Menace is one of the few Psygnosis games that I respect. It's a good shooter. Okay, it should have been better with a little effort, but that's an Amiga company for you. Anyhow, it's still a decent game, and I enjoy it. But what's with the YELLOW ship compared to that other version? For years, I've hated its bland colour and wondered what they were thinking. And if it was possible to change it for something better?
So I contacted Atari ST wizard Peter Putnik about my dilemma. He's always up for a challenge and open to ideas. It wasn't long until he came back with a solution that worked well. As you can see in both the video and screenshots, our spaceship now has a new paint job!! The caveat is a change to the (badly placed) status pane due to the 16-colour palette. Of course, the game remains the same, but we now pilot a white ship!
You know, folks, this is what makes the Atari ST scene a marvellous place. Think about it, I wasn't happy with a commercial game from 30+ years ago. I asked a guy living in another country for his thoughts. What does he do? He fixes it without hesitation. Incredible. What an amazing community we have.
My sincere thanks to Peter for being gracious with my request. This version of Menace is the only one I will play on the Atari ST. Here's the download to the newly designed AtariCrypt White Star (geddit?).
Please watch the video trailer above and gander at these lovely screenshots...
I made this silly image. Can you tell? lol
Here it is, our brand new white ship!
Just look at it. Much better now, albeit at the expense of the status bar.
Skimming along through space in my spanky new ship!!
It might not be the best shooter, but the graphics are cool.
It has its haters, but this is better than most of the drivel Psygnosis produced for us.
Alien World is a shoot 'em up by Gary Antcliffe (Blazing Thunder/Yogi's Great Escape) and was released in 1992 by Hi-Tec Premier Software. Ignoring the dreadful title tune, the game is a cross between the likes of Menace and R-Type, with a dollop of Venus Flytrap thrown in for good measure. Which is always gonna be ace!
The action is relentless and immediately hits you with a ton of pitfalls like red-hot streams of molten lava that shoot up from glowing pools. It isn't long before you feel a little Blood Money creeping in as the scrolling alternates between horizontal & vertical. I liked the parts that don't automatically scroll, allowing you to move at your own leisure. Gravity plays a part in affecting your movement, think Flappy Bird or SantaFly!
Graphically, Alien World is outstanding with ultra-smooth scrolling, best experienced using a real Atari ST. Everything is exquisite, rich colours, detailed sprites, and fluent movement. Sadly, audio is a different story with no in-game tune and weak sound effects. A few decent chiptunes would have been perfect!
Gameplay is what matters, and I’m impressed with this challenging shooter. While it has an immense learning curve, Blood Money fans will enjoy it. Like many 16-bit games of the era, it’s incredibly tough and requires a cheat. However, it’s a game that keeps you coming back for that satisfying "just one more go".
Alien World is great and will keep you entertained for hours. It’s so challenging, but I absolutely love it.
I had a free hour today, so I entertained myself with Rainbow Arts' Z-Out. Essentially, this is a bog-standard horizontally scrolling shooter with nice graphics and (familiar) sound effects. The controls work well, but it feels like a clone of Menace or R-Type. There is anifty two-player feature which we enjoyed!!
However, I found it extremely difficult at times, plus it didn't really bring anything new to the table compared to shooters already out. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good game, but there are better shoot 'em ups. Am I right? Well, I think so, but let me know what you think in the comments below. Go on, do it.
Downloads and cheats for anyone wanting to experience more of this shooter...
8BitChip has adapted this for hard drive installation with a level skip feature.
> pressing J + K together gives infinite energy. > pressing J and a number between 1 - 6 (on the main keyboard) to skip levels. > pressing K and a number between 1 - 3 (on the keypad) to jump stages.
I remember when I first heard tracker music, it was around 1989, and a pretty cool experience, albeit not on the ST. To be honest, it was something that I never expected to hear from such a small file - I am comparing it to a sound sample that eats the entire space on any floppy disk (and then the Ram).
When I upgraded to an Atari STe, finding a MOD player was one of the first things I attempted. I wanted to ditch chip music for this tantalising new style of computer music. It's weird, but back then, I felt disappointed in my Atari ST and its chip music, but I don't feel that way now. In fact, I find many of those MODs I find poor and often quite irritating, excluding classics like R-Type, Menace, and a few others.
Today, I'm a chip guy. That doesn't mean I'm completely against MODs. I just prefer chip. I see videos on YouTube and read people's comments about how they wish a particular ST game sounded more like the Amiga. I get that, but imagine IF our computer did sound the same. Would that be a good thing? I don't think so. The ST is its own entity with the ability to sound its own way using gorgeous chip music. If the ST had the same music capabilities as the Amiga (in games), then why not just buy the Amiga and be done with it?
