Days Of Thunder

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!!

Yes, I'm a big NASCAR fan and I've finally got around to playing Mindscape's Days Of Thunder which (I think) is the only stock car racer for the Atari ST. I did wonder how the sport might appear in 16-bits and it started off well with a fantastic title tune by David Whittaker. However, it was soon all downhill... Never have I seen a game look so bad.

The visuals are shocking on the eyes but it's the framerate that is total diarrhoea. The sound effects are actually worse and I truly do mean that. But I could forgive how a game looks and sound for great gameplay. Sadly, this has none. Could this be the worst Atari ST game ever? Well, put it this way, I could not stand to play more than a couple laps before rebooting in anger and utter disappointment. And that's my final thoughts about this disgusting stock car racer.

I wondered how my 16MHz Mega STe might perform with this dreadful game so I contacted Peter Putnik and he created a hard drive version... but even the extra MHz couldn't save it but thanks for trying mate!

Floppy Disks | Hard Drive Version

Elf

Oi, big ears!

Elf was released in 1991 by Ocean Software and is a platformer with simple adventure mechanics for lots of cumulative puzzles. It's not too dissimilar to something Codemasters would crack out. Not only that, but each of the levels appears impressive with lush visuals that appeal to my fickle nature!

We are Cornelius, a cool-looking dude whose girlfriend, Elisa, has been kidnapped by the evil Necriliousr. Armed with his magic ring (stop it!!) you must travel eight incredible landscapes, avoiding strange and wacky creatures, and solving puzzles to rescue the love of your life. That's Elisa and not your Atari ST computer.

Well, hmm... I dunno about that lol. Let's take a peep at a screenshot taken with my phone...

Upgrades are great - check me out here! But look at the incredible details in those critters!!

Finders Keepers?

Playing Elf is never boring, thanks to the world we have to explore and everything in it. That includes the puzzles that must be figured out logically and in order. Oddly, I'm reminded of the old ZX Spectrum games by David Jones. You know, trading items with NPC characters who require the silliest of items before providing something you require. It's brilliant but only experience and perseverance will grant success.

However, that's not easy thanks to a barrage of critters constantly invading the screen, think Black Lamp. They are often relentless and try to stop you from solving the puzzles. So look for anything that might help along the way? Heck, items and even animals, to collate as "pets" that will be used as currency to purchase an assortment of power-ups - including firepower, extra lives, the ability to fly and much more.

Elf is a fascinating and long-winded game that won't be easy to finish. The quest is massive but will entertain you every step of the way with humour and cool ideas: like when you are chased up a ladder (impressive AI). Finally, and in true Atic Atac style, a tombstone is erected when dead. It's rumoured to be haunted!

This game is huge and brilliant in almost all respects so let's view a clearer screenshot this time...

Beautifully drawn graphics with tons of extra colours thrown in. Look at that sky!

Aesthetics

The graphics are tremendous with outstanding attention to detail for the scenery and characters. The baddies are some of the most detailed sprites I've seen so killing them almost makes me feel bad (almost). They have cute expressions with integrated novelties, like rocks that watch your every move. Lovely extra touches!

Stunning visuals in all respects and possibly one of the best-looking ST games.

The audio is great with amazing sound effects. However, it's the music I love the most by Matthew Cannon (remember Navy Seals?). Awesome tunes throughout thus proving once again that chip music is immortal!! In fact, I'd describe them as bewitching so I prefer playing this game with the music on.

This final screenshot is something I see a lot of...

The screen you hate and in stark contrast to the jolly feel of the game.

The CryptO'pinion?

Here we go, nothing is perfect... yadda yadda! Well, that's true and it applies to Elf. I felt the number of lives was too restricting considering the task at hand. I also found it a little annoying when some critters would walk onto the screen just as I was about to walk off, thus zapping valuable energy. Arghh, irritating!!

However, Elf is a brilliant platform/adventure/puzzler. It will sap the hours whilst you shoot the cuties, trade, and try to figure out how to bribe your way through the game. This is something that you need to experience and is very rewarding. Elf is excellent and I cannot recommend it enough. Make time for this game!!

8BitChip has a version for hard disks

Floppy disks can be found via Old Games Finder.

Here is a walkthrough but don't spoil this awesome game!!

--> MY HANDY TIPS <--

Tweet Tweet, that cute little bird is hungry. Easy!

