Star Soldier

Last updated
Star Soldier
Star Soldier logo.svg
Genre(s) Scrolling shooter
Developer(s) Hudson Soft
Publisher(s) Hudson Soft
Platform(s) MSX, NES, TurboGrafx-16, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Mobile phone, PlayStation Portable, Wii, iOS
First release Star Soldier
June 13, 1986
Latest release Star Soldier R
March 25, 2008
Spin-offs Starship Hector
Blazing Lazers
Star Parodier

Star Soldier [lower-alpha 1] is a series of scrolling shooters mainly developed by Hudson Soft. Konami has owned the rights to the series since their absorption of Hudson Soft in 2012. The first game, named Star Soldier, appeared on the MSX and NES in 1986, and the series has continued on various gaming systems. Star Soldier itself was released with little change in a compilation for the Super Famicom in 1995, received enhanced remakes for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003, and a different remake for the PlayStation Portable in 2005, while the latest installment of the series was released on the Wii as a WiiWare game in 2008. In addition, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Soldier Blade and Star Parodier have been re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console and on the Japanese PC Engine's Best Collection lineup for the PSP. The Star Soldier games are best known for their distinctive music, unique weapon power-ups, and a special time attack high score mode called "Caravan Mode". [1]

Contents

Caravan gaming tournaments

Star Soldier was developed as a spiritual successor to Tecmo's Star Force , from which it borrows most of its gameplay elements. The Star Force series, along with Hudson's Star Soldier, was often featured in the popular Japanese gaming tournament known as "Hudson All-Japan Caravan Festival". Home ports of Star Soldier games would sometimes feature "Caravan" modes in which the player would race through timed stages while trying to accumulate a high score.

Common elements

Being an arcade-style game, Star Soldier's objective is primarily based on achieving a high score. The series often makes use of hidden destructible tiles that offer bonus points when shot, but may occasionally power-up the player's ship instead. Bonus points will also be awarded for defeating sequences of enemy formations while they are within a certain proximity to the player's ship, or defeating mini bosses before they have a chance to attack.

Games

Release timeline
1986 Star Soldier
1987 Starship Hector
1988
1989
1990 Super Star Soldier
1991 Final Soldier
1992 Soldier Blade
Star Parodier
1993
1994
1995Caravan Shooting Collection
1996
1997
1998 Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003Star Soldier (GCN)
2004
2005Star Soldier (PSP)
2006
2007Soldier Collection
2008 Star Soldier R

During the Konami Action & Shooting Contest hosted by the Shueisha Game Creator’s Camp and Tokyo Game Show 2022, Beep won the rights from Konami to develop the game through the competition, a game titled Star Soldier RE:VIVE Multiverse is in development. [2]

Crossover

Compilations and remakes

Canceled games

Other media

Notes

  1. Japanese: スターソルジャー, Hepburn: Sutā Sorujā

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References

  1. Hard Core Gaming 101 - Star Soldier
  2. Ahmed, Mansoor (September 28, 2022). "Konami To Award 30 Million Yen Funding And Remake Rights For Classic IP's". eXputer. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  3. "PC Engine Fan - August 1994 (600DPI)". August 1994.