Muzzy

Wait, come back!!

Muzzy was featured in ST Format (#58) and is a puzzler by Enigma Software Developments. It caught my eye because I liked the oldskool visuals, plus it's something I've never played before. It should be compatible with both the ST and STe (it crashes on my STFM, but works dandy on the STe. The download).

An intro kicks things off at the start, accompanied by stereo music on the Atari STe. Playing my first game was quite confusing, and I wasn't sure what to do, but I soon learnt the game's crazy personality. The object is always the same: collect every gem before being whisked off to do it again on the next zany screen.

The trusty joystick is used to control Muzzy, which is easy. At first, it feels sensitive, but stick with it because pushing against something, whilst pressing fire, will be the most complex action you will learn. Of course, the difficulty constantly increases, as does the variety of silly mechanics and enemies (who kill you instantly). So fight back by blowing up these pesky critters using bombs. That is always going to be great!

Visually, I doubt Muzzy will blow you away with its tiny sprites and 8-bit style. By ST standards, they suck. But since when have graphics made a game better? (I'm talking to you - Dragon's Lair). The audio is basic, and it's disappointing that the DMA wasn't used for the sound effects, but the YM does an excellent job.

Muzzy is a strange game with many weird levels that make little sense - it's different from what I expected. Attack each screen with a 'trial and error' method to see what solution works. In my video recording, the last screen had me stumped, but it was actually annoyingly obvious - but that's Muzzy for you.

To sum up, I'd say it is infuriatingly good fun!!

ST Globe

By 1999, we will be living on the moon!

In a time long ago, when there were no search engines, we had to read something called a "book". We had other strange things to contend with, too. For example, if we wanted to see a friend, then that would mean leaving the house to meet up - in person - to have a real conversation. Crazy times, right? Well, I've found something cool that takes us back to this prehistoric age (that we'd give our right arm to return to!).

ST Globe was developed by Jean Pierre Cazes, which you can find on the Page 6 website. I thought it was rather amusing (respectfully) but interesting. It definitely put Encyclopædia Britannica to shame... Sadly, my daughter was having none of it and prefers to use Siri or Google. Sheesh, what's up with kids these days?

Grab yourself ST Globe and live in the past.

Capy

Crappy... Capy... Uh, what?

Capy is a spin on Sokoban and was released in 1998 for the Atari Falcon by YesCREW. We are a shiny ball that desires refuge on an 'exit' tile - usually located on the other side of the screen. Initial levels are easy and break you in nicely, but it soon gets tough, so careful thought is required to execute the correct route.

Interestingly, there is an option to create your own "worlds" in an Editor, but read the docs before jumping in at the deep end. This is a cool addition, and I hope somebody picks up the gauntlet and has a bash.

Take a look at these screenshot animations to get a feel of what to expect...

Sokoban in space

The goal is to guide the ball into a black hole exit. That may sound simple, but it's not... Well, it is based on Sokoban, so what did you expect? Anyhow, there are often obstacles in your way, routes that need to be followed correctly, and even the risk of falling into the gaping deep space that stands between you and your exit. So, take a moment to think about how you're going to get to your target as efficiently as possible.

Each screen employs different tiles in various ways. Push tiles are highly versatile, able to be moved almost anywhere and even allowing access to other areas by filling in holes. Be careful not to push them into a useless part of the map, or get yourself trapped. Look out for cracked tiles that disintegrate after one use, thus altering potential routes. Sliders are fun and can transport you across the void easily, and Movable tiles have an arrow pointing in a one-way direction with which to travel. Don't forget to collect the goodies for points.

This game is a tough nut to crack, with each screen requiring logical thought and planning. My first stumbling block was on Level 6, which my old brain struggled with! This was mainly due to the time restriction (which isn't necessary), so it spoils what should be a difficult puzzler, played carefully. I asked Swe [Janez] if that could be removed, and it wasn't long before it was - and Capy got its first upgrade in 20 years!!

Okay, let's check out another animated screenshot from one of my games...

The CryptO'pinion?

I've had a blast playing Capy, but sadly, there just aren't enough levels for me. Thankfully, there is an editor, so perhaps I should pick up that gauntlet and take a stab at creating some of my own? Also, the timer was a problem for me that been removed, so I can now enjoy Capy to its full potential without rushing.

Capy is an odd spin on the Sokoban genre, but it works. I'm sure its cunning levels will have you stumped for ages! Capy is fresh and addictive, using a beautiful style and presentation. The levels are fascinatingly cruel to solve, and I love it. A fantastic puzzler, and I hope it gets an ST conversion soon!

Capy has humble requirements:

a Falcon with a VGA @ 640x480/16 colours.

My download contains the original and the newly updated "Crypt" version!

My greetings to Janez :)

One day I'll get to see this screen for myself. One day...

Galactic Conqueror

STress relief!!

Sometimes I need to keep my life simple and take time to enjoy blowing stuff up. This is Galactic Conqueror, published in 1988 by Titus. This is a personal favourite of mine because it grants stress-busting, wanton violence without any hassle. No life-sucking storyline - shoot everything and enjoy the pointless destruction!

That's as complex as it gets - pick up the joystick to mindlessly destroy everything. It's a wicked mash of Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, Afterburner, and Thunder Blade. Okay, it's not perfect, but it's excellent fun, and that's what matters most. Highly recommended, especially after a "great day" at work (yes, sarcasm!!).

Play this game to blast away the stress from your rat race. A fantastic shooter!!

