@AbbotKinneyDude. I guess I should qualify by saying, "Among released 8-bit Atari computer games..." Thanks for mentioning the Wilmunder Star Raiders II though. I just downloaded and took if for a spin. It appears that this could have been a contender after further development, but my brief time with it suggests that it may also have been too close to the original to have taken the crown. It seems to play almost identically. I did notice in reading the "Authoritative Star Raiders II", that a reason why Wilmunder never completed it was because he got a job offer at Lucasfilm Games. It makes me wonder if he had any involvement with the Rescue on Fractulus project. |
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AbbotKinneyDude - 10/07/2022 |
@Gildahi - Just a reminder that if you're looking for a true successor to Doug Neubauer's 1979 STar Raiders, there are 2 main choices: 1) Aric Wilmunder's Star Raiders II which is very much in spirit with the original. 2) Doug Neubauet's SOLARIS for the Atari 2600. Don't forget that the officially released Star Raiders II from 1985 is a re-skin of The Last Starfighter from 1984. Links: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-star-raiders-ii_30426.html + http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-solaris_7475.html |
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An *ok* game at best. Definitely not Star Raiders II. Calling it that was a shame. If you want the true successor to Star Raiders, I'd say that Rescue on Fractalus would have been the perfect candidate. This was kind of fun as an arcade title and I played it somewhat regularly but, it doesn't have "classic" written on it anywhere. |
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Pete Davison - 15/05/2022 |
"This isn't Star Raiders!"
No it isn't. But Star Raiders still exists, so go play that if you like Star Raiders. Or indeed, the other Star Raiders II prototype that is out there which is much closer to the original.
"This isn't a true sequel to Star Raiders!"
Maybe not, but Solaris on Atari 2600 exists. Go play that if you want a "true" sequel to Star Raiders, by the original developer, no less.
What this *is*, is an enjoyable space combat game with some enjoyable mechanics, some impressive graphical effects and a fun lightweight strategic element.
Whether or not it's called "Star Raiders" (or "The Last Starfighter", for that matter) doesn't matter. Taken on its own merits, this is a solid and enjoyable game that is worth playing -- and a longstanding personal favourite of mine from the Atari 8-bit's lineup. |
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Wow...yet another game on this site overrated to the point of insanity. This isn't and never was a real sequel to "Star Raiders" (an infinitely superior game in every way other than graphics). It was initially just a lame attempt at leveraging the Last Starfighter movie-spinoff rights (but has absolutely nothing to do with the movie either). When that didn't turn out to work for them marketing-wise, they renamed it SR2 to cynically try to leverage some profits off the deservedly-high goodwill for the original SR instead (and unfortunately succeeded to some degree). This is a graphically fine but very dumbed-down space shooter...very inferior to SR and undeserving of the title it ended up with. |
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AbbotKinneyDude - 26/09/2020 |
AtariProtos.com credits Robert Viera (Moon Patrol) as the sound designer on The Last Starfighter. Considering his work wasn't altered for ATARI Corp.'s SRII, I think his name should be added to this page. Link: http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/software/tlsf/tlsf.htm |
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AbbotKinneyDude - 11/08/2020 |
@Colin. Get a life! Nothing prevents you from playing Aric Wilmunder's STAR RAIDERS II: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-star-raiders-ii_30426.html?version=30426 |
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This is one of the best games on Atari 8bit machines. |
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This was suppose to be The Last Starfighter
It is a crap game! and doesn't came anywhere near the superior StarRaiders |
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Great game, one of those Atari games that rose above the rest due to its infectious gameplay.
Graphics served well along with sound, the gameplay however shone through. |
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I thought this game was harder than Star Raiders :( I scored a couple of times Star Commander 1 in Star Raiders however just barely scrape through difficulty level 2 here. Has anyone knocked off difficulty level 3? My tactic for level 2 is head straight to Zylon system and nuke as many cities as possible in the shortest time. However that didn't work well under level 3. |
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How do I open a .ROM file? I really want to play this great classic game. |
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Very addictive game. I played this really a lot in my childhood :) |
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Andreas Koch - 18/07/2009 |
I got an Atari 800XL at XMAS 1984 and when I got a tape recorder eight months later, this game became one of my favourites. The gfx are much better than in Star Raiders, alas there are only three levels (ten levels would have been much nicer)...
-Andreas Koch.
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I liked the last Starfighter Version better since it was featured(not the 8bit game itself though) in that real cool movie with that title:D
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Andrew Berstein - 05/03/2005 |
Both the cartridge and disk versions are amazingly only 16ko. Quite an achievement.
Note for Daniel Cadiz: SR2 is easier than the first Star Raiders but it's much more of an action game, less of a simulation (The previous Last Starfighter release is even more of an action game for those who want to try). |
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Daniel Cádiz - 06/02/2005 |
Probably it's the best game of starships that I've played in Atari. In comparision with the predecesor game, Star Raiders II it's very much easiest and the graphics are really better than Star Raiders. |
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Andy Bernstein - 06/07/2004 |
An interesting article which points out the differences between Star Raiders II and its true predecessor, The Last Starfighter, can be found at the following address: http://www.atarihq.com/atcomp/lastsr2.html |
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Liberty Star, Gun Star...Celos IV, Rylos---it's all the same to me...all in all though both games are quite enjoyable to play. |
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