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Atari Today's Star Ship/Outer Space review error. Thoughts?


Godzilla

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http://www.ataricart.com/reviews.html

 

'A26

  OUTER SPACE

 

I picked up Outer Space just the other day at a local gaming store here in Fayetteville. I was surprised at first because I don't normally see a lot of Sears picture labels anywhere, but plenty of text labels to go around. As I was contemplating my purchase I remembered that the Sears line of games usually are a direct copy of some already existing Atari title and I wasn't disappointed by that. In case you didn't know, Outer Space was programmed by Bob Whitehead who later went to work for Activision and made such games as Private Eye. Outer Space however is simply a repackage Star Ship from Atari.

This is a pretty sad game compared to the amazing things Bob did for Activision. You simply control a ship from the cockpit perspective and use your crosshairs to shoot enormous floating objects in space. The game has a similar feel to that of Star Master but not nearly as in-depth or creative.

Back to these floating objects, they appear to be oversized in that children's book way, as though we all have really small hands with little coordination and need things to be big and plush so we don't hurt ourselves. Anyway, the strange objects floating by are certainly odd indeed, I seem to remember a Star Trek style ship, a weird alien and some yellow flies buzzing around. It's all very subjective when trying to decide what everything is supposed to be but that's the law of the Atari 2600 anyway. So trying not to harp too much on that subject I will move on to another.

The game itself is very easy to play, just move the joystick, up down left or right, line up your floating object between the crosshairs and push the magic button to shoot. Unfortunately the lag time between when your lazer hits and when the item dies or explodes seems a bit too much and I had a hard time deciding if I was destroying something or If I was getting hurt somehow.

One of the only neat things about this game is that the objects floating in space get larger and larger the closer they get to the screen, it's worth it to watch them float right on up to you cockpit and smack the screen. Other then that, this game lasted about 5 minutes in my Atari and three of those minutes was spent trying to make the game work. One of reasons I wasn't too happy with the game is that I own Star Ship and have suffered this horrific ordeal once before. Bob made some great stuff later in his career so I can only guess that this was simply a warm up to the creative talent to follow.

REVIEW BY: DALE CRUM | ATARI 2600 VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM | DATE: 11.06.02'

 

Anyone who has actually played Star Ship knows there is a lot more to the game than 'game 1.' I really loved this game as a kid, and still enjoy it, especially with a second player. Here was response I emailed:

 

'As Star Ship is one of my all time favorite early atari 2600 games, I felt I should mention some grevious

omissions and demonstrations in your review that you barely played the game, and obviously, didn't have the manual :-)

 

If you had the manual, you would know there is MUCH more to Star Ship than just slowly floating through space shooting big things,

 

http://www.atariage.com/manual_thumbs.html...wareLabelID=495

 

The first person game is best played solo as game number 4, with left difficulty set to A. You get attacked two at a time in this mode, and the speed is much more challenging. I remeber how impressed I was with the 'scaling' as a wee lad.

The two player competitve modes in this game are incredibly fun, with one player piloting, and the other trying not to get shot.

 

The other half of the game, and the part you failed to mention, is my favorite though. The second game in Star Ship is a Lunar Lander game, with the usual blocky graphics (the lunar module's control is excellent though,) It is very challenging on the most difficult setting solo, but once again, is incredible fun with two players simultaneously, where one player controls the module and the other player controls the moon, trying to dodge the lander. Great competitive fun.

 

I hope you can find it in your heart to update your review of this long overlooked early classic.

 

KDK'

 

 

What do you think? Am I the only one who likes this old blocky game?

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Well for a "child's game", Star Ship has the proper pilot control .. Up means Dive and Down means climb -- that's enough to confuse any child ...

 

Sure, the objects change perspective in relation to the Star Ship .. but that does not excuse the fact that the game is only a pitiful shell compared to other later, first person shooters like Star Raiders.

 

Lunar Lander is nothing compared to the arcade hit by the same name. There's no gravity for pete's sake!! And you can control the moon? Who ever heard of that?

 

The only reason that these carts exist in any number is because Star Ship (Outer Space) was the third cart released for the VCS/Sears Video Arcade! When the selection is that miniscule, consumers will purchase marginal items. Same rule applies for the Basic Math cart ..

 

And these games date from a time when controlling objects that move around the screen was big entertainment ... It's magic ..

 

These games really do suck big time ... If Basic Math and Starship had been a part of the second year selection, no one would have bought them !! Well maybe misled parents would have bought the Math cart for their school kids. I kinda wish that Atari had waited on Basic Math .. then they might have programmed it to use the keyboard controllers which came out in 1978. :dunce:

 

I can say all this because I *did* buy Outer Space in 1977 for $20 .. I was a young preteen then .. and it was the third game that we got .. and I did play it .. but I was GREATLY disappointed with Lunar Lander and never played it because it is stupid! It was stupid then and remains so :dunce: despite any great memories that you and I have of it .. After we got some more carts as Atari released the original 9 one at a time, Outer Space was nothing more than a curiosity .. We played alot of Tank Plus, Target Fun, Blackjack, Chase, Race, Pong Sports and Speedway II. But Outer Space was not much more than a curiosity after we got all the other games. (No Math cart was purchased.)

 

Star Raiders, Solaris and a bunch of other first person games have relegated Space Ship to the bottom of the bin .. because it sucked when it came out ... And Star Fire is to happen too!

 

I'm still waiting for a decent 2600 Lunar Lander game .. I want a graphics AND a classic text version that uses the keyboard ... Please!!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

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I can appreciate the childhood nostalgia appeal this game might have for someone. Unfortunately, I didn't get my Atari until 1982 (for that matter, I'd never even HEARD of Atari until 1982), and the game was long out-of-print. Wait a minute! What do I mean "unfortunately"?

