Star Castle

Infobox VG
title = Star Castle


developer = Cinematronics
publisher = Cinematronics
designer = Tim Skelly
release = 1980
genre = Multi-directional shooter
modes = Up to two players, alternating turns
cabinet = Upright
arcade system =
display = Vector, standard resolution, horizontal orientation
input =
platforms = Arcade, Vectrex

"Star Castle" is a 1980 vector arcade game by Cinematronics. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses circumferencing a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The game was designed by Tim Skelly, who also created a number of other Cinematronics titles, including "Starhawk". As with many other titles by the company, "Star Castle" was ported to the Vectrex video game console in 1983.

Gameplay

The object of "Star Castle" is to destroy an enemy cannon which sits in the center of three concentric, rotating energy shield rings while avoiding or destroying 'mines' – enemies that spawn from the core, pass through the energy rings, and then home in on the player's ship. They can stick back to the shield if the player maneuvers in such a way that a ring is between the ship and the mines. The player-controlled spaceship can rotate, thrust forward, and fire small projectiles. The cannon's shields are composed of twelve sections each, and each section takes two hits to destroy. Once a section is breached, rings beneath it are exposed to fire.

Once the innermost ring has been breached, the central weapon is vulnerable to attack from the player. However, the player is also more vulnerable at this point, as with the shield rings eliminated, the gun can fire out a large projectile that hisses with white noise. Moreover, the central core tracks player movement at all times. If the player manages to hit the cannon, it explodes violently, collapsing the remnants of the shield rings, and the player is awarded with an extra ship. The next level then starts with a new gun and fully restored shield rings, with the difficulty increased (the mines move faster, the rings rotate more quickly, and the core tracks the player faster).

If the player completely destroys the outermost shield ring, the cannon will create a new one. The middle ring expands to replace the lost outer ring, the inner ring replaces the middle, and a new ring emerges from the core to become the inner ring. Therefore, in order to penetrate the cannon's defenses, the player must be careful not to completely obliterate the outer ring.

The three homing mines will destroy the player's ship on contact. The mines can be destroyed, but they are very small and difficult to fire on, and the player does not receive points for destroying them. Mines are revived when shield rings regenerate (some variants keep three mines churning constantly so that a new mine respawns from the core as soon as one is destroyed). As the player progresses through the levels, the mines get faster and faster, forcing the player to keep moving to avoid them.

Technical details

The game is vector-based and monochrome; the colour of the rings and screen is provided by a translucent plastic screen overlay.

Legacy

While not widely remembered, the game became a basis for the Atari 2600's "Yars' Revenge", which became incredibly popular.

The game is also a basis for the homebrew game "DCastle" for the Sega Dreamcast

Trivia

*At approximately every 182,000 points, gameplay slows down.
*As opposed to some games, the points will not roll over at 1 million (approximately four hours of game play). It is unknown if the score might roll over at 10 million.
* Star Castle was featured in the 1986 movie "Maximum Overdrive".

References

*KLOV game|id=9754