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  • The One (December 1989)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: The One – Issue Number 15 – December 1989

    The One was a U.K. published magazine that covered various mostly 16-bit systems over the course of its life. In late 1989, it was covering the Amiga, Atari ST, and PC (DOS). The December 1989 issue includes:

    Departments

    • Play Guide – A guide to Activision’s Fighter Bomber, a combat flight simulator. This game was known as Strike Aces in the U.S. While I don’t see a mention as to what platform this review is for, this game was released on the Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64.
    • Feature – A preview of the new Ghostbusters II game. While the graphics were nice the game was sadly not as much fun as the original game.
    • Demos – A look at various demos including Interphase, Stay, Magnetic Beats, Ghostbusters II, DTack, and Moonwalker for the Amiga and Batman and UFO for the Atari ST.
      • Graphics – A tutorial for how to create fancy looking text on the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Arcades – A look at new and upcoming arcade releases including Chase HQ II from Taito, Midnight Resistance from Data East, and X-Multiply from Irem.
      • Feature – A look at the current state and future of Artificial Intelligence. It’s interesting to look back on how AI was viewed 35 years ago.
      • Letters – Letters from readers on subjects such as Xenon 2: Megablast, Populous, PC reviews, Rainbow Islands, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, and more.
        • News – The latest in gaming news including updates on Rainbow Islands, Hawk, a Carrier Command sequel, Xenophobe, Dogs of War, Loom, Stun Runner, and much more. Plus the top games for the nonth of November 1989…For the Amiga the top game is Batman – The Movie, for the Atari ST it’s TV Sports football, and for the PC it’s Jet Fighter.
        • Showcase – A look at reader submitted computer art including Alien, Judge Dredd, and Ghostbusters themed work among others.
        • Work in Progress – Previews of games currently in work including an arcade adventure game called Tusker, a 3D game called Simulcra, an arcade adventure called Myth, and a top down action game called Crack Down.

                        Reviews

                        • Axel’s Magic Hammer – A cutesy platform game for the Atari ST.
                        • F-29 Retaliator – A combat flight simulator from Ocean for the Atari ST.
                        • Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts – Sequel to the classic Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins for the Atari ST. A great game but not easy.
                        • Hard Drivin’ – Atari’s classic polygonal racing game for the Atari ST.
                        • It Came From The Desert – A review of this classic adventure game for the Amiga. I never played it but I remember the TurboGrafx-CD ads the most.
                        • The Ninja Warriors – Arcade conversion of this side-scrolling action game for the Amiga.
                        • Rock ‘n’ Roll – A puzzle game from Rainbow Arts for the Amiga.
                        • Switchblade – A sci-fi themed platform game for the Atari ST.
                        • The Untouchables – An action game based on the movie of the same name for the Amiga.

                        Tips

                        • 3D Pool – Tips for improving your play in this Pool game from Firebird.
                        • Altered Beast – Tips for dealing with the various creatures in this side-scrolling action game.
                        • Conflict: Europe – Strategies for winning this Cold War era strategy game.
                        • Hybris – How to access the cheat mode of this overhead shooter.
                        • Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade – How to pass various sections of this adventure game.
                        • Interphase – A variety of tips for this early first person shooter that features concepts from Neuromancer.
                        • The New Zealand Story – Codes for two different cheat modes.
                        • OutRun – How to activate the cheat mode for the Amiga version of this racing game.
                        • Populous: The Promised Lands – Tips for several levels of this classic strategy game.
                        • Weird Dreams – A variety of tips for this odd adventure game.

                        …and more!


