Atari ST specific games?

[ColecoGamer]

It’s no secret that I grew up with the Commodore Amiga as my primary machine. We did have a 520ST, but we didn’t have a large selection of games to play on it.

 

What I’m looking for are games that were exclusive to the ST and not ports of Amiga games, which were plentiful back in the day.

 

Thanks to everyone who responds!

Edited June 12, 2022 by ColecoGamer

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Hmmm, saying "ports of Amiga games" sounds pretty much Amiga fanboy like.  I'm sure that most of games were ports from some other platforms, arcades ... Plus Atari ST was 2 years earlier on market than Amiga 500 (1000 did not attract lot of game programmers, publishers), so we could say that "such ST games which were not ported to Amiga" ?

I would recommend atari-forum.com - there are threads specific about what you want.

One with which I dealt recently: Shoot the Moon (Antic)

 

[hwrd]

A very interesting game would be MIDI-Maze. 

 

Once you run out of exclusive games, you could check out versions of games that run differently (some better, some worse) than the Amiga versions.

Polygonal games generally run better on the ST, horizontal scrolling games generally better on the Amiga.  Otherwise, it's pretty much par. ?

[jblenkle]

FTL's "Oids" was originally released for the ST (1987) and then versions for MacIntosh (1990) and Amiga (2014)
were released much later. One of my favorite ST games ever.

[+cjherr]

Time Bandit Comes to mind. It was also released for the TRS 80 CoCo. One of my first and favorite games for the ST. 

[ColecoGamer]

10 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

Hmmm, saying "ports of Amiga games" sounds pretty much Amiga fanboy like.  I'm sure that most of games were ports from some other platforms, arcades ... Plus Atari ST was 2 years earlier on market than Amiga 500 (1000 did not attract lot of game programmers, publishers), so we could say that "such ST games which were not ported to Amiga" ?

I would recommend atari-forum.com - there are threads specific about what you want.

One with which I dealt recently: Shoot the Moon (Antic)

 

I’m interested in games that were developed specifically for the platform, which take full advantage of the ST’s hardware. I state ‘Amiga ports’ because so many of them existed from 1985 onward, and I am just interested in games that (again) are ST specific.

[+DarkLord]

I can't remember what thread I got this from now - it may be from the aforementioned Atari Forum.

 

I also can't guarantee that the games on this list take *full* advantage of the ST/STe's hardware (so few

games really do).

 

With that said... 

 

Game list released exclusively for Atari ST

by Anemos

A.L.C.O.N. - Imagine
Crystal Castles - Atari Corporation
GATO - Spectrum Holobyte
ST Karate - Paradox
Star Raiders - Atari Corporation
Strike! - Mastertronic
Super Stuntman - Codemasters
Joust - Atari Corporation
Millipede - Atari Corporation
Where Time Stood Still
Trail Blazer
Sapiens
Phantis
I,Ball
Arctic Moves
Mata Hari - Loriciel - <add-list>
Magnetik Tank - Loriciel
Annihilator - Budgie UK
Phantom Zone - Budgie UK
Teach-Yourself Series - Budgie UK
Recoil - Ocean
Shackled - US Gold
Alcantor
Asgard
pop!

by bullys1
-Rock 'n Roll Clams (like MugUK mentioned)
-Substation
-Missile Command
-Oids

by nativ
Team Football,
Ultimate Arena?
ST Protector
Obsession
Slap Fight
Super STario

by Marcer
black sect
Rocketball st
space pilot st
ST Lingo
ST Pool
ST Soccer
ST Wars
Strange War
Super stario land
super stario xmas
turbo st

