Atari 800 Game: Star Raiders (1979 Atari)

An action simulation/strategy game where 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.
Note: Played on commander difficulty (hardest). Could not get the star commander rank after beating the game since half of the starbases were destroyed which affects your ranking.

[@scorchedearth899]

I played this game endlessly back in 1983 on my Atari 400

[@user-no8wc9zl3v]

I still play mine

[@FingerBreakerWu]

I beat it on Commander, but could never get past rank "Garbage Scow Captain", lol. That was a clever Star Trek reference built into the game.

[@noahsuess2806]

This game was ahead of its time.

[@kevine8736]

My dad and I used to love playing this game back in the 80s it was his favorite game

[@patsmith8523]

I used to play this game so much that I could still see the damaged shields after I stopped playing. I truly enjoyed this game.

[@oddsandbods]

Loved this game and the text Infocom games Atari 400...lovely memories.

[@wjrasmussen666]

wow, haven't seen this for literally decades!

[@FyberOptic]

I played this a bunch but had no real idea what I was doing.

[@abaldino]

This game is a piece of art. Every sound effect is emblazoned into my childhood memory, huddling next to an old CRT. Thank you, Doug Neubauer.

[@SyntheToonz]

They say visicalc was the first killer app. Star Raiders was the killer app that sold me on the Atari 8-bits.

[@f.k.b.16]

I like the way the lasers you fire get smaller and darker the farther away they get. The exploding ship particles are nice too. That map screen almost could almost be using a mouse and clicking icons. It seems like this would have been a later release game... not an early release!

[@OneEyedJack1970]

Itwasthe only game K-mart had in stock when I got my 5200, so that's what I got. I had no idea I'd enjoy it so much.

[@Boltenstein1]

I can remember my dad and I playing this in Dixons in 1982.

[@TMS5100]

legendary game

[@mbhinkle]

I got it used about 5 years after it came out ...advanced stuff i must say.

[@ZylonBane]

What kind of psychopath turns off their engines during combat?

[@sarcasticguy4311]

Thinking the same thing. TURN ON THE FRIGGIN' THRUSTERS and stop sitting there like some motionless turret!

[@MarvDaniels]

Yeah, the whole idea of playing a single player game online is to showcase your skills. When this game first came out, the guy who showed this to me played like a baller 'cause I'd never seen anything like it. This player plays like a wimp.🤨

[@mattphillips538]

The rank score at the end of the game is higher if you consume less energy. To do really well you need to do things like play without engines, lower shields, destroy each enemy with a single torpedo each, and keep your hyperspace jumps short and efficient.

[@MarvDaniels]

@@mattphillips538 Was not aware of this; saw 'Star Raiders' when the game was relatively new; maybe around 1981(or '82?); the player was merely demonstrating the gameplay. The hyperspace sequence alone was enough to fry my eyes and brain! :) Although, you were playing to conserve energy for the long game, still should pull off baller moves to impress the spectators; y'know, arcade style! The entire world is watching. Anyway, appreciate your reply. Enjoy your day.🙂

[@mattphillips538]

@@MarvDaniels Oh I agree that you need to use movie Kung Fu in a movie and street Kung Fu in the street, I just wanted y'all to know why no-engines (and no-shields) is part of street Kung-Fu in the first place

[@PaleHorseShabuShabu]

An old "friend" of mine gave me this game for the Atari 2600 and the special controller that it came with (he called it "the computer"), but he either didn't have or didn't give me the manual and the controller's overlay. I'd occasionally flail around with the game having no clue what I was doing, but that typically last about five minutes with me unable to do anything. Looking back now, I feel like my "friend" was being an asshole and was trolling me.

[@exiles_dot_tv]

Lol I used to play it in much the same way at my cousin's house. I'm not sure he knew much about how it worked either, and people often didn't hang on to manuals back then.

[@michaelstoliker971]

My 400 spent a lot of hours playing this game also.

[@RHINOWINOLUNATIC]

First ever computer game i bought with an Atari 400. £29.99 in 1983. That would be around £95.00 today.

[@desarrollou71x72]

this game was very advanced for the year .

[@mattwuxx3888]

Turning on the engines after first wave. Have to look into that.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

I got Lieutenant 1 or something once. Too scared as a kid to play the harder modes. I could probably wipe the floor with them now.

[@collapsar27]

starbase1 under attack, 9 illigants 🥰

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Mezmerized the first time I saw it...

[@OneEyedJack1970]

Don't jump out of sectors with enemies left in them. You'll just have to come back and kill them later on -- that's a total waste of your energy.

[@biff2k2]

I remember this game. You just show up and murder people.

[@FingerBreakerWu]

This game came out before the ultra-litigious society America has become. The ships were blatant ripoffs of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek, but it was cool as hell.

[@dpfghela]

Used to pay this guy while pretending to be Han Solo

[@sarcasticguy4311]

Haha that's great. I used to play this and pretend the phone would ring and it would be the newly formed Space Command wanting me to be a pilot.