3D Starstrike

Copyright : Realtime Games | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

?suddenly there were the Outsiders. Appearing in massive fleets on the edge of the galaxy, they seemed uninterested in conquest, only destruction. Earth?s fleets were decimated and the Federation lay on the brink of collapse. In desperation the Federation Command chose to strike directly at the Outsider control centres. These immense bases were constructed within hollowed out moons.

To destroy them required a direct hit on the base?s reactor systems at the very centre of the moon. The only access to the reactor chamber was through two cooling ports within the base?s equatorial duct. To reach these however, an attacker was forced to run the gauntlet of the base?s heavy ground and space defenders.

To penetrate these a new generation of starfighter was created - the STARSTRIKE series.

Graphics

?Inspired? by classic arcade cabinet Star Wars, 3D Starstrike uses the same style of fast moving vector graphics to give the player that 3-dimmensional, part of the action feeling and throws in heaps more colour in to the bargain to add spice to the affair.

Although a little rough around the edges now, at the time, 3D Starstrike was a graphical marvel and was one of the most impressive of the early Amstrad titles and although its Spectrum origins are obvious, this should not detract from what is an important part of the Amstrad legacy.

Sound

A disappointing hotch potch of minimal sound effects. The biggest let down is the fairly weedy pinging sound used to depict your laser guns. Other than that all you get is a series of bangs everytime something is blown up.

Unfortunate when tbe other elements of the game are so good, but the effects that are there do their job.

Gameplay

The game that Domark?s Star Wars should?ve been. Much faster and slicker than it?s more famous rival, 3D Starstrike is an all action blast combining some of the most popular stages from the Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back arcades.

Four action packed sequences take you from an assault in deep space through an attack on the enemy moon?s surface, the final trench run approach through the enemy?s defences and finally the destruction of the moon itself through their reactor pods.

A satisfying difficulty curve allows complete beginners to quickly and easily get to grips with the game while the more difficult later stages are rewarding and challenging.

The only drawback to the gameplay side of things is that there isn?t much variety in task. After you?ve negotiated the four levels once, there is no difference in what you?re supposed to do - it?s only a little bit harder.

Having said that 3D Starstrike is a very good game, particularly for the time, and is well worth a quick blast every now and again.