Xenon

Kelly X

Finally, there is light at the end of my Super Pack tunnel - the penultimate game is a beast of a shoot 'em up released in 1988 by Melbourne House. The mighty XENON was my first experience of what the Bitmap Brothers were capable of. A team that (for me) was the Atari ST equivalent of Ultimate Play The Game, high praise indeed from this old fan. Few titles, but each one pushed our machine to its limits whilst also oozing a level of class beyond others.

I can still remember loading up Xenon for the first time on Christmas morning. Once the graphics appeared, I was so impressed - when compared to my 8-Bit experiences. However, my jaw didn't drop to the floor like a weighty anvil until that music kicked in, just as the visuals raced down my TV screen. What a simple yet, brilliant intro. Timeless

However, I always wondered why the pilot zooms over the entire level - because I've only gotta travel back up through the baddie-infested lands? Gee-whiz, thanks! Well, I should shut up and stop being silly because it's fantastic to watch and the digitized recording of Erich Matthews saying "Sector One" is pure gold. Iconic even!!

Righto, do you fancy some screenshots from the first level? Of course, you do so here you are...

The first level is iconic. It looks great. Sounds great. Plays great. Then you meet the boss...



Very few times I beat this sucker. It's a lot harder than anyone admits!

Plane And Tank!

We start in our little tank which is fast and manoeuvrable, but it's not long until you realise that you can't hit anything up high. Waggle that joystick (or hit the spacebar) to transform into a jet aircraft!! This is ace but, unlike the tank, cannot hit those critters crawling the floor... So, once again, get waggling to morph back into the tank. This method of flipping between the two vehicles is genius and can be done anytime during normal play one level 1/3.

Initially, Xenon's gameplay is neither fast nor furious - yet I still panic when something is chasing me and my little tank! The first level isn't really that difficult and you get to see a small selection of the baddies that the game was hiding up its sleeves. Heck, we even have ladybirds! There are more traditional defences that need blowing up, like aeroplanes and ground-based missile silos. So flipping between your two attack vessels now begins to prove fruitful those bonuses.

If you managed to beat the boss then you're whisked off to the second stage where it's much harder...

The second level proves just how cruel and sadistic those Bitmap Brothers truly were!!



Having said that, I think the boss is slightly easier than on level one.

Frantic. Mayhem. Death!

A status panel (along the right side of your screen) shows a range of different stats including your score, altitude and fuel. But there are also power-up letters that might be available after blasting something to smithereens - and Xenon has a great selection. Well, except for the balls that follow behind your ship - I hate those. Always have! Anyhow, each power-up offers a wide variety of features to refuel, increased shot length and more. But here are the cool ones I like:

• W = This is probably my second favourite power-up. Instant extra firepower!
• A = Stay protected and stronger in your ship.
• S = Side shots is a pretty cool upgrade, especially on the harder levels.
• H = Homing missiles help to make things so much easier.
• B = Balls, which can be stacked up to three. Great...
• L = This is so fantastic and possibly my fave - and picking up "G" reverts back.
• Z = Surely every game needs a smart-bomb?

Of course, there's always an end-of-level guardian and Xenon is no different. In fact, the Sentinels also appear halfway through each level. That's right, four levels so eight times you're battling these guys. They can only be killed by carefully aligning firepower at their weakest point. It's now that you die only to reload with a trainer enabled.

Beating the sentinel (for that second time) whisks you off to the next level to fight against another massive array of foes. And it's always tougher so I doubt you'll last very long - and that's the main issue I have against Xenon. It's just too hard after level one. How many ST players have seen the later levels without resorting to a cheat? I thought so.

Enough reading as it's time for more screenshots and, you guessed it, here are a couple from the third level...

Don't adjust your monitor... Yep, level three sure does look familiar albeit in pink. Ugh!



The toughest boss in the game. This one is a killer and I have never beaten it (without a cheat!)

Pixels

Visually, and for the most part, this game is a total babe. Level one has a metallic charm which I absolutely love. Heck, even now it looks outstanding to today's spoilt brats on their PS4s! Every stage looks great but I admit to not being a fan of the fourth level - I think it looks rather out of place and kinda like an Amstrad game. I know, weird, right?

Sprites are stunning, even those peculiar pink-brain things on level 4! Scrolling is always smooth and perfectly paced for the gameplay. Xenon epitomises that mind-blowing late 80s era when we upgraded from older machines like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 to the glorious 16-bit world. Yes, this game is nothing less than a visual feast!

Okay, I've hinted at the gore but here are some screenshots from the odd-looking fourth level...

Level four is insane and there are enough enemies to strike down an Asgard mothership!!



I wonder how many got that Stargate reference? Does anybody read my website?

Audio

Dave Whittaker has produced everything booming from your STs mono speaker. What you hear is every bit as mind-blowing as those gorgeous visuals. Sound effects are a blast, even if they do mute one channel. Having said that it's the music that is just... Mmm, timeless. Turn up the volume because the YM2149 is about to rock your house!!

