Sunday, September 22, 2024

The Musical Wonder




Groovy beats

It's been a while since I found a great music disk so I was pleasantly shocked to discover The Musical Wonder by Offbeat. This is their second 'Musical Wonder' and is apparently described as a demo delight. Well, it is actually!! The floppy disk boots with a mesmerising intro before offering different types of music.

This disk is impressive and, from the moment I saw that initial intro, I was hoping it wouldn't disappoint. Thanks to a humungous library of tunes by Big Alec, Mad Max, and An Cool, it doesn't. But it's not just the cool tunes I loved. This production uses gorgeous visual effects in ways your eyeballs will relish!

Additionally, there is a hidden screen that features high-quality audio. Hitting the right keys helps wonders but, if you don't want to experiment, beware of this spoiler... Hit the tilde key during the menu screen, then press the Clr Home key for the image. Scroll down to see the picture (without the cool audio, of course).

Okay, let's state the obvious once again. I know it's harsh to hear this but, no emulator or video recording will do justice to any Atari ST production. Use a real Atari computer to appreciate this disk fully.

I am taking a short break due to personal reasons... Hope to continue the ST talk soon... TTFN.


Credits

An Cool - Music
Big Alec - Music
ES - Graphics (Font)
Flix - Code, Graphics, Music, Other (Concept)
Jacky - Other (Music Ripping)
Mad Max - Music
Ramses XIII - Other (Music Ripping)
Ray - Code, Graphics, Other (Concept)
Slime - Graphics
Titan - Other (Music Ripping)

Grab the download off Atarimania  - https://www.atarimania.com/demo...
Offbeat fully archived on Demozoo - https://demozoo.org/groups/31780/


After the glorious title screen, we have three options...



The first is typically old school with loads of colours, a moving background, and all in overscan!



Overscan is used once again with a shedload of tunes to play. This section is my favourite.



Don't go off how it looks for the third part!! Sit back... listen... read...

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Not much to see, but the audio is outstanding. Scroll back up to learn how to access it.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Motörhead




Bambi

I was a kid the first time I heard Motorhead, thanks to watching The Young Ones. That sound blew me away as I'd never heard anything like it and I've been a fan since. It's superb to see Lemmy (RIP†) making his way onto the Atari ST thanks to Virgin Games in 1992. Yet this isn't an Atari ST game I remember playing.

The story doesn't matter for a game like this, but Motorhead band members have been captured and imprisoned. As Lemmy, we must clobber loads of enemies before attempting a rescue. Typically, they're all trapped in different musical locations, the first being Rapland. Well, if you think rap is actually music...

Anyhow, Motorhead is a beat 'em up not unlike Golden Axe. Richard Costello's name appears in the credits to explain that mystery. Additionally, the credits also show Colin Dooley, aka Fungus T. Bogeyman. He programmed two other Atari ST games I thoroughly enjoy - Masters of the Universe and H.A.T.E. Nevertheless, I remember him for very different reasons: Star Wars/Rap. An ancient demo that blew my socks off!!

In light of that personal revelation, we need a bunch of screenshots from Rapland...



Nothing better than smashing in someone's teeth!



At the end of each level, a captured friend requires rescuing.



Each level ends with us racing down the road to collect goodies!



Before the subsequent level begins, we have a (different) bonus round.




Hit 'em all, hard!

Motorhead starts with Lemmy walking onto the stage to blast out guitar riffs YM2149-style. At first, I was disappointed because I expected a short loop of Ace Of Spades! However, that works well. It's weird, the speed of this chiptune is fast and aggressive. Very much in the spirit of speed metal and I love it to bits!!

As the game begins with the bad guys walking into play, you instantly notice how great it looks. Our life's energy is displayed along the top of the screen with the number of remaining Lemmys shown as spades on your belt. To the left is the score and, to the right is the magic level (more on that later).

This beat 'em up is (cough) similar to Golden Axe because it uses the same engine. That means movements, actions, scrolling, etc feel just the same. So when the baddies walk onto the screen, you know instantly what to do and how to do it. And this means hardly any learning curve, which I like a bunch.

Six horizontally scrolling levels are much the same albeit with a different background and enemies...
Level 1 - Rapland - posers and idiots in baseball caps need leathering metal style!!
Level 2 - Nashville - my favourite level with Tex, Dolli, and an inbred mong!
Level 3 - Karaokeville - we're clobbering Japanese singers, businessmen, and sumos!
Level 4 - Scrapyard - Yet another stage of hitting bad guys.
Level 5 - Cathedral - Quite possibly the best-looking level by a mile.
Level 6 - Rave On - The worst level and the hardest. Zebedee makes an appearance!
Each level ends with a joyride that provides an opportunity to collect bonuses and recover energy and magic. Before the next level, there is another bonus round (which is always different). After level one, we have a beer-guzzler that resembles Tapper. Level 2/3 is weird and made me wish I had read the manual! Level 4 is superb because we trash a motel room! The fifth level has us toppling over stones to crush angels.

