Doug Neubauer‘s 1979 release, Star Raiders, is a very important game indeed. Predominantly because it was so hugely influential on many other games that followed it. Some people even point to it being the spark that started the first-person shooter market, but that is probably going a little too far…
Tag Archives: spaceships
X-Wing, PC
Still considered to be one of the best Star Wars games of all time, X-Wing is a serious, high-tech, fantasy combat sim – in space obviously – with all the different ships from the famous films in there somewhere, modelled in low-res 3D.
R-Type III: The Third Lightning, Super Nintendo
This 1994 Super Nintendo exclusive (at the time) is half sequel, half remake of Irem‘s classic arcade shooter, R-Type.
Continue reading R-Type III: The Third Lightning, Super Nintendo
Uridium, Atari ST
Andrew Braybrook‘s classic C64 shooter, Uridium, was given a 16-bit release courtesy of Joe Hellesen and Mindscape in 1986.
Mercenary: The Second City, Commodore 64
Not a sequel, but a ‘data disk’ add-on that you load through the original Mercenary. The Second City starts off pretty much the same as Mercenary – crashing on a planet (this time the other side of the one you explored in Mercenary, and also a different colour) and having to explore to get on and eventually escape.
Mercenary: The Second City, Atari ST
A 16-bit conversion of Paul Woakes‘ classic 8-bit exploration sequel to Mercenary. Well, not really a sequel – more a continuation… The real sequel came later.
The Atari ST‘s power (relative to the Commodore 64) means smoother, faster 3D graphics; more colours (useful, when colours are used to identify rooms and places underground); and more sensitive controls.
Mercenary, Atari ST
A fine 16-bit conversion of the classic Mercenary by Paul Woakes, written by Woakes himself it seems. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s a great game and deserves doing right, so who better to code it than the original creator?
Federation of Free Traders, Atari ST
A space exploration and trading game from 1989 that was meant to rival Elite. And it almost did. Except for a fundamental problem… The problem was: travelling around; jumping from planet to planet was… To put it mildly: sticky.
Virus, Atari ST
Starglider 2, Atari ST
Starglider 2 was met with pretty much universal acclaim when it was first released in 1988. And – as a 3D shooter – it broke new ground in a number of different areas.
The King of Grabs 