Go on, click the green triangle and enjoy the outstanding chiptune.

The CryptO'pinion?

Hands down, this is one of the best 16-bit shooters there is. The range of powerups is great and I love how we can flip between tank and plane. Sure, the bosses are annoying and later levels have too much action for even Superman to contend with. But, there is no denying this is an exciting shooter and a timeless classic I've loved for over 30 years.

Xenon is just downright awesome and very addictive. Play it and try to hate it. I dare you!!

Download available for floppies or hard drive.

Begin your drooling! Yes, I really do own this ace Atari ST game!! Oh yeah :-)

Street Fighter

A disgruntled gamer

Back in the summer of 1988, I was the only guy in college with a ZX Spectrum. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Speccy but had grown out of it. I spent much of that year dreaming of Atari's new supercomputer. It was tough seeing magazine reviews as the Atari ST games had graphics lightyears ahead of everything else.

I always remember the advert for Street Fighter. It featured screenshots taken from various systems, the Atari ST being one. It was a jaw-dropping moment seeing amazing details and bright colours (the image above). In reality, the advert was a lie because that image was actually taken from the arcade version!!

Not that it mattered because this beat'em up was something of a shambles thanks to Tiertex chimps randomly hitting their keyboards until it was ready for release. I honestly don't know how they got away with it - not only the jerky scrolling and laughable animations but the sluggish control system is vastly unresponsive.

After months of yearning for the Atari ST, I finally got one at Christmas. Ignoring Street Fighter, this slab of grey power lived up to my hopes and desires! You can imagine the joy on my face when I first booted up Xenon, Buggy Boy, and Beyond The Ice Palace. Magical moments in my history. (Atari STFM Super Pack)

If you're still interested in playing Street Fighter, you're obviously insane. But here are the links...

• 8BitChip has the download for hard drive/ultrasatan installation.
• Floppy disks can be found using Old Games Finger (Automation #41)
• Wasabim has recorded a fantastic YouTube video!
• Type "STREETCHEAT" on the title screen and you can hit the Help key to skip levels.
• Maybe you're curious how Street Fighter would have performed on the Atari STe? (unfinished)
• Hey, why not check out our Beat'em Up section, go on and click the links! 

Even though a trainer was enabled, I endured much pain to get these screenshots! I wanted to play through it, but it went on forever. I hope you appreciate the hell I went through to get these?

Dare I ask if there are fans of the ST beat'em up out there!

I hope you enjoyed my silly post (a disgruntled gamer) remembering US Gold's misleading advert? O_o

Look at him trying to punch me even though I've jerkily leapt 15 feet in the air.

Look at the magazine advert and then try and tell me that it's the same as the ST game!

Look at the size of this bad boy. Hmm, let's punch him in the nuts - that'll work!

Another giant dude to fight, so I decided to cower in front of Ian Dury's little car heh.

You'll see something like this at the end of each stage. Great, uh?

Look at all those strange faces watching. Quite scary!

Another clipping of the advert (enhanced using online tools, hence the weird text)

Seconds Out

Wanna be a Tyson Fury?

Do you remember a game called Frank Bruno's Boxing on the ZX Spectrum? Well, it looks like the folk over at Tynesoft did when they released Seconds Out in 1988. As in the Speccy game, we're in a boxing ring fighting ugly dudes and the action is viewed ringside from behind our noble challenger. Yup, it's original alright!

We are Marco, a challenger who must compete against five champions from around the world. His first bout breaks us in gently against Joe Weed who lives up to his name and is pretty easy to knock out. The second is much harder, closely shadowing you and can easily block your punches. The third is rather odd and that's saying something for this peculiar boxing game: it's a lame fella who wears glasses and can headbutt. (I believe there are two more champions: an American and a Russian. Just don't ask me if I can reach that far!!)

First up is Joe Weed, an easy opponent!

Jonesy is harder, although he seems shocked to lose!

Punching people with a joystick?

Controls are initially odd but the one-button ST does well after a few practices. Moving left/right is easy, but slow, and we can guard ourselves using up/down with a little sway thrown in for good measure - if pointless. With the fire button pressed, we can punch with either arm as we float around that ring looking to sting. Well...

Energy levels are displayed at the top of the screen: decreasing with each hit taken and increasing when dealing out damage/resting. Also, a throbbing boxer's "KO" glove will indicate when your opponent is weak enough for a knock-out. That is the time to hit up/fire to perform the special ability, a swift right hook!!

Each round lasts 1:30 seconds but oddly feels longer against the tougher guys who cannot easily be knocked out. Between rounds, we are slumped in the corner with our coach who helps recover lost energy - something I didn't realise until after I made my recording. That'll teach me not to read the manual... Doh!!

Don't be a fool like me!! Waggle that joystick...