Okay, let's pause the reading to see a couple of screenshots...



This is from Nashville level 2 - checkout the inbred mong on the right lol



Karaokeville is level three and we're bashing Japanese dudes!




Joystick magic

Controlling Lemmy is fast and responsive plus it's dead easy to learn thanks to the limitations of the joystick's one button. Is that a good thing? Anyhow, movement and actions are centred around that button (whether pressed or not) whilst using a specific direction. That sounds odd? No, it's quite simple...
Without pressing - Left/Right walks Lemmy in that direction (twice to run). Pushing up/pulling down guides him vertically away/closer. Finally, the spacebar will invoke a magical spell.

Whilst pressing - Up will perform a leap (with left/right movement). Down will throw an object/spit, depending on what you have collected. Left/Right (your facing direction) is used to hit/punch. Doing the same, in reverse, Lemmy shoots a guitar cord (to vaporize enemies using magic).

Your movements around the screens are fluent without lag. You can even use parts of the scenery to avoid pitfalls, like caverns. Enemies will attack in packs of 3-5 but aren't the most rapid movers. That gives us plenty of time to run around picking our own battles. I found myself using the same attack pattern - face them/fire. It works well but I would have liked to jump-kick or something else for extra variety.

Opponents suffer a knockback with each hit but only die after being clobbered a few times. I found it best to hit/knockback and turn around to do the same on the next guy before repeating these sexy moves on the first. After a few beatings, they perish leaving behind a bonus - coins (points), Motorheads (magic for guitar cord and magic spells), beer (energy), a jar of cockles, and whiskey (powers a belch aka a superpower).

Magic can also conjure three spells activated by pressing the Spacebar... 1) a dolly bird appears to distract the enemies. 2) the Motorhead logo emerges to damage the bad guys. 3) instantly kill everyone on screen.

We should have a peep at two screenshots showing some of this magical use...



Level 4 takes place in a scrapyard and here I've invoked magic (level 1)



Level 5 is within a stunning Cathedral and I'm hitting out a power cord!!



Aesthetics

Motorhead's visuals are outstanding and make this a sexy beat'em up thanks to the talent of Jason Wilson who might be familiar - HeroQuest and Horror Zombies From The Crypt. All landscapes and backgrounds are vibrant and highly detailed. Character animation is good but superbly drawn - I love that "inbred" from Nashville!! The scrolling isn't really scrolling as it's used to segment each attack wave, as in Golden Axe.

The audio is equal to the visuals in every respect. From the intro, when the chip rendition of "speed metal" began, I knew this would ROCK YM2149-style (pun intended). Each chiptune suits the action without drowning out the sound effects. Thank you Ben Daglish (RIP†) for your amazing musical talent.

Hey, do you fancy a couple more screenshots? Of course, you do...



Zebedee turns up for the final stage, Rave On.



This bonus round is brilliant and tons of fun!




The CryptO'pinion?

To say I've enjoyed this beat'em up would be an understatement. I've relished repeatedly hitting individuals in the craziest places. However, a cynic might suggest it's just Golden Axe with different graphics? Well, I'm not sure about that negativity. Many games borrow ideas or use the same engine to drive the gameplay.
So what did I appreciate about Motorhead? Easy, I appreciated how simple it is to jump straight in and begin thrashing the enemies until they're dead meat. It's amusing zipping around the screen looking to clobber people. The controls are easy to master without feeling sluggish or unresponsive. This is a no-frills game of hitting everyone and it's brilliant fun!!

Ironically, what I didn't like was that simplicity. The repetitive gameplay backfired by the fourth level. I started to tire because I wanted something more but it failed to provide any. It tried with the two bonus rounds (after each level) but more was needed. Furthermore, Lemmy needed a few more attack moves - like a kick or something more accessible without resorting to magic.
It may not have broken the mould but I've not enjoyed a beat'em up this much since Double Dragon 3. This might shock many but I thoroughly enjoyed playing through to the end (except for the final level).

So I might surprise a few people here but my rating is a golden axe hack of 85%.

D-Bug has the hard disk version, and Atari Legend has the floppies (I used Gravatics #88)



Level 2 is brilliant and I can even shout at young girls!



Level 3 got a little weird once my mother-in-law turned up!



Level 4's bike ride looks so gorgeous with that dark sky.



Level 5 is stunning. Truly gorgeous pixel art, just look at those goths and skeletons.



I played through and rescued everyone. I wonder why I'm still collecting bonuses?



The ending is Motorhead banging away on stage. Still no sampled sounds though ;)

Saturday, September 07, 2024

Temptation aka Project "A" by NoExtra




NoooooExtra!!

Taking a break from gaming, let's watch a fantastic Atari STe demo by NoExtra released late for STNICCC 2015. This is a striking production with stunning pixels and DMA music by Tomchi, aka Nicolas Flandin. A particularly favourite musician of mine who later left NoExtra and is a member of YM Rockerz.

