Star Raiders

Name:	Star Raiders
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-2660
Programmer:	Carla Meninsky
Year:	1982
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Came packaged with the Video Touch Pad.

Star Raiders was an instant classic on the Atari 400/800.  Many people admitted that they bought the expensive computer system simply to play this game.  Most people were pleasantly surprised when Atari announced they would bring the computer hit to the Atari 2600, but they also wondered how Atari would manage to get a game that required a keyboard to work on the one button 2600.  Atari's answer: The Video Touch Pad!

The Video Touch Pad was a large square keypad that added nine buttons to the 2600 allowing it to easily handle most of Star Raiders functions (only 5 of the buttons were actually used).  However the Video Touch Pad wasn't any new piece of technology, it was just a repackaged keypad controller with a snazzy new overlay.  In fact many players discovered that the keypad could be used in a pinch instead of the bulky Video Touch Pad (minus the overlay of course).  The result was a win-win for Atari, they could get more mileage out of their seldom used keypad controllers and players could change game options at the touch of a button.  Interestingly the original version of the game did not use the Video Touch Pad and relied on the console switches instead.  Star Raiders would become the first and only game to use the Video Touch Pad.

Star Raiders is best described as a blend of Star Wars and Star Trek.  While the game is mostly a space shooter, there's a healthy dose of strategy thrown in.  Not only must you track down and destroy the Krylon fleet (changed from Zylon in the Atari 8-Bit version), but you need to make tough decisions like which sector to attack first, which systems can be shut down to conserve energy, and do you want to risk your life to save the Starbase.  Simply running head first into the Krylon fleet with guns blazing isn't going to cut it in this game except on the easiest difficulty.  Speaking of difficulty levels, there are four in the 2600 version of Star Raiders labeled T10 through T40.  The difficulty level determines how many Krylon ships there are to destroy (10, 20, 30, or 40), how hard the ships hit, how accurate they are, how far apart the Krylons and the Star Base start, starting energy, and which ranks you can earn (more on that later).

In Star Raiders the galaxy is actually a large 4x4 grid separated into 8 sectors (reduced from the 8x16 map in the 8-Bit versions).  One sector contains the Starbase which is your source of repairs and supplies (simply warp to the Starbase and wait until the map screen says COMPLETE).  Unfortunately the Starbase is also the Krylons number one target, so you're going to have to defend it constantly.  If during the course of the game you hear three tones that's your cue to get your ship over to the Stabase and wipe out the attacking Krylon fleet.  If you fail to do so within 30 seconds the base will explode leaving you with no facility to repair or refuel your ship.  You can only refuel at the Starbase 7 times after which it will explode (so don't do that!).

The Video Touch Pad controls all of your ships vital functions such as shields, galactic map, and hyperwarp in addition to switching between the galaxy map and main battle view (called Fore View).  Depending on how the difficulty switches are set, the player can turn various systems (such as shields and the targeting computer) off and on to help your ship to save power (various functions drain 0.5 to 1 energy unit per second).  While the targeting computer can be usually be safely turned off (it provides the targeting sight and helps lock onto ships which lets you hit them easier), shields are absolutely vital to your survival.  One hit without shields up will destroy your ship instantly!  Only turn the shields off in a dire emergency (or if you feel suicidal).  Novice players may want to let the computer handle turning these ship functions off by putting the difficulty switches in the B position.  When in the A position these functions are controlled by the Video Touch Pad.

By bringing up the galactic map you can see where all the current Krylon activity in the galaxy is.  While you can slowly cruise from one sector of the map to the next, you'll need to hyperwarp to get anywhere in a normal amount of time.  Hyperwarping is fairly safe, but it does take large amounts of energy (depending on how far away you're warping), so use it judiciously.  If you run out of energy mid-hyperwarp you will explode (so don't do that!)

The display at the bottom of the screen shows the current status of your ships functions.  PESC stands for Photon Torpedoes, Engines, Shields, and Computer.  When one of these systems becomes damaged the letter will turn yellow, and when the system is destroyed the letter will turn red.  Damaged systems will function poorly or intermittently (flickering shields, hard steering, noisy engines, etc.), but destroyed systems won't function at all.  To fix your systems you'll need to dock at a Starbase.

There are three different enemy types: Cruisers, Fighters, and Basestars.  Cruisers and Fighters are your normal run of the mill enemy ships, but Basestars are nasty flying fortresses that come equipped with shields.  Basestars take several direct hits to destroy so use caution.  After destroying all but one enemy squadron, the last group will dive deep into an asteroid field.  Take extreme caution when taking out this last group as asteroids are extremely damaging.

At the end of the game, whether you died or won, you will receive a ranking.  This ranking is based on the difficulty level selected, how many times you docked at the Starbase, and of course, how much energy you have remaining.  Certain advanced ranks are only available on the hardest difficulties and each rank has a class that goes from 5 to 1.  The ranks are: Cook, Scout, Pilot, Ace, Eagle, Star, Nova, and the 'Mystery Rank'.  The Mystery Rank isn't actually named in the manual but turns out to be (wait for it), Atari!  Yes Atari named the highest rank in the game Atari.  Genius!

While it may not have had all the glitz and glamour of the original 8-bit version, the 2600 version of Star Raiders is a solid port.  Considering that most people thought it would be impossible to even attempt Star Raiders on the 2600, fans were quite happy with the port they got.  It's as shame Atari didn't make use of the Touch Pad in other games, but it appears players didn't want a bulky secondary controller that they had to plug in each time they wanted to play a game.  Later Atari titles either used complex joystick/button combinations for extra features or moved them back to the console switches. The Atari 2600 version also changes the name of the enemy from Zylon to Krylon for unknown reasons (perhaps Zylon was too close to Cylon from Battlestar Galactica?).  Star Raiders was the last title Sears released under their own Tele-Games brand, although the included Video Touch Pad did not contain any Sears specific branding. 

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