What do you get if you merge together "Horace Goes Skiing" with Cannon Fodder? Easy, it's called Whipper Snapper's Race by Petr Sumbera of New Design. This was developed using Omikron Basic and stars Max - a dude who goes skiing through many vertically-scrolling levels through places that look (umm) very familiar...
Navigate left/right to pass each obstacle as you ski - but don't bump into anything otherwise, you fall flat on your bum! Pushing up will reduce your speed whilst pulling down will increase it and fire will perform a leap into the air. Passwords are used to access the "missions" without having to start over from the beginning. Yes!!
Graphically, I could never complain because it looks just like Cannon Fodder and has superb attention to detail. Of course, it's all ripped and unoriginal but I do not care! The music is in stereo by Tomas Kucera and sounds funky - I'm sure you will leave it playing for a long while. In-game sound effects are ace but I won't spoil that surprise for you!
Skiing in Cannon Fodder... never been so much fun... (sorry!). Thanks to the great controls, this is so easy to pick up and play but also remains very challenging too. Whipper Snapper's Race is a very silly skiing game and shockingly addictive!!
I've made a floppy disk for those stuck in 3.5" hell :^)
Download the hard drive-installable game from Demozoo!
Wow, Petr's website is still up and running after all these years!!
After about 6 years, Equinox eventually released Virtual Escape in 1999 and it's one of my favourite demos. The tunes are utterly sexy and there are also some of the most incredible visuals that will blow your socks off!! Those swirling dots are gobsmackingly beautiful and I love the super-duper fast 3D. It's hard to believe this is all on a stock 512KB 8MHz Atari ST. An incredible production that oozes class and is definitely one of the beST 16-Bit demos out there.
Don't emulate - experience this using a real Atari ST and crank up the volume!
Credits and Downloads
Furax - Music
Jedi - Music
Keops - Code, Graphics (design)
Mad Max - Music (endpart)
Nova - Graphics
Starlion - Code
You can download Virtual Escape right now off Demozoo.
Democyclopedia mentions each effect, along with the awesome Skyline (see above).
I'm sure everyone knows that Jet Pac was originally released in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum by uber-gaming legends, Ultimate Play The Game. It's one of the most iconic 8Bit games from that era and our conversion was developed by Pete J. Whitby in 1992 for Budgie UK. Heck, he also made all the graphics and sound effects.
Interesting tidbit, I owned Jetpac on cassette and cartridge (ZX Spectrum) and I also had a huge collection dating back to 1981 and had an Interface II (such a geek). Sold the lot when I got a mortgage! :/
Jet Man is a lucky fella working as a space pilot for Acme Interstellar Transport Company. They're sending him to fifty planets to assemble (and playtest) their technological creations. Sadly, his luck ran out when he discovered each planet is being bombarded by a variety of hostiles ranging from fiery comets to fluffy aliens.
There are so many different baddies to blast and many new ones too...
Planets, aliens and lasers!!
Playability is impressively legit from the start with tight controls that feel instantly familiar - if a tad quicker than I remember. Jet Man's movements are exactly as you would expect but he oddly cannot wrap around the screen anymore, which is strange. However, he compensates for that lost ability with a new one - shield power-ups.
The range of nasties is wide and they use differing attack patterns that help to keep the gameplay engaging. Many are new and some require several shots whereas others are invulnerable. Also, watch out for deadly platforms that can zap Jet Man into an early grave. There is even an end level that is something missing from the original. If only I had better gaming skills to witness that for myself... Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen!
Jet Man is one lucky dude who gets to play with all the cool new rockets!
Aesthetics
There wasn't much to the original game that somehow fit inside a puny 16Kb Ram. The Atari ST game is pretty much the same but now features extra colours and the sprites feel so much smoother than they did previously. This is a good thing! Sadly, we appear to have gained a background image which I feel wasn't necessary at all.
The sounds are fine. Okay, at best, so it's disappointing to hear the ST out-bleeped by the inferior ZX Spectrum. Thankfully, there is the option for music and guess what? It's absolutely outstanding so leave it on!
Come on, Zip Zap those aliens as much as you can and refuel that rocket!
The CryptO'pinion?
Jetpac is Jetpac and will always be superb. Okay, this remake wasn't going to beat the original but I feel Pete has captured authenticity and successfully implement new ideas. What's not to love about frantically zapping a relentless alien hoard and gathering fuel pods? Sound effects aside, this is an utterly excellent game!!
Okay, waste no more time and get it downloaded - Jetpac is available for both floppy disk and hard drive.
Play the original ZX Spectrum game on your Atari ST using an emulator:
> Artemis is a great (albeit colourless) emulator that only works on 8MHz Atari ST/e computers.
> Speccy is another emulator w/ support for colours and also faster Atari computers too.
