River Raid

Let's play with Carol

For those living under a rock for the last few decades, River Raid was developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari 2600 and is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up. It was ported to other machines like the C64, Intellivision and ZX Spectrum (the latter being what I played throughout the 80s). I thought this game rocked and it's only now, thanks to using OpenEmu, that I've had my eyes opened by the original. Wow, the differences are staggering!

Okay, we're flying up the River Of No Return which is endless so split into handy sections, divided by bridges. Viewed from a top-down perspective, we fly under the radar and shoot anything that gets in our way - but stay over the water because the land results in our humiliating destruction!! (Really?). The controls are superb and dead easy: we can alter our speed by pushing up to go faster and pulling back to slow down. Left/Right skims over the water using an awesome level of inertia and allows us to dodge the enemies we foolishly left alive.

Testing your skills and dexterity are many enemies: helicopters, planes, tanks and more (depending on the conversion). Kill everything using missiles and clear the way for a smooth flight up the river. Fuel can be replenished from neglected tankers or you could blast 'em to smithereens for lots of extra points? Yup, that's about as complex as this shooter gets - survive as long as you can whilst killing anything dumb enough to get in your way!

River Raid appears to have its fair share of lovers and haters but I love it. It's such a thrilling blast without complicated mechanics or pointless objectives. However, others feel this simplistic approach can become tedious - but they're weirdos. Enjoy what is nothing less than a fantastic and timeless shoot 'em up. Okay, let's play...

- ATARI 2600 -

As this is the original, I was expecting a fascinating blaster beyond anything I'd previously experienced and that's exactly what I got. Visually, it's a typical 2600 with bland backgrounds and enemies made from Lego. Okay, I'm forgetting how ahead of its time this wooden slab of late 70s technology is because everything moves fast and smoothly. The sound effects are grungy and raspy which is perfect for the engines and explosions.

Wow, this is so incredibly playable with well-balanced gameplay and great controls. It just feels right and obliterates the ZX Spectrum game that I grew up playing - so I'm now looking into time-travel technology. Sigh...

This is the best version of River Raid that I have ever played. Simple as that.

- ATARI 5200 -

I had high hopes for Atari's SuperSystem but there is very little to separate this conversion from the original. Sure, the graphics have been improved using rugged landscapes so the river is more interesting thanks to the contours of the shoreline. This design works well and helps pilots like me to survive longer, which is great because there are now lots of extra enemies. Plus what's better than blasting a bridge just as a tank is crossing over?

Sadly, I preferred the controls of the original but I'm not entirely sure why. The 5200 lacked something and God only knows how I'd cope using the machine's analogue stick! Don't get me wrong, this is a great conversion but something about the original kept dragging me back and I cannot say the same for the 5200. Close, but no cigar.

- ATARI ST -

It's sad that River Raid never graced the Atari ST. However, there might be light at the end of this tunnel of disappointment, thanks to a game by REIsoft called (wait for it) River Of No Return. It was developed by Jürgen Reichenwallner using SEUCK and is described as a rescue mission with a military theme. Hmm...

Unlike the original, this river is littered with stranded soldiers eager to be rescued otherwise the idea remains basically the same. Controls are fine but the plane could have had a nip more speed and agility. I failed to understand the mechanics behind our weaponry which appeared to speed up to a rapid level and thus made the game easy. Weirdly, we're not restricted to water but some buildings can destroy you, whilst mountains won't. Ahem.

Visually, it's okay to look at, with nice landscapes and sprites that aren't too shabby. However, the scrolling is poor using a low framerate which is incredibly embarrassing. Sound effects are equally humiliating for our powerful 16-bit beast - which should have annihilated those "lesser" consoles! oh, and the firing will drive you insane!

