Missile Command

[ my video recording shows both colour and monochrome games ]

Let's take a big step back in time

Straight out of the golden age of Atari's retro gaming archives is Missile Command, a phenomenal shooter I played a lot, but more so on my old Speccy thanks to Ocean's Armageddon, a fantastic conversion.

This Cold War-era crosshair shooter is about protecting the cities of Zardon from a constant ballistic missile attack. Aliens from Krytol noticed how prosperous Zardon is so are free-rolling in and take everything. You are Zardon's only hope; grab hold of the mouse and use your arsenal to defend us from annihilation!

Doesn't matter whether you run in colour or mono so check out these screenshots...

Angry aliens, again?

This has always been a cool game and the ST received a faithful conversion that feels as good as I remember. There is support for 1/2 players which can be configured to enable/disable other features - like the enemy's multiple warheads and smart bombs. Initial attack waves start off slowly at and sedate pace (skippable) but the war soon gets crazy when the Krytolians use faster missiles and smart bombs. Trying to detonate them is tricky, especially during the heat of battle when you don't wanna run out of ammo!

Unlike other home conversions, the ST makes convenient use of its tank mouse for perfect and precise control. Both mouse buttons are used to fire a limited supply of ammo - the left button fires from the left base and, well, I'm sure you've guessed what the right button does? The controls are simple and genius.

Okay, it's time to view some apocalyptic screenshots of doom...

8-Bit graphics and they rock!!

Ok, visually, don't expect to be blown away. The graphics are typically crude for an early arcade game - most of the screen is a blank canvas waiting to be covered by missile trails. However, that's the charm of early retro games when gameplay mattered most. You know, I do admire those blocky cities (which I'm supposed to save from an explosive death) but I also love the whacky colours and font. Yep, it's silly... but so am I.

The effects are fine but I am a little disappointed Atari didn't roll their sleeves up and go that extra mile! We have heard far better from the YM chip and the game is hardly pushing the Atari ST, so why not use samples? Hmm, it's a little bland in the audio dept and definitely needed something with a little pizzazz.

Yes, the audio needed to use samples but that won't stop the next roll of screenshots...

The CryptO'pinion?

Missile Command is such a simple game and also one of the best from that early era. Fans of the original should appreciate what an authentic arcade conversion is, and one that certainly brought back lots of great memories for me. This is fast, frantic and bucket loads of fun so that's a thrilling win in my book.

A timeless classic and I'm proud to rate this a nuke skin-blistering 92%.

Missile command easily earns the accolade of an AtariCrypt SMASH!!

Grab a floppy or hard disk version.

Defend Zardon from its inevitable annihilation!

I hope you last longer than I did in my video recording? Not hard, is it... lol

TOS Legends

Turrican?!!

It's funny the things you find when surfing on the waves of the interweb. Today, I somehow ended up finding TOS Legends by Sébastien Claret. From the moment I booted it up, I was gobsmacked because it's absolutely fantastic and something every Atari ST guy will surely adore? Forgive me jerky recording as it plays smoothly on my old Mac. The downloads for Mac/PC are best or you can play inside a web browser.

Check out these screenshots below and then grab the download from Sébastien's website.

This is what happens when Turrican invades Rick's world!

But that damn boulder still chases lol

Hang on, everything changed! Where have I seen her before? Hmm...

Hibernated 1 - This Place is Death

The postman has been!!

I've taken delivery of what is the latest game released for the Atari ST, Hibernated 1 by Stefan Vogt. I feel like I've waited years for this to pop through my letterbox but here it is! I'm ecstatic to report a fantastic product that's beautifully made to a high standard. I'm unsure whether to remove its plastic seal... (lol)... Of course, I've already unwrapped it!!

Hibernated was reviewed back in August (click that link!!) and I included an animation to demonstrate the game's awesome sense of humour during my exploration. You shall find all links and a download/purchase available using that link.

Wanna see the box and what goodies are inside? Of course, you do...

Taken right before ripping off the plastic!

Check out these lovely goodies!! :D

Merry Christmas

We're almost at the end of yet another year so here is a cute Christmassy slideshow I found whilst digging through the AtariMania archives. It's from a disk magazine by Effect and is stuffed full of text and even features the most annoying rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" I've ever heard - but at least it supports the STe audio!!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and ST commitment over the past year. Once again, I've met some great people and seen things which I thought would never happen after the ST "died" in the mid-90s. There are so many awesome games and demos recently released but my personal favourite is, of course, Manic Miner which is a fantastic remake of Matthew Smith's ZX Spectrum classic from 1983. Absolutely brilliant.

Also, I'd like to thank: Tom/Karim for all their sharing across various social media. Peter for adapting these merry ST games (and my requests for more!!). AtariMania for always being my go-to place. Atari Legend for being ace and getting me addicted to Ultima V. And, course, every one of you guys visiting my website throughout the year :-)

All the beST and Merry Christmas †

Time Soldier

Let's kill people!

The conversion of Time Soldiers was released in 1989 by Electrocoin and is based on the vertically shoot 'em up not too dissimilar to something like Ikari Warriors. The story goes that Gylend has captured a few of our friends who are held captive in different time periods. So it's up to us to rescue them - gotta say I like the idea of the time zones.

I've not played the arcade game, but I see there is a slight name change - that means we're running solo. This would be understandable but we are given only one life which should make the quest rather difficult - unless the game is rewarding during play. Before beginning, we're given the name and location of our captured warrior - but the teleporter can send us somewhere different. Which is odd and means you gotta plough through to the correct portal.

So initial impressions are a little worrying? Let's take a peep at some screenshots...

