Lure Of The Temptress

An Adventure To Lose Yourself In

Every so often, a game is released that breaks the mould and blows you away. Virgin Games released this point-and-click adventure in 1992, and it's something remarkable. A game of great character, lore and charm. Interestingly, it was developed by David Sykes and Tony Warriner of Revolution Software and appears to be their only Atari ST game. Damn, I cannot help but wonder what else they might have made.

The story begins with you waking up one day, only to find yourself locked in a dungeon. You are a nobody, a peasant, called Diermot. You were previously part of an attempt to free the village of Turnvale from Selena and her army of Orc lookalikes, the Skorls. That campaign ended in tragedy, and everyone was killed! Whilst the bloodshed reigned, you bumped your noggin and were knocked unconscious, only to be captured.

Upon waking, you find yourself banged up in jail with a bad-tempered Skorl as your guard...

The intro is fascinating to watch. Like a 16-bit mini-movie!

I love the opening scenes, which nicely introduce you to the world you're in.

As you begin to explore, you meet new people like this old chap idly relaxing...

It's Like Having A Second Life!

Immerse yourself in this wonderfully crafted adventure taking place within a gorgeous Olde English setting I adore. It's a point-and-click adventure controlled using the mouse: the left button guides your character around the screen and can also display status and object information. The right button is used to command and interact with characters and more. This system is well-designed, intuitive and easy to master.

Gameplay is experienced in real-time, with the populous merrily going about their business while you go about yours. Having woken up in jail, your first task is to escape, so it's fortunate Skorl's aren't the brightest bulbs in the box (by a long shot!). Your progress hinges on careful exploration, examination and communication. So pick up every object; you never know when you might need it. Talk to everyone and see what information they can share. Sometimes someone might ask you a favour before revealing anything.

The world is populated by some of the most entertaining and delightful characters that will win your heart. Just start a chat with someone in a tavern, for example, a dialogue guaranteed to entertain! This charm and charisma are evident from the start when you rescue a fellow inmate named Ratpouch, who instantly becomes a loyal friend. Well, when he's not in the pub! But watch out because he doesn't half get himself into trouble by saying the silliest of things to other characters. Such a mischievous guy and a best friend.

Let's take a look at a few more screenshots with subtle hints...

It's worth exploring everywhere and chatting with everybody... Even the half-naked man!

Or you could play dress-up and enjoy being a dude in a dress. Incognito is fun!

Relax. Have a beer and chill with your mate Ratpouch. Maybe you'll hear something interesting?

Looks And Audio

This adventure is visually stunning, and the artwork is a pure delight, perfectly capturing the enchanting medieval setting. The characters move with smooth animation, and I adore the intricate details like the bird perched on the fence for a few moments before taking flight. Such a delicate touch adds to the scene’s beauty and is impressive to witness during play. It’s these little details that enhance the atmosphere.

The sound effects are the only weakness, but don’t misunderstand me - they’re beautiful and crafted from high-quality sampled sounds. However, some screens lack any background audio, which, in my opinion, slightly detracts from the overall beauty of the game. Perhaps that’s the floppy disk’s capacity limitation?

I'm moaning about, right? Let's take a look at a screen, you will see a lot of...

Oh no, it's game over for another fallen adventurer. They think it's all over? It is now!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Undeniably an impressive adventure that you’ll thoroughly enjoy exploring. It’s hilarious, captivating and incredibly addictive, so I recommend making time for this game. Take notes and engage with everyone - yes, even those who might seem like a bum or a pub wacko knitting. Everyone has a story to share.

It keeps you on your toes with its unpredictable twists and turns cleverly woven into the storyline. It’s a massive adventure that might even lead you to fall in love (you'll see). Personally, I’d rank Lure Of The Temptress as one of the best adventures for the Atari ST, just a hair’s breadth away from absolute perfection.

• I found this cool image on the internet which maps the village.
• 8BitChip has adapted a version for Ultrasatan/hard drive users.
• No hard drive? Then instead check out Old Games Finder for the floppy version.
• ST Format featured a superb walk-through [issue #67 / page 83].

One of the best adventures ever and easily an AtariCrypt SMASH!!

MiNT OS

Update!! (September 2020)
Marcello has just released v1.3 of ST MiNT

STs don't multitask

Here's a thought: why not ditch TOS for a spanky installation of MiNT? That's been done - it's called ST MiNT by Marcello, based on Cripple MiNT (w/ extras). It's intended for a 4MB ST running in High Res, and all you need is a spare SD card for your Ultrasatan (or similar), to fly free in a multitasking world!!

I've installed this myself, and it's shockingly easy to get up and running. It's an impressive product...