...and put that old man to some good use ;o)

Graphics & Sounds

Graphically, this ain't anywhere near what the ST is capable of but it does feature lots of comical aspects - like Mike "Hammerhead" Hagman!! Also, the see-through wireframe idea works well but is spoiled by having a pixelated head. Animations are okay and the crowd make very few movements so look rather bored.

Audio has been forgotten with no music and the near-static crowd is silent for such an event!!

The...

Silence... 

 

Is... 

 

Freaky!!

Watch out for this dirty Jeff Minter fighter.

Even when I'm knocked out, he still tries to headbutt me!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This game has massive drawbacks, like speed. There aren't any; these athletes are the slowest I've seen! Never will you feel like you're participating in an event with a motionless and silent crowd. Also, the gameplay is short and obviously linear in structure, so I'm sure better players could complete it in under an hour? Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee? Hardly, it's like walking barefoot in slutch, with a broken leg!!

That being said, Seconds Out is still enjoyable and everyone needs to witness that Glaswegian and his idiotic headbutts! An average sports game, that needed to be much quicker, flashier and a lot noisier.

Those who fancy sparring with Marco can find the Super Pack floppies on AtariMania.

Thundercats

Today's cartoons are rubbish! #JustSayin

Thundercats was released back in 1988 by Elite and is obviously based on the old kid's TV show. Now, I don't remember the programme myself but YouTube does, which meant I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. An interesting show for the time and the game has many expected similarities, especially with the characters.

The gameplay is represented as a sideways-scrolling platformer over a number of (torturous) levels. We are Lion-O, a Thundercat with flame-red hair and a huge sword who battles strange animal foes. These baddies are from something called Mumm-Ra who have stolen the Thundera jewel and kidnapped the other Thundercats.

What shall we do? I think we better save the day! Okay, let's see some screenshots...

The first level breaks you into the mayhem nicely. Look for power-ups and try not to panic.

However, things soon get freaky with loads of enemies attacking from all sides!



Being attacked by so many birds at once isn't my idea of great fun.

The weapons are great but I didn't like that slowwwwww laser gun!

Run...Shoot...Die!!

The terrain is straightforward with monsters, deadly water, disappearing platforms and rocks/etc to leap over - watch out for the bigger baddies who will follow. Random power-ups will appear at regular intervals and will need to be struck before you can collect them (I liked the mushrooms). An extra life is appreciated but I wasn't thrilled about the laser gun which is limited - it doesn't fire far thus annoying when something is out of reach! That doesn't make sense, does it?

The gameplay is regularly broken up by bonus rounds like trying to rescue Tygra, which proved impossible: one touch and you have failed the mission!! Also, the levels are broken up into themes which you can choose between: they are Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Basically, little changes but we do get different visuals and baddies to kill.

Okay, are you ready for more Atari ST screenshots? Of course, you are...

That creepy fella is tough, so repeatedly hit him where it hurts. No, not his wallet!

Don't forget the mushroom power-ups... You will need all the help you can get.



Hang on, what's this? A spaceship? Gun? Plane? Hover car?

Nope, it's a lame spaceship and one that features that silly laser too... Joy!

16-bit gamers are tough!

The joystick controls are rather easy to learn and also very responsive: left/right walks our flame-haired hero and he can also jump and crouch with ease. I liked these controls which work well and the best part is our huge sword - which puts Conan's to shame!! However, it is oddly used more like a club which is weird, but it works.

Sadly, no matter how responsive the controls are - there are too many baddies to cope with. This is because they appear from both sides of the screen - so you're soon overrun as the hoards gang up. To make matters worse, your weapon can only kill what is directly in front of it so you're constantly jumping, crouching, and turning around... Add that to everything else and it won't be long until you've died - or launched the joystick in frustration! Yikes.

Yes, I think games were a lot harder back in the day and Thundercats certainly proves that!

I love the macabre artwork here. It's a bit crude yet very cool... and his toes are funny!

Graphics & Sounds

Visually, things are rather good I thought. The colours are bold and represent the cartoony-feeling very well plus I also loved the sprites which are superbly detailed. However, what shocks me most is how smooth the scrolling is and with a second parallax layer too. It's always nice to see when developers don't wimp out with flick/push-scrolling.

The in-game sound effects are okay, even if everything sounds all too familiar. However, it's the music I adore. This game ROCKS and the theme tune is pure Rob Hubbard awesomeness! It's brilliant and I love every second!

Check out this artwork and why not listen to the tune. Go on, it's lovely...

I always fail to rescue poor old Tygra!

 Click on the green arrow and enjoy this outstanding Rob Hubbard chiptune. Mmm, I love it!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Thundercats is a good game albeit ridiculously challenging. My red-haired hero was walking, jumping and crouching like a crazed hip-hop'ster on speed yet I still couldn't kill everything - without dying several times!! Even with a trainer, it's still far too hard but at least I got to see the later levels. Those who playtested this game needs their head examined!

I've moaned a lot about this game and yes, it's crammed full of annoying mechanics. However, it's still a game to boot up and play because it looks great, sounds great, and who doesn't enjoy clobbering animals with a huge sword? Personally, I'm more of a He-Man fan but I enjoyed this platformer and I think you will too. Flawed but a lot of fun.

AtariMania has the Super Pack floppies and 8BitChip has a hard drive game.

Zynaps

This game was FREE with my first Atari ST

Zynaps is a Nemesis-Esque shoot 'em up that spookily reminds me of another Hewson title, Slayer. We pilot the Scorpion Mk1 Fighter through the heavens in search of a secret alien base. Along the way, are hoards of alien scumbag - some in ships, or a variety of ground-based defences, and even motherships. Very original, right?

Update: you know, to this day I have never played Slayer. How odd is that!

Hewson released Zynaps in 1988 and it was developed by Howard Ball of Microwish Software who was responsible for Ikari Warriors, Victory Road, Slayer and 5th Gear. I've always felt this was a game coded by someone who knew the Atari ST hardware very well but Howard only ever made this shooter and nothing more. At least it's quality!

Hey, why aren't you watching the video above? Ah well, perhaps just a couple of screenshots instead then...

The first level is cool but it isn't long before a guardian appears!

That thing bounces around the screen like an old-school demo!

Shoot! Kill! Shoot some more!!

Our Scorpion spaceship is pretty snazzy and comes with different levels of propulsion along with various weapon upgrades. However, we do start off quite limited with sluggish movements and firing - so shoot that first wave of bad guys to collect their loot for speed-up. Then look to improve lasers or even bombs and missiles. It's simple - pimp your ship!

Activating these power-ups is a little strange. When a group of baddies snuffs it, they leave behind a pod. Collecting that changes the power-up being displayed in the status bar. So when something appears that you like the look of - hold down the fire button during the next pick-up to be granted permission to use it. To be fair, this is a bit weird and rather naff - especially during the heat of battle. Surely this could have been designed much better?

The enemies attack in predictable formations, which kinda reminded me of Wizball oddly enough. At first, firing accuracy is difficult so hitting the bad guys feels a lot harder than it should be. This learning curve I found to be massive - it took a great number of attempts before I started to destroy an entire wave and then begin collecting the pods!

Sigh, that's annoying, isn't it? Well, let's cheer ourselves up and see some more screenshots...

Woo! What's happened to the landscape backgrounds on the next level?

Getting past those asteroids is tough but now it's a boss fight and he's a bit weird...

Practice makes perfect!

Most levels take you through beautiful environments whereas others might take you into an asteroid field. No matter where you are, watch out because the slightest collision loses a life which is easily done too. This is made worse by ultra-cramped areas thanks to the bulk of that scenery (and the status bar). Fly like Buck Rogers... or die.

Eventually, you will reach an end-of-level boss and most are really tough so it's doubtful you will see many victories on your first go! The first boss hops around the screen like a sprite from an old skool-styled demo. Rarely did I see the end of the second level (without using a trainer) but, YMMV. Just don't give up, you wimp and keep playing!!

Wimps only ever see the first level so practice and you might see more! Screenshot time...

Things get freaking on level 3 but it's a good kind of freaky :-)

Well, except for the boss(es). Very lame!

Graphics

Zynaps is a gorgeous shoot 'em up, it really is. Sure, I know games like Xenon 2, Magic Boy, Gods, Deathbringer, and others blow it out of the water but, this old shooter (from 1988) holds its own thanks to the efforts of Pete Lyon!! The title screen is wonderful - pure art - and many of the levels feature a Menacing array of beautiful environments.

But that's not all, the sprites move fast and very smoothly following those incredibly difficult flight patterns. But what about the scrolling? Programmers without talent tell us the ST cannot scroll. Well, don't worry because it's nigh-on perfect and very smooth so feels just dandy during gameplay. Yep, this is another quality Hewson product.

For me, Hewson where a company that was always consistent without resorted to lame ports...

Things get a little Menacing for the fourth level.

It looks stunning - if deadly. I never beat it...

Sounds

Zynaps theme tune is outstanding thanks to the talent of one of my favourite musicians, Dave Rogers: a man responsible for many of my ZX Spectrum memories, not to mention ST beauties like Ranarama and Cybernoid.

Okay, the sound effects might pale in comparison to the music but they're still excellent and offer an arcade-like style which I really admire. I love that sharp "zing-zing" when you shoot, the crunchy death effect, and how you are mocked when it's game over. Like the visuals, I think that a lot of love went into the audio which is brilliant.

Yep, the audio proves what the Atari ST can sound like. Wanna hear it...

The Crypto'pinion

Zynaps is one of those games which has it all but, many give up after a few goes because of its learning curve. The action is relentless so you're always on the edge of your seat wondering what's coming next. The method of using power-ups might be flawed but these are essential to enhance the Scorpion with better firepower and manoeuvrability.

Hewson rarely disappoints and Zynaps is yet another corker from their incredible library. Sure, I've moaned about a few things but nothing is perfect. I forgive it because of its "Can-I-have-one-more-go". Very addictive!! What an extraordinary shoot 'em up and it's a great feeling to end my Super Pack series on a high. You need to play this game.

Grab the floppies if you have the skills

I recommend these excellent HD versions by Klaz and PP.

exxos

Exxos (aka Chris Swinson) is pretty much a hardware genius who repairs and improves our favourite computers with different upgrades. He never seems to stop and will certainly be the guy I'll trust to upgrade my Atari ST (when I can afford it!).

It's not only hardware repairs/upgrades - he has also rescued old websites like Atari Music, UVK and also hosts ST Format coverdisks along with the entire FloppyShop archive. Chris is a genuine guy with technical knowledge of the internal workings of Atari computers.

I have zero hardware skills myself so admire people that do. So I thought it was time that we all got to know more about this soldering-iron geek. Okay, this is a big interview so go and grab yourself a coffee, sit back, relax, and read. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have?

My thanks to Chris for taking the time to write (waffle on!) and produce one heck of an interview!

Mr Exxos, please tell us about yourself.

Hello Steve :) Well my real name is, as most know, Chris Swinson aka exxos. I should point out that I am not the company EXXOS who some confuse me for :) My handle is all lower case as not to confuse ;) I used to work in electronics repair for about 10 years. This was the leisure industry, So all kinds of fruit & arcade machines to jukeboxes I have repaired over that time.

My main area was Audio systems, From CD players to higher power amplifiers to electromechanical jukeboxes. I also ran the company BBS system, which was a dial-up network for depot's to download software updates. That system sucked, so I re-wrote the software in VB6.

Which Atari computers are you using?

The odd thing is, I don't actually use any working Atari at least currently anyway. I just don't have the time :( My trusty STFM had a video fault a year ago, so its been in bits. That was really 1MB RAM and my 1.44 floppy upgrade. It was a really old machine. Though once I get some time I plan on updating it and bringing it back to life. That machine was at my girlfriends were we mostly played games.

What is your own Atari hiSTory?

I got a 2600 way back, it was my first "computer". I loved that thing. I still have it with 4 or 5 games I think. I remember playing pole position to the point that it wasn't so much what score I could get, but how many times I could loop back around to 0000000. After while I wanted something better. I was probably around 14 at the time. I saved like crazy to buy an STFM. I found it was on offer at a local computer shop, so managed to buy it. Thanks to my father for putting the last few quids!

Later I brought my Falcon 030 and that was pretty much it, I think. A long time after buying my STFM, I got distracted into wanting to do hardware for it. My first design was a 1.44 floppy kit. Basically, it resulted in me killing that machine. Though as ST's were flooding onto eBay I could buy machines for less than 10quid and fiddle that way. That's pretty much what I still do all these years later :)

Are you a gamer?

I used to be years ago. Not so much lately as all my time is taken up with work or hardware development. I loved games like, Super Cars 2, Termodroid, Squareoff, Starquake, Xenon, Vroom, Chuck Rock, Castle Master. That game took me 25 years to finish, my girlfriend helped a bit ;) Back in the day, games were expensive and cash was limited, so mostly I was doing swaps with menus like automation. Though I had very few games back then and a lot were on cover disks.

Your website is huge!

STOS is the main section on my site, I try to keep everything STOS related all in one place. The games, I could do more pages, but with larger indexes and others hosting them, then I don't think it's worth taking up the drive space with re-hosting the same stuff. My site is around 35GB!

I wrote the Floppyshop site as a searchable index where people could search and download PD. Almost everyone will have a copy of the collection, but just having a copy isn't using the stuff. I felt a lot of PD was simply "lost" so The Floppyshop page was born. Recently, I hosted the UVK2000 site and took over atarimusic.net which was a mess and I barely got it running on my server. Its a wonder it ever worked at all, I spent much time debugging that site, getting it in some form of working order.

Why the STOS fascination?

The main reason I wanted a computer was to write my own games. I remember looking through Argos, seeing a few pages of Atari ST's in various "packs". I went for the discovery pack as it had STOS "the game creator" so its the one I went for. Oddly there were only 1 Am*ga for sale, which looked a bit "dull" software-wise so I never went into Am*gas. So you could say if Argos never had the discovery pack with STOS included, then I may not have stayed with Atari's.

I did do some programs. Though they got rejected by the PD houses, basically because there was too many typos or spelling errors in stuff. They were programs like "Data Card" which was an address book program. The only stuff which saw light was MEGA Diskzine where I did 4 issues, with help from a few others. When STOSSER vanished, I wanted to do my own zine and keep the programming aspect in STOS, but also add Tesla coil type stuff, sci-fi or anything odd strange or cool. So, MEGA was born. I barely got issue 4 out and contributions were next to zero. I was doing most of the work myself and about that time I had started full-time work, So I simply didn't have time to do the coding or write articles. I have an epic amount of STOS projects I started but never finished.

