walter_J64bit Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) I've just found a copy of Star Ship so I popped it in the 2600 adapter what do I see some biggest blocky graphics Ive seen on the 2600 game. The was game made in the 70's so Ive over looked that but what through me off was I had to use the player two joystick to play at first I thought my joystick stop working just after I'd fixed it. It's odd game but fun. Edited July 8, 2014 by walter_J64bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 For the 70s it's not bad, but it really doesn't show what the 2600 can really do and it pales in comparison to later games like Starmaster and Star Raiders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) For the 70s it's not bad, but it really doesn't show what the 2600 can really do and it pales in comparison to later games like Starmaster and Star Raiders. No launch title on any system ever displayed the full capability of the console. It would be a pretty damning indictment of Starmaster and Star Raiders if Star Ship *didn't* pale in comparison. Those games came, what, five years later? Five years is a drastic enough difference in the 2010s, let alone the 1970s and 1980s. I think Star Ship is a good game, mainly in the context of the late '70s. It's a different kind of game than those that followed; it's simpler and much more "arcadey," almost like an electronic carnival shooting game. The "fast" variations are the best (like Game 4), and the two-player games are even better. The Warp Drive and Lunar Lander games are a little "meh" but can still be pretty fun in small doses. I actually like that it uses the right control jack (as do a few other early 2600 games), since I can leave paddles connected to the left. I wish Atari had stuck with that. I also love the blockiness and the sound effects. Edited July 8, 2014 by BassGuitari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas10e Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 recently bought a heavy sixer & Star Ship was bundled with it .... was the 2'nd game I ever owned so that was the game I used to test the system remembered the right controller port to be used & had a great time playing ... later on found trouble with left controller port fire button .... think it needs a new hex buffer chip just gatta make the time to install it the sound effects are terrific !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I had a need to own this game because the font or the size of the font in the box and cart doesn't match any other Atari release, I think. Plus you get to fly a ship in space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 It was 1977 and you got to be Captain Kirk. As a kid, how awesome is that? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 It was 1977 and you got to be Captain Kirk. As a kid, how awesome is that? Just what I was thinking! One of my favorites of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliptitude Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 (edited) I've been hunting for a copy of Star Ship, after trying it out on the Atari Greatest Hits App for tablets. In a way it seems amusingly bad, like THE prototypical archaic video game. .. I like the Lunar Lander game, with the wrap around screen, when you slowly move your ship to the edge until one half appears on the opposite edge while the other half is still at the first edge. Just funny and kind of charming. .. It's a little trippy in this game how all the objects sort of look like symbols or icons of some kind. I just today discovered the existence of the arcade game Starship 1, that Star Ship is based on, which apparently had a mirrored display and some superimposed blacklight diorama, and also some pretty strange explosion graphics. Edited July 31, 2014 by gliptitude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I owned over 100 Atari games back in the day and never owned this game. The only reason I can think of is because it had such an early release and I bought the majority of my games in the early eighties. Did starship have re releases like many of the other early atari games did, or was it just 78 and that was that? Just find it strange I didnt own it for how common it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Did starship have re releases like many of the other early atari games did, or was it just 78 and that was that? It was originally sold from 1977-1980, and was rereleased in '82 or '83 in a bizarre one-of-a-kind label variation: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Just imagine if the only game you had seen before this was Pong and Star Ship isn't that bad of a game... But compare it to something like Solaris... Yeah, it's terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 It was originally sold from 1977-1980, and was rereleased in '82 or '83 in a bizarre one-of-a-kind label variation:Yes. That is the bizarro one I had to have.According to that end label pictured, it was made the 45th week of 1982, right alongside that other holiday release blockbuster cart E.T.!!! Edit: My original E.T. Cart is the 46th week of 1982. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynxVGL Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Pick up a copy of "Stellar Track" and you have the ULTIMATE early 70's space experience. Space Invaders does not count. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Starship inflated and fired up my imagination quite impressively back then. I even made a cockpit out of cardboard and pillows next to my bed just for this game. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Starship inflated and fired up my imagination quite impressively back then. I even made a cockpit out of cardboard and pillows next to my bed just for this game. That is awesomely nerdtastic. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Man, those echo-y reverb crash sounds, haahaha. I miss that vibe. I remember when the 2600 was new and there were only like a couple dozen games and Activision didn't exist yet, we would buy a game or two once in a while. Those early games were so damn primitive! No more than blocks. Surround is another game I can't believe was so basic yet so much fun as a kid, along with Air-Sea Battle And Indy 500. I agree about Stellar Track, that was a great "secret" game (Sears Tele-Games only). We would keep hitting Select (I think) in order to come up with a scenario with loads of enemies and a minimal amount of bases. Same with 5200 Star Raiders. We wanted more of a challenge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 No launch title on any system ever displayed the full capability of the console. The only game I can think of to challenge "ever" top of my head was Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast. It was even VGA compatible right out of the gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Pick up a copy of "Stellar Track" and you have the ULTIMATE early 70's space experience. Space Invaders does not count. I made a point of getting a boxed copy of that too along the way. While I'm not a huge fan of the Trek-style game genre, from a historical standpoint, I find it endlessly fascinating. It seems nearly every computer platform got multiple versions (and in fact, variations are still being made today, even for touch-based devices), but few consoles. The fact that the Atari 2600 got a version so early on is definitely interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Just put on Star Ship in the background somewhere (on an old CRT TV). Watch this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_Terror While having some pizza and pop. After a long day of bike riding.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 (edited) Here's a nice hack Nukey Shay made for us! http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199407-starship-hack/?hl=%2Bstarship&do=findComment&comment=2807069 Edited August 1, 2014 by Trinity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 The only game I can think of to challenge "ever" top of my head was Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast. It was even VGA compatible right out of the gate. I remember being damn wowed by the three launch games for the SNES also (Super Mario World, F-Zero, and Pilotwings). But you're right, most systems take a few years to get the 'great' games out for them due to developers needing time and experience with a system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I liked using the background sound effects from many VCS games for other activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I owned over 100 Atari games back in the day and never owned this game. The only reason I can think of is because it had such an early release and I bought the majority of my games in the early eighties. Did starship have re releases like many of the other early atari games did, or was it just 78 and that was that? Just find it strange I didnt own it for how common it is. Near as I can tell, the game was practically non-existent in Canada. I have never, EVER come across one in the wild here. Given how common it supposedly is overall, I'd rank it as a 5 or even 6 up here. I'm sitting on a pile of 500+ carts downstairs, and have probably had a couple thousand go through my hands over the past few years. The only place I've seen it is in Ebay auctions. Not even retro stores in the US ever seem to have it, or if they do it's only at the stores that charge $10 for common carts. It's been one of my more elusive hunts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Near as I can tell, the game was practically non-existent in Canada. I have never, EVER come across one in the wild here. Given how common it supposedly is overall, I'd rank it as a 5 or even 6 up here. I'm sitting on a pile of 500+ carts downstairs, and have probably had a couple thousand go through my hands over the past few years. The only place I've seen it is in Ebay auctions. Not even retro stores in the US ever seem to have it, or if they do it's only at the stores that charge $10 for common carts. It's been one of my more elusive hunts. Hmmm...I live in MN, so basically share a border with Canada, maybe it had a greater release in other areas? Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Oddly enough.. I was a child of the 70's. Loved Star Wars in 1977. Always oggled this game in the Atari catalogs. Got my VCS to play space games. . Bought any space game I could starting with Space Combat (aka Space Wars). And yet, have never ever popped in a Star Ship cartridge, nor have even tried it in emulation. I think by the time I really got cooking on the VCS, this game was just too old and I kind of realized it in the back of my mind in light of the blocky graphics especially in relation to stuff like Star Voyager & Missile Command, etc... Guess I should give it a shot. Edited August 7, 2014 by NE146 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.