Star Raiders 2
| Star Raiders II | |
|---|---|
Cover Art
|
|
| Developer(s) | Atari |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum |
| Release |
Atari 8-bit
|
| Genre(s) | Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Star Raiders II is a video game released in 1986 for the Atari 8-bit home computers, and later several other home computers and game consoles. The game was originally developed as part of a tie-in with the movie The Last Starfighter, which featured an arcade game of the same name as part of its plotline. Versions for the Atari 5200 and the Atari 8-bit computers were developed in 1984, although those were never released. Later the tie-in was dropped, and the game converted into a sequel to Star Raiders by changing a number of gameplay elements. The gameplay remained quite different from the original Star Raiders. Versions with The Last Starfighter branding made their way into the warez channels.
In 2015 it was revealed that a true sequel, also called Star Raiders II, had been under development for some time by Atari programmer Aric Wilmunder. It was nearing completion when he was laid off during the massive downsizing of the company in early 1984. Although the programmer continued talks with Atari after its takeover by Jack Tramiel, no deal was ever forthcoming. The code, largely complete but not polished for release, was posted publicly in December 2015. This version is somewhat less sophisticated than the version that was released commercially, but is far more faithful to the original version in terms of gameplay.
The plot of The Last Starfighter revolves around the latest outbreak in a long-running war between two races. In the past, the Rylan Star League protected themselves from the warlike Ko-Dan through their fleet of advanced "Gunstar" fighters, and the "Frontier", a space-based energy field. Their protection is removed when a member of the League defects to the Ko-Dan cause, destroying the Gunstar base and showing the Ko-Dan how to pass through the Frontier. The movie follows the protagonist Alex Rogan as he crews the remaining Gunstar fighter and defeats the Ko-Dan fleet. Rogan was discovered by the Rylans by his high scores in an arcade game that was actually a Gunstar simulator.
The original videogame remained faithful to this basic plotline, standing in for the arcade game in the movie. It expanded on the movie's action by having multiple Ko-Dan fleets attacking the League. Each fleet contained a group of Deckfighters for protection, Destroyers that attacked the cities on League planets, and a single command ship that was responsible for breaching the Frontier. The command ship left the fleet once the Frontier was breached, leaving the Destroyers and Deckfighters to attack.
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Wikipedia