"Impressive and multi-faceted but demanding"

The Atari 2600 had Pitfall, and the Atari home computer line had Star Raiders. Of course, the two were a bit different in plot, Star Raiders being a strategic shooter and Pitfall being a relatively nonviolent exploring/maze game. Their main similarity was being able to make a largely impressive game with relatively little memory. Star Raiders got a whopping 8K, double the memory of Pitfall, but is impressive for all that. It is a game with several levels; you must shoot down all the Zylon enemy forces that are attacking your starbases. The game gives you several views, forward and aft view, a macro view of all the sectors, and long range(above your ship, but in your sector.) You must hyperwarp between sectors and when one of your starbases is surrounded you must kill all Zylons in one of the adjacent sectors or it is destroyed. There are several levels of difficulty and on the later ones the recharge you get from docking with a starbase will be necessary a few times to survive to the end. After the game is over you are given a rank which is determined in part by time taken, number of enemies destroyed, and starbases left. If you lose quickly, it is ''Galactic Cook'' or ''Garbage Scow Captain.'' The best possible rank increases with the difficulty.

There's a complicated set of keys you need to master in order to do well at the game. It's easy enough to remember that the numbers adjust your velocity and that the joystick steers you. You'll probably need a reference sheet for everything else in your first few games, but that's not because they aren't logical. It's just that you have several modes of control. In galactic mode(G) you need to move the cursor to the sector you wish to enter, push F for the forward(standard) view and H for hyperwarp. On later levels you'll have to steer the crosshairs and keep them in the center to ensure you wind up in the sector you want to, which is an acceptable variant if a bit annoying. You can also put up (S)hields or use a (T)racking computer, each costing a bit more energy. There's even (A)ft view where the joystick controls are flip-flopped.

Your ship also takes random damage when it is hit and you may be stuck floating in space forever if you don't have enough energy to get to a starbase(docking with a starbase is itself a chore as it must be done slowly) or if your hyperwarp is disabled. There's no ''you got killed'' and you can take a few hits with shields up, so the game's remarkably sophisticated for its time.

There is only so much you can expect from the graphics, but they still deliver. You've got a panel at the bottom telling how far away in your sector the nearest enemy or starbase is(it adjusts quickly during attacks,) with velocity and remaining fuel as well and a small attack computer in the lower right that shows if the enemy is locked in and ripe to kill. The baddies, Zylon Fighters, Cruisers and Basestars, seem slightly based on Star Wars, but there's only so much originality you can crank out with that few pixels. Your starbase also dissolves nicely when you shoot it, and some weird alien that looks like an electric plug leaves from it when you re-charge. Outer space is dotted with asteroids and small stars that grow and move off the screen as well, but the most impressive part is the galactic chart. Its light blue background is a nice change from the usual black backgrounds(minus the flashing for Red Alerts when you drop into a sector with Zylons,) and it depicts different sized fleets nicely. I'm also impressed with the overhead view where objects circle with respect to your ship as you veer left or right.

The sound gives a fair account of itself, too, with a sort of twinkling noise when you blow up a starbase(you have to try it once) and a neat tune when you dock successfully. You also have the engines getting noisier at higher speeds.

The basic idea of this game has appeared other places but not as successfully; the Ultima I ''space ace'' quest comes to mind most readily. Even with hyperwarp options it seemed contrived and never had the excitement of the pure game Star Raiders was. Star Raiders is a bit on the long side, and I remember having trouble jumping from the easiest level to the next easiest, but the quality is evident when you play the game a few times. Compared to Pitfall this game probably lasts longer for the serious player, with its multiple difficulty levels and more randomized game(treasures were in the same screens in Pitfall, which is more fun just to bounce around and explore.) It's not really for a casual gamer with its complex controls and the possibility of a one-shot death on higher levels, but it's an impressive piece of work.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/01, Updated 11/29/01