Starglider

Last updated
Starglider
Starglider.jpg
Developer(s) Argonaut Software
Publisher(s) Rainbird
Designer(s) Jez San
Rick Clucas
Platform(s) Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, Commodore 64
Release
  • 1986 (Atari ST)
  • 1987 (ports)
Genre(s) Space flight simulator
Mode(s) Single-player

Starglider is a 3D video game published in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by Jez San under his company name Argonaut Software. The game is a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe vector graphics inspired by San's love of the 1983 Atari coin-op Star Wars . [1]

Contents

Starglider was originally developed for the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST. Rainbird commissioned Realtime Games to produce 8-bit versions for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, and ZX Spectrum (128K, with a cut-down 48K version without sampled speech or special missions), and for the IBM PC compatible with CGA. Solid Images were commissioned to produce versions for the Commodore 64 and Apple IIGS.

It was followed in 1988 by a sequel, Starglider 2 , which uses filled-polygon graphics. The series inspired Argonaut to partner with Nintendo in creating the Super FX chip for Super NES in order to power the Star Fox series of hit games.

Story

The game takes over the surface of the occupied planet Novenia, and it is the player's goal to rid the world of the mechanised Egron invaders.

Cockpit view. A walker robot is on-screen. Amiga version. Starglider screenshot.png
Cockpit view. A walker robot is on-screen. Amiga version.

Starglider was packaged with a sci-fi novella by James Follett, describing the game's background story, in which the Egrons effortlessly blitz Novenia despite the planet possessing a previously impenetrable network of utterly deadly defense satellites. The Egrons defeat the system by disguising their battleships as a flock of intergalactic migratory birds, the Stargliders. The defense satellites had been programmed not to fire on these birds (which migrated between planets regularly) and hence did not recognise the Egron battleships as enemies, allowing the Egrons to reach the surface unopposed. The player pilots the only existing example of a prototype fighter craft, initially armed only with lasers, as the TV-guided missiles require an enormous amount of energy to launch and control, which can only be gained by induction as the craft skims over areas with high-tension power conduits.

Audio

Most versions contain sampled speech from Rainbird employee Clare Edgeley. [1]

The Amiga version has title music by Dave Lowe using digitized samples as instrument sounds, predating tracker music. The Atari ST and Amiga versions also have about 15-second long song—a single PCM sound file—with real vocals and synthesizers. A male voice sings: "Starglider ... from Rainbird".

Reception

Starglider was Firebird's third best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987. [3] COMPUTE! called it "a visually smooth concoction that is so realistic in its feel that you'll duck and squirm in your seat", especially praising the Atari ST version's graphics and sound. [4] The game won the award for Game Of The Year 1986 in Crash . [5]

The game sold close to 200,000 copies. [6]

Legacy

A prototype version of Starglider, codenamed NESGlider, [7] was developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System utilizing a similar method to accelerate graphics as the future Super FX chip for the SNES would. Argonaut showed the prototype to Nintendo in 1990 but were advised to instead develop the game for the as yet unreleased Super Famicom. They ported the demo to the Super Famicom prototype which took approximately one week. [8]

The game was never released; nonetheless, it spawned a sequel, entitled Starglider 2 . The series inspired Argonaut Software to partner with Nintendo in creating the Super FX enhancement chip for Super NES in order to enable the StarFox series.

Related Research Articles

<i>Shadow of the Beast</i> (1989 video game) 1989 computer game

Shadow of the Beast is a platform game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Amiga, and was later ported to many other systems. The game was known for its graphics, with many colours on screen and up to twelve levels of parallax scrolling backdrops, and for its atmospheric score composed by David Whittaker that used high-quality instrument samples.

<i>Alien Syndrome</i> 1987 video game

Alien Syndrome is a run and gun video game developed by Sega and released in arcades in 1987, and later ported to the Master System in 1988. The game utilizes a side-scrolling feature that allows the player to take control of either a male (Ricky) or female (Mary) soldier whilst hunting aliens and saving hostages before they run out of time.

<i>Star Fox</i> (1993 video game) Rail shooter game published by Nintendo

Star Fox, known as Starwing in PAL regions, is a rail shooter video game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software, and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The first entry in the Star Fox series, the story follows Fox McCloud and the rest of the Star Fox team defending their homeworld of Corneria against the invading forces of Andross.

<i>Star Fox 2</i> 2017 SNES video game completed in 1995

Star Fox 2 is a rail shooter game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software and published by Nintendo. Developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), it was completed in 1995 but did not see an official release until 2017 on the Super NES Classic Edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argonaut Games</span> British video game developer

Argonaut Games PLC was a British video game developer founded in 1982. It was known for the Super NES video game Star Fox and its supporting Super FX chip, and for Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and the Starglider series. The company was liquidated in late 2004, and ceased to exist in early 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super FX</span> 3D graphics chip used in Super Nintendo games

The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily to facilitate advanced 2D and 3D graphics. The Super FX chip was designed by Argonaut Games, who also co-developed the 3D space rail shooter video game Star Fox with Nintendo to demonstrate the additional polygon rendering capabilities that the chip had introduced to the SNES.