Do you have a favourite upgrade?

I think my favourite must be the 1.44 floppy kit. It marks the first kit I designed and got working and it's even still produced today. While most of my work is in the boosters, I of course like the V2 for example. But once something is designed and finished, I somehow start to hate the thing. It's old, I could do better, I want to add more features. So Its design pretty much goes out the window and I am always thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead into the future.

As many know, I am still working on the CPU boosters. I recently went into production with the V1 STE booster which runs at 32MHz. I've basically hit the limit speed wise of the 68000. So I have drifted over to the 020 and 030 CPU now. Ultimately I want something along the lines of a 50MHz 030 CPU, with 32bit access to ROM & Fast-RAM.

England's own Jookie/Lotharek?

I don't really know why I do this stuff lol. I guess I love to design stuff and seeing it working on a computer just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. I think it's an addiction. Like when I produce the first 16MHz booster, I though yayyyy I've done it, now onto 32MHz... It never ends. Just seeing those benchmark results pushing up higher and higher just wants me to push them up evermore.

I'd like to get the super speed hard drive working properly that I have been working with PPera for a while. Also the STE booster going into production along with the new PSU's. The V2 booster sales funded the ST PSU project, The ST PSU funded the Falcon PSU etc. So you can see how it all works. If it wasn't for those guys buying my items, then likely I would have given up and closed shop a long time ago. So big thanks to those customers as they really help fund more productions which at the end of the day, helps more people and gives me motivation to continue.

Your girlfriend deserves a medal!!

How many Atari ST's are dismembered?

Well, I don't live with my girlfriend, it's why I am not around on weekends. I've taken over her space with all the Atari stock, she doesn't mind one bit. She has the stock which is for sale, and she packs the orders and posts them for me. No surprise I just don't have enough time to pack orders and make trips to the post office. So everyone in Atari land should be thankful she posts the stuff for me.

I'm not sure how many ST's I have. Probably about 10 STE's, maybe 30 STFM's and then about 30 various motherboards. In general, it seems to cost about £35 for each machine as a general figure. So around £2,500 probably in machines alone. If you priced up all the upgrades as well, that would be tough. Things like the V2 booster, they are about £65 each, If I have 20 of them its £1,300 worth of stock. Similar to the 4MB MMU RAM upgrade kit, they are about £65 as well. I think I totalled that stock to over £2,000 a while ago. So if you factor in I have on sale around 40 different items, some are not expensive parts though, then you could probably take a guess of what the stock is worth In total. I would guess somewhere around £15,000 of current stock.

Where did Atari go wrong?

Oh gosh. I think this has been a huge debate for a long time. Lack of expansion seems to be popular. Though the ST did have the cartridge port which could do a fair few things. Atari knew expansion was needed as they produced the MEGA with an expansion port. While the ST wasn't born with PCI slots to easily update it (PCI wasn't invented for some years later aka sarcasm) I think Atari limited the ST's design too much. Everything is just so tangled up that if Atari had some forethought and built the ST with the idea that one-day people might want a faster CPU, then maybe there would have been a lot more hardware add-ons produced by 3rd parties such as Fast-technologies etc.

I think Atari fell into a type of "trap" which is something I try to avoid myself actually. Why do an ST 030 booster when we can have a whole new machine? Why stop at that, let's spend more time on updating the video hardware. Why stop at that? Let's add a DSP to help those audio guys out, let people play tracker tunes on it without taking up CPU time. Let's updated this, and that and take several years doing so until we get an awesome machine that we want. The fundamental problem is, waiting too long to produce hardware, and producing hardware on an "as perfect as possible" basis.

Overall, the Atari couldn't easily be upgraded which was the first nail in the coffin. Then, when Atari did start with the 030 CPU, the second nail was that they never produced it as an add-on kit. I think the geeks of the day would have loved to hack in a 030 into their ST's. Nobody has a crystal ball as to what will sell and what doesn't. Atari made the best choice they could probably make back then. They gave us the ST line of computers and they are still around even today. If you asked an STE user do they want a “super STE” with an 030 CPU and no other upgrades or a Falcon with lots of enhancements, but this would take 10 years longer, then you can probably bet people would want the “super STE” as they could always upgrade to a Falcon at a later time anyway.

What do you think of the current scene?

I think The Atari world hit a bit of a slump until fairly recently. There has always been a community, though it's not like the peek of the computer boom in the 80s kinda thing. There are more hardware guys about today like jookie developing hard drives for us. I think that has helped as people can download games images and play thousands of games.

