Stardust
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Stardust
This is where it all began – way back in 1993 with the original Stardust, a legendary shoot-em-up for the Amiga 500 (an Atari STE version followed in ‘94) that wowed critics and gamers alike. Stardust dazzled with its tight controls, solid gameplay and stunning technical achievements like ray-traced graphics, full-screen animations & 3D hyperspace tunnel sequences. Players controlled an upgradeable starship equipped with various weapons, missiles and shields. The playfield “wrapped”, so if anything went off-screen it reappeared on the opposite side. Stardust featured five different worlds (all connected by 3D hyperspace tunnels) and 30 action-packed levels full of asteroids, enemies, and bosses bent on destruction. At game’s end, the evil mutant penguin Professor Schaumund made his first-ever appearance (and subsequent escape), meaning he could (and did) return to wreak cosmic havoc in future Stardust titles!
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Crisis Wing is a mid-90’s style arcade shoot’em up (shmup) game with frantic fast-paced gameplay and colorful pixel graphics.
The celestial planet Conceyta orbits with its moon in a dust- and gas-covered solar system. Within lurks an evil unknown to man that bears a danger so much greater than any threat yet witnessed. A dark, mysterious power has manifested itself in the depths of the gas giant, absorbing life and technology, and assimilating all in its wake. Spacecraft, pilots, androids, and computers: Nothing is safe. No one can escape the virus that infects all life forms, turning once brave heroes and peaceful colonists alike into ravaging, chaotic forces, fighting each other and infecting more in the process. Soulless technology and hate-driven humanoids are all that's left of Earth's once-proud fleet. The galaxy as we know it is threatening to fall apart. War, death, and bedlam have taken hold of civilisation. Humankind is at the brink of extinction. Those who aren't yet infected--the resistance, a band of mercenaries, soldiers and civilians--are Earth's final hope, and they have one goal in common: To stop the deadly infection and destroy the core of all evil, hidden in the depths of Conceyta. Scouts have undertaken a merciless mission to bring detailed plans and data on the location of the power and its defence line in a last attempt to save humankind. So it has come to be that the last remaining pilot, a mercenary and bounty hunter, is the only chance of survival, ironically driven by the desire for wealth and fame. Left with little choice, the resistance has developed a star fighter capable of intercepting the evil force, equipped with a deadly weapon system and of utmost agility. With no time to lose, the 10th and final prototype of the ship is handed to the pilot. Its name: "Sldner-X". Should the pilot succeed, his name shall live on in the memories of man forever to come. And so the battle begins.
Use creative combat tactics and skill shots to earn high scores as you teleport through city streets and rooftops in an awe-inspiring ballet of bullets. Tear apart your robot foes and use them to fend off the enemy onslaught. Unlock, customize and test weapons before taking on challenges that put your newfound skills to the test!
Out Zone is a vertically scrolled run and gun video game set in the future of the year 2097, where an alien race from the fictional planet Owagira are threatening to wipe out humanity. After multiple failed attempts to defend Earth against their attacks, players assume the role of cyborg mercenaries recruited by the United Nations in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invaders
Your planet has been overrun by the meanest mutant vegetation ever created in a genetics laboratory. It's taken over buildings, labs, fighter craft... even people! And it's getting bigger... and meaner... with each passing second. But it hasn't taken over you. Now, you're going in on a mission to deliver a POWER STRIKE! You have a special attack ship with the ability to use weapons you free from the ground. The action is hot and heavy. The enemy is coming faster than you could ever believe! So fight hard and fast. If you don't turn the mutated vegetation into a giant tossed salad, they'll turn you into toast!
You are Frald Rancer and control a space ship which must journey from your home planet to outer space to defeat enemy invaders. Once all the enemies are defeated then return home. The game moves in a forward direction where the screen objects move towards and down to the player. Approaching enemy ships are small, in the distance, and become larger and move faster as they approach the player. The player controls a fighter at the bottom of the screen, which can only move from side to side. Shots can be fired at a diagonal, as well as straight, by twisting the joystick from side to side. At certain stages, ground targets will appear and can be destroyed by using the "Burn" button. The laser disc generated backgrounds are largely non-interactive during game play. They form the backgrounds on which the game is played on. Scenes do work in with the backgrounds, however that is the extent. Some backgrounds appear as they should have elements of interactively, however, were not used in the release of the game. These include scenes where the player is going through an asteroid field and asteroids fly towards the player. Another scene is in the crystal caverns, where there are many obstacles which could have been made to be avoided. These are only two of many scenes which could have had interactive elements. The game may have been decided to have been too hard to play with these background obstacles and computer fighters to play. Hence removing the background interactively to make the game more playable. The game starts with the player in Frald Rancer's home city, then taking off into outer space via a fly-by of the city. The backgrounds are very Sci-Fi and are fantasy themed. They are very interesting, more so than the game. The music from the laser disc also complements the laser disc video very well and makes up for the sometimes annoying, computer generated sounds.
The aim of Armalyte is to progress to the end of a long, horizontally-scrolling level where the screen will cease scrolling and battle will commence with a Boss. Beating the Boss allows the player to progress to the next level. There are eight levels in all. Smaller Bosses are encountered midway through each level and these also have to be beaten to progress further. During each level the player encounters numerous small enemy ships, many of which fly in fixed formation. Levels also feature scenery which can destroy the player's ship if touched. Weapons can be upgraded through an upgrade system.
Darius is a two-dimensional horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up set in a fictional future. Uniquely among shoot 'em ups, the game's screen is three times wider than conventional size, and the arcade cabinet uses an arrangement of three screens to accommodate it. The player controls an ornate fighter spacecraft, named the Silver Hawk, and must navigate through scrolling terrain while battling a variety of fighter craft, ground vehicles, turrets, and other obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as zones in the game). The ship's arsenal consists of forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force field, all of which can be upgraded by power-ups (in the form of large, colored orbs) that are dropped by specially-colored enemies throughout the game's zones. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a branching path. While there are 28 zones in total, only seven can be played in a single run. A Sega Mega Drive port was produced in 2019 that is pre-installed in the Mega Drive Mini as a bonus game.
The Halley's Comet is back from outer-space and scientists all over the world are excited by this event. But this time, things do not really go according to plans and an unexpected fleet of alien spaceships appears from behind the comet. Their destination is Earth and Humanity's finest spaceship and pilot is sent to counter the attack.
Akka Arrh is a previously unreleased prototype game created 1982 for the arcade. It saw it's first release in 2022 as part of the the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration.