Xenon II - STE - Megablast!

In-game real music!!

Xenon 2 is pretty much Marmite - some love it and some appear to hate it. Well, I love it. It's one of my favourite shooters with fantastic power-ups and freaky baddies. Plus, it's a technical masterpiece with outstanding aesthetics that proves the power of the Atari ST - when in the hands of developers with talent and commitment in equal measure. We need no custom chips nor those horrendously lame Amiga ports from the 90s!!

Okay, rant over. Here is a brand new Xenon II upgrade for 1MB+ Atari STe computers with an UltraSatan or decent hard drive. This new version streams 25KHz music, during gameplay, thanks to the DMA Audio hardware. There is no CPU hit whatsoever so its as good as ever but with your choice of music :-)

Convert any song into: 8-bit @25033Hz using a program like Audacity. I've a massive selection of rock/metal songs stored and ZZ Top is currently playing in my game!!

Xenon II just got even better and I hope Peter converts many more games to make use of the DMA co-processor. The possibilities are endless... Hmm, perhaps I should send him a wishlist? LOL he'll block me!!

Atari Mega STe

Mega Hertz

I asked Peter Putnik, from over on 8BitChip, if there was a program that allowed the Mega STe to flip between 8 and 16MHz - but without having XControl preloaded. He basically said yes, no reason why not. And a couple days later he had created it!! What a great Atari community we have - my sincere gratitude to Peter.

The download link is available via the AtariAge forums.

Well 'Ard

Wanna be a thug?

Well, today is your lucky day because we are a fiercely-looking dude who loves to jump on all kinds of nasties. This violent act kills and splatters the baddies and they fall off the screen dead. Sound familiar?

Released in 1994 by Cybernation Software, it was developed by Simon Scott and is a platformer created using GFA Basic. Well Ard is a cracking game and to think it was developed in GFA Basic is incredible. Earlier levels are easy but it certainly becomes challenging later on - some of those jumps are insanely tricky!

The scrolling is smooth, with fast action and large sprites - I love the snowman. Controls are accurate and responsive with many tight jumps on interesting levels. Strangely, there are no optional methods to kill enemies - no weapons. Instead, reap violence by leaping and using our red booties. It's weird but who cares?

This is one of the most enjoyable platformers I've played in a long time. Addictive gameplay that has you coming back for more so put on your red boots and play it. Downloads can be found for floppy or hard disk.

Here are some more screenshots to whet your appetite...

Look at those teeth. This guy is a beast so don't mess with him!!

Jump up and down until they're all dead - not violent at all. Honest.

Well 'Ard features some odd critters but don't waste time looking - squash them.

Atari ST chiptunes

The wife has gone out shopping and gracefully left me to do the housework! There is no way I can do these boring chores in silence so let's power on the ST and play a few toons from the SNDH Archive / SNDH Record

Here is just a selection of my favourite chiptunes at this moment... What are yours??

Nowhere by 505 ( listen / or click the GREEN arrow below! )

Best Part of Creation by Big Alec ( listen )

Sausage 3D by Xyce ( listen )

Little sexy square by Crazy Q ( listen )

Sweety by Lotek Style ( listen )

Ugly medium resolution?

Tippy Typey

Like anything in this life, nothing is perfect. Shockingly, this applies to our Atari ST which has one characteristic I never cared for: its obscure, ugly, stretched medium resolution. Well, since my colour monitor decided to blow up, I have been happily zipping along in monochrome which would explain the recent run of high-resolution articles. All were written using the classic, 1st Word Plus. (Go on, you can call me a geek!)

It's hardly a modern word processor bursting with features but it does the job well. Sure, I can't wait to get my new colour monitor bought as I'm missing games in glorious 16-bit technicolour. However, I have definitely fallen in love with this crisp black and white display which has met each and every requirement lately.

Who needs an expensive modern computer? Obviously not me!! Yes, I am mad... :^)

Megaroids

The oldest ST game?

Asteroids is a true arcade classic that has been converted for every home computer. Not to be left out, Megamax released Megaroids in 1985 for the Atari ST. That's right, 1985 when the ST was a baby. Interestingly, they developed it using their own (and brand new) C programming tool. Now that's fearless!

The gameplay is, obviously, Asteroids and faithful to the original. Shoot the rocks for points but don't forget to blast the alien ships - for lots more points! Joystick controls are dead easy with Z and X rotates your craft and SHIFT to fire. Thrust uses ? key and SpaceBar activates a hyperspace when you're in trouble.

Graphically, it's different from the original; gone are the vectors in favour of bitmaps. The ST's high resolution looks stunning, and Megaroids' framerate is superb. The rocks sweep across the screen like butter off a hot knife. Thankfully, colour systems aren't forgotten, as it's compatible with medium resolution. But this is interlaced to produce 640x400 but with colour. That's right, essentially 640x400 in colour on your TV!!

Sounds are nothing more than you would expect for asteroids. They're nice and work very well. Especially when you remember this is a 1985 game for a 1985 computer. I'm really impressed all things considered.

Megaroids has an authenticity that I admire. The gameplay feels perfect, and I'm shocked that something this good was released the same year as the ST itself. I'm impressed by the silky-smooth framerate and flicker-free interlace support for colour systems. This is a wonderful conversion with bucket loads of rock blasting!!

AtariMania and Atari Legend have

the floppy disks to download.

N.o.B.I. - Racing

Knob Racing??

N.o.B.I Racing was released by Joytrick (1994) and is a 'snake' clone where we guide 'Alfred' through a series of mazes. Always hungry and on the move, Alfred needs our assistance as he munches everything in his path. However, every time he eats, he grows longer and this can become quite embarrassing, especially if he bites into himself. So our task is to help Alfred through the mazes without bumping into his own tale.

Two types of bonus levels appear at frequent intervals, features two-player gaming, DMA audio, and support for multiple resolutions. Simple stuff for dexterous players but soon becomes incredibly fast on later levels against the clock!! NoBI Racing is old school and that means it's extremely addictive and a bucket load of fun!!

- Download from AtariMania -