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When Crash Magazine moved into 'Ludlow Towers', the landlord of a nearby house they rented, Mr Onions, urged them to take a look at the game his son Andrew had written. 'Yeah, whatever,' was probably the reaction, but it turned out to be rather good and was eventually released as 3D Tank Duel, one of the best Battlezone clones. His next project was to work on 3D Starstrike. Put simply, at the time of its release this was the best of the Star Wars copies ever seen. Unlike the Atari classic this used solid 3D graphics. You begin by battling enemy fighters in space, before swooping down towards the 'deathstar' and destroying its gun emplacements. Finally, you descend into the trench to do battle. Things get a little slow when the screen fills up and at times you can almost hear the Speccy's humble CPU creaking. It's still a corker though.

IN THE darkness of space the Outsiders gather to launch a final attack on the free galaxies. The only way in which you can ensure their continuing freedom is to buy a copy of 3D Starstrike and track down these space cowboys who insist on zipping around the universe in X-wing fighters which look as though they have been high-jacked from Star Wars.


By that we imply no criticism of the program. Gamers who enjoy blasting space ships, and who probably still own a copy of Space Invaders, will enjoy it.

Take your position in the cockpit of a Starstriker and battle through the hordes of Outsiders, all shown in line-construction 3D which has become statutory such games, to the star base from which they launch their sudden attacks.

Once you have entered the base you must take your ship through a narrow passage, avoiding the ground defences and destroying the tops of towers which block your way. Once past the first stage it's on to the second where you must give a repeat performance.

The only aspect of the game which changes to any notable degree is the score. Thousands of points can be achieved, even on the higher levels, in a matter of minutes using the ultra-maneuverable cannons. The enemy, totally incompetent and probably blind, if the accuracy of their lazer bolts is anything to go by, happily shoot on and off the screen until they are shot down in a collection of little 3D pieces.

If 3D Starstrike had been brought onto the market a year ago it might have taken it by storm. Unfortunately it combines elements of other turkeys such as Terrahawks. That is a bad selling point especially since success is usually gauged by originality or programming prowess.



John Gilbert

3D STARSTRIKE Realtime Software Memory: 48K Price: £5.50 Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor Gilbert Factor: 7

STARSTRIKE
Real-Time Software / £5.95

Ross: About two years ago I first saw a game called Star Wars in the arcades and looked forward to the day when I'd be able to play such a game in the comfort of my own home. Well, that day's here as it's now available on the Spectrum.
Starstrike has three stages; the first finds you out in space in control of a fighter under attack from various alien craft; the second stage involves you shooting the gun emplacements and towers on the alien moon; and third stage is in a trench (à la Deathstar) where you must avoid the bridges that cross it and shoot out more gun emplacements.
Your fighter is protected by a shield which decreases in strength each time it gets hit by the alien.
Like Dark Star this game pushes the Spectrum to the limits with some very fast line drawing routines. However, unlike Dark Star, Starstrike manages to maintain its playability. The speed sometimes suffers if you shoot a lot of things at once, but the 3D simulation and crisp response to any adjustments in your flight path is superb. 4/5

Dave: At last, Star Wars on the Spectrum - and a pretty good version at that! The graphics are great, especially the alien moon trench, but they do slow down quite a bit when there's a lot going on. 3½/5

Roger: Suddenly, it says here, there were the (gasp) Outsiders! Suddenly (yawn), I fell - completely and unsurprisingly - into a deep slumber for the duration of this game. 1/5

Producer: Realtime
Memory required: 48K
Retail price: £5.95
Language: machine code
Author: Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions, Graeme Baird



Shooting away the cubes to get through the forcefield

Realtime’s second game, following their popular Tank Duel is another wire frame 3D game, set in space. This is one of the new generation of wire frame games for the Spectrum with fast moving coloured graphics. There are basically three different screens to play through, linked with computer ‘tacticals’ and culminating in a grand ‘finale’ scene. In the first section you are in the furthest reaches of space, fighting numerous alien fighter craft which hurl powerful plasma bolts at you. The object is to destroy as many enemy as you can by firing at them with the twin lasers, but it is also essential to destroy the plasma bolts as well to survive.