Remembering that this was developed using SEUCK, it's not bad and I did get a level of enjoyment. However, those expecting a River Raid clone will be extremely disappointed by this shambles (the ST has zillions of better shoot 'em ups). I did play about a few games and eventually reached the boss - but it beat me (twice) so I never bothered trying again. Play the Xenons, SWIV or Flying Shark instead (all searchable here)

Coffee, Beer & Gifts

Thank you, friends!!

Hello fellow ST Nutters. As you might have guessed, AtariCrypt has a Patreon page for those who wish to support me in my endeavour to continue this Atari ST website. At first, it wasn't something I was particularly comfortable with doing. But I've been blown away by the kind members of our ST community and having their support means a lot!!

So, I wanted to arrange a selection of gifts for these folk: mouse mats, keyrings, coasters and coffee mugs. The first package has already been sent to a guy from Finland who we all know for his brilliant work over at Atari Mania. Of course, one of the mugs is staying here with me - I'm drinking coffee out of it right now. Mmm, lovely.

These are quality made products, and I'd like to thank Rhayader Computers for their friendly service. There are still several gifts left in stock - waiting for new supporters - so come on board and help the best Atari ST website on the planet. (What? A bit much? lol). My sincere gratitude to all our backers past, present and future. Thank you so much :-)

Update Jan 2022

I've dropped Patreon as I felt I wasn't updating the website enough (due to personal reasons) so I later started an account on 'Buy Me A Coffee'. I'm more comfortable using that as it feels better and more casual, so less of a permanent commitment. Oh, and if you are wondering - all the goodies are available to our supporters using this platform.

Click here if you are interested in supporting AtariCrypt... https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AtariCrypt

        

   

UBESWITCH

My best purchase ever?

After more than two years, I can finally update our hardware section with my latest Atari ST purchase. Yep, I dumped my old monitor switch box for a Ubeswitch by Urban Jonsson, which I bought off the Exxos Web Store.

It's amazing how fantastic this thing works: plug it in and power on your Atari ST (mine defaulted to high resolution but that can be changed by holding the top button for a couple of seconds). Changing resolution is simple, just tap the same button to send a signal to the ST that you wish to switch resolution - and you can easily flip between colour/mono at any time. I'm using an NEC 1970NXp multisync which works very nicely.

STOP!! You should first check that your monitor is fully compatible and listed here:

Best-Electronics
Atari-Forum Wiki
15khz.net
Wikidot

What a cracking piece of hardware and with an incredible design that makes using it so easy to use. If you have a monitor that can support the ST's awkward 15Khz display demands, then head over to the Exxos web store and get this adapter bought. Fascinating witchcraft and I wish I'd have bought one of these years ago!!

Forgive my handy camera skills! Click it for a bigger view of my Ubeswtich love.

Minefield

- You sunk my battleship!! -

Everyone loves the Battleships board game? Well, I know I do! So here is Minefield by Donald Campbell which is kinda based on the idea only this time we're driving tanks across a minefield made from 64 square tiles. Our opponent is your beloved Atari ST who is trying to do the same and the one with the most through wins!

There are three difficulty levels with the first being "Dead Easy" which makes your Atari ST appear rather dumb. Especially as it fails to learn from its mistakes... The second level is "Quite Easy" and a marginally better opponent. Finally, we have "Intelligent" which is the most fun and even uses its cannon to locate mines. Sounds like fun, right?

As you can see, I shot the square ahead to reveal a mine. Wow, that was a close call. Phew :)

- Play The Game -

We begin each game by placing five mines secretly on your opponent's board (the ST will do the same on yours). Each player takes turns to safely guide a tank from one edge of their board to the other. We start each game by selecting any square from along the bottom row. Our tank can only move upwards or diagonally upwards and once a square tile has been used, it's removed from play. This will restrict your options later on...

Remember those five hidden mines? Well, to help locate these, use your cannon and fire at any square tile. The explosion will either result in a face or a skull: a smiley face means the tile is clean and free to use. However, if you see a skull then stay clear otherwise it's instant death - and for the duration of the game. Both players repeatably take turns until no tanks remain and the one with the most safely home is the winner. Easy peasy!

