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Let's all play...Star Raiders


RickR

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Well, I gathered up a cart and a keypad.  I read the manual on-line (Krylons???  What happened to Zylons?  Are these spray painting graffiti aliens?).  I've put the difficulty switches on "A" so that I control the computer and shields from my keypad...I'm ready. 

 

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You first hyperwarp to the alien sector.  Then both you and the aliens progress towards the starbase with no input needed.  Kill them all before they get to the starbase!  It's hard...there's no speed control.  Aliens just kind of show up at random.  Not really as smooth and easy to control as the 8-bit version.  Just blast away randomly I guess.

 

My first game, I wasn't able to save the starbase and ended up with the ranking of "Pilot 3". 

 

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Is it a good game?  Sorry.  No.  StarMaster and Star Voyager are both better.  M-Network Space-Attack is better.  Phaser Patrol is a ton better.  It's cool that it came with the keypad controller and all.  But it's a pale comparison to 8-bit or 5200 Star Raiders.  A for effort, but ultimately, not a great game. 

 

What do you all think?

 

 

Edited by RickR
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I don't have this one now but I remember in 1988 Mom and I found a brand new copy at a Wal-Mart in another town (before it was a Supercenter).  We picked it up and I couldn't wait to get home to try it out.  I still can't get over that huge box holding everything.  

 

My first Star Raiders adventure was on the 5200 so I was a bit disappointed at the size of the Galactic Map.  However, the basics of the game I enjoyed were there.  It does take a bit to adjust to when coming from the 8-bit/5200 version...there is not as much in the 2600 version but it does a decent job.  And, yes, the Level 1 setting of Star Raiders can be beat as I did it in 1988 when I picked up that new copy of this game.  It's not perfect but it's not too bad either.  Try a different difficulty setting to see if there is a way to "warm up" to the game play mechanics.  

 

Wife and I picked up Starmaster the other day and I played it once.  Now I have to find Star Raiders for the 2600 so I can do a comparison as there is not much I remember about the 2600 Star Raiders other than that large keypad controller.  I've never played Star Voyager on the 2600 but have played the NES version and beat it.  But that was decades ago...I'm not sure if I could do it again. 

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I will say that Star Raiders on 8-bit is one of my all-time favorites, and this version is simply not anywhere near as good.  There's just so much more to the game that they stripped out.  The galactic map is pretty much pointless here.  So small, and your ship follows the aliens no matter what.  No steering during hyperwarp.  No speed control to hunt down the aliens.  No docking ship.  No aft view.  No overhead map.  Even aiming and shooting here just seem random and hard to control instead of smooth and intuitive. 

 

They tried.  They got the look down.  They probably kept as much as they could.  But 8-bit Star Raiders is a classic, a killer-app that sold computers, a game I still love to this day. 

 

I did buy this version back in '82, and was really excited then to have it.  The keypad was cool.  But even then, the game kind of didn't hit the mark for me.  I still have that copy.  But sadly threw away the boxes.  Dang it.

 

Compare it to Star Master or Star Voyager and let me know what you think. 

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I've never played Star Master or Star Voyager so cannot comment on either, the 2600 was my 1st encounter with Star Raiders, the Atari 800 being so absurdly priced here in UK and like 2600 Defender and Battlezone, I bloody loved it.

 

I had no idea it was a cut-down version at this point and and that age, you simply didn't know of much else other than your mum and dad had bought you a new VCS game and it was unlike anything you'd played on the system so far.

 

So,i'm rather pleased it was converted and whilst I know Robot Tank was better than Battlezone, knowing there were better games of the genre on 2600 than Star Raiders hasn't done anything to diminish the love I had for it as a child.

I loved it as a kid too.  And it would be a few more years before I laid my hands on the 8-bit version (although the 8-bit version came out much earlier).  But I'm sorry to say...there are some games that just didn't age well for me personally.  Another game like that is "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  I thought it was a lot of fun when it came out and spent hours figuring it out.  But now....no thanks. 

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I loved it as a kid too.  And it would be a few more years before I laid my hands on the 8-bit version (although the 8-bit version came out much earlier).  But I'm sorry to say...there are some games that just didn't age well for me personally.  Another game like that is "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  I thought it was a lot of fun when it came out and spent hours figuring it out.  But now....no thanks. 

I still love Raiders, but can't enjoy it again.   The problem with Raiders is that once you solve it, it becomes pretty tedious on repeat plays.   It doesn't do nearly as much randomization as Adventure does for game 3.

"For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid."  ~ Atari Adventure Square

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