Sunday, May 15, 2016

Cuddly Demos by The Carebears



I remember the first time I saw that kid sticking out his tongue in disgust!!
Such an iconic demo so grab yourself a copy of the Cuddly Demos at Demozoo.


Credits
A.D. - Graphics
An Cool - Code
ES - Graphics
Jas - Code
Mad Butcher - Graphics (Calvin & Hobbes graphic)
Mad Max - Music
Ming - Graphics (Font)
Nick - Code
Nigel Brownjohn - Graphics (Main Menu Sprite)
Tanis - Graphics
Transformer - Graphics (Tristar Charset)

Friday, May 13, 2016

Accelerator




Lost forever?

Accelerator was demoed in ST Action #31 all the way back in 1992 and appears to have never been released. Well, I may be wrong as I'm hoping there are registered versions out there... somewhere... as the full game would have only set someone back a tenner. That's pretty decent and I expect a few copies were sold? Well, I really hope so.

This racer looks, and plays, a LOT like a certain Atari racer, but, with smooth scrolling. Digital Reality was going to be the 'publisher' so I'm assuming they went Kaboom or the guys gave up? Has anyone got any information to share? I hope the full version can be found one day. Let me know if you have information or a disk image!

Credits...
Digital Reality Ltd
Peter Thorp (coding)
Hamish Cooper (graphics + sounds)

AtariMania has the download of an early demo version and it's ace so we need the full game desperately!

Saturday, May 07, 2016

POWER UP +





Gentlemen start your engines

Power Up + is an overhead scrolling racer by Marek Cichon of Empty Head. I love that name as it's used as slang over here but, not in a nice way lol. Okay, this isn't a game I've heard of before but we all love Super Sprint and the Super Cars games so I was basically expecting more of the same, to be honest.

Sadly, my first impressions weren't good because it felt like a cheap Super Cars ripoff. Well, I never go off first impressions because I'm usually wrong! So, I took the time to configure the many options this game offers!! Then I went back to playtesting it again - through rigorous racing sessions (tough job this isn't it). Thankfully, it wasn't long before I was ripping around the tracks, wearing a cheesy smile!

Let's show you the first screenshot which is dead interesting. No, honestly it is. I swear... Ahem...



Lots of options so take time to configure Power Up to suit your particular computer.




What a power drive!

There are a lot of tracks with various conditions to endure like the type of road and weather - I enjoyed the wet tracks for sliding around the bends. Okay, it's hardly Ridge Racer but it's still fantastic fun. Weapons are supported and cars can fire the world's slowest "rocket" which always manages to hit me! Also, watch out for oil spills left behind by the other drivers that will have you slipping and sliding like a crazy fool.

Controls work well: acceleration is automatic using reverse & two forward gears. Top gear that allows you to hammer past the other vehicles so you better practise your cornering! Strangely, weapons are activated using the keyboard which may be awkward for joystick players? Successful racers will be rewarded with glory and a massive golden cup - before being sucked into the ground. I don't get it but it's ludicrously funny!!

Wouldn't it be nice to design your own track rather than what's provided? I know, it'll never happen...



There's even a track editor for the creative so why not make your own race course?




Aesthetics?

The graphics are pretty much homebrew but the sprites are detailed and I cannot deny the amount of work that's gone into the scenery. Those STs with Blitter Chips are supported for better framerates but take a look at the configuration to get the best performance possible otherwise you will only regret it.

The ST computer can struggle, especially if you're being too adventurous with the settings. You'll find yourself glaring in envy at anyone owning a faster computer. Yep, Power Up needs that Blitter and loves faster computers with extra clock cycles. Which is good and bad depending on your setup!

Sound effects can be either chip or DMA and I personally prefer the latter when screeching around the race tracks. I really enjoyed hearing this and it suits the gameplay. The music is stereo on the Atari STe and supports playback frequencies up to 50Khz - astonishing. I love the audio so much!

Okay, sod it!! Here's a cool screenshot of the gameplay. Happy now? Take a look at this...



I love the humungous variety of different tracks and they all look darn cool.




The CryptO'pinion?