Sometimes this game shoots itself in the foot thanks to its earlier (bad) decisions...

- Graphics & Sounds -

Visually, this game will blow your socks off!! I'm talking 200+ colours, 50fps hardware scrolling and all in overscan... Okay, okay, there's nothing like that whatsoever but a game like this needs nothing more than to be functional. The board is basic but clear, the smilies are cute and the skulls look cheap but I really don't care. Nor should you.

I wasn't expecting much in the audio dept and that's exactly what I got. The old YM chip struggles as I fear Donald wasn't much of a sound guy? There are a few basic effects but it's all pretty lame and the tanks sound like a wasp is trapped in a spider's web. Not good. However, just like amateur graphics, it doesn't matter.

...and, ahem, as you can see we humans aren't too clever also. Sigh!

- The CryptO'pinion -

Sadly, I'm not convinced about the three difficulty levels, especially when watching the computer make some terrible mistakes. So it's a shame there's no option for two [human] players which would have been nice. Also, the 8x8 grid layout is a little too restricting and can leave both players with zero options towards the end - even though a couple of tanks might still remain. Okay, it's time I stopped being an idiot and remembered this isn't a commercial release.

Technically rubbish, yet here I am about to rave on about why you should download Minefield. I can't give you much of a reason, other than I've played dozens of games and loved every single second!! Yes, it's crude. Yes, it looks terrible. Yes, it sounds even worse. Yet, it's one of the most enjoyable board games I have played. Great fun and I loved it.

- FLOPPY DISK DOWNLOAD -

Shadowlands

Brace yourself for an epic adventure!

I've just downloaded an iPhone app that claims to scan photos/boxes and will fix the alignment angles and other funky stuff. Why am I telling you this? Well, everything you see within the Box Art section was taken using my phone's camera which means trying my best to get the angles just right! In fact, that's almost impossible with these shaky hands of mine, so I would often take 500 snaps just to get that one decent photo...

Well, no more because I have finally caught up with the rest of the world and started to use Google's Photoscan. This appears to do everything I need and very quickly too, so I thought I'd begin with Shadowlands which I purchased a couple of years ago (btw, you really should click that link and read all about the game). In fact, this RPG is astounding and one of the best games I have ever featured. Certainly one of my favourite games so I am delighted to own it.

So, what do ya' think about the box capture above? I believe it's actually very good and it took mere seconds without any shaky hands getting in the way to ruin it. Anyhow, check out what else we have inside the box...

The back of the box is superb and would have tempted the gamer to empty his wallet to buy it!

Should I post this? I wonder what would happen if I did or would the postman just bin it lol

The manual is nothing short of superb and stuff with helpful information. Read it!!

And finally, here are the floppies which completes what a 90s gamer would have got for this cash.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Wakey Wakey!!

I woke up early today - in the mood for demos! No idea why, but I started watching a few old video recordings whilst suppin' my coffee. Yes, it's a weird way to spend those early hours when the family are still sleeping but... I am weird. There are so many great demos for the Atari ST and even a few for the STe too. (I never understood how the STe had all that extra graphical hardware, yet its demos pale considerably compared to the STFM releases?)

Anyhow, I ended up watching a few more videos - Punish Your Machine never fails to impress my old eyes and ears! Brace, by Diamond Design, is simply jaw-dropping. These got me in the mood - for another coffee!! Then I grabbed the headphones and enjoyed a few fave tunes by Scavenger, Nemo and TAO. A golden trio there!!

The trouble is, the hands ache holding onto the phone for that long, so I cast YM Rockerz' Spinning Wheels onto the TV. However, time was now running out and this "noise" woke my girls, who halted the fun ;-) But what a great start to the day! (Everything mentioned is within the above two [ST+STe] playlists I've linked.

I'll end this silly post with the groovy Sexgames by Christian Källström (Crazy Q) of DHS which is brilliant!!

