Everyone had Star Raiders, but I don't think anyone liked it, or even played it. Ninety-nine percent of all Atari games used either a joystick or a paddle controller, but not Star Raiders. It had a big number pad controller with a phone cord like cord. As an oddity it stood out, and as I said, I didn't know anyone who played it, maybe because it was a bit difficult to play or to understand how to play. My Atari is long ago stored away, and I'm not digging it up any time soon to check it out - so forget that noise.
But the facts are of course that Star Raiders predates the Atari 2600, and goes back to the Atari 400 and 800, and the Atari 8-bit family of games. Yeah, this is one of the ancestors. Star Raiders may have been crippled by the limiting graphics of the 2600, or at least that's what my computer geek friends tell me. I have also been told that it was the precursor to later games that I have enjoyed like Starmaster and the Star Trek arcade game, and even Wing Commander. The original SR even borrowed itself from Trek, Star Wars, and even Battlestar Galactica in its own designs. Man, I wish I remembered this game better, or at least played it.
Now imagine my surprise when I saw Star Raiders listed as a free download at the PlayStation Store. I downloaded it but only remembering it vaguely from childhood I didn't play right away. After learning more about it, I was eager to play and jumped right to it.
Wow, the visuals are something else, but man, the controller directions are among the most complicated I have seen so far for the PS3. Steering was insane, but the format was eerily similar to favorite games like those mentioned above, Starmaster and Star Trek. It was very cool. I will have to learn more. I'm sure it will be worth it. And I actually feel a little bad I didn't put more time in with the 2600 version.
I liked Star Raiders a lot, and didn't mind the controller, but I always wished it had been a bit more advanced. It needed a boss villain of some type.
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