Power Up has more than its fair share of quirks and needs the player to tweak the settings for the best performance. Even then, it can be sluggish if the settings are set excessively high by a moron. In my opinion, ST owners shouldn't bother as the Atari STe is the base model due to having a Blitter and DMA audio. However, even then, I'd suggest lowering the audio frequency or going chip for better performance.

For all its faults, this is a great racer I have genuinely enjoyed on both my Atari STe and Mega STe (16mhz). There's a lot here to enjoy with many tracks that are a scream to race on. Master the controls in a few practice games and it won't be long before you're tearing around like Dale Earnhardt!! Super-duper fun.

Grab the download from my Dropbox fully compiled and visit Marek's website too.



Gotta love the pile-ups! But then one car will drop some oil which is so cunning!




- Marek Cichon Interview -

Well, it's not really an interview but still very interesting and appreciated. I contacted the developer, Marek Cichon. His website had been online for years so I expected to hear nothing but, within a few minutes, I had a reply! We chatted and I asked a few questions along the way...

Why did you create Power Up and what inspired you?
 - I liked frantic racing games - Rally Speedway on Atari 800 plus track editor.

What did you get from the TOS platform during this time?
 - 6 years of fun and development overnight!

Did Power Up live up to all your expectations?
 - Unfortunately not. It is the homebrew game with a look developed mainly by two friends from the small city Chomutov. We would be successful to release the game till 1992.

Anything planned for the future?
 - We have released another game with the similar graphics for PC called Pixoria (see pixoria.eu)

What Atari computers do you own?
 - American NTSC version of Atari ST from 1985 year (my father bought in in Houston, Tx). I have developed most of my programs, including Power Up, on this computer but using on PAL TV. This meant black and white, unstable display (TV 50Hz, Atari 60Hz). Also a European Atari STE with 2 MegaBytes extended memory!

Easy question, what are Marek's favourite Atari ST games?
 - Vroom, Super Cars 2, Lotus Esprit Turbo challenge, Karateka, Test Drive, F15 Strike Eagle 2. Oh I see that racing wins!

Are you planning any Power Up updates in the future?
 - No. There were two releases Power Up and Power Up Plus with better graphics, shooting and oil slicks to finalise the game.

What retro games are you playing in todays crazy world?
 - I prefer the older Atari 800 games like The Great American Cross-Country Road Race, Rescue on Fractalus, Electra glide.

Are you listed on Demozoo?
 - No, it is Karel Rous (Empty Head), my distributor. I have never met him :-)

What makes Marek tick?
 - When people contact me from Australia, Mexico or UK. Those who play Power Up with my compliments. Thank you Steven.

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Relix



A music disk with something extra

Atari ST chiptunes are superb and proven to be timeless, unlike tracker/MOD files (much of the time). We have numerous music disks in our library and here is Relix by DHS/Paradox. This features some of the most awesome examples of what 505 (aka Nils Feske) has created. It's quite something to hear such a massive selection of quality chip music pumping out of your ST's speakers so crank up the volume!

Anyhow, this disk has a cool feature that should be standard on all musicdisks - an AUTO Play function. Yep, you can leave the music disk alone and it will automatically work through every tune. I love Relix and it's one of my favourite musicdisks ever made which is saying something for a machine like the Atari ST.

Relix download by Dead Hackers Society and Paradox [demozoo]

Credits
505 - Music
Dan - Graphics
Evil - Code, Graphics
Paranoid - Code
Zweckform - Graphics

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

double DD





Don't risk it!

Backing up your files can be a pain in the .. neck .. but you'd be gutted if you lost any precious data! So here is a simple method to duplicate your Ultrasatan's SD card which is not only effective but takes little effort. The requirements are a Mac with an SD slot and a basic knowledge of the Terminal program.


 - IDENTIFICATION -

Firstly, eject your SD card from the Ultrasatan and slide its "lock" switch to write-protect it. Better to be safe than sorry! Insert it into your Mac (if a warning appears then click on the "ignore" button).

