Stargate (video game)
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| Stargate | |
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| Developer(s) | Vid Kidz |
| Publisher(s) | Williams Electronics |
| Designer(s) | Eugene Jarvis, Larry DeMar |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit Unreleased, Commodore 64, DOS, NES |
| Release date | 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Input methods | Joystick; 6 buttons |
| Cabinet | Upright, cocktail |
| Display | Horizontal orientation, Raster, standard resolution (Used: 292×240) |
Created by Eugene Jarvis, Stargate is an arcade game released in 1981 by Williams Electronics. It is a sequel to the 1980 game Defender, and was the first of only three productions from "Vid Kidz", an independent development house formed by Jarvis and Larry DeMar.
The game is also known as "Defender Stargate" and "Defender II." The latter name was used in home video game releases, due to legal issues (according to the bonus material for Midway Arcade Treasures, Williams wanted to "make sure they could own the trademark" on the "Defender" name). The name "Defender II" has been used on all of its home ports, and game compilation appearances, however there were never any "Defender II" arcade units. To complicate matters, the Atari 2600 port was originally sold under the "Stargate" moniker but was renamed to "Defender II" for a later re-release [1].
This sequel adds new enemy ships to the alien fleet such as firebombers, Yllabian Space Guppies (note that Yllabian is based on "Yllab", the word "Bally" spelled backwards, a friendly poke at Williams' then-competitor, Bally-Midway), Dynamos and Space Hums. The Defender ship is now equipped with an Inviso cloaking device, which renders the ship invulnerable when activated, but has a limited charge. A Stargate will transport the ship to any humanoid in trouble. There are now two special stages, the Firebomber Showdown and the Yllabian Dogfight, that occur every fifth and tenth wave.
The game is much harder than its predecessor, though world-class players such as Wes Simonds, Bill Fye, and Charles Warrell are all known to have scored over five million under strictly-controlled tournament conditions. As in the first game, if all the humans are captured the planet explodes and turns all the landers into mutants.
A Stargate machine appeared in an episode of the TV comedy series NewsRadio, in which it was referred to as "Stargate Defender". Eugene Jarvis had a role on the episode as "Delivery Guy #3"
This video game has no connection to the Stargate franchise.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
The player flies a small spaceship above a long, mountainous landscape. The land is inhabited by a small number of humanoids. The landscape wraps around, so flying constantly in one direction will eventually bring the player back to their starting point. The players ship can fly through the landscape without being destroyed.
A number of enemy ships fly over the landscape. The player's responsibilities are twofold:
- Destroy all aliens
- Protect the humans from being captured
The player is armed with a beam-like weapon which can be fired rapidly in a long horizontal line ahead of the spaceship, and also has a limited supply of smart bombs, which can destroy every enemy on the screen. The player also has a limited supply of "Inviso" cloaking energy, which makes the ship invisible, and able to destroy any ships it comes in contact with.
At the top of the screen is a radar-like scanner, which displays the positions of all aliens and humans on the landscape.
[edit] Aliens
There are fifteen types of aliens in total:
- Lander - The primary enemy on every level. Landers teleport into the level in staggered waves, and attempt to capture humanoids by descending upon them and dragging them into the air; if they make it to the top of the screen with a human, the two fuse together into a more dangerous Mutant. Landers can fire projectiles at the player.
- Mutant - A mutated Lander. Mutants home in on the player at constant speed, firing projectiles. They move erratically, making them difficult to shoot.
- Baiter - A flat, iridescent spacecraft that teleports in if the player is taking too long to complete a level. Homes in on the player and attempts to match their speed, whilst firing accurate projectiles. A difficult opponent due to its unbeatable speed and tiny vertical cross-section, which makes it very hard to shoot.
- Bomber - A box-shaped alien that lays stationary mines in the air.
- Pod - A star-like alien that bursts into a number of Swarmers when shot.
- Swarmer - A tiny teardrop-shaped alien that moves very quickly in an undulating fashion. Difficult to shoot.
- Firebomber - A rotating variation on the Bomber, which shoots high speed Fireballs at the player.
- Yllabian Space Guppie - An undulating attacker, which attacks in swarms and homes in on the ship.
- Phreds and Big Reds - Square aliens which look like they are constantly opening and closing their mouths. Similar to the Firebombers, they launch tiny versions of themselves called Munchies.
- Dynamos - Diamond shaped ships composed of clusters of Space Hums, which periodically break off to attack the ship independently.
Once all aliens (except Baiters, Phreds, Big Reds and Munchies) are destroyed, the player progresses to the next level.