Installation is easy, and Marcello has even provided helpful instructions to recreate the image. However, I thought I'd also add my own experience just for us Mac folk - but it's dead easy to do on any computer:

1) Download ST Mint disk image.
2) Insert the SD card (if an alert appears, choose ignore)
3) Open up Terminal.app and enter in three commands:
     3a) diskutil list (this displays the necessary information to identify your SD card - diskX on my iMac was disk1)
     3b) diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX (now that you know the device ID you can unmount it - but leave physically inserted!)
     3c) sudo dd if=st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/diskX (dd is the command that transfers the data onto the SD card and will take several minutes. Enter your password and wait!!)
4) Now eject and insert the SD card into your ultrasatan
5) Switch on the Atari ST and enjoy a baby MiNT OS

This next bit is optional and only for those struggling to identify the SD card device ID. This is a copy of my Terminal activity, and, as you can see, I entered the "diskutil list" command twice. Once before I inserted the SD card, and afterwards just to compare the differences in its output (before running the above)

iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk3 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        +18.1 MB    disk3
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Flash Player            18.1 MB    disk3s2
iMac:~ ataricrypt$
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                                                   *1.0 GB     disk1
/dev/disk3 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        +18.1 MB    disk3
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Flash Player            18.1 MB    disk3s2
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
Unmount of all volumes on disk1 was successful
iMac:~ ataricrypt$
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ sudo dd if=~/Desktop/st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/disk1
Password:
1228800+0 records in
1228800+0 records out
629145600 bytes transferred in 986.684138 secs (637636 bytes/sec)
iMac:~ ataricrypt$

Gauntlet III - The Final Quest

Oh, dear...

Sorry, I meant to say, here we have Gauntlet 3 developed by Software Creations for US Gold. Yet another sequel to the incredible arcade game we love. Only this time, somebody thought that the winning formula of speed and frantic action wasn't good enough for the 1990s. Here we go. Yup, somebody decided that a modernized version with a new isometric design was needed to replace the classic overhead view.

Please note that I tried to keep an open mind throughout. Rather than being a grumpy old man wondering why his favourite game had been drastically changed. It's not all bad surely? Of course not, but why change a winning formula? Nevermind, let's crack on with the review...

Yes, it looks different, but in a good way, actually. I liked how we begin the opening levels in a spooky forest; this stage looks the part. All the familiar Gauntlet elements are lurking in these woods: ghosts, generators, treasure, and food. The idea remains much the same as ever - we hack and slash through to a medieval church, killing everything in our wake. Not only that, but the levels appear huge; this is a big game.

Let's view a cheap & tacky screenshot that I took with my phone off my Atari ST...

The ruins of an old church deep in the woods. That tree looks scary, so let's get inside quick!

Let's kill monsters!

First things first, who do we want to be - Warrior, Wizard, Rockman, Lizard Man, Elf, and more. That's right, there are many more characters! One or two players can team up (definitely better with two), and the classic gameplay mechanics remain much the same. We're still throwing axes, arrows, magic, and more directly into the faces of ghosts, goblins, and other hideous creatures that emerge from their generators.

The levels are vast and divided into several smaller sections, which you can revisit whenever you like. Monsters constantly spawn, so blast the generators! Remember your usual strategy: collect treasure and eat food. Shooting a potion clears the screen of enemies, or you can collect them for later use. Escaping to the next realm is only possible after completing simple tasks like collecting keys and that sorta stuff.

Essentially, they wanted this to be Gauntlet but with an isometric perspective. Unfortunately, I doubt that’s feasible. The original’s timeless appeal stemmed from the ability to start blasting monsters instantly, whether solo or with others. The action was fast-paced, but this isn’t the case with Gauntlet 3. Not even close.

I've progressed into the weirdly designed church for this next screenshot...

Inside the church are many ghosts and awkward objects to try to walk around...

Fighting in slo-mo?

The gameplay is a lot slower, so gone is that instant enjoyment of mass killing we love. The thrill has been replaced with a more sedate exploration that happens to include killing. That's how it feels to me; the frenzied action has gone. That's made worse thanks to the level design and terrible control mechanics.

Even walking is an issue, as the levels are littered with objects that need to be walked around. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is. I was sick & tired of getting stuck on the scenery. This applies to your weapons, which are often blocked when trying to hit a target. Heck, even the ghosts suffer from this problem!

The controls are lethargic and verrrrrry sluggish, making walking incredibly tiring. Furthermore, the attack speed is far too slow. This means we can’t destroy generators unless we walk and fight through hordes of ghosts, losing energy in the process. A faster firing rate would have instantly fixed this problem.

Surely, it's not all bad? No, but let's view one final screenshot before my judgment...

Looks like we've just walked straight into an ambush. Shoot the generators, if you can!

The CryptO'pinion?

Gauntlet 3 was programmed by Bill Barna of Software Creations, and I wonder if his job was to rush through a nasty Amiga port. It certainly feels that way. This is very disappointing given the company’s history of producing classics like Bubble Bobble, Ghouls & Ghosts, and Bionic Commando. What went wrong?

Ignoring that it's supposed to be the third in the series, this is actually enjoyable in its own right. I liked exploring the various lands and killing everything in sight. While the controls are somewhat problematic, it’s still a decent game. However, it falls short as a "Gauntlet" game and only redeems itself in co-op with a friend.

Downloads for floppy disk and hard drive.

Update: A GLIMMER OF HOPE?

Update: I have contacted Peter Putnik (8BitChip) to ask about a hard drive version that supports faster Atari computers. Once again he worked his magic and I've been enjoying Gauntlet 3 on my 16MHz Atari STe and yes, I said the word with enjoy in it!!

Sure, it still isn't perfect but, if you have a faster computer, then this update will help to eliminate some problems, especially with the unresponsive controls. 

And that's big news!! Gauntlet III is playable, at last.

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)

Accelerator

Lost forever?

Accelerator was demoed in ST Action #31 in 1992 and appears to have never been released. I may be wrong, as I'm hoping there are registered versions out there... somewhere! 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 wonder what happened. 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 demo download, which is excellent. So we need the full game desperately!

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 impression wasn'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'd 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 humongous 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.

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