Also known as Defender II, Stargate is the 1981 sequel to Williams Electronics‘ Defender, which was released earlier the same year.
Stargate was designed and programmed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid Kidz, for Williams, and it features the same superfast blasting action as Defender, but with subtle differences.
Created by Williams Electronics in 1988, Narc is a side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter that attracted a lot of controversy when it first came out.
On the face of it the Atari ST conversion of Williams Electronics‘ classic Smash TV looks pretty good, but scratch below the surface and you might realise that it has one or two major deficiencies.
Intellivision Defender is a very good conversion of the timeless Williams arcade game. It was developed by Atari and released for the Intellivision in 1983.
People forget how early Sinistar was – 1983. Which was a hell of a year for old arcade shooters!
Of the first colour arcade shooters, the class of 1983 were definitely second or third generation – in terms of ideas, patterns, movement, challenge, and sophistication. Graphically they were becoming a great improvement over early shoot ’em ups.
Sinistar is a good example of this. The graphics are much more detailed and colourful than the old arcade shooters of 1980/81.
Moon Patrol is an early colour arcade shooter, released by Irem in 1982.
It was distinctive because you drove a vehicle, at the bottom of the screen, and had to jump over craters and obstacles, as well as shoot aliens in the sky. So you are keeping an eye on the road, while at the same time shooting enemies flying above you. This was a neat innovation at the time and earned Irem some respect.
The original Defender on the Atari 2600 is rubbish, but Defender II is the shizzle.
Williams Electronics‘ savage and heart-pounding single-screen shoot ’em up, Robotron: 2084 (1982), used twin joysticks to give the player 360 degree firing action, while at the same time allowing full 360 degree movement.
Williams‘ brilliant 1990 arcade hit, Smash TV, is an insane overhead shooter with a wicked sense of humour.
You play a contestant in a futuristic game show – one in which you must kill to survive. And you have to kill a lot of people, robots, monsters, and snakes, to make it to the end.
Williams Electronics‘ 1982 arcade classic Joust sees you atop a flying bird, trying to knock other riders off their flying birds.
