Playing Defender

[shank]

I've been playng Defender and it was the first time in 19 years, and i was a little rusty, but i got better at it. The aliens are hard to shoot at. The ship was hard to control, but i got use to it. Why does the ship dissapear when you fire a laser? Anyway, it's a fun and addicting game. Is Defender 2 for the 2600? Is it any good?

[StanJr]

Yeah, Defender 2 (Stargate) is really good, much harder than Defender.

 

I remember how odd Defender felt when I first played it again after many years. You remember that you once had those skills, but where did they go and why do they feel so odd...

[NovaXpress]

Why does the ship dissapear when you fire a laser?

Because the 2600 wasn't able to display a ship and a laser at the same time the way that Defender wanted it to. It's just good old flicker. By the time Stargate came out they found a way around this.

[shank]

Yes, it was strange, that my skill wasn't as good as it was. The gameplay seemed stiff, but after a while it got better. That's really cool that they figured out how to stop the ship from dissapearing in Defender 2. I'll have to go and try to find Defender 2, it sounds challenging. Who programmed Defender?

[StanJr]

Bob Polaro

 

who brought you other such classics as Desert Falcon and Bugs Bunny!

 

Cool guy too!

[Ze_ro]

That's really cool that they figured out how to stop the ship from dissapearing in Defender 2. I'll have to go and try to find Defender 2, it sounds challenging.

If you're a fan of Defender, I'd highly recommend you try it's sequel on the 2600... the game is much better than the original. Not many people mention it when the subject of great 2600 games come up, but in my opinion, it's one of the best arcade ports that the system got!

 

Also, I should point out that "Defender 2" and "Stargate" are essentially the exact same game, so if you're looking for Defender 2, keep an eye out for Stargate too! The guys who made the original Defender actually left Midway and created Stargate... Midway eventually bought out their studio and re-released the game as "Defender 2"... Atari changed the name of the 2600 version when this happened. (At least, that's the story I've heard for the name change... in case I messed something up in there, someone please correct).

 

--Zero

[Zonie]

Oh, definately. Stargate is fantastic. cannot even believe it is on a 2600. Looks more like the 400/800 version. Flicker??? Hah! If the games were this good back in the day, the 5200 may never have been needed to distract Atari during 7800 development. I betcha a rehash of Donky kong on the 2600 would be more arcade like with today's programming skills.

 

I find myself playing 2600 stargate and defender on my 400 so much now, that I am planning a new defender controller. My current one is now 25 years old and ready to retire.

 

I also have an N64 version of it (it's an emulation) and will hack the N64 controller for that. All my non-atari consoles are getting an Atari 9-pin adapter.

 

All these years, and Defender turns out to be my Fav. Sorry SI and Asteroids!

[Zonie]

Oh, Stargate was merely a sequel to defender in the arcades in the US. It added the Inviso button and the stargate in the screen. It was also back before Williams was Part of Midway, IIRC.

 

My guess is the idea came from the corny "Buck rogers in teh 25th century" tv show which used stargates to travel to different solar systems instead of having the ships with built-in hyperdrive.

[+FujiSkunk]

Also, I should point out that "Defender 2" and "Stargate" are essentially the exact same game, so if you're looking for Defender 2, keep an eye out for Stargate too! The guys who made the original Defender actually left Midway and created Stargate... Midway eventually bought out their studio and re-released the game as "Defender 2"... Atari changed the name of the 2600 version when this happened. (At least, that's the story I've heard for the name change... in case I messed something up in there, someone please correct).

 

Not quite right. The guys did go off and form their own studio, but Midway, feeling they needed a sure-fire hit and wanting to go with proven talent, then contracted the new company to do the Defender sequel. It was actually released in the arcades as Stargate, however, Midway later discovered somebody else had a copyright lock on that name. So, the name for the record books is now Defender II, which is what all the arcade emulator packages call it (even though there never really was a Defender II arcade cabinet).

 

Atari Inc. released Stargate just before the name flak happened. Atari Corp., during the red-label days, re-released the game with its "proper" name, Defender II (though curiously, Atari Corp. also re-released the silver-label Stargate, desperate for any kind of cash and copyright be damned, I guess).

 

The arcade programmers talk about this in their interviews on the PS1/Saturn Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits and PS2/XBox/GC Midway Arcade Treasures 1 discs.

[kencrisis]

Argh, I promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore carts until I put some extensive time in with all the ones I got over the holidays. But all this talk of Defender II got me itching to get it on Ebay today (it's been high on my want list for a while). At least I also got it in the box w/manual.

[DeV0]

Defender 2 on the 2600 is awesome, get it if u like defender