Callisto (Atari XE/XL)

Jason Kelk's Callisto, written for the ABBUC Games Competition 2012, has taken me back to a simpler, happier age of gaming. Come on, you remember: a time when you didn't need a tutorial to learn the controls of a new game, seventeen fingers to execute that elusive special move, or a degree in computer science to install the darn thing on your computer.

It's a sideways scrolling shoot 'em up: fly, shoot, dodge and weave. That's it. No pyrotechnics when you pull the trigger, no quadruple shot with plasma cannon and confetti power-up, no super-nukes or chain reaction mega-explosions.

You might describe it as a purists' shoot 'em up. Everything it does, it does smoothly and beautifully, but it is the genre stripped to its essentials. There are no power-ups or bonuses for destroying enemy waves, and there are no end-of-level guardians to defeat.

Ridiculous Reality (Atari XE/XL)

Another day, another de-make, this time it's Continuity on Flash/iOS that has become Ridiculous Reality for the Atari XL as part of the 2012 ABBUC software contest.

Before starting this review proper I should first point out that growing up I was never an Atari boy. In fact my entire experience with Atari's is limited to extensive use of an ST, which I loved, and limited use of a 2600 in the 1990s, by which time even my love of retro gaming couldn't convince me to spend much time on Centipede when I still had my Megadrive and C64 kicking along with a rapidly ageing PC.

Therefore, from a review writing perspective my lack of experience with the hardware may be viewed as both a negative and a positive for the developers of the game. On the one hand, I might not appreciate what has been involved in creating it due to a lack of knowledge of what the machine is capable of, but on the other hand, this means that I have no choice but to view the game on its own merits. Whether this review will therefore create howls of indignation or murmurs of appreciation we shall see.

His Dark Majesty (Atari XE/XL)

It is no picnic living, as many of us poor unfortunates do, in David Cameron's Britain. If it isn't riots on the streets, funding cuts and financial crises, well, they're trying to sell off our forests, take away child benefit, or make us participate in something they call the 'big society.' The problem is, no one knows what it is. Even the humble ash tree is not safe, as the Government has resisted taking simple measures to protect it for the past three years.

It may be horrid, folks, but it could be worse, and D.C. is a purring tabby in comparison with H.D.M. - His Dark Majesty. Let me give you a flavour of his work. We are told, in His Dark Majesty's excellent but rather morose introduction, that the Dark Army 'descended on the land' one 'disastrous decade' ago. It brought 'chaos and pain' making 'simple worries only a memory'. Hmm, so far, so much like our Dave. 'An eternity of dread became a certainty for high-born and peasant alike.' Well, I think we can all see where the two approaches are starting to diverge!

Frogs (Atari XE/XL)

Vulnerable to just about everything and facing the possibility of a watery death at every single move in the pond, frogs have a hard life - or at least that's what Agenda would have you believe in their recent Atari XE/XL release. In fact, I've found Frogs to be such an incredibly difficult game that it has taken me several hours to beat the first screen - a feat I was determined to achieve before writing this review, and one that I've since been unable to repeat. Growing up in the 1970/80's, I'm well aware that 8-Bit games are historically famous for being challenging, but Frogs takes this to a whole new level. In fact, the description 'NES-hard' has now lost a good deal of it's threat for this jaded gamer, with this humble little title completely resetting the difficulty benchmark here at RGCD towers.

Released (and placing 3rd) at the SillyVenture demo party game-development competition last year (2011), this deceptively cute little game sits somewhere between the puzzle and arcade genres, combining reactionary avoid 'n' collect gameplay with a mind-boggling alternating turn-based movement - with a single player controlling two frogs on one joystick in the same manner that normal two-player games are played hotseat. Confused? Try actually playing the game to experience this feeling tenfold.

Mighty Jill Off (Atari XE/XL)

Anna Anthropy is well known in indie gaming circles; to some, she is controversial - to others, genius. I admire her philosophy and work deeply. Anna brings to the table strong opinions about what gaming should be, can be, and ought to be - challenging developers to embrace games as experiences, as art, and as a mode of expression.

Her latest creation, dys4ia, has garnered much praise and press. Presenting a narrative in the form of classic gaming tropes and colourful pixel art, dys4ia tells Anthropy's story of beginning hormone therapy - in her words, an "it gets better" of sorts for other trans women. I played through dys4ia myself and quite enjoyed it, it was a heartfelt and compelling journey, giving a window-glimpse into a personal challenge many will never have to face, or don't fully understand. This game defines for many a part of who Anna Anthropy is: an out-of-the-box, open-minded indie dev challenging the limits of the medium.

Perhaps, then, the brutal platforming gameplay of Anthropy's 2008 masterwork, Mighty Jill Off, might surprise those who play it if dys4ia was their introduction to her world. Make no mistake - Anna also holds retro gaming dear to her heart, and it shows in what is possibly her best known title.

Ocean Detox (Atari XE/XL)

When it comes to simple game design, it doesn't come much more basic than Blitz. Based on an Atari 2600 game called Canyon Bomber released back in 1977(!), the primitive concept of the original involved a constantly descending and non-controllable aircraft flying across the screen and dropping bombs on the pillars of rock below, with the goal being to clear the ground so that the player can can land safely. Exciting stuff, wouldn't you agree? Looking back, its clear to see that the replacing of 'boring rock towers' for 'populated skyscrapers' in Commodore's multi-platform clone/rip-off was nothing short of genius. Children around the world rejoiced at the prospect of playing a game where they could level an entire city, and this combined with it's addictive one-button gameplay resulted in Blitz becoming a massive success.

