Is there Star Raiders 2 on Amiga ?

[VladR]

I was hoping to find a great port/version of Star Raiders 2 (The Last Starfighter) on Amiga, but after browsing through 10 pages on youtube, I cannot seem to find one.


For reference, this is the game I'm talking about:


[ Show youtube player ]


Is there a version of this (under some different name) on Amiga? If not, what's the closest high-pace arcade space shooter to this ?


I found couple space sims, but those don't really count (different genre, really).


It was also ported to ST (although the ST version is very boring, nowhere near the frantic original pace on 8-bit Atari).


Amiga version of this could have looked fantastic at higher res (and more colors).

[DrBong]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't "Star Raiders II" differ quite a bit in terms of gameplay elements from the original Atari release of "Star Raiders"? Presumably, this was largely because it was meant to be a licenced game for the "The Last Starfighter" movie that never eventuated, and so an unplanned Star Raiders sequel was born in order to salvage the code and recoup some money for Atari.

If so, it might be a lot harder to find something that is close to "Star Raiders II" on the Amiga (and other platforms) than the original "Star Raiders" game.

[Foebane]

I played "Last Starfighter" on my Atari 800XL back in the day and even completed it, I didn't even know it was an unreleased game!

It's available now on AtariMania, and I don't know why people wouldn't snap it up when it's the genuine article. It's better than the lame rush-job called Star Raiders II, that's for sure!

[VladR]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't "Star Raiders II" differ quite a bit in terms of gameplay elements from the original Atari release of "Star Raiders"? Presumably, this was largely because it was meant to be a licenced game for the "The Last Starfighter" movie that never eventuated, and so an unplanned Star Raiders sequel was born in order to salvage the code and recoup some money for Atari.

The story behind the licensing is quite complex and full of twists (yet an interesting read if you got the time), but by and large, you're right.

Originally Posted by DrBong

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't "Star Raiders II" differ quite a bit in terms of gameplay elements from the original Atari release of "Star Raiders"?

Yeah. SRI is *mostly* 6DOF space simulator, while SRII is pure arcade shooter that retains the Star System travelling mechanics.
While I personally never liked SRI, I was a huge fan of SRII (The Last Starfighter).


Now, about 3 yrs ago, Aric Wilmunder's unfinished proto of SRII surfaced up, which is extension of SRI in the same vein :vector gfx, surface levels, etc.
But, as this was unreleased, the SRII usually means The Last Starfighter.

Originally Posted by DrBong

If so, it might be a lot harder to find something that is close to "Star Raiders II" on the Amiga (and other platforms) than the original "Star Raiders" game.

Yeah, I found about 4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space simulation (e.g. you spend an eternity locating your next enemy), but nothing arcade like SRII.

[VladR]

Originally Posted by Foebane

I played "Last Starfighter" on my Atari 800XL back in the day and even completed it, I didn't even know it was an unreleased game!

It's available now on AtariMania, and I don't know why people wouldn't snap it up when it's the genuine article. It's better than the lame rush-job called Star Raiders II, that's for sure!

Maybe you played the different build of SRII ?
To me, they look almost identical - at least I can't from the top of my head recall any significant differences (apart from small stuff).


Here's the comparison between the two:
[ Show youtube player ]

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by VladR

Yeah, I found about 4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space simulation (e.g. you spend an eternity locating your next enemy), but nothing arcade like SRII.

Never played Star Raiders 2 (or the Last Starfighter)... but watched the video.

The first *similar* Amiga game that came to mind was S.D.I. (Cinemaware); well the arcade sequences anyway.

[VladR]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Never played Star Raiders 2 (or the Last Starfighter)... but watched the video.

The first *similar* Amiga game that came to mind was S.D.I. (Cinemaware); well the arcade sequences anyway.

Dang ! What a great find ! Thank you !!!


I'm merely half-way through the vid right now, but it is absolutely awesome !
[ Show youtube player ]


The guy commenting on the vid looks like he was born quarter century after Iron Curtain, so his ignorance can be very annoying, but the game looks fantastic - it combines nice, colorful sprites with 3D polygons, there's various game screens and the missile hunting mini-game is exhilarating.


Probably my only complaint is that Atari 800's color palette in SRII was much more pleasing to the eye than Amiga's. Especially the planet's atmosphere - the contrast of those bright shades against the dark space was visually more appealing.


Any other action games on Amiga with similar frantic arcade pace ?

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by VladR

Any other action games on Amiga with similar frantic arcade pace ?

Let me think; I had a few others in mind but thought...

Nah, not sure how similar they are as I've never played "Star Raiders 2"; and also maybe you know these already considering you mentioned "4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space"

Out of interest, what were these "4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space" that you found?

[VladR]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Let me think; I had a few others in mind but thought...

Nah, not sure how similar they are as I've never played "Star Raiders 2"; and also maybe you know these already considering you mentioned "4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space"

Out of interest, what were these "4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space" that you found?

Sorry, I don't now recall all of them. Should have written them in the thread I guess.


