Zool

Whoosh! Zool is here!!

Zool was released in 1993 by one of the most acclaimed gaming companies, Gremlin Graphics who have gone the extra mile to support both models of Atari ST computer. At first, this appears to be a Sonic clone and does indeed have many similarities but, Sonic it ain't. This disappointed many, back in the day (like me), but I figured enough time had passed and I really should give this zippy insect another second chance...

Our little protagonist is a rather odd critter. A badly-disguised ninja ant (well, I think it is!) who is from the "Nth Dimension". He can run, climb, leap and even perform a silly airborne pirouette. His mission is to travel six worlds and prove himself worthy of earning the black belt accolade he so richly desires. Each world is split into three segments of progressive difficulty and, of course, is littered with traps and countless baddies to contend with.

The first level is excellent and has a little iddy biddy Sonic vibe to it...

Run and leap like crazy!

The first is "Sweet World" which could be a child's favourite dream: an entire planet made of candy. But these are killer sweets: like wobbly jelly and a cute rapidly-firing dolly mixture! The second is musically themed and features angry instruments like bongo drums and even some nice ones that play helpful musical notes. However, this is about as far as I've managed to get so I'm extremely grateful for a handy cheat mode that allows me to play on the later levels (and I must admit to being laughably impressed by the Meccano-styles in Tool World)

Collecting the items is the name of the game and, in Sweet World, that means candy. Look at the bottom/left of your screen which displays how many are required with an arrow pointing you in the right direction to find more. Thankfully, there are restart points from which to continue your adventure but it will never be easy as each level has such a cruel layout littered full of traps - and a huge number of baddies. Beware, lots of practice is required!!

Watch where you're walking! So many dangerous places in this world of weird.

Input & Output

Controls are absolutely superb - intuitive and very responsive - with an option to use inertia, which I personally leave disabled. Keep banging on that fire button for rapid firepower and if you tap it again (during a jump) then a pirouette manoeuvre is actioned to kill even more of the colourful nasties in this crazy world.

Power-ups are also frequently available to ease your hectic adventure like Two Zool - your very own doppelganger. Like all ninjas, Zool has an energy shield that can be replenished during play but it can survive only three hits before you're as dead as a dodo. I would have like more!

Visually, Zool rocks and I'm sure they've used every colour they could for a weirdly gaudy display with beautiful sprites - I love the purple dolly mixture. Atari STe users will be thrilled to witness more colours and their screen scrolling along at an alarming 50fps. However, there is a slowdown in places which is a shame.

Audio is superb with sound effects and optional chiptunes. It would have been nice to hear DMA effects, especially noticeable in world two - with its oddly silent musical instruments. A missed opportunity, I thought.

Right, hands up who wants a lollipop now? What... Just me? Darn it!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Zool is great but far from perfect mostly thanks to frustrating mechanics that can ultimately spoil what would have been a cracking game. For example, don't expect to whizz great distances like that spiky hedgehog because Zool's levels are oddly designed to contradict his spritely Ninja abilities. There are far too many deadly objects, many off-screen, and the enemies are constantly respawning which is annoying... Arghh, less is more!!

However, ignoring the negatives, I admit to enjoying Zool. It's fast, crazy and it is stuffed with an insane personality. This is a great platformer - especially when played using the Atari STe. Now, gimme some Chupa Chups!!

8BitChip always has the best download for those with a hard drive/Ultrasatan.

For those stuck with floppy disks, then Old Games Finder will ease your pain!

AtariMania not only feature Zool in their ST database website but also have the manual and code wheel!

To cheat type in PANDA on the menu and you will see a flicker. During a game press:

          -> Spacebar 1 - will make you invincible.

          -> Spacebar 2 - to skip forward onto the next stage.

          -> Spacebar 3 - to skip forward onto the next world.

Wolfenstein 3D

I had an hour to spare before the boss was due home from work, so I fancied a game of Wolfenstein 3D. Sadly, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped!! But, I must admit, it makes a funny video recording. Well, it made me laugh! ;^)

Here ends my silliness......