Over the years I've played dozens of Blitz clones on a wide variety of systems; it's very simplicity makes it a perfect 'first project' for many coders and I even recall seeing BASIC listings for the game printed in old magazines as a tutorial program. So understandably, when I came across Ocean Detox for the 8-Bit Atari back in 2010 I made the mistake of immediately dismissing it as 'another Blitz game', which is why it took me until just recently to begrudgingly fire it up in an emulator. Now, a couple of hours after first loading the game and much to my own amazement, I'm still playing it. In fact, Ocean Detox is currently running in the background while I'm typing these very words, waiting for me to finish this paragraph so I can return for another quick attempt at beating my previous score.

Marbled (Atari XE/XL)

It's been a while since I was really gripped by a puzzle game. This might be because I'm not especially great at them. I'm not that good at Marbled, but it keeps me coming back for more through its sheer quality of production.

Marbled is a game for the Atari 8-bit XL/XE series of computers. It's something I had to keep reminding myself because it trumps a lot of games I've played on those platforms in style and presentation, to the point of occasional disbelief. The graphics are out of this world, the music is both up-to-date (drum and bass beats on an 8-bit micro always sound so cool) and rich, and clearly sounds like a tonne of work has been put into it. Marbled is descended from an Amiga game called Marbles released in 1991, and as a man who fought on both sides of the Amiga-Atari wars of the eighties and nineties I feel I can get away with saying that Marbled's audio-visual style is more like a Commodore 64 game than an Atari 8-bit job. It's brighter looking and better sounding than the Amiga game it calls grandfather, and all the razzle dazzle is backed up by quality gameplay- this isn’t some tarty tech demo that pushes its format to the limit at the expense of entertainment playability.

Retro News Update

Wow. The retro and indie gaming scenes have exploded over the past fortnight, with a ton of releases more than worthy of your attention yet sadly not enough hours in the day for us at RGCD to cover them all in detail. So starting with the modern indie scene, here's what we've been playing for the past few days.

Nitronic Rush (PC)

Mmmmmm, this looks just a bit like Tron, doesn't it?

Despite the 'classic' film and remake/sequel/whatever both being complete pants in regard to actual story quality and science, no one can argue the fact that Tron looks bloody gorgeous. And as you can see, the same applies to Nitronic Rush - an AAA quality Tron-meets-Wipeout futuristic stunt racer developed by a group of students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.

When I first saw a video of Nitronic Rush in action I initially dismissed the game as being yet another title that wouldn't run on my aged desktop, but surprisingly it runs at full speed with all the settings maxed out, so don't pay too much attention to those recommended system specs. The game itself is without a doubt the best indie racer I've played for years, and I actually feel guilty playing it for free. If it had multiplayer support (or at least other AI controlled cars to race against other than 'ghosts') then it would be perfect, but as it stands it's still a contender for freeware game of the year. Avoiding giant neon buzzsaws in a flying car has never been so much fun.

Retro News Update

Time for another round-up of news from the retro scene! With the results (and downloads) from the 2011 ABBUC Software Contest due any day now, the focus today is on the Atari 8-Bit scene, but there's also a couple of 2600/VCS games, one for the VIC20 and even a Videopac/Odyssey title thrown in this update for good measure. As always, full reviews will follow soon.

Mighty Jill Off Preview (Atari XE/XL)

Probably worthy of a news update all by itself, we at RGCD expect Morons Of H.A.R. to win this year's ABBUC Software Contest with their 8-Bit remake of Auntie Pixelante's acclaimed BDSM-themed hardcore platformer. Loosely based on Mighty Bomb Jack (the home computer sequel to the coin-op classic), Mighty Jill Off is a extreme test of old-school jump 'n' run skill and it'll be interesting to see if the difficulty of the Mac and PC version is matched on the Atari. Check the video and let us know what you think!

Space Harrier (Atari XE/XL)

  

When Space Harrier levitated into the arcades in 1985 minds (and wads of small change) were blown. Its cash-sucking gameplay was backed up by high-speed 3D graphics processing that dropped jaws across the world.  Now the classy old blaster has been ported over to the XE/XL range of Atari 8-Bit microcomputers. Without the processor muscle and fancy soundboard of an arcade cabinet, this port of Space Harrier is still unquestionably stunning.

Yoomp! (Atari XE/XL)

[Originally reviewed by J. Monkman in RGCD Issue #04, December 2007]

"Don't tell any Atari 8-bit users it's Trailblazer in a tube 'cos they'll go mental!" was the message relayed to me by T.M.R as he gave me a heads-up about the release of Yoomp!, but to be fair - and I'm a die-hard Atarian myself - that's pretty much a spot-on description of this new title from Poland. To be precise (and as confirmed by the authors of the game) Yoomp! is actually a cylindrical reinterpretation of another 8-Bit Atari game called 'Jump' by D. Johannsen, originally released back in 1986 - coincidentally the same year as the aforementioned Trailblazer. Bouncing a ball along a path full of obstacles was quite clearly all the rage back in the 1980's, and it's a theme that the Yoomp! team have done a fantastic job of updating in their 2007 ABBUC SW Compo-winning smash.

Crownland (Atari XE/XL)

  

[Originally reviewed by J. Monkman in RGCD Issue #04, December 2007]

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was left in a state of awe after playing La Resistance's preview version of Crownland (as featured back in the debut issue of RGCD). I remember having doubts as to whether or not a full version would ever be forthcoming (a Google search will reveal that information on the project is scarce and at the time of writing it's not even mentioned on the developer's web site), but here we have it - a copy of the final(?) build of the game as entered in the 2007 ABBUC SW Competition.