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this demo again. The 3D floor part is a belter and reminded me of Alpha Waves. The Hall of Fame screen may appear simple but that "cube" moves with an incredible shadowy effect (that's my technical knowledge for ya!!). The sine scroller part is tiny but I've a fetish for these silky movers - it's totally health, believe me. Hey, maybe I should add this demo to my list of Sine Love?

A beautiful production. This is one of the best demos I have ever seen.

Credits

Atomus - Code
Hylst - Graphics
Mister A - Graphics
Tomchi - Music
Zorro2 - Code

Check out the mighty Demozoo for the download and tons more Atari ST demoscene STuff you will love. Watch my video but (you know what I'm gonna say) it's best enjoyed using a real Atari STe computer!!

Okay, static screenshots never do a demo justice but let's see a few anyways...







Wednesday, September 04, 2024

Carrus




Not really a car

Carrus was developed in 1992 by Thilo Jantz and is something I stumbled on while browsing through Atarimania. I love platformers but this one looked rather peculiar with its black & white screenshots. They show a car attempting to drive unrealistic roads so I was intrigued because I like anything "odd" like me!

The objective is to collect the white signs on each level using a car that moves left/right without acceleration. Very odd for a car, right? Imagine that the sprite isn't a car but a person like Miner Willy or Henhouse Harry. So this "car" travels one step at a time rather than driving. There isn't a need to jump in at the deep end as there are four difficulty levels - beginners, normal, advanced, and Expert. It's best to choose beginner because the levels are simple and you are introduced to various game components one step at a time.

Collecting the white signs sounds easy but the strategy comes by knowing and mastering the level's design. For example, some roads are inaccessible without a bridge, van, or elevator to assist. Other roads dissolve after one use but there are other dangers like mines, bouncing barrels, hidden traps, and robots. Importantly, the order of collecting the white signs matters as you could end up trapped (first experienced on level B-3).

Extra features are the ability to alter the speed by pressing keys 1-9 (fast/slow). Also, if you get stuck, the Z key is used for suicide but you will lose a life. If you need a wee, pause using the P key until you return!! Also, I found the controls much more responsive using a real computer rather than an emulator (YMMV).

I won't pretend this is the greatest game because it isn't. Nevertheless, it is nice to play something unexpectedly different and Carrus fits the bill nicely. I liked the idea but later screens present too much of a massive challenge for me. I only wish there was an option to restart particular levels using a passcode.

I enjoyed this a bunch so my rating would be a wholesome 70%.

A download can be found in the Hang Loose section of the Atari FTP Archive.



Beginner levels like this are perfect for grasping the controls.



The stars are explosive mines. The jaggy road will dissolve after one use.



The third level introduces lifts and also a hidden trap (very cruel).



The fourth level is tough! The roads are impossible to reach without using lifts.



I've moved on to the "normal" difficulty here. As you can see, it's a lot harder!



The third level on "Normal". It's a killer so think before you move! Don't get squashed...


I don't mind admitting that "Advanced" is way too tough for me o_O


And you can forget about the "Expert" level. Yowzers!!



The ending screen says: The last driver was also hit (ie game over)



Not brilliant but, not a bad first attempt... Can you beat me?

Sunday, September 01, 2024

BSW DCD #020




Blue SoftWare

Whenever I think of a typical menu disk, it had loads of games and was released by one of many different cracker groups. Several others did the same thing but kept it legit by packing demos, intros, freeware games, etc. Germany's Blue Software is one such group and they called them DCD, aka Demo CDs.

Now, you know I love to relive my ST years but I cannot remember seeing more than a handful of Demo CDs by Blue Software. This is odd because I was/am a geek and remember collecting the entire library of The Source, Ripped Off, Serenade, and POV. So I went digging through the Demozoo archives to see what I could find. Incredibly, they were so active, releasing 99 DCDs before migrating to The Chaos Engine.

Okay, I've picked DCD #20 for a few reasons but, mainly for the loading screen! This is a fantastic image of a revamped GEM desktop. The background tune is eerie and captivating, I first assumed it was ripped from Archipelagos. It's not. I know that I've heard it before but can't remember... Can anyone help?

Anyhow, hitting the spacebar takes you to GEM to access twenty intros. Most of these are by Pompey Pirates and cool screens by The Syndicate, Empire, and the Mighty Replicants. I especially liked that full-screen image by Killer D (remember that?). What a great disk; really enjoyed it. I love exploring our hiSTory!!

Demozoo links for BSW DCD [ disk download ] [ group library ]




Blue Software made many productions but it's the DCDs I loved most.


Disk Maggie Intro by The Ultra Crew. What a stunning SINE scroller.



Old school and I love it, this is Contact Foxe by Zodiac.



Delta Force Copy Party Demo-Screen by The Replicants.



Delicious Disk 003 Intro by The Syndicate.



Flying Brains - running in full overscan!!



A Small Intro by The Empire and The Fallen Angels.



Pompey Pirates Menu #059 Intro by Pompey Pirates (
check this out).

More random ATARI ST articles from the archives

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