I now recall just 4:


StarGlider1
Outpost:Solo Assault
Star Dust Wars - somewhat similar, not really
Wing Commander

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by VladR

Maybe you played the different build of SRII ?
To me, they look almost identical - at least I can't from the top of my head recall any significant differences (apart from small stuff).

It WAS the Last Starfighter, definitely. That video shows the Gunstar on the launchpad and mentions the Star League, the Frontier, Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada, all elements from the movie. The combat takes place in planetary orbit, but in those exceptions where you're in deep space, the starfields only scroll around, rather than zoom past as in SR2. I didn't check carefully, but I'm guessing the names of stars, planets and moons on the star chart selection screen are also changed between versions. SR2 looks like it has the title over the planetary landscape and no scrolling message at the start. I believe that SR2 is a lame cash-grab AND rip-off of Last Starfighter, the better game. At least the original Star Raiders was iconic. I remember playing it back in the 80s, and to think such stuff came out in 1979 is awesome!

[ptyerman]

Star Raiders 2 was one of my all time favourites on the ZX Spectrum, a fantastic game for sure! I still play it on a Spectrum emulator now and again.
I also have it on my Atari 800XL and have played it on that a few times but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on it isn't as good as the Spectrum version, except for better sound obviously.

[Solo Kazuki]

Originally Posted by VladR

Sorry, I don't now recall all of them. Should have written them in the thread I guess.


I now recall just 4:


StarGlider1
Outpost:Solo Assault
Star Dust Wars - somewhat similar, not really
Wing Commander

More games of this kind

Deep Space
Enterprise
Epic
Shadow of the Third Moon (not in space)
Star Crusader
Star Fighter: D'Yammen's Reign
Starglider 2

And if you have AGA hardware, better get AGA version of Wing Commander, game looks much better.

OCS/ECS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ AGA

[VladR]

Originally Posted by ptyerman

Star Raiders 2 was one of my all time favourites on the ZX Spectrum, a fantastic game for sure! I still play it on a Spectrum emulator now and again.
I also have it on my Atari 800XL and have played it on that a few times but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on it isn't as good as the Spectrum version, except for better sound obviously.

I just watched it on YT and cannot understand why Atari's version wouldn't be superior to ZX spectrum ? The colors, the sounds, Atari's version looks and sounds much better. I suspect it's nostalgia then, as you grew up on Spectrum version.


The planets on Spectrum are monochromatic whereas Atari had smooth transition of the atmosphere via a DLI.


Gameplay seems identical, though. Down to the timing of enemy attack patterns.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't "Star Raiders II" differ quite a bit in terms of gameplay elements from the original Atari release of "Star Raiders"?

If so, it might be a lot harder to find something that is close to "Star Raiders II" on the Amiga (and other platforms) than the original "Star Raiders" game.

Originally Posted by VladR

Yeah. SRI is *mostly* 6DOF space simulator, while SRII is pure arcade shooter that retains the Star System travelling mechanics.

Yeah, I found about 4-5 Amiga games on YT that had some form of 6DOF space simulation (e.g. you spend an eternity locating your next enemy), but nothing arcade like SRII.

Good to know I was on the right track. In that case, here are a few tentative suggestions that you might want to check out for yourself by plugging them into YouTube:

- Skyfox II (this is probably the closest I could find to SRII, for mine)
- Amiga Encounter (a Battlezone clone that looks to be similar to SRII)
- Nebula
- Moon Blaster
- Resolution 101
- Twylyte
- Voyager
- Star Wars (probably a natural progression and extension of SRII)

[VladR]

Thanks for all the suggestions, just went through them all in YT.

We had Encounter on Atari 800 too, it was great game, though I didn't at the time quite knew why - but now it's obvious - framerate.

Voyager, no matter how great it looks, has brutal framedrops and would need 060.

But Encounter plays directly to HW strengths so the framerate is always great. Even makes me wanna fire Amiga version up in an emulator

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by ptyerman

Star Raiders 2 was one of my all time favourites on the ZX Spectrum, a fantastic game for sure! I still play it on a Spectrum emulator now and again.
I also have it on my Atari 800XL and have played it on that a few times but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on it isn't as good as the Spectrum version, except for better sound obviously.

Originally Posted by VladR

I just watched it on YT and cannot understand why Atari's version wouldn't be superior to ZX spectrum ? The colors, the sounds, Atari's version looks and sounds much better. I suspect it's nostalgia then, as you grew up on Spectrum version.

The planets on Spectrum are monochromatic whereas Atari had smooth transition of the atmosphere via a DLI.

Gameplay seems identical, though. Down to the timing of enemy attack patterns.

I grew up on Atari, and I can't figure out how anyone would tolerate the Speccy's monochrome graphics if you'd had the Atari, but obviously, some people were easily satisfied.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Foebane

I can't figure out how anyone would tolerate the Speccy's monochrome graphics if you'd had the Atari, but obviously, some people were easily satisfied.

SHOTS FIRED !

Gameplay > fx.There were heaps of games on Spectrum which were more playable than other ports with better gfx or sound (Arcadia or Renegade off top of my head)