by jeweleric
Colonial Conquest
Super Sprint
Gauntlet
Battlezone
Sundog The Frozen Legacy
Midi Maze
Skulldiggery (not sure about this)
Enduro Racer
F15 Strike Eagle
President Elect
Knightmare (the version of the TV programme)
Star Trek Rebel Universe
Road Runner
Asteroids Deluxe
Food Fight
Moonbase
Robotron 2084
Super Breakout
Tempest
Metro-Cross
Xevious
Lords of Conquest
10th Frame
Crack'ed
Hades Nebula
Moon Patrol
Prohibition
Rana Rama
Macadam Bumper
Pirates of the Barbary Coast
Psion Chess
Solomons Key
Spitfire 40
221b Baker Street
Championship Wrestling <add-list>
Trailblazer
Tau Ceti
Lands of Havoc
Altair
Turbo GT
I Ball
Captain America Doom Tube
International Karate
Super Cycle
Eden Blues
Get Dexter
Rings of Ziflin
Superbike Challenge
Wizards Crown
Top Gun
Was Zero 5 >?

by partykiller
Nine princes in Amber
Amazon
Fahrenheit 451
Perry Mason: The Case of the Mandarin Murder
Ultima II
Breakers
Das Reich - New Soft
Warship
President Elect: 1988 Edition
Phantasie II
Lee Enfield in "An Amazon Adventure"
Not a penny more, not a penny less, Adventure, Domark
Orbiter
Puzzles
Shuffleboard
Essex - Synapse Software <add-list>
Fantastic Four
Sorcerer Of Claymorgue Castle

 

HTH's...  

 

[youxia]

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

Game list released exclusively for Atari ST

Once again, this is a list of games which were not released on Amiga, not strictly Atari ST exclusive games (though some of them might be). It's important to remember that, even though overall it might be still helpful with looking for "best versions", seeing as most other ports were on 8-bit or some older DOS/Appl II titles (eg Sundog is arguably better on ST than on Apple).

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Considering "take full advantage of the ST’s hardware" - that's very general formulation, and actually not something what game creators, coders see as main target.  Game can be good with using only like 10 % of some computer's HW power, and yes, there are ones using only some 50 KB RAM, for instance.

The real problem are games which could be better with using better existing HW. But that's not so simple. 

Probably scrolling is best example: common opinion is that Atari ST games have poor scrolling just because there is no HW support for it.  Yes, there is plenty of them with choppy scroll, or no scroll at all - good example for that would be hyped game Great Giana Sisters - no scroll.  And good example for good scroll on bare ST would be Terry's Big Adventure . Yes, it has smooth and fast scroll with only CPU code.  And there are others - Potsworth and Co. for example.  I will say only that plenty of RAM helps in SW based scrolling - if place in RAM precalculated all steps of sprites it will increase screen draw speed a lot.

 

Hmmm ... is there Potsworth and Co. Amiga port ?  Checked - nope. Shame on you atari-forum ?  It is really great game. I made even videos of complete game play.  http://atari.8bitchip.info/SCRSH/potswco.html

 

Back to full advantage:  Atari ST has practically minimalistic HW design:  simple sound chip, bitmap graphic without any extra HW .

But good thing is that video generation does not slow CPU in any mode.  In 1987 arrived first HW accelerator:  blitter (what was planned from start) . It can make lot of screen operations considerably faster. Too bad that programmers did not take effort to utilize it in most cases.  Yeah, Great Giana Sisters, what has release from 1988 could do it, but not - I know it for sure ?

Then Atari STE at 1989 - there is HW scroll support + DMA audio, more color nuances - as main advantages . And yet, most of games just did not use them.  I guess that lower sales took big part in that, and lower sales - blame Amiga for it ? 

 

Part of problem was in programmers habits, experience - many of them used same way of programming as with 8-bitters, using C, or even Basic ...   To take full advantage of CPU you need ASM, and with 68000 it needs lot of time to use full power of that CPU .

Really good coded games came later - at 1987, 8  .

 

[+DarkLord]

20 hours ago, youxia said:

Once again, this is a list of games which were not released on Amiga, not strictly Atari ST exclusive games (though some of them might be). It's important to remember that, even though overall it might be still helpful with looking for "best versions", seeing as most other ports were on 8-bit or some older DOS/Appl II titles (eg Sundog is arguably better on ST than on Apple).