                        Amiga Atari ST Computer Arcana DOS Retro Games 📎and tagged

                      • The One (October 1990)

                        Posted on by Azrael Comment

                        Source: The One – Issue Number 27 – October 1990

                        The One was a U.K. published magazine that would eventually become exclusively an Amiga games magazine. However, in 1990 it was covering the PC and Atari ST in addition to the Amiga. The October 1990 issue includes:

                        Regulars

                        • Letters – Letters from readers about consoles vs. the Amiga and Atari ST, future games, Super Mario III, and more.
                        • Disk – The cover disk includes a playable preview of Cybercon III for the Amiga and Atari ST.
                        • News – A look at upcoming games including Prince of Persia, Rogue Trooper, Helter Skelter, F1 Manager, Big Game Fishing, The Basket Manager, and more.
                        • Work In Progress – Previews of games in progress, including Deuteros (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), SWIV (Amiga, Atari ST), The First Samurai (Amiga, Atari ST), Midwinter II (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Hunter (Amiga, Atari ST), and Predator 2 (Amiga, Atari ST, PC).
                        • Reviews – Reviews of Golden Axe (Amiga), Z-Out (Amiga), Narc (Amiga), Chip’s Challenge (Amiga), Car-Vup (Amiga), Death Trap (Amiga), Masterblazer (Amiga), and Robocop 2 (Amiga).
                        • Tips – Tips, tricks and cheats for Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Shadow of the Beast 2, Operation Stealth, Corporation, Cadaver, Rick Dangerous II, Awesome (Amiga), Sim Earth (PC), and 9 Lives (Atari ST).
                        • The One on One – An interview with Stan Lee with Spider-Man as the main topic.

                        Features

                        • Game for a Boy – A detailed look at the Game Boy and some of the games available for it.
                        • Stocking Fillers – A look at some of the latest gaming hardware, with an emphasis on joysticks.
                        • A Web of Intrigue – The history of Spider-Man and the making of The Amazing Spider-Man for the Amiga, Atari ST, and PC.

                        …and more!


                        Amiga Atari ST Computer Arcana DOS Retro Games 📎and tagged

                      • Atari STacy Portable Computer

                        Posted on by Azrael Comment

                        You could be forgiven for thinking this product is vaporware. Atari announced the Atari STacy, a portable Atari ST, years before it actually hit the streets. Only about 35,000 were shipped so they are pretty rare. While the price of $2,299 ($5,427 in today’s dollars) may seem high by today’s standards, it was a downright bargain compared to the similarly featured Macintosh Portable which cost $7,300 ($17,200 in today’s dollars). The STacy also looked much nicer than the Macintosh Portable.

                        There were four models of the Stacy:

                        • Stacy: 1MB RAM
                        • Stacy 2: 2 MB RAM, 20 MB hard drive
                        • Stacy 2: 2 MB RAM
                        • Stacy 4: 4 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive

                        As you can see, the number referred to the amount of RAM that came standard. All versions included a 3.5″ disk drive, 68HC00 CPU @ 8 MHz, and were expandable to 4 MB of RAM. The screen was a 10.4″ passive matrix LCD.

                        While the Atari STacy was portable, you can’t really think of it as a laptop. It could run on batteries but it needed 12 C cells and they would only last about 15 minutes…if you were lucky. So while it was relatively easy to transport, you really needed to plug it in wherever you went. Except for thickness, the dimensions weren’t terribly different from laptops today. However, it weighed over 15 pounds so lugging it around was certainly a chore compared to modern laptops.

                        Other than gaming, the Atari ST was most used for its MIDI capabilities. The STacy featured MIDI input and output so could be quite useful for musicians…if they could afford it. But then again, professional MIDI equipment wasn’t cheap in whatever form it took. Other than the occasional hobbyist, I would imagine that most of the 35,000 STacys (STacies?) sold went to musicians. A professional MIDI extension was one of the few peripherals designed specifically for the STacy.

                        Although the STacy may have mostly been used by musicians, it had a standard array of ports, including parallel, serial and FDD ports, an optional modem, and could run most software the standard Atari ST could run so it compared favorably to other portables at the time for general purpose computing. There was plenty of software available including word processing, spreadsheet, database, and of course games. You could get portable 386 computers by 1989 but they were more expensive and almost always had a black and white display. Certainly, for fans of the Atari ST, this would have been a great machine to have to complement your desktop setup. It’s just that most people couldn’t afford it or at least justify the price.


                        Atari ST Computer Arcana 📎and tagged