Tag Archives: Elite

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Buggy Boy

Leave a comment

One of the first games I played on the Atari ST is also one of my all time favourites — it’s Elite’s excellent conversion of Tatsumi’s arcade racing game Buggy Boy, also known as Speed Buggy.

Buggy Boy is interesting in that it’s less about driving at high speed and more about negotiating ridiculous amounts of obstacles as efficiently as possible — and scoring points, of course. It still holds up very well today, and the ST version is one of the best ports.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

header-4165360

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Paperboy

Leave a comment

Porting an arcade game to home computers often wasn’t an immediate process back in the days of the 8- and 16-bit microcomputers. In fact, sometimes it took a good few years!

Such was the case with Paperboy from Atari Games, which first hit arcades in 1985 and didn’t come to Atari ST until a full four years later! Elite put together a rather solid port that played well, but which was regarded as somewhat “outdated” by reviewers of the time.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

header-4165360

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Bomb Jack

1 Comment

Most Atari ST owners probably came into contact with the ST version of Tecmo’s Bomb Jack at one point or another.

Developed by the ever-variable Paradox Software, this is actually one of their somewhat stronger efforts compared to some of their other attempts at arcade conversions, and was certainly reasonably fondly regarded back in the day.

I’ve always enjoyed a bit of Bomb Jack, and while there are better versions available out there, this version holds a fair amount of nostalgia for me. Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

header-4165360

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Gremlins 2

Leave a comment

Something something don’t feed them after midnight, get them wet or whatever.

Yep, Gremlins was a big ol’ thing back in the 8- and 16-bit days, and there were a fair few video game adaptations across different platforms. I think my personal favourite is the Atari 8-bit game, but that’s one of the few remaining games out there that doesn’t seem to play nice with emulation, so I’ve held off making a video on it for now.

Elite’s adaptation of Gremlins 2: The New Batch for Atari ST, meanwhile was… well, it’s not bad, but it is monstrously difficult, so good luck seeing any more than the first few screens, as I discovered while filming this!

header-4165360

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Battleships

1 Comment

In the navy, you can sail the seven seas! You can also blow seven shades of snot out of your friends, siblings and/or parents using nothing more than a pen and paper.

Or perhaps an Atari ST and a copy of Battleships by Elite, an adaptation of the classic tabletop game that aims to up the pace of things a bit by allowing you to fire “salvos” of shots all over the shop in the (usually vain) hope of actually hitting something.

It may look primitive today, but this was an enjoyable fun time in multiplayer back in the day!

header-4165360

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Tournament Golf

Leave a comment

Who’s up for the ruination of a perfectly good walk? Well, you’re in luck, because here comes Elite with their ST conversion of Sega’s Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf.

Tournament Golf, as it was rebranded for its home computer release thanks to the ditching of the license for cost-cutting reasons, is an interesting example of a relatively early golf game trying to incorporate some more complex simulation-style elements into the mix.

Unfortunately, said mix also includes incredibly twitchy arcade-style controls that you need the reflexes of a particularly hyperactive kitten to master, making the whole thing rather more challenging than it needs to be! Still, I had fun…

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

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Beyond the Ice Palace

2 Comments

I never played this game back in the day, but it was one of those titles you saw all over the place in the early days of the ST.

Throughout the ST’s lifespan, it played host to a variety of different bundle packages, many of which were extremely generous in terms of the number of games and applications they included. Beyond the Ice Palace was a regular inclusion in such bundles, and as such became reasonably well-known.

Loosely inspired by action platformers such as Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, Beyond the Ice Palace sees your green-booted, gender-ambiguous hero(ine?) battling their way through hordes of enemies and admiring how the ST’s lack of sound channels meant that a single sound effect could mess up an entire musical composition.

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated site here!