Star Raiders

March 1, 1980·Atari·Single player

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User Score

15 ratings

Critic Score

Total Score

15 combined

About

Star Raiders is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released as a cartridge by Atari in 1979. The game is considered the platform's killer app. It was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST. The game simulates 3D space combat between the player's ship and an invading fleet of alien "Zylon" vessels. Star Raiders was distinctive for its graphics, which, in addition to various map and long range scan views, provided forward and aft first-person views, with movement conveyed by a streaming 3D starfield as the player engaged enemy spacecraft. While there had already been target-shooting games using the first person perspective (including 1978's Cosmic Conflict), Star Raiders had considerably higher quality visuals and more complex gameplay. It inspired imitators throughout the 1980s as well as later-generation space combat simulation games including Elite, Wing Commander, and Star Wars: X-Wing. In 2007, Star Raiders was included in a list of the 10 most important video games of all time, as compiled by Stanford University's History of Science and Technology Collections.

Storyline

The Earth Federation starbases are under attack by the Zylons. Use your Star Raider fighter craft to warp through space to where the Zylon fleets are and attack them before they get too close to a starbase to destroy it. Be careful when you get hit, because your various systems (shields, computer, laser, visuals) can be damaged, and if you lose too much energy, your ship will blow up. Make sure you get your ship repaired and fully functional so you can get back into the action with the Zylons.