No other computer out there has to justify itself like the Atari ST, and that ... annoys me! Think about that, and it's why I started AtariCrypt. I want the ST to be an ST and not pretend to be something else. The YM is part of what makes the ST an ST, and that's a good thing and shouldn't be thought of negatively.
With that off my chest, here is a selection of excellent MOD players for the Atari STe...
Atari STe MOD / Tracker Players
BackTrack - I wasn't too sure about this at first, but I cannot deny its quality, and the selectable frequencies are a brilliant idea that will be useful on every model of Atari. The audio playback sounds great, especially at 50KHz - but you might need a Mega STe for that!! (v4.04 - released 1993 - by Wizzcat)
CD Player STE - This is like a CD player from the 90s. Just copy the MOD files into the same folder as the program and boot it up. Obviously not a GEM program, but something that works well, is very effective, and has a fantastic interface. Cracking program - leave it running while you work! (released 1990 - by Light)
DBE Player - Another GEM program to punch out your favourite MODS. The quality is excellent and has a decent playlist feature. However, I thought that it's pretty demanding of the basic model STe compared to the others (v2.0 - released 1999 - by Sector One)
The MusicPlayer - Ignoring its quirky GEM interface (which is odd), I thought this program produced good sound quality and even supports 50KHz / 8 channels! (v1.0 - released 1994 - by Christian Dahl)
Sirius Player - This is another that refuses to use GEM and replaces it with its own beautiful UI. The sound quality is Grade A with support for 50KHz, thus proving GEM can be a beast. Also, 8-channel MODS can be played using features like presets /etc/etc. Don't forget to press the HELP key for all of the options. This is my favourite program; its playback quality is mind-boggling!! (v2.0 - released 2001 - by TSCC 2001)
Paula - A great program that makes you wish you'd have bought a Mega STe for that extra grunt! This is yet another example of the sound quality an Atari STe can produce - and in GEM too. Great programs. My thanks to Pavel Puchala for alerting me to the freeware release! (v2.6 - released 1999 - by Pascal Fellerich)
JAM - A true jack of all trades that works either in GEM or using its own frontend GUI. It features a neat plugin architecture, so lots of different file types are supported - not just MODs but various chiptunes. This is absolutely fascinating, and JAM always produces excellent sounds! (v1.0 - released 2000 - by Cream)
The CryptO'pinion?
This page proves nothing. Well, except that the Atari STe can easily handle Amiga MODs with quality playback, no matter what program you decide to use. They're all great. It just depends on your own needs: if you need a GEM player, then any of the above is a good choice to install onto your hard drive/ultrasatan.
Yes, they are all great in their own way, but I loved how the CD Player can be stacked and left to play while you're doing something else. JAM is great and can handle a variety of different formats, too. Ultimately, I think Sirius is best (for me) with its astounding 50Khz playback, so I tend to prefer this above all others.
What says you? Let me know in the comments below...
Everyone knows Peter Putnik has adapted hundreds of games for hard disk installation. These include extras, like bug fixes, TOS compatibility, 4MB patching, Mega STe/Falcon support, etc. However, some are also super-charged with cool coding that utilises the Blitter coprocessor and DMA for audio that will blow your mind.
Are you interested in games being better on your Atari STe? You should be!
I thought it would be a nice idea to compile a brief overview of his enhanced games here on AtariCrypt. Oids and Uridium are particularly impressive as they significantly improve on their original versions. I also enjoyed playing my own music during a game of Xenon 2 (you can convert your own music).
There is something here for everyone, and I hope you find this useful. Let me know what you think.
Let's play.
Let's take a look at some of these enhanced games that you can download and play right now...
Xenon II - updated for the Atari STe and features DMA-streamed music. Turn up the volume!
Cannon Fodder - enhance this lame port with your own DMA-streamed music.
Prince of Persia - the DMA hardware is used to replay the game's sound effects.
Did you enjoy that? Well, here are three enhanced FTL games that are nicely improved...
Dungeon Master - far cleaner samples are heard thanks to the DMA hardware.
Chaos Strikes Back - again, the DMA hardware allows cleaner sample playback!
Oids - double framerates deliver a smoother experience when rescuing the stickmen.
Let's take a peek at three more that aren't exactly favoured well by the average ST gamer...
Jinks - this jerky game is weird, but at least it now uses the smoother STe scrolling.
Menace - I cannot thank Peter enough for replacing that horrendous yellow ship!
Uridium - Blitter-boost that sluggish ship and add DMA-streamed background music while you're at it!
Now let's take a little run-around with these three you might never have expected to boot up...
Giana Sisters - this Zamuel_a enhanced game now comes with optional DMA streamed music!!
Hard 'n' Heavy - gone is that embarrassing flip-screen, thanks to the Blitter.
Road Runner - Improved and Blitterized for faster scrolling for this funny game.
