The 1987 PC MS-DOS version of Argonaut Software‘s classic 3D shooter, Starglider, was ported by Realtime Games Software, who did the excellent Amstrad and ZX Spectrum ports. Unfortunately, the game is available only with four-colour CGA graphics, which does diminish the look of the game significantly.
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Starglider, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version of Starglider was ported by Solid Image and published by Rainbird in 1986. Unfortunately, the developers didn’t manage to convert Starglider‘s unique control method over to the C64 – instead they chose to use a fixed aiming reticule in the centre of the screen, and this results in a rather degraded gameplay experience.
Starglider, Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC version of Argonaut Software‘s classic 3D shooter, Starglider, was developed by Realtime Games Software, who also coded the excellent ZX Spectrum version. It could be argued that it is even better than the Spectrum version, because it runs faster and also uses more colours in the polygons, although the game does have a smaller cockpit and play window than the Spectrum version.
Starglider, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of Argonaut‘s classic Starglider is actually surprisingly good. Or, rather: the 128K version is very good (the 48K version plays well enough, but it lacks the digitised speech and other enhancements, so is a little plain). And the main reason Starglider on the Speccy is respectable, is because it was converted by Realtime Games Software, who were pioneers in the field of Spectrum-based 3D games, having created the legendary Starstrike, Starstrike II and Carrier Command (among others).
Starglider, Amiga
Argonaut Software‘s Starglider, when it first came out, was a flashy release. It came in a big blue box, with a novella, a manual, and a single floppy disk. Magazines were raving about it, and I remember buying it… for the ZX Spectrum. LOL.
Starglider, Atari ST
The Atari ST version of Argonaut Software‘s pioneering 3D shooter, Starglider, first came out in 1986 – a year before the Amiga version (for some reason – I don’t know why).
Stunt Car Racer, Atari 8-bit
Geoff Crammond‘s classic Stunt Car Racer was converted to Atari 8-bit systems by homebrew coders Fandal and Irgendwer in 2018. And it is an excellent port that plays identically to the C64 version it is based upon.
X, Game Boy
This game – called simply “X” – was a Japan-only release, in 1992, on the original black and white Game Boy, but its conception and development would later have a profound effect on Nintendo‘s confidence in producing 3D-based games.
X was created by British developer Argonaut Software (specifically, by Dylan Cuthbert, who was later infamously ‘poached’ by Nintendo from Argonaut), and was a demonstration of their ability to produce 3D-based games on home video game systems. This impressed Nintendo, who then tasked Argonaut with creating a new 3D game on their Super Nintendo console, which eventually became the classic Star Fox. And the rest is history… Sort of.
Shadow Squadron, Sega 32X
Developed and released by Sega in 1995, Shadow Squadron (also known as Stellar Assault in Europe) is a first-person, 3D space combat game with fast-moving filled polygons. The game can be played by one or two players and features a co-op mode where one player steers the ship and the other mans a gun turret.
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Nintendo 64
Set eight years before the events of Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness is a prequel to the first N64 Castlevania, featuring a ‘man-beast’ called Cornell who is trying to save his sister, Ada, from being used as a sacrifice to resurrect Dracula.
The game is set in 1844 and begins with Cornell arriving at his home village, only to discover that it’s been burnt to the ground by Dracula’s skeleton army. He finds Ada’s pendant on the ground and follows her scent to Dracula’s castle.
Continue reading Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Nintendo 64
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