Line Of Fire

We're going to war, bring a mouse!

Line of Fire was converted from the arcades in 1990 by Creative Materials for US Gold and is basically a "crosshair" shooter. It begins from behind enemy lines as we're trying to escape never-ending hoards of angry bad guys. They're annoyed because we've sneaked in and pinched their brand-new toy - a Rapier Gun. Of course, we have no intentions of returning it so must now escape in a blaze of glory. A-Team style!

The gameplay is really simple: move the mouse onto the enemy soldiers and hit fire to send 'em to hell. Kill anything that looks mean, including the hardware that they use: a truck, plane, boat, or even their incoming missile attacks. Well, that's about as technical as this shooter gets - lots of frantic killing and loud explosions. Great stuff!

Oh yeah, so let's start by taking a look at the first screenshot...

The map shows our escape route through the base, jungle, rocky canyon, town, etc.

And bring a friend too!

One or two players is supported for a single or a (much-needed) co-op onslaught of pure adrenalin. Solo is controlled using the mouse which is perfectly precise but I felt the crosshair should have been bigger because it sometimes got lost among the action and explosions. Try it - hit the SHIFT key to spark a nuclear explosion (aka grenade) but be thrifty because these are best left for the end-of-level bosses. Trust me, you'll need 'em all.

We begin trapped inside the enemy compound with lots of baddies lining up the corridors all ready to kill us! The display shows our health and the number of grenades - both of which can be topped up by shooting the corresponding supply boxes left lying on the ground. There's a boss waiting at the end of every stage, be it two ugly brutes firing missiles, a plane stuffed with a cargo of airmen, or a ghost train and its endless supply of soldiers.

Okay, shall we take a stroll through the many levels of this crazy game? Yes, a good idea...

- Eight Stages To Freedom -

Level 1 - The Enemy Camp

This is where we broke into the enemy camp, kicked in their sandcastle and make the bad guys cry. However, tons of smurf-looking soldiers were alerted (very odd) and they're mean and sneaky - some even hide inside the floor panels and ceiling vents. Once you reach the end it's time to battle two enormous bad guys who are just asking to eat those grenades.

Overall, I really enjoyed this opening stage albeit very short. Should have been much longer!

Level one kicks in with an assault of smurf soldiers!

It's not long before a couple of bosses appear but I brought fire!!

Level 2 - Destroy The Enemy Jungle Base

Those smurfs failed to stop us and we made it outside to jump into our jeep and head for the jungle. Lots of enemies are lurking in these muddy waters, along with choppers and planes dropping bombs of mass destruction! The action feels unbalanced for solo gamers but the helicopter boss is pretty cool and a good fight without being too complicated.

Overall, this stage proves the developers used ST Basic and had no beta testers! Let's take a look...

Chug...Chug...Chug... alongside an unused Blitter...

Be quick and get blasting everything you see on the screen. Gun love time!

Level 3 - Exit By Speed Boat

Pretty much more of the same as the previous level - but this time we're riding through the soggier parts of the massive jungle. Watch out for the soldiers hiding on the river banks and you might even see the odd Rambo impersonator. The two bosses are back but this time they've brought some help for what is quite a fatiguing battle.

Overall, this level is more of the same which isn't great unless you have a faster computer?

It's good fun actually. Essentially, my pessimistic attitude is because of the framerate.

Okay, the two guys have brought in some help. It's very tough so expect to lose lives.

Level 4 - Fighting In The Canyon

Like the jungle, this time the graphics have changed to an odd-looking rocky canyon. Hmm, those walls don't look right, especially when you see soldiers hovering in mid-air! Anyhow, this level is another which is stuffed full of gun love and there's even an aeroplane boss that lunges rockets at your face.

It's probably better than the jungle stages but just as crazy with too many enemies eating away at your credits.

Enemies everywhere! Shoot - quicker - shoot some more. No, be quicker!

