Dodgy Box Art

  

Strange box art!

Today I thought I would sort through some of my Atari ST games to choose the ones which had the funniest artwork. One is an odd movie spoof whilst the other gives me goosebumps. Seriously, it does make you wonder what these two companies were thinking when they agreed to release these games. Come on, surely they were having a laugh?

• Leatherneck takes the biscuit for most camp cover art ever and what happened to his weapon? It's a relief the game is good with multiplayer support and sample sounds. The graphics are smooth and the chipmusic is downright beautiful - a timeless quality. Sadly, the one-directional shooting makes it incredibly tough. If you like Leatherneck then you might enjoy Fernandez Must Die.
• Galdregons Domain gets the award for its Conan rip-off artwork. It's a little like Dungeon Master in a land where evil has been unleashed, yet again. We've been chosen to battle the minions and recover five precious gems to save us from peril. Aesthetically gorgeous, this dungeon crawler isn't bad and once you've got over its learning curve. A much-underrated adventure.

Right then, if you're feeling creeped out by these two "works of art", then click here to remedy that. Enjoy ;-)

Beyond The Ice Palace

Brace yourself for a corker!

I think everyone has played Beyond The Ice Palace at some time in their life? I got mine free with my first Atari ST computer. Until that day, I was a Spectrum user, so I'm sure you can imagine the look on my face when first loading the ST version with its colourful graphics, smooth scrolling and jazzy sound effects. It was something else I can tell you!

Much like Ghosts & Goblins, this is a scrolling-platformer that involves three monster-infested levels. But there is something special about this platformer because Elite has everything spot-on perfect with awesome joystick controls to the vast variety of enemies within its tricky levels. It's interesting and playable so why couldn't every platformer be this good?

Right then, let's break this pointless trip down memory lane with a couple of funky screenshots...

I knew this game was gonna be great from the start but choose your weapon carefully.

Hey, I think I've found a severed head!! Hmm, what could it possibly be?

Play the game

The first level is a trip through scary woods and is pretty much the typical platformer environment with lots of peculiar baddies to encounter with a freaky end-of-level boss. Actually, each level follows the same formula with interesting places and many monsters to shoot/avoid/run away from. The second and third levels are, more or less, the same: a vertically scrolling cavern filled with hideous creatures before eventually reaching the wicked witch.

You're not alone: a good spirit can be summoned which helps clear the screen of the baddies. There are only so many times you are allowed this feature - a funny face is displayed in the status bar when one is ready to use. So choose your moments wisely when you are most vulnerable - then watch it zig-zag down your screen-killing baddies.

Ice Palace isn't complex but can sometimes be tricky due to awkward mechanics. For example, the blue demon is quite irritating as he cunningly appears just as you begin to use the elevating platforms. My advice is to leap off just at the moment he appears as it's easier to kill. Otherwise, you are stranded on the platforms and very vulnerable.

Hey, I think that we need two more screenshots of our hero with his flowing blonde locks...

Argh, you've blown it by staying on that life. Now the battle is much harder!

Oh no, here is the end-of-level green worm guardian!

A 16-bit jaw dropper

I've always felt the graphics were extraordinary for the period as they perfectly demonstrated our superiority over the 8-bit computers. The 80s were an era of no-lame Amiga ports, so this game has been programmed well. The scrolling is smooth, but the backgrounds are basic. However, each level looks great with gorgeous sprites. Heck, even dying is a beautiful moment, and I'll never tire of the flicky death effect as my soul ascends into heaven. An amazing effect.

The sound effects are ravishing, with a sharp arcade-like quality throughout. David Whittaker's music plays alongside the sound effects using a technique we saw in Xenon. After all, there are only 3 channels. The music is awesome.

So it plays brilliantly while also looking and sounding superb. What a game, eh? Screenshot time...

Level two ramps up the difficulty with weird wolfmen roaming the labyrinth!

Let's leap for joy, for we have collected another severed head!!

The CryptO'pinion?

I've sometimes found that Beyond The Ice Palace is a much-underrated platformer. This is odd because it holds a special place in my retro-gaming heart. Why? Well, it was one of the first games I booted up on Christmas morning in 1988. Just imagine how I felt seeing its graphics and hearing that music - they blew me away. What a time that was!

After all these years, it's still great fun and completely addictive thanks to great joystick controls, smooth scrolling and variety in gameplay. The only downside is the size of each level - I wish they were bigger.

Okay, he might wear cute green boots but I guarantee you will love this platformer. A cracking game!!

A Midi tune of the awesome game music.

Maps for the ZX Spectrum game, aren't needed but nice to have.

Downloads are available for hard drive installation or floppies.

My Hi-Score. Can you beat me????? No, you cannot! ;p

Popstars by YM Rockerz

Living the dream!

Yesterday I had a demoscene night and relived the old glory days. When we eagerly await the postman's delivery of floppy disks - from Demo Club and other Atari ST PD libraries. Fun times with beauties like Anomaly, European, Punish Your Machine, Antiques and Rising Force. Also, I re-enjoyed some cool animations like Rippler, Newton's Cradle and Walker. I then finished off listening to Popstars by the awesome YM Rockerz. What you can hear for yourself, is ace!!

