Star Raiders is a video game for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was released in cartridge form by Atari in 1979, programmed by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee. It was also later ported to other Atari computer and game platforms. The game simulates space combat in 3D between the player's powerful ship and an invading fleet of alien 'Zylon' vessels.
Star Raiders was distinctive for its graphics, which (under most conditions) represented an out-the-cockpit, first-person view from a fictional combat spaceship traveling through a streaming 3D starfield in pursuit of enemy spacecraft. The game's attract mode, a simple streaming star field, was a common sight in computer stores of the early-1980s to show off the Atari computers' graphics capabilities.
While there had already been simple target-shooting games using this perspective (including 1977's Starhawk), Star Raiders had considerably higher quality graphics and more complex game play. As a result, it inspired both imitators throughout the 1980s and later-generation 'space combat simulation' games. Notably, it is one of the games that inspired the seminal title Elite, and thus the Wing Commander and X-Wing series. It is also one in a series of first person space shooters (including 1977's Starhawk and 1979's Star Fire) that appeared in the late-1970s and were arguably predecessors of the later seen first-person shooter genre.
Star Raiders was criticized at the time for violent gameplay. In 2007, it was included as #2 in a list of the 10 most important video games of all time, as compiled by Stanford University's History of Science and Technology Collections.
As the pilot of an interstellar starship, your mission is to destroy all enemy spacecraft on the galactic chart and prevent them from destroying your starbases. There are three different types of fighters roaming throughout the galaxy; cruisers, fighters, and basestars. With the help of your galactic map, you can find the sectors of the galaxy where these fighters are located and then warp there to destroy them. When all of the fighters in a sector are destroyed, you can warp to a new location for the next battle. Be sure to keep an eye on your starship's energy level; warping to new locations, being hit by enemy fire, or colliding with an asteroid will drain your energy. If you completely run out of energy, your starship will be destroyed, however you can warp back to a starbase to refuel at any time. Returning to a starbase will also repair other types of damage your starship can receive, such as faulty engines, loss of your shields, and faulty photon torpedoes. When all of the enemy ships have been destroyed, you win the game and receive a rank.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Videogame Console:
This version of Star Raiders was designed for Atari 2600, which was commercially very successful video game console of second generation produced by Atari from 1977 to 1992. It was the first console that used removable memory modules with games. At the time of its greatest fame, more than 30 million units of this console were sold for about $ 200 a piece. To date, the game library for this console contains nearly 1,000 original games. More information about the
Atari 2600 can be found here.
Recommended Game Controllers:
You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB joystick that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a joystick, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some of your favorite online stores.
Available online emulators:
5 different online emulators are available for Star Raiders. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Star Raiders are summarized in the following table:
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This version of Star Raiders was designed for Atari 2600, which was commercially very successful video game console of second generation produced by Atari from 1977 to 1992. It was the first console that used removable memory modules with games. At the time of its greatest fame, more than 30 million units of this console were sold for about $ 200 a piece. To date, the game library for this console contains nearly 1,000 original games. More information about the
Atari 2600 can be found 
