Star Wars [Upright model] 1983 Atari
1983
Star Wars [Upright model] (c) 1983 Atari.
STAR WARS is a 1-player game with a color X-Y video display. You command LUKE SKYWALKER's RED 5 X-WING spacecraft with Atari's new flight control. Your main goal is to blow up the DEATH STAR. To do this, you must reach the thermal exhaust port at the end of the DEATH STAR trench, and fire a proton torpedo into it.
You must survive 3 phases of play to reach the exhaust port. The first phase of play will engage you in a spectacular battle in space - a war in the stars! TWIN-ION ENGINE (T.I.E.) FIGHTERS from the DEATH STAR attack you. DARTH VADER's ship appears in this phase - menacing and powerful! Your goal in this phase is to shoot the T.I.E. FIGHTERS and their shots.
The 2nd phase of play takes the X-WING down to the surface of the DEATH STAR which is covered with laser bunkers and laser towers. You must avoid collision with these objects and their shots to keep the number of Deflector Shields above zero. Extra bonus points are earned for exploding all laser tower tops.
The 3rd phase of play takes RED 5 down into the DEATH STAR trench. The walls are lined with red laser-gun turrets that fire at you as you approach. You must counter these shots by avoiding them or by shooting them. Trench catwalks also appear, in varied shapes and altitudes. You must avoid hitting the catwalks, or else your number of deflector shields will decrease.
If you survive the flight down the trench, a message and voice will alert you that the exhaust port is straight ahead. You must shoot the exhaust port to explode the DEATH STAR. If you miss the exhaust port, you will plough through the wall at the end of the trench and lose one deflector shield.
If you succeed in blowing up the DEATH STAR, RED 5 soars away from the DEATH STAR and then turns to view the tremendous explosion. Select-a-Death Star bonus and Remaining Shield Energy bonus are now scored. Depending on the settings of the option switches, additional deflector shields will be awarded.
A new DEATH STAR then comes into view. The EMPIRE is really mad now, and the powers in the EMPIRE want to launch LUKE and the RED 5 into eternity!
PLAY MODE
The Play Mode begins in outer space with the DEATH STAR off in the distance. The RED 5 X-WING aiming device (cursor) appears as a crosshair on the screen. As the flight control is moved in any direction, the four laser guns move accordingly. Firing the laser guns will cause alternating laser beams to fire from the guns toward the cursor. In this mode, R2-D2 is controlling the flight pattern of the X-WING based on the flight of attacking T.I.E. FIGHTERS.
Your goal is to blast any and all T.I.E. FIGHTERS and their oncoming shots. If you are hit, your deflector shield will automatically turn on and dissipate the energy from the shot, causing a very bright light to flash on the screen. You will experience a roll in space due to the impact. In a while, the T.I.E. FIGHTERS will turn away from you and fly back to the DEATH STAR.
In the next phase of the Play Mode, the X-WING flies directly toward the DEATH STAR, engines roaring, to a surface covered with hostile laser bunkers and laser towers. Now you, not R2-D2, control the X-WING. Your goal in this phase is to reach the trench. To do this you must avoid or eliminate (by shooting) the structures and the shots fired by them.
The laser tower tops have a progressive scoring incentive that is displayed in a message in the top center of the screen, along with the number of remaining laser tower tops to be destroyed before the X-WING dips into the trench. Eliminating all laser tower tops awards you an added bonus.
Getting hit by a shot or smashing into a laser tower top or laser bunker will roll the X-WING to the right or left as the deflector shield automatically turns on and absorbs impact, displaying a very bright screen. Each collision costs you one deflector shield.
Once you have traveled the required distance over the DEATH STAR surface, the X-WING dips down into the long, deadly trench. In this phase, you can fly right, left, up, or down; but you remain within the trench.
Your main goal while in the trench is to destroy the DEATH STAR by shooting the exhaust port at the end of the trench. You can survive the trench by flying around catwalks, which stretch across the trench at various altitudes, and by avoiding or shooting shots fired from the red laser-gun turrets on the walls. Deflector shield energy is lost if a shot hits you or if you smash into a catwalk. If you successfully reach and shoot the exhaust port, the RED 5 X-WING will soar away from the DEATH STAR and then turn toward it to watch it blow up.
If you miss the exhaust port, you will crash through the back wall and R2-D2 will show his displeasure with you. The X-WING will remain in the trench until the DEATH STAR is destroyed or you run out of deflector shields.
Upon destroying the DEATH STAR, the X-WING returns to another war in the stars with smarter T.I.E. FIGHTERS from a more advanced DEATH STAR. Your ability as a JEDI WARRIOR will be challenged even more with the destruction of each successive DEATH STAR.
>>> TECHNICAL DETAILS
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Game ID : 136021
Main CPU : M6809 (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Sound CPU : M6809 (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (4x) POKEY (@ 1.512 Mhz), TMS5220 (@ 640 Khz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Players : 1
Control : stick
Buttons : 4
>>> TRIVIA
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Released in May 1983. 10,245 Upright units were sold ate the price of $2,295.
Also released as 'Star Wars [Cockpit model]'.