Red Indians love feathers...

Toilet paper? Ahem, surely too easy to solve?

That big guy? Well, he just loves roast chicken.

If you must, type in CHOROPOO during gameplay for 99 Pets.

1632 ATARI podcaST

It's always nice to see someone doing something creative for the ST scene and here is Atari 8-bit legend, Wade with a new podcaST. Obviously, this is about the Atari ST and by a guy that didn't originally care for it. Interesting? Maybe, so let's check this out and his re-discovery of the best 16-bit retro computer! <clickety click>

Big Nose The Caveman

Big hooter!

We are Big Nose, a fella from prehistoric times when it was perfectly normal to live in cave squalor. However, once a year, he and his family strangely celebrate Thanksgiving, which means one thing, a yummy Pterodactyl roast dinner. Fortunately, one of these birds was just spotted flying by - now isn't that lucky? So this Jurassic journey takes you through dangerous dinosaur-infested lands looking for that tasty bird to kill, cook and eat with your fellow big-nosed family.

Code Masters released this humble platformer back in 1993 and was programmed by Neil Hill. The game has us clubbing anything that looks likely to cause harm, plus lots of platform jumping and fighting lame end-of-level bosses. The controls are excellent and very responsive plus I love the cartoon-like graphics with amazing sprites and decor. However, what I don't like are the bland backdrops which desperately need a splash of rasters! Sound effects are sparse unless you jump or hit something but thankfully, the title music is fantastic (what a shame it doesn't play during the game).

Big Nose is a budget platformer so, with that in mind, it feels a little cheap in places and I'm sure the Atari ST could have done much better. Thankfully, the gameplay is superb and very addictive - it's this that matters the most. I'm sure you might complete this within a couple of hours but that proves how playable it is. So why not kill a little time and play it?

Big Nose The Caveman is a bucketload of fun and I think you will all enjoy it a bunch. Fantastic game.

Go on and grab the download of Big Nose The Caveman for floppy or hard drive.

Argh, a dinosaur!! What shall I do...?

Take that, you dino freak!!

Those snakes are pesky things but easy to kill.

The spiders are so cute and have a cunning edge to them too.

This is access to a secret place that allows you to skip through level one. Weird...

This is another secret place that grants you a brisk walk through the next level. Ugh, no thanks!

Chicago 90

An isometric DRIVER?

Let's start by saying that I'm sure every kid played cops and robbers growing up? Well, now that we're grown-ups (aka BIG kids) we can do the same again using our favourite retro computer. This is thanks to Microïds and their 1989 hit, Chicago 90 which allows us to drive around the streets as either the good or bad guys. Easy choice, I say? Yep...

As a cop, it's our job to do the chasing but I didn't really click with that role. However, I always prefer to be a bad guy which is much better. After all, what's better than a car full of swag as you rush to flee the city limits? Gotta earn that freedom! At first, the controls feel a little flaky, but you will soon be rip-roaring around Chicago in no time.

That's enough reading for the moment, let's take a look at the first screenshot...

You could always be a good guy instead of running from the law? Yeah... that's what I thought!!

Read the flipping manual

Sadly, collision detection is often suspect and the car oddly bounces during a bump when going too fast. The cops are a little simple with naive AI that isn't exactly Einstein-level but good enough to give you a thrilling chase. If caught, you're presented with a rather dodgy-looking image of the scene... I shall say no more about this but you need to see it.

Initially, the in-game user interface is rather complex, and especially confusing if you choose to be the police. Why I've no idea! Anyhow, down the left are many icons - most of which I have no idea about! Along the bottom of the screen are two windows - the first is an overhead city map which displays the location of the fuzz. The other is a first-person view (from inside your car) and should help avoid crashing into law-abiding citizens. Well, in theory!

Bouncy, crashy, messy, funny... I don't care really because it's fun! So let's see another screenshot...

Success!! We've finally found the way out of this urban jungle. Now, HIT IT!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Chicago 90's downfall is its weak Police role which I personally found cumbersome and rather boring. So, that left me with the gangster role which is fantastic and tons of fun! Driving through the city, avoiding cars and running from the cops, is surely an early glimpse into an early GTA experience? It's pretty much fantastic and I've loved every second.