Load up Terminal.app (within the Utilities folder) and type in this command:
diskutil list
This will display information to help identify the SD card - look for the capacity of your card. Mine is 8GB as you can see in the clipping, below. Thus my card is "/dev/disk1"
/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
 #:     TYPE     NAME     SIZE     IDENTIFIER
 0:     *                 8.0 GB   disk1

If you would like to verify this information, type in this command :
diskutil info /dev/disk1
Within the output, you will see a line confirming that this is indeed our SD Card :
Device / Media Name:      SD Card Reader


 - BACK IT UP -

Type this command to backup the SD card (enter your password when prompted)

sudo dd if=/dev/disk1 of=~/Desktop/st-backup.img
Leave it to finish and after a few minutes you should have a file on your desktop called "st-backup". Now eject the card from the Apple Mac and reinsert it into your Ultrasatan - not forgetting to slide off the lock switch! I recommend zipping your backup file and storing it somewhere safe, like iCloud or Dropbox.


 - RESTORES -

Perhaps you have a spare SD card idly doing nothing? So long as it's the same capacity as the first, we can easily restore our backup file onto this using the command :
sudo dd if=~/Desktop/st-backup.img of=/dev/disk1

 - AND FINALLY -

There are many different methods to secure your data, this was just one. It's the backup method I personally prefer because the dd command is easy and powerful. I hope this is of some use to Mac & Linux users sorry, but I wouldn't know about Windows. Any questions then just gimme a shout and I'll be happy to help.


Sunday, April 24, 2016

Atari STM


I've always had a longing for the sleek Atari STM computer before it became bloated with an internal PSU and floppy disk drive (STFM). I've just bought one off eBay for a meagre £14. It's in superb condition too. Needless to say, I now require an external floppy drive and PSU. I cannot wait to get this beast working :-)

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Double Dragon 3 - Rosetta Stone





Yie Ar Kung-Fu!

I wanted to feature an Atari ST game to celebrate St George's Day so I figured something dragon-related would be great? Anyhow, I tried a few games but I wasn't in the mood for those and sadly, nothing else really caught my attention. Then I remembered Double Dragon 3 ... ahem ... come on, it has "dragon" in its title!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 For all those wondering what England's St. George's Day is about 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Double Dragon 3 takes us on a trip around the world and begins on the streets of America. From the first stage, we're thrown into the thick of it as these streets are filled with thugs - all intent on giving you a good hiding!! There are lots of kicks and punches which can be acted out - drawn well with cool animation.

Controls are smooth & responsive with each type of kick or punch easily performed. In fact, DD3 is actually very easy to pick up and play so I got that "arcade feeling" I hoped for. We need no learning curve. I must say that, immediately, even a beat 'em up noob like myself gets a thrill from this arcade-styled kicker!

Let's pause the read for some screenshots...



You don't mess with guys that look like these two!!



But I gotta laugh at the fun artwork throughout. It's great, but a little creepy!!




Kick him when he's down!

Immediately, it's obvious this game was designed with fake Hollywood-style action over any pseudo-realism. The baddies are awesome and can attack in groups making for a frantic, full-of-laughs, joystick-bashing time. At times, I got a Golden Axe vibe and, throughout, I enjoyed the barrage of silly fighting.

The gameplay is well-balanced, without being too easy or overbearing. I soon discovered a jumping/flying kick which is very effective!! However, repeating the same move soon bored me, so out came my joystick-waggling skills to uncover other hidden moves and before long I found a spinning vertical kick. Yeah!!

The enemies are a traditional lot with predictable AI but they all move slowly so the overall pace is reduced. Occasionally, shops are available to offer you power-ups like weapons, etc/etc. This adds a little more depth and longevity to your entertainment and proves that beating people up will always be incredible fun.

It's like a gaming version of a Chuck Norris movie and I love it. Screenshots incoming...



Come on, get up and take some more smackin'!! Yeah, I can take on anybody GRR!!



Ah, he's big. Well, they say that the bigger they are... (I hope that's true!!)




The CryptO'pinion?

Double Dragon 3 is a bucket load of fun with great graphics to boot. The sound effects are neat but it's a shame there's no in-game chip music. I loved the initial location set in the grungy streets of America. I am genuinely shocked by how much I relished this beat 'em-up and I cannot recommend it enough.

Double Dragon 3 offers kick-ass action and scores top marks from me. I enjoyed this game a bunch!!


Kick & punch your way using either
floppy disk or your hard drive

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More random ATARI ST articles from the archives