Gotta be impressed by the boss scenes, especially as no Blitter is utilised.

Level 5 - Do Or Die Battle In The Desert

Landscape graphics are gone and the display is reduced to objects and sprites. It's now that I noticed the odd blue background - it really stands out because there's nothing else. Looks very strange. However, the benefit of this sudden change is a decent framerate which means it plays better than all the other levels. The boss stage is a train, which is something solo players should fear!

Overall, a great level and I wish the others were as fast and responsive as this one. I enjoyed it :o

It looks... odd... but fear not there's a bunch of fun to be had here!

The train level is great actually, but there's a lot to do and it seems to last forever.

Level 6 - Foes Await In The City's Ruins

Finally, we've made it into a rough shantytown for a terrifying urban siege. Terrifying because that horrendous framerate has returned with a vengeance - I think this stage is the most sluggish of all? To be honest, it's a bit boring and also far too tough in solo. Where's the boss stage?

Overall, it's okay but all a bit... meh because of the dreadful framerate.

The idea behind this stage is actually very good but poorly implemented.

I'd had enough by the time this screenshot was taken and that's not good, is it?

Level 7 - Evade The Enemies Aircraft

We're on the runway and zoom off into the skies for aeronautical hell. However, this stage is tacky with a lame submarine boss - which is rubbish. Overall, this feels like a stocking filler and is the worst level so far.

Wow, I said that after playing the previous stage? Dang!

I've really had enough...

Oh, go away! (Yes, I've really really really had enough of the game now)

Level 8 - Fly To Your Base By Helicopter

Glad I didn't throw in the towel because Howling Mad Murdock would have loved this stage! The enemy chucks everything at you for one final attempt to get their fancy gun back! Don't get defeated because the end is very near. Sadly, I did, because it's insanely difficult! Which means I failed to save the Western World from the dreaded Terrorists.

Ah well, at least I tried...

That blue background might look daft, but imagine it black. See, it's actually a good idea!

No matter how much I tried, I failed to complete the final stage by my lonesome.

Graphics and Sounds

Visually, Line Of Fire is an oxymoron because it impresses and shocks in equal measure. Overscan is utilised with both top and bottom borders removed to provide tons more pixels. I also loved the palette which is comically bold, the sprites are huge and those explosions are just ginormous! Sadly, the sprites look like I've drawn them and the framerate shocking. In fact, it's possibly the worst performance I've seen from an Atari ST which is a sad thing to type.

The audio failed to impress. It begins with a nice title screen chiptune with a humorous intro but it's all downhill afterwards. In-game sound effects are basically your gun and grenades. So it's your gunfire that you're constantly hearing, which sounds like a room full of dancers shuffling their feet. Ugh, turn down the volume.

A mixed bag of goodies alright but the Blitter would have helped a lot... sigh... Time for another screenshot...

Gotta take my hat off to the developers for using overscan albeit at the expense of framerate? :/

The CryptO'pinion

I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of crosshair shooters but Line Of Fire shocked me. There's no 2D landscape with pop-up cardboard soldiers waiting to be shot. Instead, we have a first-person perspective similar to something like Narco Police but in overscan. Which is kinda cool for a machine with only half a meg Ram!

However, this conversion is screwy and appears to do everything it can to make the Atari ST perform like a Vic-20. Okay, I would never compare a home computer to the specs of an arcade machine with its faster processors, sprite scaling hardware, etc but this feels rushed and should have been better. I don't understand what Creative Materials were thinking. Then again, aren't these the guys that gave us Street Fighter 2 and Days Of Thunder?

Overall, I enjoyed Line Of Fire because it's something different from what I usually play. It's better with a friend as it's not balanced for solo play, but at least it provides a few continues to keep you interested. I'm glad I didn't buy this terrible game, but I still enjoyed rampaging through the various levels. Worth playing - but only with a friend.