Okay, let's end in style! Here are two ST classics and a PC classic, too! Ooh, nice...
Goldrunner - Some might not like this, but I hit the F3 key to disable the fuzzy speech!
Gauntlet - this sluggish hack 'n slasher gets big improvements, but still needs extra CPU grunt.
Wolfenstein 3D - Ray's jaw-dropping FPS now has bugs removed with decent save game support.
I'm not big on social media, but one reason I stay on Twitter is to follow people like Jonathan Thomas. Yep,
that same dodgy fella who developed
Pole Position
for the Atari STe and then dared to update
Lotus Turbo II
in ways we never thought possible back in the day. Okay, I guess he's not a
bad lad...
His tweets are often fascinating because he delves deep into ST code. It's here that weird techniques are discovered or he
experiments with probable improvements. He also enhances code by utilising the Atari STe hardware. All this coding talk is way
over my head, but intriguing nonetheless.
So, onto his latest 'project', a horizontally-scrolling shooter for the Atari
STe, not too dissimilar to Menace, R-Type, etc. Jon’s using hardware scrolling while the sprites and particle effects are handled by the Blitter. There are no DMA sound effects, but I cannot complain as he was
generous in sending me an early beta lol
I asked Jon for his thoughts and prospects for what might eventually be an Atari STe game. Although he replied that he had no concrete plans, he did hint toward several promising short-term goals:
A title screen (we will need a name for this!).
16x16
sprites for a selection of individual enemies.
Each sprite will use
10-15 predefined attack moves.
A couple of (2-3 minute) stages with
increasing difficulty.
A "game completion" screen.
Multiple DMA
sound effects.
Chipmusic hopefully by (fingers crossed)
Dma_Sc.
Having "played" the beta, I must say it's impressive, especially given what's already been achieved in a short time. I liked the
feel of the joystick controls, and collision detection is spot-on. Border
rasters indicate the remaining CPU time for future additions and demonstrate the potential. Yup, I'm excited!
If, like me, you love hearing what other people are doing with their Atari
STs, then take a look at Jon's
Twitter stream. It's a mock with weird programming gizmos (that I shall never understand) as he enjoys dismantling ST games. I can imagine the
dorky entertainment Jon has with his Atari STe!! I hope it continues.
Update: Jon has started a source
repository
for those interested in helping him out.
Dinamic released Navy Moves in 1989, and as you all are probably aware, I'm a big fan of theirs, so I'm eager to boot up Army Moves' sequel. As are McArra, an elite agent sent on a covert mission to destroy a rogue nuclear submarine before it can upset the global balance of power (ie, BOOM WARS). Like many Dinamic games, Navy Moves is split up into two parts. Part One is itself divided into three stages.
Beginning at sea, McArra races across mine-infested waters, and this opening section immediately feels a little like Army Moves. The aim is simple: ride the choppy sea and leap over the mines. However, in practice, it's brutally difficult as the mines are packed tightly together. (In fact, this setup weirdly reminded me of a scrolling nightmare version of a room from Jet Set Willy called West Wing Roof). Weird, right?
Anyhow, one mistimed jump sends you back to the start. IF you reach one of the checkpoints, the challenge worsens with enemies attacking from both sides of the screen. You'll never beat this part of the game, as it's absolutely impossible!! The second stage is underwater as McArra puts on his scuba gear and descends below the surface. From what I have seen online, this section is excellent and reminds me of Thunder Jaws. The third stage is a horizontal shooter, like Menace, and again, it appears genuinely impressive.
You guessed it, I only got to see the first stage of Part One! Sigh, let's see a screenshot from that...
The dreaded first stage of Part One. Why, Dinamic? Why???
Operation Cephalopod
Part Two takes place inside the submarine and can be selected from the main menu, provided you know the "secret code". McArra must fight his way through a network of connected rooms towards the reactor, where a bomb needs to be planted. Officers, marines, and flamethrower-wielding troops patrol the corridors, turning every section of the sub into hostile territory. Anyone in your way has to go, but it's the officers who matter, as searching their bodies reveals the security codes needed to venture further.
However, it's not simply a case of charging forward with guns blazing. Most fallen enemies can be searched, which means every encounter has some meaning - especially when your ammo is running low. Progress becomes a balance of advancing through the rooms, conserving ammunition, and making sure no useful body is left unchecked - the key element of this entire stage. Planting the bomb at the reactor is only half the mission, because you still have to retrace your steps and escape the submarine before it blows up.
Sneak around, kill baddies, and rob their bodies of loot. Very excellent!! It's screenshot time...
You know, I'm starting to think McArra was modelled on someone famous? Hmm...
CryptO'pinion
I have always had a soft spot for Dinamic, as they brought plenty of quirky titles to the Atari ST. You can feel their oddball charm all over this one, but that first stage almost feels as if the developers deliberately sabotaged their own work. I never got to see the second and third stages of Part One.
