Atari 8-Bit Game Play, Starquake

Channel:

Robert's Retro-Gaming

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Published on August 26, 2023 12:00:32 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBtsyxfXmf4

Game:

Starquake (1985)

Duration: 18:12

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3

In which I play "Starquake", published by Bubble Bus Software in 1985 and written by Stephen Crow and Nick Strange. This game is interesting. It's in the Atari high-res graphics mode, which greatly limits the colours available. Sound effects are pretty good. The game play itself is a bit chaotic and is fairly confusing. Based on the contents of the "instruction" card (quotation marks are used deliberately), you are meant to be collecting items and bringing them somewhere to prevent a planet from exploding. Something like that.

The enemy movement is frenetic and mostly unpredictable. Combine that with a low tolerance for the player's energy being drained away, and you die quickly and repeatedly. Probably you could get better at it, but it's annoying and seems gratuitous.

There are some intriguing things about it, like named teleporters that you have to discover, but once you do, you should be able to move around quickly to explore different areas.