 

Well, considering that the OP said this:

 

"It’s no secret that I grew up with the Commodore Amiga as my primary machine. We did have a 520ST, but we didn’t have a large selection of games to play on it.

What I’m looking for are games that were exclusive to the ST and not ports of Amiga games, which were plentiful back in the day."

 

I figured this list was a good start, at least... 

 

[Tillek]

1-800-285-7448 

[ColecoGamer]

I was thinking more along the lines of Legend by Mindscape, which was released in 1992. I don’t believe it was released for the Amiga (I couldn’t find anything on it).

 

 

 

[Keops]

Actually, Legend was released for the Amiga. In 1992 commercial exclusives on the ST were becoming extremely rare, they were mostly public domain stuff or games made by demomakers.

At that time, releasing a game on the ST only was getting non viable commercially speaking.

 

[ColecoGamer]

I’m just looking for the best gaming experiences that you can have on the ST, which is why I posted this thread.

[ColecoGamer]

1 minute ago, Keops said:

Actually, Legend was released for the Amiga. In 1992 commercial exclusives on the ST were becoming extremely rare, they were mostly public domain stuff or games made by demomakers.

At that time, releasing a game on the ST only was getting non viable commercially speaking.

 

Thank you for posting this. I’m not sure why I thought Legend was an ST exclusive. 
 

Maybe its due to my childhood memories of visiting the local ST retailer and always seeing the game on demo there, but never seeing it at the Commodore retailers we also used to visit.

[ColecoGamer]

5 hours ago, DarkLord said:

 

Well, considering that the OP said this:

 

"It’s no secret that I grew up with the Commodore Amiga as my primary machine. We did have a 520ST, but we didn’t have a large selection of games to play on it.

What I’m looking for are games that were exclusive to the ST and not ports of Amiga games, which were plentiful back in the day."

 

I figured this list was a good start, at least... 

 

The list you posted was perfect. Thank you.

[ColecoGamer]

Maybe I should shift the focus of the thread to this instead: what game did you play on the ST that made you say, “Wow! Now THIS is why I bought an ST!”

These are the games I want to experience/play.

I hope this makes sense.

Edited June 13, 2022 by ColecoGamer
Fix spelling

[Tillek]

2 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Maybe I should shift the focus of the thread to this instead: what game did you play on the ST that made you say, “Wow! Now THIS is why I bought an ST!”

These are the games I want to experience/play.

I hope this makes sense.

Sundog

 

[ParanoidLittleMan]

17 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Maybe I should shift the focus of the thread to this instead: what game did you play on the ST that made you say, “Wow! Now THIS is why I bought an ST!”
These are the games I want to experience/play.
I hope this makes sense.

It makes sense, but people usually do not select specific computer just because few games. It was common in that era to read reviews in magazines, to listen radio programs about home computers - where experts gave opinion about new computer models.

 

Here is how it was by me:  in early 1987 I decided to get 16-bit computer. Atari ST was pretty natural choice because of attractive price and good power, GUI ... Other 16-bitters were much more expensive.  And when I went to Germany in April with plan to buy ST,  Amiga 500 just arrived . And price was attractive too - practically same as ST for same RAM, floppy drive config.   So, I started to look about available SW - and in fact that decided. But I did not look only games.  Choice for Amiga was much lower.  And I saw in one shop window Flight Simulator 2 running on ST - was pretty impressive for 1987  . Amiga version was not published then yet, probably later that year. And yes, I finally bought Atari ST together with Flight Sim. 2 .   But that was just one of factors in decision.

And as it happens often, in few years situation with SW became just opposite - much better choice for Amiga. And even prices were lower in lot of cases.

To add that I really did not care about exclusiveness of some game. Sooner or later waste majority was ported to other platforms. In case of ST and Amiga lot of it was developed parallel in same house.

Tried Potsworth and Co. already ?  ?

 

[zzip]

14 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Maybe I should shift the focus of the thread to this instead: what game did you play on the ST that made you say, “Wow! Now THIS is why I bought an ST!”