Jeremy Elliott "Jez" San OBE is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game Starglider and helping to design the Super FX chip used in Star Fox for the Super NES.

Telecomsoft was a British video game publisher and a division of British Telecom. The company was founded by Ederyn Williams in 1984 and operated three separate labels: Firebird, Rainbird, and Silverbird. The first employee was James Leavey, seconded from elsewhere in BT, who, along with Tony Rainbird, became the driving force behind the company in the early days.

<i>Loopz</i> 1990 video game

Loopz is a puzzle video game designed and programmed by Ian Upton for the Atari ST in 1989. He previously worked as head game designer for Audiogenic, who acquired exclusive rights to the game, then in 1990 arranged for Mindscape to publish it for computers in North America and consoles worldwide.

1986 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. 2, along with new titles such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ikari Warriors, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Out Run and R.B.I. Baseball. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On in Japan, Hang-On and Gauntlet in the United States, and Nemesis (Gradius) in London. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were Super Mario Bros. in the United States and Yie Ar Kung-Fu in the United Kingdom.

<i>California Games</i> Sports video game

California Games is a 1987 sports video game originally released by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64, and ported to other home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consists of a collection of outdoor sports purportedly popular in California. The game was successful and spawned a sequel, California Games II.

<i>Nebulus</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Nebulus is a platform game created by John M. Phillips and published by Hewson Consultants in the late 1980s for home computer systems. International releases and ports were known by various other names: Castelian, Kyorochan Land, Subline, and Tower Toppler.

<i>Trailblazer</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Trailblazer is a racing video game developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 in 1986. It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.

<i>Starglider 2</i> 1988 video game

Starglider 2 is a 3D space combat simulator published in 1988 by Rainbird as the sequel to 1986's Starglider. It was released for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and ZX Spectrum. Instead of the wireframe graphics of the original, Starglider 2 uses flat shaded polygons.

<i>RoboCop 2</i> (video game) 1990 video game

RoboCop 2 is a platform shooter video game based on the 1990 film of the same name. The game was released for several platforms, including Amiga, Amstrad GX4000, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. Ocean Software developed and published several versions, and Data East manufactured an arcade version.

<i>Cybernoid</i> 1988 video game

Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine is a shoot 'em up developed and published in 1988 by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Nintendo Entertainment System. It was programmed by Raffaele Cecco. The ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, and Atari ST versions have a main theme by Dave Rogers, while the Commodore C64 version has a different theme by Jeroen Tel.

<i>X</i> (1992 video game) 1992 video game

X is a 1992 space combat simulation video game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy in Japan. The player assumes the role of the VIXIV starship as it must protect the planet Tetamus II from a mysterious race of aliens. Gameplay involves completing missions assigned by the "Training Academy Coach", ranging from protecting bases from enemy fire or delivering cargo to a certain area.

David Lowe also known as "Uncle Art" is a British composer known for his work on computer games from 1985 to 1998.

<i>Rolling Thunder</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Rolling Thunder is a run and gun video game developed by Namco in Japan and Europe and released in 1986 as a coin-operated arcade video game using the Namco System 86 hardware. It was distributed in North America by Atari Games. The player takes control of a secret agent who must rescue his female partner from a terrorist organization. Rolling Thunder was a commercial success in arcades, and it was released for various home computer platforms in 1987 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. The original arcade game has been included in various classic game compilations as well. It influenced later arcade action franchises such as Shinobi and Time Crisis, which borrowed mechanics such as taking cover behind crates.

Giles Goddard is an English video game programmer. He was one of the first Western employees at Nintendo, programming the Mario face in Super Mario 64, and working on titles such as Star Fox, 1080° Snowboarding, and Steel Diver. In 2002, he founded Vitei, a video game developer based in Kyoto, Japan, and is CEO.

References

  1. 1 2 "Starglider - Rainbird". Birdsanctuary.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Game review, Amstrad June magazine, Future Publishing, issue 17, February 1987
  3. ↑ Ferrell, Keith (December 1987). "The Commodore Games That Live On And On". COMPUTE!'s Gazette. pp. 18–22. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Eddy, Andy (May 1987). "Starglider". COMPUTE!. p. 46. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "CRASH 38 - Readers' Awards". Crashonline.org.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Park, Margaret (May 24, 1993). "Nintendo makes a killing with its British flying ace". The Daily Telegraph . p. 9. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (2017-10-03). "Original Star Fox staffer tells story of sequel's shelving, surprise launch". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  8. ↑ Brookes, Jason; Bielby, Matt (May 1993). "Superplay interview: Jez San, Argonaut". Super Play . No. 7. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. p. 26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.