It even had a cracking title tune from Jonathan Dunn. This Ocean produced game involved a mix of both Carrier Command and Starglider, as you whipped around the surface of one of Saturn’s moons, then took to the skies for a spot of open air combat. The 3D offerings from these two notable titles still look pretty good today, but one that’s often missing from the list of impressive 3D ST games is Voyager. Moving from the limited graphics on the Spectrum to the likes of Stargliderand Carrier Command for the Atari ST caused many a jaw to drop in wonder. But the game was strangely addictive, and of course, there’s the whole vertical take-off and landing thing going on – which is just as cool today as it was back in the 80s. The pyramid like mountains, large targets that never diminished in size despite the altitude, and otherwise bland green landscape didn’t quite have the same appeal. Graphically, it wasn’t a match for Falcon. However, there were a few other aerial combat sims that managed to slip under the radar. The king of the combat flight simulators on the ST was undoubtedly Falcon, the game was immense in every way. Probably the reason why my parents never bought me a modem. The fact that I would have become target practice for some government agency never entered my mind. The lure of taking on the then glamorous lifestyle of a hacker was something most young teens would have snapped up in an instant.Įven today, the white text on a black background ‘Logon Please:’ with its flashing cursor brings back fond memories of actually wanting to hack into a missile command base, and playing a game of Global Thermal Nuclear War with the resident supercomputer. Hacker, from Activision, was a game I enjoyed immensely on the Spectrum. Still, beating up a dragon as a Speedo-wearing Cyclops is something that doesn’t happen too often. The graphics were large, colorful, and the controls infuriating to master. If a developer was to suddenly launch a remake on Steam with HD graphics, I’d probably buy it in an instance without even bothering to read any reviews.Īaargh! was certainly inspired by Rampage, but added more of a story and had you fighting the other player’s monster once the level was cleared and you found one of the giant eggs belonging to the mythical Rok. Rampage was one of the most memorable games of the 80s. Clearly, there’s life in the old dog yet. However, despite doing well when it was released, Onslaught was soon packed off to the great gaming loft in the sky, and all but forgotten until more recently when it was re-released for the iPhone and Xbox 360. Onslaught was originally an Amiga game, but ported over to the ST, and done remarkably well, too.Īs side scrolling shooters go, it was certainly action packed, and it looked great as well. The likes of Uridium, Paradroid, and Firelord were highly regarded games. Hewson Consultants were already a familiar name to most 8-bit gamers. It was a balancing act of power, mining, exploration, defence, research, and development, all wrapped up in a neat package with an emotional ending that could bring a tear from a glass eye in one of gaming’s greatest moments. After the earth had been hit by an asteroid big enough to wipe out humanity, the few survivors left stranded on a Moon base must somehow become self-sufficient enough to continue our species. It was, for a lot of us, the first time we had to focus on the intricate mechanics of micro-management. Millennium 2.2 is probably one of the most popular titles in this list, although to be fair the Amiga and DOS versions were generally played more than the Atari ST version. It is a largely forgotten Sierra title, although one that’s well worth playing again if you get the chance. But you could hook up a Casio Synth and enjoy the in-game music, especially during the dance scene. Sierra On-Line pushed the limits of the machine, which caused untold disk loading and slow-downs.
Ask most gamers what their favorite adventure game was, and the chances are they won’t say Code Name: Iceman.Īdmittedly it was a slow game, with you playing the role of Navy Commander Jonny B. Sierra On-Line games were instantly recognizable, and were some of the most played and compelling point-and-click adventure titles ever conceived. However, if you mastered the controls, then ADSshone and became as realistic as the ST could get.
How else could you float around the Med finding other ships to unleash the full fury of your guns on? The 3D aspect was impressive, but the game was ultimately tedious as hell. ADS had you in command of a destroyer though, and it worked a treat.