Download this awesome space shooter now!

Automation

Forget Elvira and Maria Whittaker, this is the sexiest screen your Atari ST will display!! :@)

[ Automation CD151 / Antic Cyber Graphics HiSTory ]

Rumbo

Rick thinks he's Sly!

Rumbo is a flick-screen platformer developed in STOS by Pete Halloran and isn't too dissimilar to Rick Dangerous, with more than its fair share of <cough> similarities. The story is simple, our girl has been kidnapped, so it's time we dressed like Rambo and tool up to begin our valiant rescue mission.

After watching a short, but superb, intro of our girl being kidnapped, the game begins inside the underground in caves - a place that only Rick Dangerous himself would normally explore. Within here are many rooms with a variety of tricks and traps, but many predictable ones, like spikes to leap over. Also, there are some cruel ones, like strange creatures who appear out of thin air without any warning. I hate him!

The first end-of-level boss is a giant bat, but don't fret too much because it just moves up and down. It's lame and probably should have been left out if I'm honest. But Rumbo has come prepared for all these monsters and bosses and is loaded with more than enough ammunition, which is something I appreciate.

When level two begins, it's more of the same, but with different graphics! However, there appears to be a bug that prevented me from completing the final(?) room: hitting a switch did nothing that I could see. Thus, I found myself stuck with no way to venture on, which is a huge shame because I was enjoying Rumbo until that moment. I'm now wondering if I've missed something stupidly obvious in the previous rooms?

Graphics are average Joe, but do their job, even if entering a new room draws at the speed of ST Basic. Sound effects are made up of a few samples; they're good, and I especially liked the howl of death. Rumbo's tippy-tappy walk reminded this old gamer of Chuckie Egg 2 (ZX Spectrum version). I know I'm being daft, but I loved it, and it broke the near-silence due to the lack of in-game music. Which is a shame?

I have really enjoyed Rumbo, which is balanced and fun to play. Sadly, there's that bug on level two, but maybe it was me? I tried twice, but each time I got stuck. Ignoring that, Rumbo offers platform fans to be an avenging squirrel in a Ricky D world. This is cool, so grab your bandana and download the floppy disk!

This is a fantastic game, and here are some screenshots to tempt you to play it...

Out for a picnic and everything seems great...

Then a giant turns up to ruin everything!!

Rumbo prepares to fight back!

Oh no, spikes to carefully leap over.

Spikes are deadly, and caves love to surprise Rumbo!

Another strange thing appears. I wonder what it might be!

PC Ditto

Ugh, I hate Winblows!!

I thought I'd have a quick play with PC-Ditto, an old emulator by Avant-Garde Systems. Now, please do note that I've never owned a PC in my life, but I remember tinkering with the one (and only) Amstrad PC that our college had in 1987. So, I figured this would be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Well, maybe!

For anyone interested, AtariCrypt has an emulator section with lots more :)

A stock Atari ST is more than capable of running this emulator. Many DOS programs will also run fine. However, you should forget it for games. I used my own Mega STe, which barely had the horsepower to handle numerous games. So, in my video recording, Hatari is running a 16Mhz to simulate my computer.

The idea of using DOS for gaming or home computing makes me shudder. Terrible idea, but read on...

Serpentine ran very well indeed.

I had little luck with Castle Wolfenstein (a bad copy?)

How did it go with this DOS malarkey?

Surprisingly, I did have some success as you can see in the video which shows me booting DOS 3.3 and then loading a selection of rubbish games. The first is Serpentine, which was definitely the best of the bad bunch, and I enjoyed eating the other slo-mo snakes. I then rebooted to try something called David's Kong. Ugh, this is absolutely laughable so please don't waste your time!

Next up was Bird-Brain which didn't seem to work very well because the keys specified on the main menu didn't work for me. Instead, I suffered rapid beeping sound which was rather annoying!! So yet another reboot was called for so I could try Castle Wolfenstein. Ohh, I had such high hopes for this game but alas it didn't appear to run properly and then oddly got itself caught in a loop?

I then loaded Space Commanders, which slowed my Mega STe down to the speed of a Casio calculator for some insane reason. In the video recording, I could cheat by hitting CMD X to speed up Hatari, but that didn't really help much. No loss anyhow because this is a ludicrously bad shoot 'em up!!

I was now beginning to lose the will to live and only had one game left: Buck Rogers Planet Of Zoom which is one of my favourite ZX Spectrum games. Sadly, it wasn't (umm) playable due to slow speeds but I managed a couple of minutes before PC-Ditto disappointly froze for some reason!

Oh boy, how did the PC win the computer war?

The worst Kong and Invaders I've ever played!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This was fun, and I enjoyed turning my ST into an Intel paperweight. Games will generally require more CPU grunt, but I doubt anyone would abandon the ST's archive for these horrendous DOS equivalents? Of course, not being a hardware product meant performance was always sluggish, even on my 16MHz Mega STe.

PC Ditto did a grand job running DOS and its programs and utilities. However, I wouldn't bother using this for games - unless I had something beefy like a TT or Falcon. This is a good product, depending on your needs. But I'll stick with my Atari ST. So, with that in mind, we are left with one thing to do: del *.*  😇

You can find PC-Ditto on AtariMania or by using Old Games Finder. You will also need the operating system and DOS 3.3 is downloadable from Atari-Forum thanks to Jake/Depression. I found many compatible DOS games on various different of websites - I liked My Abandonware. Enjoy yourself!