In the middle nineties, Apogee Software both designed and published the single player scrolling shooter, Stargunner. It was created to run in both the Windows and MS-DOS operating systems and is the very last video game title to be released by the gaming giant, Apogee. In 2005, it became a freeware title.
Stargunner is a serious and highly polished shooting game that featured two different story lines. The plot included with the manual involves a peaceful race of aliens welcoming a seemingly friendly fleet of Barakian carriers into their space.
Instead, the Barakian forces overrun Amdara and their only hope for survival lies in the hands of a specially trained, elite force, the Stargunners. The in game story seems to veer from this laid out plot somewhat. Within the game, the greedy people of Zile within the Andromeda Galaxy are preparing a strike upon the neighboring planet of Ytima. Ytima fears such an act and trains the Stargunners to take out the three main bases of the Zilions, crippling them before Ytima can be destroyed. It is the same general concept, but slightly altered, none the less.
Stargunner is a shooter that scrolls to the right, like most of them. However, the enemies are not limited to following the scroll and can
actually appear from the top, bottom, right or left hand parts of the screen. The do not have actual patterns. A single ship is just as likely to attack the Stargunner as an entire formation is. Granted, a user who plays this game REPEATEDLY will begin to notice the patterns of when each ship will appear, but knowing what is coming doesn’t really guarantee safety, since there are large quantities of ships to make the game challenging.
Like many shooters, there are numerous power-ups for the user to acquire, as well as other objects. Some destroyed enemies will drop credit crystals, which can be collected by flying over them or by firing a special credit drone into them. The money is not automatically transferred to the account. Sometimes these crystals can be found in the environment, but they are not worth as much as those gained from destroying enemies. Other power-up bonuses include weapons upgrades, extra lives, temporary invincibility, smart bombs, and shields.
Stargunner is a serious game with some very seriously addictive game play. It has some great action, a superior scroll, and is very fast paced. Get your trigger finger warmed up and download this gem now. It’s a winner.