With a little thought for gameplay objectives, this could easily have been a fantastic venture into a life of crime. As it happens, we're just stuck in the Chicago maze frantically looking for an escape. However, racing away from the cops is always going to be a thrill and I enjoyed this a lot - so I ended up buying it. Dear nutters, this is an excellent game!

Visit Chicago - Driver & GTA style!

8bitchip has a hard drive installable version

Old Games Finder has all the floppy disks!

Atari Greenlog now has a cool gameplay video.

Dungeon Master

I needed a picture of the Dungeon Master maps so I created this image to help stop me from getting lost. (right-click the image to open in a new tab - the file is huge!!). Also, I have zipped up an Atari ST folder which contains lots of files plus help and information concerning spells, etc... Clickety click to download it :-)

Also, it's worth taking a peep at issue six of ST Action (I loved that magazine!!) because they featured a fantastic five-page Dungeon Master guide. This can be viewed over on AtariMania.

Chronicles Of Omega

A game for both Atari STs?

Chronicles Of Omega was released by ARC/Atari in 1990 and is probably the first commercial game to support the enhanced Atari STe, by making use of the hardware scrolling and DMA Audio. But that doesn't mean the STfm has been forgotten because this displays gorgeous rasters for the sky which aren't possible on the STe when using hardware scrolling. So each machine has something rather cool up its sleeve!

The lands of Omega were peaceful until the day came when a demon captured all of the children from the village. Play as either Alwin or Irma and battle your way through five evil-infested lands, killing everything in your wake, and defeating Demon Champions (aka bosses). Ultimately, be the hero and save the day!

Here's a handy map of Omega which I must admit looks like a lovely place to visit...

This map plots Alwin and Irma's journey through the lands of Omega.

Shoot, Shop and Kill

This is a cute platformer with interesting levels that aren't overly large and filled with many ghouls. Walking from left to right, you'll encounter different monsters along your journey and they're all stuffed with cash. Kill as many as you can and collect their loot which can be used to purchase power-ups in the Good Witch's shop.

There's always someone willing to cash in on any noble crusade. Well, she pops up during each level to tempt you with her wares. Prices aren't cheap so you should try and kill as many monsters as possible instead of running scared. Annoyingly, all purchased power-ups are lost after losing a life, which sucks! End-of-level guardians are rather lame and easily defeated even though they can materialise right where you're standing!

First impressions? This is one of those moments when I can see the potential which wasn't taken advantage of in some respects. There are so many awesome ideas (and some ripped) but this is essentially a decent platformer. With a little fine-tuning, Arc could have had something special on their hands.

The Atari ST has more background colours and gorgeous chip music!

Aesthetics?

So let's look at the graphics and audio which are different depending on which ST you use...

Visually, Chronicles Of Omega is a treat with lovely characters and lush landscapes. Both are rich in colour and the Atari STe gets to use its hardware scrolling for a smooth 50fps. The older ST hasn't been forgotten and what it lacks in framerate is compensated by extra background colours. However, the Atari STe wins by far.

For the audio, both computers take advantage of their strengths: the Atari STe uses DMA samples for the music and sound effects. The older ST uses its YM2149 for stunning chipmusic which I must say is a million times better than what the STe pumps out. This is too easy, the older Atari ST wins the audio battle hands down.

My opinion? I'd dump the ST in a flash with its fancy rasters for the STe's ultra-smooth hardware scrolling. However, the ST wins the audio battle because Steve Barrett excelled with the quality of his chiptunes over the blurry STe sounds. We all know the Atari STe is capable of better and ARC should have given STe gamers the option to chose between chip or DMA. That would have been perfect.

The Atari STe lacks the background colours but runs at a silky-smooth 50fps.

The CryptO'pinion?

I must admit to being disappointed by this enigma. It plays the same on both models of Atari ST but is spoilt by the magic wand's mechanics. This is due to its inability to fire more than twice at any given moment: which means walk...shoot...walk...shoot. If you forget then you're left defenceless in tight situations.

I pushed myself through the fluffy-control pain barrier and (shockingly) found myself enjoying this quirky game. In fact, I managed to reach the final level and I was genuinely having fun albeit with the awkward firing. Kudos to ARC for making use of the Atari STe which certainly makes me wonder why later platformers didn't.

Whatever you're thinking, this isn't a terrible game. Not in the slightest; definitely worth playing. Okay, there are better platformers for the Atari ST but give it a shot? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Downloads are available for hard drive & floppy.