The basic game engine for Star Wars was converted from a 2-year old space game project called 'Warp-Speed', which was designed to develop 3-D image capabilities. The controls were adapted from the controls used for Army 'Battle Zone'.
Star Wars was the first Atari game to have speech. The game featured several digitized samples of voices from the movie. The most memorable was the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, after losing the game, stating 'The force will be with you--always'.
Hidden In-game Message : On odd-numbered levels, when approaching the Death Star and right after hitting the exhaust port, the message 'MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU' is visible on the surface of the Death Star. On even-numbered levels, the programmer's names appear on the Death Star :
'HALLY'
'RIVERA'
'MARGOLIN'
'AVELLAR'
'VICKERS'
'DURFEY'
Attract mode has the following screens :
FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS TO RED FIVE
1. YOUR X-WING IS EQUIPPED WITH AN INVISIBLE DEFLECTOR SHIELD THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FOR 6 COLLISIONS.
2. DEFLECTOR STRENGTH IS LOST WHEN A FIREBALL IMPACTS YOUR SHIELD OR WHEN YOU STRIKE A LASER TOWER OR TRENCH CATWALK.
3. AIM YOUR LASERS WITH CURSOR TO EXPLODE EMPIRE TIE FIGHTERS, LASER TOWER TOPS AND TRENCH TURRETS.
4. SHOOT FIREBALLS BEFORE THEY IMPACT YOUR SHIELD.
5. THE REBEL FORCE IS DEPENDING ON YOU TO STOP THE EMPIRE BY BLOWING UP THE DEATH STAR.
OBI-WAN KENOBI IS GONE BUT HIS PRESENCE IS FELT WITHIN THE FORCE. THE EMPIRE�S DEATH STAR, UNDER THE COMMAND OF DARTH VADER, NEARS THE REBEL PLANET. YOU MUST JOIN THE REBELLION TO STOP THE EMPIRE. THE FORCE WILL BE WITH YOU. ALWAYS
Default high score table (Princess Leia's Rebel Force):
1. OBI 1,285,353
2. WAN 1,110,986
3. HAN 1,024,650
4. GJR 872,551
5. MLH 813,553
6. JED 704,899
7. NLA 518,000
8. EJD 492,159
9. EAR 384,766
10. RLM 380,655
A sequel was planned as 'Star Wars II' the same year (idea form only) with a serial communication concept (link between 2 or more cabinets) - this idea never was born.
The default high score screen of 'Cyberball 2072' features names of many Atari arcade games, including STARWARS.
A Star Wars [Upright model] appears in the 1984 movie 'Gremlins'.
- SCORING -
TIE fighters : 1,000 points
Darth Vader's ship : 2,000 points per hit
Laser bunkers : 200 points
Laser towers : 200 points, increasing by 200 points per tower
Trench turrets : 100 points
Fireballs : 33 points
Exhaust Port : 25,000 points
Destroying all tower tops : 50,000 points
End of wave bonus :
5,000 points per shield remaining
Starting on medium difficulty (wave 3) : 400,000 points bonus
Starting on hard difficulty (wave 5) : 800,000 points bonus
'Use the Force' : bonus for not shooting in the trench until the very end :
Wave 1 : 5,000 points
Wave 2 : 10,000 points
Wave 3 : 25,000 points
Wave 4 : 50,000 points
Wave 5 and above : 100,000 points
>>> TRICKS AND TIPS
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* In the tower scene, you can shoot fireballs that are hidden behind the towers. In the trench scene, you can shoot fireballs through the catwalks.
* Moving the flight yoke far left and far right during the attract mode will switch between the instructions and the high score list.
* In the trench you can 'use the force' and get bonus points by not shooting ANYTHING until you reach the exhaust port. The text 'USE THE FORCE' is shown at the top of the screen until you shoot. The bonus is actually awarded just before you have to shoot the exhaust port, so it's possible to take out some of the gun turrets at the end, too.
* It's rumoured that if you shoot Darth Vader more than 30 times, you get 27 shields. It is said you can also get 255 shields, but this is rare.
>>> GAME SERIES
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1. Star Wars [Cockpit model] (1983)
1. Star Wars [Upright model] (1983)
2. Return of The Jedi (1984)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (1985)
>>> DESIGNERS / PROGRAMMERS / STAFF
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Designed by : Mike Hally (MLH)
Programmed & developed by : Greg Rivera (GJR), Norm Avellar (NLA), Eric Durfey (EJD), Jed Margolin (JED), Earl Vickers (EAR), Rick Moncrief (RLM)
>>> GAME PORTS TO OTHER SYSTEMS
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* Consoles :
Atari 2600 (1983)
Colecovision (1984)
Atari 5200 (1984)
Atari XEGS
Nintendo GameCube (2003, 'Star Wars Rogue Squadron III - Rebel Strike Limited Edition Preview Disc') : contains the Original game.
* Computers :
Tandy Color Computer (1984, 'Space Wrek')
Commodore C64 (1987)
Atari ST (1987)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
Amstrad CPC (1988)
PC (1988)
>>> OTHER GAME RESOURCES
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Game's rom.
Machine's picture.