"“Ultimate Space Battle With Texture Mapped Poligon 3D Technology!”"

I am not sure what that means, or why “polygon” is misspelled, but whoever wrote the back of the box for Starblade seemed to think it was the most noteworthy thing about the game. Perhaps in the course of this review we will find out.

Gameplay (26/50)
Starblade is a “flight” rail shooter in the vein of Star Wars Arcade. It seems that you are part of a two-man crew on an attack fighter. The computer controls the pilot, directing the flight of the ship, while you are the gunner. This consists of you moving a cursor around the screen to shoot at anything and everything coming your way.

The game immediately thrusts you into the action, leaving you to guide your cursor and shoot down enemy fighters, asteroids, and dangerous polygons. Although you can try for precision shots, there is no advantage to this when compared to the frenzy of just mashing the fire button and “flailing” your cursor around the screen. Not particularly graceful, but it gets the job done. Unfortunately, it also somewhat limits an already limited gameplay.

Story (5/10)
The opening video tells you that a giant “mechanized” planet called Red Eye that is apparently moving to crash into the Earth. This is all part of something called the Royal Rapid Deployment Force's plan to destroy and/or conquer humanity (which it is was not really very clear to me). The game itself is filled with dialogue from what I assume is your mission operator, but any sort of significant plot development is absent (mostly he tells me to avoid enemy laser fire to avoid getting hit, which seemed really obvious to me but in some circles, I understand, is not clear at all).

However since this is a rail shooter I, frankly, expect a completely nonsensical plot and think it adds to the experience. Just don't come into this game hoping for a dramatic telling of the eternal battle of good versus evil, or even really on the level of a song by Poison or Charlie Daniels (maybe more like Weird Al Yankovic).

Challenge (6/10)
Starblade offers seven stages of rail shooting, although that is somewhat misleading as the “stages” blend together. However getting through everything without continuing can be a good challenge for those seeking it out.

If your goal is just to get through the game though, you will be able to do so with a little practice. At best this game is good for maybe a weekend of dedicated play, then you will probably put it back on eBay where you got it.

Graphics (18/20)
While the original arcade version of Starblade resembles Star Wars Arcade, the real graphical treatment comes from the enhanced version on the 3DO. Asteroids have texture, alien ships have different color configurations and “depth” on their surfaces, and the launch bay looks like, well, a launch bay and not a gray wall.

By today's standards this all sounds pretty bland, but for 1994 this looks very good. Playstation quality graphics in the late Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis era easily makes graphics this game's strongest selling point.

Replayability (4/10)
While the 3DO version of Starblade offers both the original arcade version and an enhanced version of the game, from what I can tell the only difference is that the graphics are better in the enhanced version. Oddly enough, the manual proudly notes that the arcade version is “filled polygon” and the enhanced version uses “bitmaps to bring new life to the story.” While a second playthrough on the original arcade version is not something I would ever do, I appreciate the effort at putting it on the same disc as the superior version of the game.

Overall (59/100)
Starblade is a forgettable shooter on a largely forgotten system, whether justified or not. While we can debate the quality of the 3DO as a whole, Starblade is not the game to define a system, and sadly is not even a good game to have for a little-played system.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/08

Game Release: Starblade (US, 1995)