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 tee, 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?

You guys need to play this beat 'em up regardless of the trainer. Hilariously entertaining!!

Atari Legend has Medway Boys #85 Floppy Disk

Fuzion #185

Nuclear Fusion!

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?

Update: I finally upgraded... https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/2020/06/ubeswitch.html

Next on my wish list is a graphics card for my Mega STe. I'd love to have something humble like 640x400 in 16 colours! That's been on my wish list for years... Can anyone help me with this dream??

Kid GP

Munsie magic

This is the third Dave Munsie game to be featured on AtariCrypt, but it's one I've never heard of. The idea is to 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 loads of wacky creatures zipping about the screens. Each one loves getting in your way, whilst others are looking to give a good chase. 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 hammer attacks with lots of bonus fruits - before respawning them. 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 the goodies. What this lacks in (ahem) originality is more than made up for in gameplay!

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 gorgeous 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 might look familiar for any number of reasons, but who cares about originality when it looks this good?

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 chiptunes. I think it would have been nice, so I missed that. Thankfully, the sound effects are fantastic and very zesty for a game of this ilk.

Screenshot time, and how about some fruit? No? Well, here you go anyway...

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 entertaining. The controls are perfectly responsive, and I loved the ability to have two different jumping options, as the hammer only works horizontally. Which is my only gripe.

Dave Munsie might have originally designed this game for children (my seven-year-old certainly appreciates it), but there’s no denying its positive impact on this big kid (yes, me!!). I thoroughly enjoyed Kid GP!!

Stop whatever you're doing and

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!

Jug

Big Jugs

This is a scrolling shooter by one of my favourite companies, Microdeal. It's set in the future, and we are tasked to save Spiraeus, a living planet suffering from a nasty tumour that urgently needs to be eliminated. However, the autoimmune system thinks you're a threat, so it unleashes its defences, intent on your demise!!

This sounds really silly, but stick with me because Jug was programmed by Paul Hunter (Armour-Geddon) and is no lazy Amiga port. In fact, quite the opposite and certainly pushes our old STFM to the limit in terms of the visuals. Playing Jug is a strange and frantic affair, as it combines elements from games like Blood Money, Droid, and Return To Genesis. Sometimes combinations like this fail, and sometimes they work.

Check out this screenshot...

Some eye candy is ghastly, whereas others are great examples of beautiful pixel art.

One smooth shooter

Our ship can move left and right and even fly, but this is affected by gravity like in Alien World and requires fuel top-ups. The controls are responsive, but the movements are a bit sluggish, making it hard to dodge the nasties without depleting precious energy. The action is relentless with baddies constantly zipping across the screen in waves of attack; it’s a frantic, never-ending hell. If you crave excitement, you've got it!

However, they aren't the brightest bulbs and appear to move/shoot blindly with little AI, thus it's like they aren't aware of our presence. Weaponry is an upgradeable mixed bag; however, the plasma gun is mounted far too low to be fully effective. How did that happen? Anyhow, replacing that with a laser cannon is lots of fun!!

Playing Jug is never dull, because the action is near-constant and challenging. It will take practice to beat, as the map layout is quite confusing. The enemies increase gameplay to a crazy pace, and this makes the whole journey thrilling. Or at least try to - this is a tough game that will eat away your spare hours.

Well, I'm sick of typing and wanna show off a screenshot...

Look out for teleporters... And when death comes, it's pretty demoscene-y. Which I love!

Aesthetics

The best thing about Jug isn't its humorous name (based on the ship's barrel-chested assets!!) but its visuals, gorgeously designed by Martin Kenwright. It boasts ultra-smooth parallax scrolling with a metallic palette - so you should use a real Atari ST to fully appreciate the graphics breezing across your screen.

The music is a masterpiece by Paul Shields, so leave the main menu be, to enjoy its chiptune. In comparison, the sound effects are overshadowed, but they do their job well enough compared to the stunning music.

Let's see a screenshot of my successful gaming skill...

Arghh, not again? Is it me? Am I actually this bad at games? How could this be? O_o

The CryptO'pinion?

Jug has all the makings of a brilliant shoot 'em up, but some strange mechanics dampened my enthusiasm. Instead, I recommend any of the above-mentioned games along with Uridium, Cybernoid, or Sideways!! The difficulty is overwhelming thanks to a confusing map and the constant enemy onslaught.

Technically superb, but I'm on the fence because it's left me with mixed feelings. Plus, the need to use a trainer. Or am I wrong?? What do you guys think about this game? Well, let me know in the comments.

If you have a hard drive or Ultrasatan, then grab this superb download.

Floppy disk addicts can find Jug on the Atari Legend website.

Finally, and untested by me, here is how to get infinite energy and extra lives:
 Press and hold down the ESC key on the title screen and then use the mouse to click on the right-hand edge of the screen. This should help the game be a little more achievable. You'll need it!!