''Starglider'' is a 3D

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

published in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by

Jez San Jeremy Elliott "Jez" San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game '' Starglider'' and helping to design the Sup ...

under his company name Argonaut Software. The game is a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe

vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display ...

inspired by San's love of the 1983 Atari coin-op ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''. ''Starglider'' was originally developed for the 16-bit

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first per ...

. Rainbird commissioned Realtime Games to produce 8-bit versions for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

Amstrad PCW The Amstrad PCW series is a range of personal computers produced by British company Amstrad from 1985 to 1998, and also sold under licence in Europe as the "Joyce" by the German electronics company Schneider in the early years of the series' life. ...

, and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

(128K, with a cut-down 48K version without sampled speech or special missions), and for the

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

with CGA. Solid Images were commissioned to produce versions for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...

and

Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II), the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family, is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. While featuring the Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST ...

. It was followed in 1988 by a sequel, ''

Starglider 2 ''Starglider 2'' is a 3D space combat simulator published in 1988 by Rainbird as the sequel to 1986's ''Starglider''. It was released for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and ZX Spectrum. Instead of the wireframe graphics of the original, ...

'', which uses filled-polygon graphics. The series inspired Argonaut to partner with

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

in creating the

Super FX The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily to facilitate advanced 2D and 3D graphics. The Super FX chip was designed by Argona ...

chip for Super NES in order to power the ''

Star Fox is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagon ...

'' series of hit games.

Story

The game takes over the surface of the occupied planet Novenia, and it is the player's goal to rid the world of the mechanised Egron invaders. ''Starglider'' was packaged with a

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

novella by

James Follett James Follett (27 July 1939 – 10 January 2021) was an English author and screenwriter. Follett became a full-time fiction writer in 1976, after resigning from contract work as a technical writer for the Ministry of Defence. He wrote over 20 n ...

, describing the game's background story, in which the Egrons effortlessly blitz Novenia despite the planet possessing a previously impenetrable network of utterly deadly defense satellites. The Egrons defeat the system by disguising their battleships as a flock of intergalactic migratory birds, the Stargliders. The defense satellites had been programmed not to fire on these birds (which migrated between planets regularly) and hence did not recognise the Egron battleships as enemies, allowing the Egrons to reach the surface unopposed. The player pilots the only existing example of a prototype fighter craft, initially armed only with lasers, as the TV-guided missiles require an enormous amount of energy to launch and control, which can only be gained by induction as the craft skims over areas with high-tension power conduits.

Audio

Most versions contain sampled speech from Rainbird employee Clare Edgeley. The Amiga version has title music by Dave Lowe using digitized samples as instrument sounds, predating

tracker music Tracker may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Tracker (''G.I. Joe''), in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * Tracker (''PAW Patrol''), in the animated television series ''PAW Patrol'' * Tracker Cameron, in the television series ' ...

. The Atari ST and Amiga versions also have about 15-second long song—a single

PCM Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the am ...

sound file—with real vocals and synthesizers. A male voice sings: "''Starglider'' ... from Rainbird".

Reception

''Starglider'' was Firebird's third best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987. ''

COMPUTE! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET ...

'' called it "a visually smooth concoction that is so realistic in its feel that you'll duck and squirm in your seat", especially praising the Atari ST version's graphics and sound. The game won the award for Game Of The Year 1986 in ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch ...

''.

Legacy

A prototype version of ''Starglider'',

codename A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

d ''NESGlider'', was developed for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

utilizing a similar method to accelerate graphics as the future Super FX chip for the SNES would. Argonaut showed the prototype to Nintendo in 1990 but were advised to instead develop the game for the as yet unreleased

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

. They ported the demo to the Super Famicom prototype which took approximately one week. The game was never released but spawned a sequel, ''

''. The series inspired Argonaut Software to partner with

in creating the

enhancement chip for

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

in order to enable the ''

StarFox is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protag ...

'' series.

References

External links

''Starglider''
at Atari Mania
''Starglider''
at Lemon Amiga *

at C64Sets.com * {{Star Fox 1986 video games Science fiction video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Amstrad PCW games Atari ST games Apple II games Argonaut Games games Commodore 64 games DOS games Telecomsoft games Tank simulation video games ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by David Lowe Video games set on fictional planets Single-player video games