Death Star
- Death Star (1978 on Xerox Alto)
- Death Star (1982 on Atari 8-bit)
- Death Star (1983 on VIC-20)
Description
The last post of humanity in the Galaxy is on a planet on the edge called Earth, and the evil Garth Fader wants to destroy it with the most deadly weapon in the Universe, the Death Star. You are a pilot of a Ford Prefect 2174 and it is your mission to fly your craft down a corridor to destroy squadrons of Quasar Star Fighters over nine levels to save the Earth and humanity. Death Star is a 3rd person shooter where you sit behind your craft flying into the screen, and you can move it left, right, up and down, and the enemy ships fly towards you. As well as avoiding and shooting the enemy ships and their weapons, you are unable to touch the sides or the floor of the corridor or you will lose one of three lives. Before you play the game you can select your starting level (1-9) with one having the slowest enemy ships.
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Credits (Commodore 64 version)
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 76% (based on 3 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.4 out of 5 (based on 5 ratings with 1 reviews)
Your turn to relive the âStar Warsâ finale
The Good
If you saw the first âStar Warsâ film, you probably would have remembered the infamous trench battle that took place at the end of the movie. Now, courtesy of Rabbit, you get to relive the experience. A pseudo 3D-shooter, Death Star is a refreshing change from the inferior arcade knock-offs the company had put out in the past.
Nine levels feature in this game, all of them selectable from the options screen. No matter which one you select, the object is the same: guide your Ford Prefect 2174 down the trench, shooting Quasar Star Fighters that approach you. Some of them fire plasma shots at you, which you need to avoid. If youâre unfortunate enough to get in the way, you lose one of your three ships. The level you select determines the speed the Fighters travel at. If the level is set at one, the Fighters will move slowly down the trench. The ninth level causes them to reach their maximum speed.
The FP2174 is able to move in all directions, but cannot touch the sides of the trench or move too close to the floor. A nice touch to the game is the shadow below the ship, which you can use to determine whether you are too close to the sides. Touching any side will also result in a loss of life, and the game ends when all lives are lost.
Unlike Rabbitâs early offerings, the title screen is colorful, showing a smooth animation of one of the Fighters zooming past Earth. This is accompanied with some nice organ music. As far as the actual game is concerned, I like the way it opens up; you touch down on the Death Star and lightning bolts give way to the FP2174, which is massive compared to the Fighters. Itâs nice that it is more detailed than the Fighters, which have the same color. The trench itself is not totally gray; black lines located on the floor start small from the horizon, but get larger as they approach you. Finally, stars that serve as the background give the illusion that you are fighting somewhere in space.
The Bad
Everything on the screen remains the same size regardless of its position. The Fighters could have started small when they first appear at the end of the trench, but get bigger as they come down toward you. Likewise, the shadow under your ship could have gotten smaller when you are close to the floor, but get bigger when you move farther away from it. Also, the Fighters are able to travel down the sides of the trench, but you canât?
The Bottom Line
If you fancy yourself going down a trench battling Star Fighters, this is your opportunity. Sound-wise, the organ music on the title screen is excellent and the sound effects are your standard battle sounds. As far as the graphics are concerned, the title screen looks excellent, but the rest of the game could have been better. The repetitive gameplay and lack of variety meant that I put this game back down after a few goes.
Commodore 64 · by Katakis | ăŤăżăăš (43087) · 2022
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by FatherJack.
ZX Spectrum added by Kabushi.
Game added November 20, 2014. Last modified March 27, 2024.