingly, most of my disks are by ST Format, with ST User and ST Review following for a close second and third, respectively. I've been playtesting most disks, and I'm shocked to discover that almost everything still works. I have bad sectors on a few ST Format disks, but otherwise, I'm partying like it's 1990.

Hang on, that's how I live my life every day!

As you can imagine, this was quite the trip down memory lane. I've found many games and programs like Recover, Quick ST, Harlekin, K-Graph, That's Write, Cyber Paint, Ani ST, GEMview, Easy Draw, Spectrum 512, loads of CPX modules, etc... In fact, the abundant amount of utilities is most appealing!

A cynic might say, all of these could have been found on the internet!! But where's the fun in that? Come on, what is your cover disk collection like? Do they work? Why not let me know in the comments?

Don't leave just yet, you have screenshots to view and a pile of disks too...

It's hardly classy, but at least they tried to jazz up their disks, unlike other ST mags.

Dungeon Master for free. Almost, but this is a belting game!!

Why have I yet to feature this incredible platformer???

Chronicles Of Omega. Search it right here on AtariCrypt. ST/STe support!

Grr, I found another 12 disks after taking this photo!! (10xSTF / 2xSTR)

Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land

This game looks bad

We're a nappy-wearing kid named Tom-Tom who wields a sword. Hmm, I was hoping for something macho with blood and gore, but there is none. If I'm brutally honest, beyond the likes of Stario or Giana Sisters, I'm not a fan of these platformers. Regardless, Tommy holds his own for his one and only outing on the Atari ST.

Tommy (yes, I've renamed him) lives in a pleasant place called Wonder Land, which he apparently protected during the first game. Don't get too comfy, a dragon has wreaked havoc on Wonder Land by releasing an army of hideous creatures. Not only will these beasts aimlessly walk back and forth, in a menacing manner, but they've managed to turn Tommy's beautiful home into Monster Land. Oh no, we can't have that!

Let’s drop the sarcasm because this is where we become a child hero tasked with vanquishing all the villains and saving the land from evil. Wanna turn your Atari ST temporarily into a Nintendo and save the day?

I already know the answer, so let's begin with some cool screenshots...

Hmm, that looks like a slab of juicy meat floating in the air.

Argh no!! Tell me I don't need to kill this cute, er, thing? Yes, KILL IT!!

WonderBoy has to deal with some of the silliest monsters, which can be a pain to kill.

Kiddy killer time!

Monster Land starts off bright and cheery with lovely colours and a cutesy design. Right from the beginning, you meet with somebody who details your quest and kindly arms you with a sword. Every level has its baddies, who get nastier the deeper you progress through the land. Easy ones are snakes and rabbits, but there are others which are trickier: bats, mud men and grey things that fire arrows (ugh, I hate those).

Currency is a big thing in this game, and slain monsters will leave behind gold coins when slaughtered. Also, it's worth jumping up into apparently empty parts of any level because these areas might reveal extra hidden coins. You've just gotta be willing to hop here, there and everywhere - like an idiot! (I'm good at that)

Wanna spend those coins? Look for doorways scattered throughout most of the maps. These provide access to various stores to purchase items, enhancements, or friendly advice. For example, it's a good idea to carry a shield when you come across a grey fella who fires arrows. Other items you might find useful are shoes for faster movements, weapons (I love fireballs), or perhaps you're after some basic help and advice?

Oddly, there's an egg timer displayed in the status bar, but I hadn't got the foggiest what it was for. When it expires, some of your health is frustratingly taken, so try to keep it topped up by collecting the egg timers hidden throughout the levels. Yep, they're probably going to be invisible, so you'd better randomly jump!

Bosses appear frequently, I thought, with the first being Death himself. Actually, he's rather slow and moves in a predictable pattern, so it's easy to kill. However, the others aren't defeated so easily, so prepare thyself. Once any level boss is dead, collect his loot and a key to the exit. Tip: don't dawdle & grab the loot first!

It's that time when I show some responsible screenshots. Fancy a beer, kid? What...

Oh, not again? But boss-eyed helpers, whatever next?



A drink, you ask? Beer, please, and ignore the nappy I'm wearing. I'm over 18, honest.

Input & Output

Use your joystick to walk, leap and activate power-ups. However, Tommy’s movement is governed by basic physics. He won’t simply stop moving when you release the joystick; he’ll slow down instead. At first, that is annoying, I gotta say, but it soon becomes second nature. Oddly, the spacebar is used to open shop doors, which can be a little awkward, and I would have preferred not to let go of my joystick.

Visually, Monster Land honours the original, but I doubt it'll blow your socks off: we're not talking Seven Gates Of Jambala or Risky Woods. What we do have is a gorgeous cartoon design and cute sprites - I love the snakes, but those horrendous Mudmen are the best. Scrolling suits the gameplay and is smooth and responsive. Sure, they reduced the screen size, but at least they didn't wimp out with flick or push scrolling!

The audio is good and features chiptunes throughout by David Whittaker. They're oldskool style, and I doubt they're his finest work, but there's something cool and timeless about chip music, and these prove it. Sound effects are nice, nothing more than the expected spot effects for weapons /etc. No complaints.

Let's check out those cool kiddy visuals with the final run of screenshots...

Blue flying rabbit/bat things. Cute and annoyingly deadly!

Aye-up, what's inside here? Treasure, I hope...

And there's always an end-of-level boss just itching for a fight!

The CryptO'pinion?

Considering that I have never liked this style of platformer, I admit that I have really enjoyed Wonder Boy on the Atari ST. It starts off easy but soon becomes challenging with a massive variety of cute baddies to kill whilst exploring a range of interesting levels. Blummin' excellent game I thoroughly recommend!!

A massive shock for me - who would have thought a nappy-wearing toddler would have been this good?

Download for floppy or hard drive!

Steps

Steps?

No, not that annoying camp-as-Christmas pop group, but Cream's musicdisk stuffed full of Tao tunes. My recording has short samples taken from random tracks; it's just enough to read the scroller, which is always a lamer's necessity. YouTube has its uses, but this disk is best experienced using real hardware.

Tao never ceases to impress, and Steps is nothing short of extraordinary. I love this music disk!!

Amazine Weekend!

Time for a good read

I've not been feeling too good over the weekend, so I've not been able to play, record, or write for my favourite Atari ST website. (Yes, this one!!) Typical, isn't it? After being at work all week, I get myself a dose of the dreaded man flu. Let me tell you, women, there is nothing worse than this illness. Scientific fact.

As I've not been in the mood, I just popped over to Fujiology and grabbed a random diskmag. I love reading these when I get the chance - and the ST has so many to choose from. I downloaded Amazine #4 by HMD, which is probably one of the shortest-lived magazines ever. I wonder what happened to No.5 /etc? :/

Amazine #4 begins with a fantastic intro by Animal Mine, which has jaw-dropping fx. The magazine itself is displayed using medium resolution, so it looks gorgeous and is very easy on the eyes. Inside are all kinds of information relevant to the early 90s, which is both incredibly interesting and also a shame, especially when you see various productions that never got finished - Yuppies Land. I also enjoyed the interviews and then seeing who topped the leaderboard for best artist, musician and more. Geeky fun!!

Sometimes ... ugh... I wish I could be ill more often so I can take the time to relax with a good diskmag like this. The Atari ST has such an impressive library, covering a wide range of topics and interests. I enjoyed this one: it's interesting, funny, geeky and something today's youngsters will probably never appreciate.

Anyhow, enough of my waffling on! Check out these screenshots...

I love megademos, but they can be spread too thin with fillers. I prefer dentros!

I like the GUI and how it pushes the pages across... Looks cool in ST Medium resolution too!

What? Fuzion are dead?? Right, come on guys, own it - who killed the Fuzion boys??

This was an interesting and sobering read, and I would have enjoyed Yuppie's Land...