 

Anyway, like I said... if you have nostalgia for it, I won't slight you. But other than that, the game's a big stinking, steaming pile of $#!+.

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I like the background noises for Outer Space.

I remember playing it back in the day.

I believe it was the first of many first person perspective outer space games...and at a time when folks were just learning the in's and outs of video game programming...I think it was a valiant first attempt.

It's aged badly, but at a time when controlling an object on your TV was a new thing...It prolly wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

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/me hides his head and crawls into a dark corner in a shadow to play star ship and looks over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching.

 

Have any of you played it in two player simultaneous mode? I still find it's head to head aspect to be quite fun. I too like the sounds. I've never felt a simple game with good, basic gameplay was neccessarily bad. I still like pong and the original break out and the original night driver (etc) It takes more than bad graphics to turn me away.

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Not to be picking a nit, but the lunar lander part is set in outer space, not on a planet surface, so it makes sense that there is no gravity per se. Besides gravity would make it far too easy for the player in control of the lunar module and much harder for the player controlling the moon. great to play with dark side of the moon in the background :-)

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Sure, the objects change perspective in relation to the Star Ship .. but that does not excuse the fact that the game is only a pitiful shell compared to other later, first person shooters like Star Raiders.

 

Lunar Lander is nothing compared to the arcade hit by the same name.  There's no gravity for pete's sake!!  And you can control the moon?  Who ever heard of that?  

 

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

Well it wasn't meant to be based on the Lunar lander arcade game as that didn't come out until a year after this cart :-0 , also while it is called Starship and does have similarities in gameplay to the coin-op Starship (which is well worth experiencing, it is a very primitive game, but I have to tell you it is a lot of fun and the blue-ish hued graphics look awesome!) The cartridge based game could've have graphics that were more similar to its coin-op take-off. I would love to see someone hack Starship into Arcade Starship for the 2600 with a cool Atariage Starship killer label (hint hint Alex/Albert....) that would be great!

 

 

 

Curt

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But Lunar Lander implies "Luna" which means our own Earth Moon .. no other satellite elsewhere in outer space ... and everyone knows that the Moon has alot of gravity .. especially after the six Moon landings ..

 

Text versions of games called Lunar Lander were around for along time before 1977 when Star Ship cart was released. They were calculation games involving fuel burned over time versus lunar gravity. I played this once at a college computer center in 1975! Amazing fun for a question based text game ...

 

So imagine my delight and subsequent disappointment (in early fall 1977) when I discovered that there is "Lunar Lander" game on the "B" side of the Star Ship / Outer Space cart.

 

This game is so pathetic .. it should be renamed Asteroid Chase .. or Satellite Capture .. It cannot live up to a proper name like Lunar Lander which implies "the Eagle has landed!" and Apollo space history.

 

Yeah .. You're right .. this was 2 years before Atari released a proper Lunar Lander into the arcades.

 

2600 Star Ship should be updated .. maybe limit the photon torpedoes .. and make the space alien look more like a UFO ..

 

The sounds are cool and reflect the times ...

 

Again: Starship /Outer Space would not have sold well if it were released in 1978 .. and its popularity is reflected in that the cart was cancelled from the catalog within 2 years of release.

 

I should try out that 2 player mode you are speaking so greatly about ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

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Again:  Starship /Outer Space would not have sold well if it were released in 1978 .. and its popularity is reflected in that the cart was cancelled from the catalog within 2 years of release.

 

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

Yes, you are soooooo correct on that!!! Most of the early games from Atari were great for their time, Maze Craze is one of my favorites, Adventure of course and Canyon Bomber as well... but Starship is one of those games you just have to say was not one of the "hits" :-D

 

 

Curt

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Godzilla---

 

I remember that place, hey what about The Space Station that was uptown with all of the Upside-down Space Invaders hanging from the ceiling in the front windows!!!!

 

Man, you just don't see arcades where people invest time, money and creativity like the old days!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Curt

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space station was awesome. There was another huge multi-floor one, where you could see though the floors and some crazy ceiling arangement.

 

My favorite by far was an entire underground arcade in an ancient subway. It had the original red baron and many of the old non-electronic arcade games, like ones where you hit a metal ball with a wooden bat. Great stuff. Had Space War and Pong too :-)

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But Lunar Lander implies "Luna" which means our own Earth Moon ..

 

Right. A lunar lander isn't very practical in space, unless you're landing on something :)

 

This game is so pathetic .. it should be renamed Asteroid Chase .. or Satellite Capture ..  It cannot live up to a proper name like Lunar Lander which implies "the Eagle has landed!" and Apollo space history.

 

Agreed - it's a poor man's Lunar Lander. It always appeared to me like you were actually destroying the moon! As soon as you're over the moon and you press fire, it disappears. Maybe they should have called it Lunar Destroyer :D

 

Yes, it's an early effort, and like most of them, it's pretty weak. But at the time it was cool to have a first-person perspective game like that. As for the enemy objects, they can be easily hacked into something else (that giant letter "Z" is the worst!). An update would be cool - a straight Lunar Lander port would be even better. Btw, I submitted all the Star Ship 1 pics on KLOV....right before I sold the machine :(

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Btw, I submitted all the Star Ship 1 pics on KLOV....right before I sold the machine

 

That breaks my heart! :sad:

 

Starship 1 was the very first arcade game I got hopelessly addicted to. It was in the lobby of the movie theater running Star Wars in late '77 / early '78. How cool was it to be able to come out of that movie, and go over to the machine and start blasting space ships in real life? :D

 

Fortunately, MAME now supports it. Unfortunately, it doesn't have audio. (I don't suppose the person you sold it to would be interested in recording some sound samples?)

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