I think websites like AtariCrypt are good to have. Review games on there, there is like a billion games to which who knows what they are or if they are any good. So games being reviewed with videos and images I think really will help people out in the long run. For me, I have seen some interesting games which at some point I would like to have a go at. (Wow!! I never expected to read that. Thanks - Steve)

I think as people buy their First Atari ST if the first couple games they play are just random, and the chances are they will be, let's just say bad games. Just not enjoyable to play. It's likely going to put that person off and they may not bother with the Atari ST again. Though if there are sites reviewing games, good ones which are fun to play, then chances are those new Atari people will keep coming back for more and more games. But it's not just games, there are music people out there using MIDI stuff. I'm not sure if people would bother to do word-procession or print letters out these days, so I think Games and Midi are what people would most likely to use their machines for.

Does the Atari ST have a future?

I started a thread on just that on a forum not long ago. My concern is: as the ST's are failing, due to bad PSU's etc, in 10 years time there is not going to be any working Atari ST's. If they are maintained, then the machines life is greatly extended. I think it's important to keep these machines running, which is why I build things like new PSU's as its one of the most common things to fail.

The Atari community needs new blood, new young blood that is to keep going. Gamers shouldn't need fancy high resolution 3D graphics to have fun. The Atari ST has a huge games list and I think there is far more variety than on today's PCs. Most games just seem to be running around shooting things but on the ST we have Pushover, Chuck Rock, Xenon and so many more which are still fun to play even after 30 years. I think the younger generation needs to see that they don't need a powerhouse to have fun gaming. Somehow think the Atari games will live on for a long time yet :)

- THE LINKS -

I'm sure you all want to check out his website right now!

Itching to see what he sells and is currently developing? I bet you are, then clickety-click right here.

Take a look at his FloppyShop website which is simply an AMAZING resource!!

Don't forget to keep your Atari ST clean and free of those horrid virus' with the latest UVK!

Here is a TV appearance which nicely follows up on the amazing interview with Chris Swinson!

MEGA ST thanks to Chris for this interview and we have many more to read right here. :-)

Marko Latvanen

Marko Latvanen currently handles all of the Atari ST administration for the AtariMania website which must be a massive undertaking but one he is committed to finishing (he's a workaholic!). AtariMania is a popular website that has catalogued and detailed almost every Atari ST game. I don't think a day passes without a visit from myself and zillions of other people, I'm sure.

Of course, AtariMania isn't just about Atari ST gaming because they also feature utilities, applications, demos and even scans for books, adverts and magazines. Not to mention support all other Atari machines, from those odd-looking consoles to the mighty Falcon computer & Jaguar CD. Quite incredible!!

Marko is a cool chap who works hard for our Atari scene so it was about time he answered a few questions for me here at AtariCrypt towers! And it was well worth it - thank you, Marko!

You know what to do... clickety-click and visit the AtariMania website right now!

THE INTERVIEW

MARKO LATVANEN

What is your role within the world of AtariMania?

Atarimania is a huge project which tries to preserve and catalogue the golden memories of gaming but also demos and utilities over 9 different systems (Arcade coin-op, 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, Atari 800-series, Atari ST–series and Falcon030 / TT. A lot has been done but also a huge amount of work is still ahead for a small team like us. Our headquarters is in France and we have 5-7 active members for the whole Atarimania website.

My role is mainly Atarimania ST database moderator. So I’m basically doing a lot of “household” work with our custom built software. It includes building database records, correcting information based on our own research, adding screenshots, hunting down unreleased games and their creators, helping them with utilities to save precious ST productions before they break down, doing a lot of cross reference checking, game archiving and research which is the most interesting part. I like being a software archaeologist for the digital dawn of 16bit computing.

In the last 12 months I’ve been also building a database for Atari’s last beast, the Jaguar. Oh and I’ll update the Atarimania Facebook page as well. What else, surely missed something (grin emoticon). I get of course a lot of help from Stefan_L and Champions_2002 who also do the database moderation, background research and are equally as important part of Atarimania ST-section.

What does the Atari ST platform mean to you?

It was the first computer I bought with my own money after working hard the whole summer 1990. My parents really didn’t dig computers so we never had one when I was a kid. That’s why I jumped straight to the 16bit waggon. Played a lot with Philips VideoPac G7000, C64 and Amiga with my mates though. After seeing an ST in Finland’s leading computer magazine Mikrobitti I knew what I wanted. I had to wait for a few years but when I finally was old enough for the summer job, oh boy! There they were side by side at the computer shop – an Amiga 500 and Atari 520STfm. I still remember it like yesterday. My choice was clear and I never regret it (wink emoticon)

So I grew up with my ST, it offered me thousands of hours of fun with games and some jaw dropping demos, I learned English (sort of anyway!) by using an ST and it helped me to secure my job in Desktop Publishing business (thanks to Calamus and TimeWorks Publisher). For a while, I even got paid using an ST as a workhorse in mid 90’s.

I do this because I want ST and its memories to live forever. It’s also my way to say huge thanks to all those game, demo and serious software developers, graphics artists, musicians and designers who offered me so much fun over the last decades. Their work should not be forgotten. It’s also a most rewarding feeling to get unreleased stuff dug out of people's attic to save them from destruction.

