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Nuclear Waste Dump is the first of the three Atari games by the highly prolific Paradize team to be reviewed in this issue of RGCD, and it has to be said that it's one of their best productions yet. Written for the 1MB Atari STFM/STE (or Falcon), Nuclear Waste Dump is a high quality arcade-puzzler based on a game for the Atari 8-Bit range of computers listed originally as a Basic type-in program in Antic magazine (back in 1986).

The premise of the game is simple - you have to stack barrels of nuclear waste in a pit whilst avoiding placing waste of the same type adjacent to or on top of each other. The barrels are randomly selected (from a choice of four) and given to the player, who then has a strict time limit in which to place the waste in a safe place. If you accidentally let two barrels of the same type sit next to each other then - BOOM! - nuclear meltdown ensues and it's game over.

As well as giving the game a much needed update, Paradize have also added some new game-play elements; in their version of Nuclear Waste Dump there are three new types of barrel added to the mix to assist you with your waste dumping duties. There are special Freezer barrels (yellow) that when dropped will neutralise adjacent barrels (making them safe to stack on or next to), as well as potentially lethal TNT barrels (red) that can be placed anywhere, but detonate when another barrel is dropped on it. When detonated, the TNT barrels destroy all the waste barrels surrounding them, and any waste stacked above will fall down to the barrels at the bottom of the pit, potentially causing the whole dump to explode - so as in real life, it's best to be careful when handling TNT. Finally, the last type of special barrel is the 'Weight' (grey with no symbol), a heavy barrel that crushes anything it lands on (right down to the pit's surface), making it a very useful tool for removing tall stacks of waste.

In essence Nuclear Waste Dump is quite simple, but difficult to master. The time limit given to the player (in which to place barrels safely) soon becomes very short and it's easy to make mistakes. However, the game is always fair, resulting in player frustration being short-lived and the game-play itself becomes quite addictive.

Onto the more technical aspects of the game, the graphics are well presented (albeit a little grey for my taste) and the in-game chip music and sound effects are spot on. The game supports the use of keyboard, joystick and Jagpad (emulated or otherwise), and instructions are given in-game (accessed by pressing 'i' from the intro screen) clearly illustrating the different types of waste and special barrel.

Paradize get top marks for still supporting the Atari ST(E) platform, and if NWD was released back in the early 90's it would have made a real impact on the PD and shareware scene. It doesn't push the capabilities of the machine, but it is a well-presented, balanced, and most importantly - fun - release. Nuclear Waste Dump is not quite as good as last year's Pooz (Paradize's awesome Zoop clone), but it's one of the team's strongest releases so far.