#0027 Stargate

Alright, today we look at Stargate, a 1981 side shooter developed by Vid Kidz, Published by Williams, and designed by Pinball fame Eugene Jarvis. It's a sequel to the immensely popular Defender.

Ah Williams, I remember they used to come up with some classic arcade games. Such amazing games like Defender, Stargate, Joust, Sinistar and... Um... Joust 2? Okay so they were'nt the biggest arcade developer, but they did know how to make them. In an earlier review, I said Defender was okay, ahead of it's time but still a little sloppy. And as far as sequals go, this game is much better.

Just like in Defender, you play as a cool looking space ship, your goal is to defend planet earth from alien forces. And if people thought Defender was complicated, then you should see Stargate.

See, Most arcade games at the time had maybe two directional buttons and a fire button like Galaga, or a joystick and a jump button like Donkey Kong, or even just a joystick like Pac-Man. But Stargate had two directional buttons, a fire button, a thrust button, a smart bomb button, a reverse button, a invisibility button, and a hyperspace button. Yeah, I grew up with complicated 8 button plus D-Pad controllers and I was still feeling overwhelmed. Not only that, but there were fifteen varieties of enemies that could attack you, and every one had a distinct appearance and behavior patterns. The mini-map also made a comeback, which really comes in handy when you got like 45 mutants trying to chase you down. Basically, this game has a lot going on. It's no wonder this game had a reputation for having a very steep learning curve.

So how does the game hold up? Pretty good! I'm enjoying this “trend” of doing something other than a Space Invaders clone. The game came out four years ago guys. Get over it. The graphics are incredible, probably some of the best I've seen so far on this list. The color range they're able to achieve seems to be beyond even what the NES could be capable of. In fact, looking at the NES port, this game DOES have wider color range as both the title screen and the laser blasts don't have that cool rainbow effect. I'm not sure how they did it, but it sure is damn impressive. The learning curve is steep, but it just makes it even that much more impressive to watch a truly skilled player play the game. The variety of enemies and your methods of killing them keep things interesting and different each time you play. Overall, I liked it. I'm not sure why this game isn't as well known as it's predecessor as this game is truly superior. Basically, if you like Defender, you're gonna love Stargate.

Oh, and this was the first game where I was able to enter my full name! Not just my initials.

All that's missing is the hyphen

Next up: Venture