STARGLIDER II Rainbird
O
nce, arcade machines became computer games. Never the other way round. Until Starglider. It revolutionised 16-bit games, with arcade-quality graphics and superb sampled sound, and turned the conversion tables by becoming a B a l l y / S e n t e arcade machine. Featured prominently on TV programme Get Fresh, Starglider is truly famous. And it made the games career of then-unknown J e z San, who for A r g o n a u t S o f t w a r e had previously concentrated on utilities, only occasionally co-authoring games such as Skyland Attack and Elite on the Commodore 64/128. Two years ago the avaricious Egrons had been routed from Novenia by the destruction of the Fleet flagship - Hermann Krud's mighty Starglider - by a single AGAV fighter. The Imperial Prator of Egron was displeased at this humiliation and ordered an elaborate plan of vengeance. The Solice system a neighbour of Novenia - has been invaded and the seven moons of the planet Midway
at
devoted to the building of an enormous weapons system . . . Meanwhile on Novenia the two crew members of that crucial AGAV have become uniformly famous, but reacted in radically different ways. While Katra refused all material rewards, devoting herself to furthering the security of Novenia, Jaysan took all that was offered and lives in absolute luxury guarded by the tempera-
mental robot Argo. When rumours of the Egrons' plans leak, Katra sets about armtwisting him into saving Novenia once more . . . Draggon Industries' Icarus prototype is a small, fast and very advanced police spaceship but Novenia lacks time to fully test it, let alone produce a task force. Moreover weight considerations mean no defence systems can be carried other than built-in gas plasma lasers and shields. These will be enough to survive with - given sufficient skill but to cause any real damage more powerful weapons must be found. According to intelligence reports elements of a resistance movement remain active in Solice, and may be persuaded to supply certain equipment. The most important item is a Neutron Bomb, but both the raw materials and the one scientist able to build it, won't be easy to find.
Speed a n d t a c t i c s
The Solice systems includes one sun, five planets and ten moons - plus a very hazardous
asteroid belt. All the moons and planets, except Midway, can be flown to and explored. A hyperdrive system ensures most flights only take a few minutes, but pirates, Egron fighters and asteroids can make the final approach to a planet very hazardous. Once on a world you look for any objects the resistance might want, refuel by flying over powerlines or volcanoes, and shoot at the wide variety of Egron weapons returning your fire. Or you can explore below the surface of most planets, inside a complex system of tunnels. If you should find an interesting object - like a TimeWarp Cube - then a transporter lock can be attempted and the cube placed in Icarus's hold. The transporter is crucial to the game, allowing an adventure element to augment the superb arcade and demanding tactical aspects. Success in the game rests not merely on excellent reactions though these are vital - but also in searching for various objects