Yup, this is my rock and roll lifestyle... Well, when the wife and kids are out! :^)

Credits

Popstars by YM Rockerz :

505 - Music

Crazy Q - Music, Text

Dma-Sc - Music

Dubmood - Music, Text

Exocet - Graphics

Frazer - Music, Text

Frequent - Music

Lotek Style - Graphics (ASCII), Music, Text

Nemo - Music, Text

Tao - Code, Music

gwEm - Music, Text

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Atari ST demos :)

Thrust

Reliving my college days!

The thumping chiptune of the day is awarded to Thrust!! Let me explain... Earlier, I enjoyed a couple of plays and now must suffer the reward of having its funky music booming through my tiny mind. Yep, I just can't get it out of my head lol. Well, it's a good job then that it's one of my favourite Rob Hubbard masterpieces.

I love Thrust but I don't recall many rave magazine reviews? Probably because it didn't appear that much of a technical improvement over the 8-bit games? For me, that's good because it's perfect. Any cosmetic changes would have been a huge mistake. Remember Chuckie Egg 2, a shocking 16-bit disaster!

Thankfully, Thrust isn't like that. It's still a great game with tough mechanics and hugely addictive gameplay. I love it and so will you because it's a cracking game. It's as good today as it was back then - I should know, I spent most of my college years in the 'library' playing Thrust on a BBC Micro instead of studying!

It looks funky, sounds boomtastic and plays great so is a timeless classic for the Atari ST. Love it!!

D-Bug has a version of Thrust that you can install onto a hard drive/ultrasatan.

Those that need the floppy disk can check out Old Games Finder.

SNDH Record is the place if you fancy driving yourself crazy with this gorgeous chiptune?

Masochists can download it to play later, courtesy of the SNDH Archive. All good fun :-)

Wreckers

It's time once again to save... the ship!

Wreckers is an isometric adventure released in 1991 by Audiogenic. It's the only game I own by them and was developed by Denton Designs. Those old enough to live through the 80s using 8-bit computers will remember them for games like Gift From The Gods. Ignoring Bandersnatch/Brataccas... ugh... from me, it's The Great Escape which I feel is one of the best 8-bit games ever. Yep, I said that.

Anyhow, enough trivia! For Wreckers, we're onboard the interestingly named space station, Beacon 04523N, in the loneliest part of deep space. With a crew of three, held in cryogenic stasis, automated robots look after the day-to-day care and maintenance of the station. However, the computer has decided to wake you when it detects the threat of Plasmodians, a lifeform that wants to frantically consume the ship and everything in it.

Okay, let's take a little break for an animated GIF of this wonderful game...

Let's play

In some respects, I'm reminded of the brilliant Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters but there is far more to this game than simply running around shooting green blobs of plasma, albeit great fun! From the very start, you discover that the alien attack is happening and, once they make physical contact with the outer hull, it's only a matter of time before they begin creating havoc with the computer's systems.

The station has its defence capabilities in the form of a space hoover that sucks up the aliens before they get on board. The droids can be controlled to help, and another option is to suit up and head outside to play Jetman with a can of bug spray. Beacon 04523N is hardly Babylon 5 but at least these options are available. Oh, do remember to use the Zippway Shuttles and elevators to travel the Beacon. Don't dawdle because the main computer has decided one hour is enough to eradicate the threat before self-destruct is activated!!

Control is handled via keyboard and joystick but the latter might disappoint because I actually found myself holding it sideways. This usually works but some might find it weird! Also, the user interface will take time to get to grips with, I found it quite unusual and sometimes a little clumsy in the heat of the moment.

Let's now take another break for a screenshot of three dodgy fellas...

My Opinion

Graphically, I love the 80s feel and, whilst it doesn't look very 1991, it uses a retro charm I appreciate. Scrolling is adequate but I sure love the station's attention to detail, along with the colourful sprites. The title music is just awesome and the box loves to gloat about who made it, Warren Cann of Ultravox!

Wreckers will certainly keep you on your toes; it requires an urgent attitude with the ability to juggle tasks and think ahead while suffering a constant onslaught. Running around zapping aliens is one aspect of the game but, because there is so much going on, it's sometimes extremely hard to keep up with the situation. Don't get me wrong, Wreckers is a very good game but one that requires a lot of time, patience, and commitment.

Have you got the requirements? If so, brace yourself for an incredible adventure!!

* Floppies can be found via Old Games Finder with a hard disk version by 8BitChip.

* Hall Of Light has a superb map of the space station which sure comes in handy!!

Uridium

C64 rules!??

Do you remember the embarrassment of Uridium? The cruel C64 peeps laughing their socks off at our "superior" computer? Rightly so because we have a terrible port with sluggish controls and lifeless scrolling.

You shall be glad to hear that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Atari STe. Peter Putnik has fixed the dodgy parts with faster controls and also the option to stream sampled music using the DMA coprocessor (hard drive or ultrasatan obviously required). At last, a version of Uridium we can be proud of.

Uridium is transformed, going from a bummer to an exhilarating shooter!!

Miss this at your peril - download now!!

Prince Of Persia

A 16-bit classic gets updated!

Prince Of Persia is incredible but today receives an audio upgrade which uses the DMA coprocessor to play the effects better. They sound much cleaner and without any slowdown because the DMA is a coprocessor, working independently. This means that the gameplay is better than the original. Which is pretty cool :)

Download right now. Yes, now!!