3D StarStrike (24.4Mb)
3D StarStrike is a very cool PC remake of a Spectrum game of the same name. It is a very good way to play your own version of Star Wars, on your own computer!
I can’t better the author’s description - “You take control of a Star Striker space craft in a bid to save your planet from destruction. As a lone fighter you must penetrate the enemies defences, fly alone over the Battle Star surface before finally entering the equatorial ducts. Once there you must blast the exhaust port doors to gain access to the primary objective, the reactor core. Several carefully placed shoots from your lasers will cause a chain reaction which will destroy the Battle Star. The game is mouse controlled and split over 4 levels. Once these levels have been completed the difficulty will increase.”
The game is challenging even on the easy setting. Difficulty just increases how many enemy ships have to be hit. Stage 1 plays like a rail shooter. Enemy fighters fly around at varying distances shooting at you. Once you hit a target, your gunsights automatically move so the next target(s) is/are on screen. The ferocity of enemy fire varies between each play of the game, but you can (and need to!) shoot enemy incoming energy plasma bolts before they hit you, as well as shooting at enemy fighters. There’s a shield strength meter and an onscreen warning when your shields are low. Your laser energy is also shown and if it reaches zero, it will recharge while you are not shooting.
Stage 2 has you flying over the Death Star surface and avoiding guns and towers as you skim towards the Equatorial duct canyon. You get extra points for shooting the guns and towers. Stage 3 is flying through the canyon avoiding catwalks at various heights and again shooting at guns and towers. Once you reach the end of the trench you only have a few seconds to shoot out the two pipes that hold the blast-doors shut. If you miss you will have to loop back and fly the canyon over again to try again. When you have shot the pipes, you can enter the reactor.
Stage 4 is the concluding level has you trying to shoot the 6 reactor cores, and if you succeed, the Battlestar will explode, but get out of there fast! If you fail, you again have to recommence the canyon run. Success will put you back at the beginning with even more enemies to hit to proceed if you’ve avoided the aftermath of the giant explosion!
If you get shot, it’s game over and you have to restart right from the beginning.
The only thing is that you are not pursued and fired on by enemy fighters after the first stage which is something of a shame, though the game is challenging enough as it is!
It doesn’t look over Star-Wars graphics-wise to avoid copyright infringement, but the atmosphere and gameplay are indeed most reminiscent of Star Wars! You can get better Star Wars PC games but only in pay-for versions!
The graphics are excellent (up to 1280x1024) with the option to play windowed or full-screen and sounds/music are good and appropriate. There’s an instructions picture in the installed game folder.
It’s great fun!
It runs in XP, Vista and Win 7. The game needs a modestly fast PC 2GHz+ CPU and a 128Mb+ video card.
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-5v2OTev1E
Download HERE
Home Page HERE