I love the colour schemes throughout which nicely represent the original game.



Lots of action and even more death and destruction. I love it!

Shoot. Kill. Kill even more!

Each of the time periods has a change of graphics but basically follows the same format as you might expect. These areas are stuffed full of enemies that need killing, which is most satisfying. Those slain in battle leave goodies that should be collected for a power boost. Health can also be replenished that is needed because every contact drains you dry.

A boss is featured at the end of level and most are rather easy to kill. However, my power-ups sometimes ran out during the lead-up to this fight, which then makes it nigh on impossible to win!

There's nothing mind-blowing about Time Soldier; the gameplay is a cross between something like Wanted or Commando. I wasn't sure about the scrolling which often left me vulnerable to any baddies off-screen. I was never going to like the one-life aspect too so I'm beginning to pick flaws and I wonder who beta-tested this arcade conversion?

A good game that needed a little extra thought but that won't stop me from pushing some more screenshots...

Even Rambo wouldn't be able to survive this onslaught!



Those higher up have an advantage. But I'm still going to kill them.

Aesthetics

I like the graphics in Time Soldier; from start to end, it's colourful and detailed. The backgrounds are great but we also have some of the silliest sprites. Not so much their appearance but how they attack in waves which means the screen is often cluttered with bullets and explosions- which I loved! It's maddening and frantic and chaotic. Loved it.

Heck, the game is even making use of overscan without any negative impact on the scrolling. Which always remains smooth so I am very impressed with the technical efforts that went into making this action shooter.

The music is well-balanced against the sound effects and suits the gameplay well. Zero complaints.

Hey, one final run of screenshots...

The purple works a treat providing another environment that is unique and fun.



This looks scary and tough. Well, more tough than scary but hey, what more can be said about it?

The CryptO'pinion?

This game was fun to play! However, I had mixed feelings: I wasn't too keen on the scrolling method which can sometimes fail to keep up with the player. Also, having one life is very restricting and forces you down the road of a trainer. Don't get me wrong, it's quite an authentic conversion in many respects but this insane design makes it very difficult.

Having said that, Time Soldier is actually an entertaining shooter in its own right. The levels are always interesting and brimming with lots of meaningless gameplay. This is pure gun love and will provide a few hours of fantastic action. For all its flaws, I enjoyed this peculiar conversion a bunch. Just be prepared to play with a trainer for extra lives!

Time Cops can download for floppy or hard disk.

Reach For The Skies

Ugh? Why am I thinking of S Club 7?

This is a flight sim by Rowan/Virgin called Reach For The Skies. This was released in 1993 and attempts a recreation of the Battle Of Britain era between the Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe. That was a crucial part of the war and is split into four mammoth sections. If you're up to it, you can be a brave pilot or the controller for an entire squadron.

Obviously, the first thing I did was skip the manual and read nothing more than the keycard. This humble sheet of paper displays an array of keys used to successfully pilot the planes. Don't be too scared, because there is a practice mode which is great for newcomers - like me. This means we can completely bypass the complex take-off procedure and pretend to be a stuntman like Colt Seavers whizzing across those lovely 16-bit skies? Well, ahem, I did :)

Those who prefer to take things seriously are advised to learn the cockpit and keep the keycard sheet at hand. As you get accustomed to flying the skies, you will note some external views: I really enjoyed these and you can watch me messing about on my YT channel (shown below). There are other features - video recording!

This is a demanding flight sim with some neat features that are brilliant for a novice, like me! This means you can get the most out of this flight sim from the start. I love the authentic cockpits, and the external views are stunning, but learning to hunt down and destroy the enemy will take much practice. But that's definitely a good thing, right? Reach For The Skies is one of the best flight sims, something I will enjoy time and time again. Tally-ho and chocks away old bean!!

Whatever plane you decide to pilot, it's best to download the hard drive version (floppies on Stonish).

Now, this is what I call awesome pixel artwork. Look at the details. Love it!!

The German on the right looks like Colonel Von Strohm, I thought.

Awesome pixel art throughout and I love the moustache and pipe. Very British lol

Is anything here catching your eye, hero?

Love the dated information that presents the mission ahead perfectly.

Those plucky Germans with their technology, commitment and wishful thinking!

The camera views are superb and I loved messing about with this feature. A lot!!

The graphics are incredible. It's like you're really there, well, for this 90s gamer anyway...

Oh no, pull up!! Pull up!! Why do I always die...?

Please note: the video recording is based on my own Mega STe (16MHz). I have tried to show the game's basic elements for both the German and the British sides. Perhaps I should have used the standard computer, but there are lots of videos out there on YouTube so I fancied being different and put the extra grunt of this amazing computer to some use!

However, it is worth noting that the standard Atari ST also performs very well (no change there then).

Ballerburg for mobile phones

[This video shows the wonderful Atari ST game because I have no way to record directly off my phone!]

An ST classic goes mobile

Let me start by saying that I never play "mobile" games as I don't see the point of using a tiny screen and virtual controls! However, I was waiting for my wife in the car - totally bored stupid (it didn't take very long). Then I remembered Eckhard Kruse's Ballerburg had been remade by a company called DonkeyCat. To say I'm blown away is an understatement because this classic mono game looks and feels very authentic.

The gameplay is just the same with wind, angle, and speed to decipher. Choose your kingdom and blast cannons over the mountains. I admit, I prefer the Atari ST original but this mobile game is jolly good fun. Waste no more time, get on your chosen App Store and download this mobile artillery action (both iOS and Android).

Considering this isn't on an Atari ST, I had buckets of fun with this game. Highly recommended.

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