!cube

I have been browsing through some of the amazing works to come out of Silly Venture and found a superb chiptune by !cube (aka Toni Lönnberg). Hyper Ocean Ride came second in the competition and is also making use of the Atari STe's DMA hardware for those cool drums. I love this tune so had to share it - press the GREEN arrow below!

Okay, Mr cube has a great website and is also listed on Demozoo and SoundCloud. I have recorded a video of his "Meet !cube" musicdisk which you can download here and I must say that Bullet Sequence is another of my fave tracks (from Silly Venture 2014). Delicious!

Crash Time Plumber

New game alert!

Crash Time Plumber is a conversion of the Gamopat original which was released at Silly Venture demo party. The Atari game was developed by none other than Sebastien Lucas of Cerebral Vortex and it will work on any Atari computer with a Blitter Chip: check the Options screen in GEM but all late models of STfm, Mega ST, Atari STe, and Falcon should be a-ok. Many STfm computers have an empty socket just waiting to be used:

* Many newer STFMs have an empty Blitter Chip socket so head over to the EXXOS webSTore.

At first, I wasn't sure how this was gonna go as we've been burnt by so-called 8-bit conversions before. However, this booted up great with a neat intro and looks the business! Based on Donkey Kong with a dollop of Popeye, it's set in 1983 as the gaming industry crashed (which I was completely unaware of being a Spectrum kid then!)

Anyhow, an Italian plumber has teamed up with an angry-looking monkey and kidnapped ten gaming heroes: Pac-Man, Pitfall Harry, Q-Bert, Frogger, and others. They are all preparing for a hideous death at the hands of these criminals from the East so go and rescue them all to foil Mario's plan and stop this invasion.

Sounds cool, right? It is and so is the intro too which begins in Alamogordo (I've been here!)...

The intro is sweet and tells a good story. Also, I've been to Alamogordo, NM. #tidbit

Hang on, this looks familiar?

Taking place on the donkey kong construction site, we run along girders collecting love hearts given away by a damsel in distress. She floats by in her hot air balloon and, when enough are collected, we begin a steroid-jumping rescue to the top of the screen and save a trapped hero. Once he's free, we can move on to the next level.

This isn't easy because, not only is Mario rolling barrels downhill, but King Kong is hanging about throwing deadly killer bananas at us with annoying accuracy! Some levels have weather conditions affecting your movement and there's even a harsh 120 seconds time limit. This makes things quite difficult after a few levels!

The game ends once each and every gaming hero has been rescued. Easier said than done...

Watch out for angry monkeys throwing their killer bananas or you're DEAD!!

One smooth looker!

The graphics are fantastic! A gorgeous 80s retro theme with cute sprites and the Blitter delivers a smooth 50fps display. Heck, the Atari STe even adds enhanced colour fading and Falcon owners get to witness a huge Zeppelin flying by - which I cannot help but wonder why that's missing on the STe? Ignoring that moan, this game is ace!!

The audio is also superb with lovely sound effects and a simple chiptune that is also totally suited to the ye olde style. A lot of effort has gone into both the visuals and sounds and I dare that jingle not to stay in your head all day!

Everything is just dandy and perfect in with a retro and comical design...

Beautiful girl blowing kisses? Come back, my love!

The CryptO'pinion?

Don't be fooled by the humble 8-bit appearance. From the start, you're tricked into thinking this is going to be easy but the combination of fantastic controls and tough mechanics will catch you out. I'm sick of being smacked in the face by a killer banana... but I keep on being dragged back for more of this torment... Am I insane, no this game is!!

Crash Time Plumber is extremely hard but it manages to drag you back for more - kicking and screaming.

Download for FLOPPY / HARD DISK

Online ST Picture Viewer

Often I need to quickly view an Atari ST piccy on my Mac, and there are plenty of options, but here is a fascinating web-tool by Cyprian. This allows you to instantly view those old images within a web browser. It supports classic formats like Degas, Neochrome, Spectrum 512, and even works with drag and drop. An outstanding tool.