[edit] Humanoids
The game starts with ten humanoids inhabiting the land. Landers will attempt to capture and fuse with these during play.
To rescue a humanoid from capture, the player must shoot the Lander holding it while it is in the air, causing the human to drop back to the ground. At low height humanoids can survive the drop on their own, but if the Lander is killed at too high an altitude, the player must catch the human with their own ship and return them to the ground, otherwise the human will not survive the drop.
The humanoids can be killed by the player's weapon just as easily as the aliens can, so careful aim is required when firing near them.
If all humanoids are killed, the entire planet explodes, leaving the player in empty space. This also has the unfortunate effect of turning every Lander into a Mutant, making the player's job very difficult.
Every time the player completes 5 waves of enemies (i.e. at wave 6, 11, 16 and so forth), the planet (and all its 10 humanoids) is restored.
[edit] Scoring
As well as the points gained by killing aliens, scores are also awarded for the following:
- Human falling back to the ground without dying: 250 points
- Catching a falling human: 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 points, depending on number of humanoids carried at the time.
- Returning a human to the ground: 500 points
- Human surviving the level: 100 points per human for 1st wave , 200 per human on 2nd wave up to a maximum of 500 points from 5th wave onwards
The player receives an extra life, smart bomb, and Inviso energy every 10000 points. This amount could be overridden when the machine was in maintenance mode. 10000 points was the default "extra life" value.
[edit] Controls
The control system of Stargate expands on that of the Defender arcade game. It has a joystick to move up and down, a 'Reverse' button to toggle the player's horizontal direction, and a 'Thrust' button to move in that direction. There is also a Fire button for shooting, a button to activate a smart bomb, a button to turn on the Inviso cloaking device, and a hyperspace button which teleports the player to a random position in the level, at a risk of either exploding upon rematerialization, or materializing onto an enemy or enemy projectile.
[edit] The Stargate
A central feature of the gamefield is the Stargate itself, represented by a series of concentric rectangles. The operation of the Stargate depends on the current game conditions.
If a Lander is in the process of abducting a Humanoid, entering the Stargate will warp the ship to where the Humanoid is under attack.
If the ship is carrying four humanoids simultaneously, entering the Stargate will jump ahead a number of levels, allowing more advanced players to skip the easier lower levels (and also get a great number of points reward, and the extra lives, smart bombs and inviso energy associated with it). This warp jump is no longer available after level 10.
Otherwise, entering the Stargate will warp the ship to the opposite side of the planet.
[edit] Inside jokes
Stargate adds several new enemies to the lineup originally introduced in Defender. The names of most of the new creations are based on inside jokes.
The original enemies are now known as "The Irata." Irata is the name of Williams competitor Atari spelled backwards. Essentially, the objective of the game is to destroy Atari before it can take over the planet.
One of the other new enemies is also named after a competitor, "Yllabian Space Guppies." Bally was a major competitor with Williams in both the videogame and pinball markets.
Another new enemy is the "Dynamo," which breaks into several small "Space Hums." This is in homage to the risque song Dinah-Moe Humm by Frank Zappa.
Three new arrivals, "Phreds," "Big Reds," and "Munchies," vaguely resemble Pac-Man, a game released in the U.S. by Bally.
[edit] Secret Tricks
Catching four humans without returning them to earth and then entering a stargate (nose first) will result in a level jump whereby the player immediately advances several levels. Entering the Stargate thrusters-first will prevent the warp. This will allow you to gather more humans, thereby scoring significantly more points. To enter the Stargate in reverse, fly toward the Stargate as usual, then at the last instant press the reverse button but do NOT hit the thrusters. Just let momentum carry you in.
Another trick is possible if the last alien in an attack wave is a lander which is allowed to capture a humanoid. Shoot the lander; as the humanoid falls, position your ship so that it will catch the humanoid right at ground level. If you manage this without allowing the humanoid to die, the screen will light up with a special display of sound and colors and you will receive a 2000 point bonus.
Also, if you are carrying humanoids, you can use a smart bomb while landing the last humanoid on the ground to receive a 2,000- point bonus.
[edit] Ports
In July 2000, Midway licensed Defender II, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Shockwave for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the shockwave web content platform, entitled Shockwave Arcade Collection. The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse. It is currently freely available to be played within the shockwave web applet.
It also should be noted that the 1989 NES port incorporated some sounds and music from the 1987 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. For example, the music played when the game begins is a longer version of the entrance music of the Little Mac's opponents. Also, after completing a stage, during the intermission screen between waves, the music played in Defender II is the same as the screen after Mac loses a match.