I hope you are in for the long haul?

Been into the Atari ST every day since 1990 so I’ll be there as long as most of my fingers and senses are working! And of course, as long as Franck keeps the site up and running. Retro computers just keep getting better every year!

How do you envision AtariMania 10 years from now?

In 10 years it should be a top research-quality database for the future generations of computer historians, journalists and the people who want to see and feel what Atari was about its golden years. Hopefully, it will also feature a lot more videos, music files and a capable online ST / Falcon emulator to try out the games and demos.

What Atari computers do you own?

Erm.. Well, they sort of started to pile up since 1996 when people practically gave them for free or for very little money… I think it’s better to just click here: http://www.gameberry.net/user/kokoelma.php?1503211172 ;-)
(like wow!!! -Steve)

What are your favourite Atari ST games?

I’ve always been a big fan of racing games from the day one so Vroom, Microprose GP, Stunt Car Racer, Crazy Cars III, Toyota Celica GT Rally, Lotus and Super Cars series were the ones I’ve played most back in the day. For the other genres, i guess I'm still playing Kick Off, Phantasie III, Obsession, Pro Tennis Tour, Fire & Ice, Elite and most part of the awesome Power Pack bundle in the retirement home if they allow computers!

Are you planning any changes to AtariMania?

As I’m only an ST moderator it is really up to Franck to decide where the future of Atarimania is heading. I think there’s so much work ahead in most of the databases itself. We should concentrate on that until the work is done.

Is the Atari ST database close to completion?

I would say something like 45-50 percent. We have most of the commercial releases in as well as the biggest demoscene productions from ST’s commercial years. We are still missing many hundreds of PD / shareware games, a huge amount of Falcon stuff and utilities.

From the artist credits part, it really is not yet in such shape it should be used for research purposes without double checking first. The problem originates mostly from the imported list Atarimania used as a basis of the database. It, unfortunately, had a lot of errors in it. Another part is caused by me as doing too many 10-11 hour Atarimania days at the start of the project wasn’t maybe wisest move after all! It’s an extremely slow task to check everything, but we’ll publish the correction progress on the Atarimania news page a bit by bit.

AtariMania's ST games - not playable on real hardware?

It’s because we try to preserve games as originally as possible. Most cracked versions had title screens or even digital music tracks removed or altered so the originality was gone. As we want to give the full credits and support to the original authors who did the hard work in the 80’s and 90’s, we don’t use cracked versions on ST section.

However, I must point out that game crackers did a very important job historically speaking if you look it nowadays. The majority of the classic games would have been lost without people spreading them back in the days, and there probably wouldn’t be commercial interest in retro gaming nowadays without crackers who kept the software alive. So they really deserve the credit for their work but we just like to do things unedited when possible.

You have so many aliases on Demozoo! Why?

Hmm. There seem to be some errors. The ones I used were mostly related to Jean-Michel Jarre’s recordings. Not sure where the Beatdrum or Squish came from… Probably from some lazy editing of my crappy MOD-files.

I guess I just couldn’t make my mind. First, we had a little user group called The Atariga Crew. We did some 40+ compact disks mostly for our own use and had little gaming parties. We also toyed a bit with STOS Basic but I soon found out I had no character of a coder. My highlight was to get a UFO sprite bouncing around the screen (grin emoticon). My cousin was a bit better but he never got much running either. So we used an util called Intro Concept to run our menu disks. I concentrated mostly on swapping and graphics.

After my cousin got bored on ST I started Alien Nation to do some graphics work. In later stages, we finally got a real coder from the UK. Under that name, we released 10 MOD disks and some 40 more compact disks, again mostly for internal use. I used some of the graphics in them I did with Canvas and Deluxe Paint ST. I also did a new set of VW Buggy themed graphics for PD racing game called Hot Wheels but the disk is unfortunately lost. After a while, our coder went to iMac and we had some plans to make a game for but it got nowhere.

In the meantime, a crew called “Depression” asked me to do some logos for them. One of them is actually painted using Amigaarghh (don’t shoot me, my STe was collecting dust at a computer shop for memory expansion) and others with 68030 powered Apple Macintosh IIfx in PhotoShop 3. Shame on me! (demozoo weblink)

What makes Marko tick?

Having two under 10-year-old daughters, a Collie dog and doing mainly working hours from 3pm to 11pm does, unfortunately, rule out most of the social hobbies.

Besides Atari things, I'm also a big Mazda Motorsports fan and follow everything Mazda-related racing action closely. They’ve an amazing racing heritage in the USA thanks to the rotary engine which was something no other car manufacturer managed to get working properly. I even travelled to the UK last year just to see and hear their vintage rotary powered racing cars. I also keep my 1995 323F’s and 1992 MX-3 in running order, expanding my 520+ title racing games collection.I try to go to as power metal gigs I can & of course have a beer or two with my friends from time to time and play retro games.