These are the games I want to experience/play.

I hope this makes sense.

For me it was games like these,  but a lot of them are multiplatform and probably on the Amiga.  My list is heavy on RPG and Sim games that aren't necessarily pushing graphics/sound to the limit.   Also I liked a lot of these games because they blew away what my previous 8bit system could do.   They won't all hold up today or necessarily show ST at its best.

 

Barbarian (The one sometimes called Death Sword, not the Psygnosis one)

Bard's Tale

Battle Chess

Civilization

Defender of the Crown

Dungeon Master/Chaos Strikes Back

Enduro Racer

Gauntlet II

Gods

Heroes of the Lance

Joust (ST has the most arcade-like port)

Lemmings

Phantasie III

Populous

Sim City

Speedball II

Starglider II

Test Drive

Time Bandits

Ultima V

Ultima VI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ColecoGamer]

2 hours ago, zzip said:

For me it was games like these,  but a lot of them are multiplatform and probably on the Amiga.  My list is heavy on RPG and Sim games that aren't necessarily pushing graphics/sound to the limit.   Also I liked a lot of these games because they blew away what my previous 8bit system could do.   They won't all hold up today or necessarily show ST at its best.

 

Barbarian (The one sometimes called Death Sword, not the Psygnosis one)

Bard's Tale

Battle Chess

Civilization

Defender of the Crown

Dungeon Master/Chaos Strikes Back

Enduro Racer

Gauntlet II

Gods

Heroes of the Lance

Joust (ST has the most arcade-like port)

Lemmings

Phantasie III

Populous

Sim City

Speedball II

Starglider II

Test Drive

Time Bandits

Ultima V

Ultima VI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, everyone - please forget about what I said regarding Amiga to ST ports. I just didn’t want to play something that I’ve already played on the Amiga, as a child growing up in the 80s and 90s. I’m just looking for games that I haven’t played before. 

 

Thank you for the list!

Edited June 14, 2022 by ColecoGamer
Spelling

[ColecoGamer]

Please keep your suggestions coming; they’re very helpful snd much appreciated!

[ColecoGamer]

9 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

It makes sense, but people usually do not select specific computer just because few games. It was common in that era to read reviews in magazines, to listen radio programs about home computers - where experts gave opinion about new computer models.

 

Here is how it was by me:  in early 1987 I decided to get 16-bit computer. Atari ST was pretty natural choice because of attractive price and good power, GUI ... Other 16-bitters were much more expensive.  And when I went to Germany in April with plan to buy ST,  Amiga 500 just arrived . And price was attractive too - practically same as ST for same RAM, floppy drive config.   So, I started to look about available SW - and in fact that decided. But I did not look only games.  Choice for Amiga was much lower.  And I saw in one shop window Flight Simulator 2 running on ST - was pretty impressive for 1987  . Amiga version was not published then yet, probably later that year. And yes, I finally bought Atari ST together with Flight Sim. 2 .   But that was just one of factors in decision.

And as it happens often, in few years situation with SW became just opposite - much better choice for Amiga. And even prices were lower in lot of cases.

To add that I really did not care about exclusiveness of some game. Sooner or later waste majority was ported to other platforms. In case of ST and Amiga lot of it was developed parallel in same house.

Tried Potsworth and Co. already ?  ?

 

Thank you for the well-thought out responses. No, I haven’t tried it out yet.

Edited June 14, 2022 by ColecoGamer

[ColecoGamer]

What a nice looking platformer. I’ll be trying this one out for sure.

 

 

[TGB1718]

18 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

Maybe I should shift the focus of the thread to this instead: what game did you play on the ST that made you say, “Wow! Now THIS is why I bought an ST!”

Have to remember a lot of people went with the brand they already had, I had so much fun with my 8 bit Atari's it was natural

to buy an ST, I saw a lot of people do the same, ZX81->ZXSpectrum, C64->Amiga, BBC Micro->BBC Master, even a friend went Oric-1->Oric Atmos (we all laughed at that choice  )