- Downloads -

Floppy - Bad Brew Crew #33 (Stonish)

Hard Disk - 8BitChip (w/ extra credits)

Silly Dabbles Demo

Oh no, I've been creating again...

I love finding Atari ST programs that do something silly or unexpectedly cool. There are lots already within our Software section, like Full Screen Construction Kit, MandelST and I even got to play with overscan. Yep, I love to dabble in hiSTory so I was pleasantly shocked to find an intro maker which I had not heard of before...

It's by Deviant Designers, called Letter And Intro Maker (L.A.I.M.) and is simple to use. Just select the various fragments of what actually makes an intro - a picture, fonts, chip music and, of course, a text file used for the scroller. There are already lots of fonts on the disk and dozens of chiptunes to choose from - the hardest part is writing the text (read the docs) and finding a decent image to use - unless you're talented in NeoChrome?

Once you're happy, save your production to disk and then quit into GEM to load it up. Yep, you've created your first demo screen in mere seconds! This is what I've done here and called it "Silly Dabbles" which features an image from Beastlord and music by An Cool. Try this program - I'd love to see what you guys create.

I've recorded a video and the disk image can be downloaded too. It's jerky under emulation (for me) but smooth as silk on a real Atari ST. Anyhow, I hope you like my Silly Dabbles Demo and enjoy using the program too?

Credits and Download Links:

Deviant Designers for Letters And Intro Maker (LAIM)
https://demozoo.org/groups/38004/

Picture was taken from Beastlord by WJS Design/Grandslam
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-beastlord_8696.html

Music by An Cool used in The Death Demo for 2-Life Crew
http://sndhrecord.atari.org/mp3/AN_Cool/

- Screenshots from L.A.I.M -

Nothing flashy here but it works great and never crashed on me once!!

Oodles of fonts to choose from and a preview is shown before you decide, which is nice.

Dozens of awesome chiptunes to choose from but sadly no preview. Can't have it all...

Randomazer

Thomas has been busy again!

It's always exciting to hear of another brand new game in development for the Atari STe and we've just been given an early playable demo of Randomazer. It's by Thomas Ilg, the same fella who gave us a fantastic conversion of Frogs which should also work fine on the Falcon and Mega ST (check your STFM for an empty Blitter socket).

As you have probably guessed, Randomazer features randomly generated mazes where we guide colourful baubles around the screen and safely home. It sounds simple, and it is, but it's not - especially with multiple balls! There are four different game modes, tutorials, buckets of levels and also cool actions that can be applied to destroy walls and teleport. The graphics are designed by none other than STS with sweet tunes by xFalcon.

These type of puzzlers aren't really my cuppa tea because I simply haven't got the patience for something like this!! However, I have actually enjoyed playing Randomazer which is something that both Thomas and I are probably shocked to hear!! Why, I hear you scream?

Well, after suffering through Marble Madness, I wasn't initially keen with Randomazer. At first, I struggled and it destroyed what little patience I managed to muster! But the tutorials are helpful so I managed to get a grip of this intriguing puzzler which has elements of Lemmings in some respects. Yep, I still find it infuriating (sorry Thomas!) but it's unique and oddly very addictive!

It's incredible to think a brand new Atari STe game is born from what was a basic maze generator only a couple of months ago. I wish Thomas much success with this but please remember that it is a Work-In-Progress. Any feedback, help or other ideas will be appreciated so click the link and get this baby playtested right now :-)

Update: the game is pretty much finished albeit marked as a beta as I write. You can download it right now from Thomas's website for free with the final release only hours away and the boxed version available to pre-order!! Also, it's worth checking out Stickhead's fantastic new video showcasing the current game. Enjoy!!

* UPDATE *
Buy the BOXED version!

Use those green arrows to safely guide your ball home (the green square)

I never thought I'd see "perfect" when I first started to play this tough game!!

Woo!! Things are getting difficult now and what are those buttons at the bottom? Hmm...

Hang on, I can blow up walls? Let's try that for starters!!! :D