Warp Speed (like Star Raiders?)

[Flojomojo]

Why am I just learning about this game via spam from AntStream? It looks like the kind of thing I would have loved when it was new. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarpSpeed

[DragonGrafx-16]

I used to have a CIB copy of the SNES version but I sold it. The box was a little beat up and I'm not really into space/flight sim type games anyway.

Edited July 19, 2019 by DragonGrafx-16

[Gabriel]

I remember this game.  I loved playing Star Raiders on my 5200, but by the time I got my Genesis my 5200 was unplayable due to lack of functioning controllers.  When I saw WarpSpeed in some magazine or other, I was super excited.  I kept an eye out for the game.  Eventually I think I found it at Babbages.

 

It got terrible reviews.  I recall one reviewer said it had all the excitement of a fishbowl, and honestly I can't deny that the game would sometimes feel like that.  Also, back during the heyday of the YouTube angry game reviewers there were a few of the low tier content makers who talked shit about it.  They were basically the type that would just pick out a low tier game like Warpspeed and show it on the screen while cursing, because in their minds it was self evident it was old and therefore sucked.  

 

But me?  Back in the day I enjoyed it.  It was kind of slow and plodding, but it was something like Star Raiders and I really wanted that.  I played it a lot.  But despite that, I couldn't tell you much about it today.

 

I sold my original copy ages ago.  After a certain point I didn't play it anymore.  But when I got my flashcart, it was one of the first games I loaded onto it to re-experience.  It didn't rekindle love or anything.  I only played for a couple of minutes.  I still had a kind of muscle memory and even though I didn't consciously remember the controls, I instinctually recalled how to do the oddball things requiring strange controller combos.  

 

It seems there was a story with multiple chapters or difficulties.  I seem to recall playing through all of that.  I don't recall any kind of ending beyond some text message.  I recall hopping between sector maps through wormholes was pretty cool, but travelling the galaxy never felt quite as expansive as the single map in Star Raiders.

[+thegoldenband]

I've played both the Genesis and SNES versions of WarpSpeed extensively, and beaten both of them multiple times. It's a mindless narcotic drip of a game, but if that's what you're in the mood for, it's perfect.

 

The Genesis version can be frustrating since it's sometimes hard to get your shots to make contact with the enemy. The SNES version is a cakewalk by comparison -- probably too much so.

 

Also, if you try to beat the Campaign, it's a lot easier if you use pencil and paper to track where you've been, as (among other things) there's a mission that requires you to search systematically for invisible enemies.

[Gabriel]

On 11/15/2019 at 1:37 PM, thegoldenband said:

The Genesis version can be frustrating since it's sometimes hard to get your shots to make contact with the enemy.

I'd say this is the signature quality of the game.  The enemy is always farther away than you might think and your shots are always slower.

 

Shooting at enemies feels like one of those water ring toys.  They were these handheld tanks with rings and targets in them.  There was a button which act as a pump to shoot air up underneath a ring and propel it.  The goal was to make the rings fall onto the targets, but you didn't really have any control.  The rings just slowly floated wherever they wanted.

 

Shooting in Warpspeed felt a lot like that at any ranges other than absolute point blank.

 

Like I said, I enjoyed the game, but I can't help but think about an aquarium any time I'm reminded of it.