PFL Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I've had my 520ST for a couple of months now but it doesn't get much play. The reason being that I don't really have a strong nostalgic bond with the machine and most of the games I have are done better on the Amiga (IMHO). I don't mean to be flamy but so far the good games I've found are things like the Lotus Turbo Challenge games, Blood Money, Chaos Engine, Gods, Cannon Fodder and a bunch of other ones. Every one of these games are good but the graphics and (especially) sound are just better on the Amiga... I reckon there's lots of potential for some fun with the ST. To me, it kinda feels like a super 8 bit machine rather than a 16 bit powerhouse and I like that idea...if that makes sense! So, what I'm looking for are games that are either better ports or ST exclusives. Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zogging Hell Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Try most 3D games I guess, most of which will be a lot smoother and generally nicer than there Amiga counterparts (F29 Retaliator being a notable exception). Basically the Amiga will always clobber the ST (well at least the pre- STE STs) at almost anything that involves scrolling or chucking large (well largeish) sprites about. If it doesn't then, music/sound aside (which is a matter of taste I guess), then the ST is going to make a game pretty much equal or in the case of 3D, better than the Amiga (imho). The ST version of Microprose Grand Prix is a lot faster and smoother than the Amiga version for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I always loved the monochrome games on the ST. If you do a search on this forum I believe there are several threads discussing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telengard Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 The only game I can think of I really like and was exclusive to the ST was Oids. Excellent Gravitar like game with tons more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 You might also want to look into earlier ST games which came out before 1989 (pre-Shadow of The Beast). Those games came out first on the ST and were ported to the Amiga, which wasn't used to it's full potiental for those ports. The Amiga uses sample-based sounds, so a mod track from a later game will sound better than a sound that's trying to mimic an 8-bit sound chip that the ST used. My personal recommendations are anything made by Michtron/Microdeal, like Goldrunner which has a really good intro tune by Rob Hubbard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tresas Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Try Prince of Persia! In the Amiga version its like 8bit!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 Thanks for the pointers folks. Just a couple of questions though if you don't mind. I'm trying the games out in Hatari before I go out and buy them but I've ran into a couple of problems... 1) How do I play monochrome games in Hatari? 2) How do I load STX files? Normal games load easy enough as long as they're in the ST file format and I've found some suffixed with MSA. They seem to work too... Thanks again. PS: I think I prefer Llamatron and Gridrunner on the ST over the Miggy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Thanks for the pointers folks. Just a couple of questions though if you don't mind. I'm trying the games out in Hatari before I go out and buy them but I've ran into a couple of problems... 1) How do I play monochrome games in Hatari? Easy, just go to the Hatari menu and select Atari Screen. Then just check Mono instead of RGB and go back and select Reset Machine, and click OK. You'll get a monochrome desktop (like old Macs) but you can only run stuff made for high resolution in this mode. To go back to color, do the above and pick RGB. 2) How do I load STX files? Sadly, they only work with Steem and you have to download the Pasti DLL file which doesn't work with Hatari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keitaro Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Even there were available on Amiga, I would recommend to try Bitmap Brother's port games like Xenon, Xenon 2 and Gods, and Thalion games like Wings of Death (anyway a favorite mine was the simpler A Prehistoric Tale, a Dino Eggs clone from c64). ST games that wasn't on Amiga? Maybe, but there are ports from old arcade games ... Moon patrol, xevious, crystal castles, slap fight, gauntlet, you know, at least Super sprint it's one of funniest games to beat highscores. And one of my favorites were Gridrunner, not the best graphics, but lots of levels, hints and secrets to have a good gaming session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 (edited) The ST version of Rogue is pretty nice, if you're into Rogue (with graphics). It's the only reason I even have an ST emulator. There's also a Rogue II that I think was only released on the ST, but I have no idea what makes it different from the original, besides having a different title screen and yellow walls instead of turquoise. Also, I think some of the ST versions of the Icom games had the graphics done by different artists, but I can't remember for sure...I don't even think I ever got them to run. Edited November 11, 2012 by Asaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ato Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Definitely Bubble Bobble. Very addictive when played with a good friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I always loved the monochrome games on the ST. If you do a search on this forum I believe there are several threads discussing them. Is there any reason to play games in Monochrome? Are the graphics sharper or clearer due to the higher res? Sundog is another Atari ST 'exclusive' game. Although it was released on the Apple II as well, the Atari ST version has much better graphics and is mouse driven. Oddly enough, the only 16-bit port of Phantasie II was on the ST. The Amiga and PC never got it for some strange reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Is there any reason to play games in Monochrome? Are the graphics sharper or clearer due to the higher res? Sundog is another Atari ST 'exclusive' game. Although it was released on the Apple II as well, the Atari ST version has much better graphics and is mouse driven. Oddly enough, the only 16-bit port of Phantasie II was on the ST. The Amiga and PC never got it for some strange reason. I always loved the Macintosh b/w games (which I played via the amazing Spectre GCR - Thanks Dave) and that transferred over to the ST. That and the fact that there are some mono only games that warrant the attention. There were a lot of great programs out of Germany that were mono only. Bolo immediately comes to mind. Edited November 12, 2012 by TwiliteZoner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I always loved the Macintosh b/w games (which I played via the amazing Spectre GCR - Thanks Dave) and that transferred over to the ST. That and the fact that there are some mono only games that warrant the attention. There were a lot of great programs out of Germany that were mono only. Bolo immediately comes to mind. So have I, but I have a Mac for doing that. I was just wondering if the game graphics were better in monochrome. The Ultima graphics look a little more detailed in an odd way for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Sundog? I'll have to look into that one. What monochrome games would you recommend? I found one called Super Breakout but it didn't work... some error or other that I can't remember off the top of my head. The other games mentioned here I've dl'd to try in Hatari but I've not got around to trying them out though I'm pretty sure Xenon and Xenon II will fail compared to the Amiga... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 So have I, but I have a Mac for doing that. I was just wondering if the game graphics were better in monochrome. The Ultima graphics look a little more detailed in an odd way for example. Well if you had Spectre GCR you could ditch the Mac and have the best of both worlds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Well if you had Spectre GCR you could ditch the Mac and have the best of both worlds. Except the emulation isn't 100% from what I understand. Also, don't all the files have to be a certain format? Or can you just stick Macintosh disks into the ST and have it read them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 (edited) Except the emulation isn't 100% from what I understand. Also, don't all the files have to be a certain format? Or can you just stick Macintosh disks into the ST and have it read them? With the Mac carts before Spectre you had to convert the disks to the Magic format. Which was kind of a hassle. With the Spectre cart its plug and play with Mac 400/800K disks. I backed up all of my ST-MAC disks to a classic and then converted them to dsk images to load in minivmac. As far as the emulation is concerned, you're right its not 100% but I honestly can't remember a game or program not working. At least not the ones I wanted to play. It was pretty cool seeing The Grouch running on my Mega4. EDIT: I just remembered that I actually got Prodigy to run on the ST using Spectre GCR. Edited November 14, 2012 by TwiliteZoner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 If I didn't already have a nice Mac Classic I'd agree with you, that would be pretty cool. I wish I could justify having my STE out, but as I have an Amiga 2000 there just aren't enough unique ST games to justify it. XOR is another interesting ST game that wasn't released on another computer. It's a puzzle game if you're into those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadAndButter Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Im in the same boat, i got an Atari 1040STe this year and im pretty new to it. As far as classic home computers go im more familiar with Commodore. Shame no one really took advantage of the STe as the Megadrive (Genesis) only had an 7mhz 68000 cpu and that came out at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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