Category Archives: Videos

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Satan’s Hollow

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Tired of blasting aliens? Fed up of shooting soldiers? Punched enough gang members in the face to last a lifetime? Then surely it’s time you faced the ultimate evil!

Yes, indeed, in Satan’s Hollow, you are going after the Big D (not that kind of Big D) himself, ol’ Satan of the Hollow, Esq. And you’ve brought yourself a natty little bridge-building spaceship that seems just tailor-made for the task of crossing the pit of fire to where Satan hangs out.

But wait! It seems Satan has friends, and they’re not particularly pleased to see you. Can you fend off Beelzebub’s Hoover attack for long enough to even catch a glimpse of the lord of all devils himself? Only one way to find out — in an unreleased Atari 8-bit port of an elderly Midway arcade game!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Skydiver

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It’s time for another simple but addictive game from the early days of Atari today: this time around it’s the turn of Skydiver.

Skydiver is slightly more complex than Canyon Bomber, which we saw a few episodes back, but it’s still simple enough that anyone can pick it up with minimal explanation. Mastering it is, of course, another matter entirely, but it was ever thus in these early arcade games!

Skydiver is also one of the noisiest games Atari ever created. Be sure to turn your volume down a bit if you’re playing this one yourself!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Lombard RAC Rally

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The Lombard RAC Rally, known today as the Wales Rally GB, is a high-profile race in the annual rally calendar.

Back in 1988, we had the opportunity to strap ourselves into a state-of-the-art Ford Sierra Cosworth and take part in this prestigious event for ourselves. Some massive prizes of up to a hundred English pounds per stage were up for grabs!

Lombard RAC Rally by Red Rat software was a neat game that did  few things rather unconventionally for the driving game genre. So let’s take a look!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Warriors Orochi, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: I’m On Fire Today – Warriors Orochi #43

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We’re closing in on the end of the Shu campaign of Warriors Orochi now, with only two more side missions and one more story mission to go.

Today, Zhurong and friends decide to turn their attention to the peasants who are suffering under the yoke of Orochi’s oppression. She helps them escape in her own inimitable fashion — and is very keen to make sure we’re aware of her accomplishments at the conclusion of the battle.

I’m going to be sorry to leave this particular gang of misfits behind — they’ve been a lot of fun to play as!

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Raid Over Moscow

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Don’t you hate it when you just can’t get your thing in the hole to blow your payload?

It’s especially troublesome when the fate of the free world is at stake and those pesky Cold War Russkies are flinging inter-continental ballistic missiles at various landmarks. Why, what did you think I was talking about?

Hopefully in the event of an actual nuclear war, the pilots of the small blue aircraft tasked with protecting us all from high above the Earth’s surface will be piloted by someone a little more competent than yours truly…

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Red Baron

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Chocks away, tally-ho and all that! It’s time for Red Baron!

A contemporary of the rather more well-known and successful Battlezone, Red Baron sees players taking to the skies in a World War I biplane and challenging an endless variety of enemy pilots, blimps and ground targets to aerial combat.

This is an underappreciated gem from Atari’s back catalogue, so while it may not have been a bit success back in the day, it’s well worth playing today!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Atelier Arland Trilogy, New Game Plus, Videos

New Game Plus: Iron Giant (Finale) – Atelier Rorona DX #20

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It’s time for the grand finale of our Atelier Rorona DX playthrough!

My “ambition” for this particular run has been to achieve the Adventurer ending, which requires you to get Rorona and Cordelia to level 50, then defeat the Iron Giant superboss in the depths of the Orthogalaxen dungeon.

Did I pull it off? Well, you’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Knights of the Sky

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’80s and ’90s MicroProse was most well-known for its jet fighter sims, but now and again they branched out into something a bit different.

Knights of the Sky was an ambitious attempt to simulate rickety old World War I biplanes rather than high-tech jet fighters — something that only became possible due to improving technology and mastery over the available hardware.

It’s a cool game, for sure — but be prepared to live without a bunch of modern conveniences you might have come to take for granted in more recent aircraft!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Never Let Zhao Yun Tank – Warriors Orochi #42

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Orochi’s armies are growing in strength in an attempt to counter the growing confidence of the Shu forces.

Zhao Yun can practically smell his master Liu Bei now — not literally, ’cause that’d be weird — and his friends are relieved to know that victory is within sight.

There are still a few challenges left to overcome, though… and as we’ve seen numerous times up until now, complacency can be a Warrior’s worst enemy!

Videos

Atari A to Z: Quadromania XL

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It’s another “mystery game” today!

Quadromania XL appears to have originated as a type-in listing for a German Atari magazine, but beyond that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information out there online aside from the name of its creator — one T Meyer — and the person in charge of Loesungsalgorithmus (“solution algorithm”, apparently), A Blohm.

It’s a simple but enjoyable puzzler based on a straightforward concept: pick a block to swap the colour of, and all the blocks surrounding it will also swap colours. Repeat until the whole screen is one colour or you run out of moves. Easy, right?

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.