The second screen takes place on a battle planet, covered with a variety of towers. Some of them are armed, indicated by their yellow tops, and these also fire plasma bolts at your craft. Surviving through this screen takes you onto the third, and down into the trench. The trench has laser blisters on its side, which fire at you. Again it is important to destroy the bolts as well as the blisters. The trench is criss-crossed with transverse bridges and side towers, which must be dodged by weaving in and out of them. At the end of the trench is a protective forcefield, through which you must fly. But to disable the field, the two rotating cubes to either side must be shot out of the way. Failure to do so, will result in your being forced back into the trench again. If you get through unharmed, then you are shot into space and you see the planet behind explode, before going onto the next difficulty level.

The screen shows the status panel of your craft with the view beyond. The instruments show shield status and laser status, levels and score. The lasers overheat rapidly and take time to recharge. Shields are damaged by hitting enemy craft, towers, trench walls etc. as well as the enemy plasma bolts.




On the planet attacking the battle towers

CRITICISM
‘I was privileged to see the first ever ‘tests’ the programmers produced for this game, where you could see them ‘playing’ about with the ideas now contained in it. These were just space ships flying around in space. I was asked, at the time, whether I approved of this type of graphics. It looked as though it was going to be the beginning of a marvellous game. Seeing the finished product now, the graphics have come a long long way, maybe from the deepest, darkest depths of space itself. Although the game ‘Star Wars’ has been attempted to be copied many times in recent months on the Spectrum, none have really gone for the feeling and graphic presentation, instead they have added a gimmick to help sell the game, such as speed. This version definitely does have a great deal of graphic presentation, although wire frame, they are very detailed and well within the speed limits of a playable game. Colour has been used exceptionally well to add interest to the game with no tragic attribute problems. It must be pointed out that this game can be played quite easily by beginners with a skill level setting that increases with your skill, and does not just throw you in the deep end with a very difficult game to begin with. I think this is a big asset to any game. Starstrike is a very addictive, playable mindless shoot em up — what the majority of arcade freaks love!’

‘This game is bound to be compared with Dark Star but they are two totally different games. Dark Star has its tremendous speed, but Starstrike goes in more for the graphical side of the game. It’s the best ‘Star Wars’ type game to date, offering more playability than the arcade original with various extra screens and enemies added. It is very addictive and will offer hours of enjoyment to the arcade player, especially as it is a good hi-scoring game, more so than their earlier Tank Duel. It’s instantly playable because it offers skill levels from total wally to arcade perfection.’

‘The first thing I liked about Starstrike was the plasma bolts, nice big solid things that look real mean, and they spin as they come towards you, getting bigger and bigger. The space ships are also big and well detailed, and the explosions are great, the ships breaking up into their constituent parts before sailing away into space. The trench effect is exceptionally good 3D, and has you swaying in your seat as you weave between the towers and up over the bridges. On the planet if you hit a tower, your craft goes into an ‘out of control’ spin momentarily, which just adds to the overall effect and realism. This is a pleasing and high-performing game.’

COMMENTS
Control keys: Q-T/A-G climb/dive, Y-I and H-K left, O-P and L-ENTER right, any bottom row to fire
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair 2, AGF, Protek
Keyboard play: responsive and well laid out
Use of colour: excellent
Graphics: excellent 3D wire frame, smooth and large
Sound: continuous
Skill levels: 4 selectable but progressive up to and beyond 25
Lives: 1 with percentage of damage
General rating: excellent, addictive, playable and good value.

Graphics 93%
Playability 96%
Getting started 91%
Addictive qualities 94%
Value for money 94%
Overall 93%