Starquake
DOS - 1988
Also available on: Amstrad CPC - Atari 8-bit - Atari ST - BBC Micro - Commodore 64 - MSX
Description of Starquake
One of the most innovative side-scrolling shooters ever made, Starquake was a big hit on the Commodore 64 and Atari ST but sadly not on the PC system.
The plot is very cliché, but it's the cool action/adventure blend of gameplay that counts. You are a being called BLOB (Bio-Logically Operated Being), chosen to save a planet from destruction. You must find parts of the planet's core which are scattered all through the planet and fix it before it explodes. Many aliens who inhabit the planet will plague you and 'zappers', broken bottles and spikes threaten to blow you to pieces.
Although it looks similar to countless other shooters, Starquake has many innovations that set it apart. For starters, you are free to go wherever you want on the planet in your search for the missing pieces of the core. You can either explore on foot, or on a hovercraft. To move upward without the hovercraft, you can create your own platforms which last for a short period of time. To make exploration easier, there are a great number of hovercraft pads and 15 teleports, each with different codes, scattered strategically around the 512 screens of play. Finding these codes adds an interesting element of adventure game, not unlike Access' Echelon.
Another nod to the adventure genre is the availability of an inventory: you can carry up to 4 items at a time before you have to drop something. There are also features such as security doors, which require the security card or matching numbered cards, doors which require keys, and special 'breakaway platforms'. Another interesting feature is the Cheops Pyramid, which lets you exchange a piece for the one that you think is more useful.
Gameplay is a lot of fun, and very easy to learn. Although the graphics are only 4-color CGA in this PC version, the animations are very smooth, and the controls are intuitive. The game is also highly replayable: both the identities and locations of pieces you need to rebuild the planet's core are randomized, so the game never gets monotonous.
If you enjoy shooters with a difference, Starquake more than fits the bill. Two thumbs up for this underdog!
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
G G 2020-05-25 1 point
This is the codes for the atari st version.
Hindi = code (start area)
rokea = code (High brown)
davro = code (green place)
tsoin?= code (weird greeny k, place where I die)
luang = code (green place)
kaled = code
cwore = code (core)
flied = code (green place)
borno = code (Red place)
ching = code (Hard green place)
kwang = code (cool place)
tabet = code (Normal hidden place)
sochi = code (green hexagon)
solun = cool place
EdWin 2018-09-07 0 point
One of the best games for ZX-Spectrum. As for me it is TOP1. I played it on my first own computer (Spectrum-compatible) I constructed in 1987. I still play it occasionally up to today (now in browser), so counting it in total, it could be months if not years of life, spent playing only it. ;-) But surprise! I played it on C-64 too, have seen the Atari version, but never knew the DOS version exists! Up to several days ago, when I discovered it during extremely boring company meeting... ;-)
Stephen Crow made several very clever inventions to make dynamic animation on limited hardware resources of ZX-Spectrum. The sound is also surprisingly rich, considering the sound hardware which on ZX-Spectrum is next to none. All these goodies can be found in another game Stephen Crow made with Hewson: a Firelord. Firelord seems to share large part of code with Starquake and it is equally beautiful, but is more difficult to finish.
GadZombiE 2015-12-23 2 points
I love Starquake! I used to play this on my Atari 800XL computer. It's incredibly good as for an old CGA game for DOS. Surprisingly it has better graphics as for Atari computer. But sound and music on Atari was much better!
ManicMiner 2012-03-24 2 points DOS version
I remember playing it on a ZX Spectrum, wich, by the way, was the original version
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DOS Version
50 KBAmstrad CPC Version
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Bubble Bus Software
Atari 8-bit ROM
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Bubble Bus Software
Atari ST ROM
- Year: 1988
- Publisher: Mandarin Software
BBC Micro Version
- Year: 1987
- Publisher: Bubble Bus Software
Commodore 64 Version
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Bubble Bus Software, Ricochet, ShareData, Inc.
MSX Version
- Year: 1986
- Publisher: Bubble Bus Software
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