Dinamic was never known for taking it easy on us, but Navy Moves feels excessive even by their standards. Thankfully, Part Two is accessible via the main menu, but it's very challenging. Still, running through a submarine, gunning down guards, and racing towards the reactor is thoroughly enjoyable.
If I had bought this game in 1989, then I'd probably have been very annoyed at the opening stage, especially if I didn't know the code for Part Two. And that's not very good, is it? So, forget playing Part One unless you’re a gaming legend with superhuman joystick skills. That's certainly not me, so I'd recommend you download Navy Moves to play only Part Two. This is a great run-and-gunner that you will love to bits.
D-Bug has a great version that's hard-drive installable.
If you want access to Part Two, then check out my PDF magazine: ST Cheaters Unite.
There are many more Dinamic games on the Crypt. Check 'em out!
Risky Business has a superb playthrough video. He actually beats the first stage of Part One. So maybe it's just me? Anyhow, you've also gotta see the ending. Seriously, don't miss that scene :^)
We need someone to hack Part One so we can play stages 2 and 3. Get in touch!!
The part of the game is so great, but why play properly? Just kill henchmen!
Sophelie was once a heavenly goddess, but has since been vanquished and left to roam the lands in search of her body. What? Why? Well, some kind soul has turned her into an albatross, so she now spends time flying through worlds looking to find her original appearance. As storylines go, this is a silly one!
This is a horizontally scrolling shooter, not too dissimilar to Menace. This time, we're not killing monsters or aliens, but some of the weirdest things you might never have expected: planets, snowmen, wolf heads, eyeballs, and even trees. The landscapes are lush with colour, and even angels will regularly appear to help.
Sounds great, right? Well, let's take a look at some screenshots from the first level...
Yep, giant eyeballs are coming for you and are actually tough to kill, too!
Now, this is getting silly! What have the trees ever done to you?
Let's kill the planet? No, literally by shooting down the rotating planet Earth!!
Spit, don't shoot!
We begin with the hand of God safely delivering us, ready for battle. The levels are split into segments, with each having its own brand of baddies all too eager to see you dead. The controls are fast and responsive, and a joy to control without any lag. The gameplay is fast and exciting, as each enemy will swarm the screen with its unique attack pattern. Some shoot at you, like the Earth enemies firing mini-planets. Cool.
Some of the nasties are easy to kill, whereas others are impossible, thanks to the slow rate at which we can shoot. This makes killing certain enemies tough because they move too quickly in comparison to our fire rate. Dying can be a bit troublesome, especially when you materialise close to an enemy and therefore instantly die once again. A simple invulnerability effect could have been utilised for a second or two!!
Angels visit after each segment with power-ups, which are essential from the start. Miss them, and the following swarm of enemies is quite impossible to defeat. Also, dying baddies might sometimes throw out an extra power-up, but these fall off the screen before you've had a chance to even think about collecting them. Finally, a time limit is ticking down to kill each wave of baddies. Very peculiar, to say the least.
Let's end the whining and take a look at some screenshots from the second world...
Some of the sprites are freaky... freaky-cool!
I can't make out whether these are balloons or floating severed heads!
Damn snowmen, they all deserve to die!! O_o
Aesthetics?
Visually, I like the colourful palettes, funky sprites racing across the screen, and smooth parallax scrolling running at a brisk pace. I love the level of detail that's gone into the sprite's artwork. Sophelie's animation is superb, and I've never played a game with such a wacky variety of enemies. They're insane!!
Sadly, the audio is disappointing with a fuzzy tune and near-silent gameplay. Well, apart from the death-killing sound effect and a strange background whistle. It's shocking because the YM is far more capable.
Well, that was a mixed bag, alright, so let's take a peep at the third world...
These are insanely difficult to kill, if not impossible, without losing all your lives!
He's big. He's bad. He's about to be brown bread!!
Hey, a power-up appears from a dying beast, yet you have no chance of collecting it!
CryptO'pinion?
Let's start by saying that this isn’t a terrible shoot 'em up. Okay, it's not the best, but it's definitely not terrible. The controls are good, and the levels are impressively colourful, with baddies zipping across the screen to create a constant, action-packed experience. Plus, the occasional appearance of angels with gifts to boost your chances of victory adds a nice touch. Sadly, there is something missing: while the graphics might change, the gameplay constantly remains the same. And then there's the audio... Ugh, now that is terrible!
Technically superb, but it’s an understatement to say there are better Atari ST shooters. Sophelie looks nice, sounds awful, and is very repetitive. While there are boobies, I’m not convinced it’s worth playing.
If you're curious, then grab any of the floppy disks at Atari Legend... Enjoy...
Oh no, another grisly death beautifully laid out. Interesting artwork!
