Classic Game Room - STAR CASTLE arcade machine review

[@johncapaldi7890]

This was my favorite arcade game as a teenager growing up. I would work all week on my paper route getting up at five in the morning and then making my collections on Friday and Saturday morning going to the Galaxy arcade in the Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia and play this game all day. To be a teenager with a pocket full of quarters on a Saturday in the arcade was an incredible time. When this machine came out in 1980 it was so cool and it still is. I caught a Starcastle machine retro arcade game convention in Pittsburgh a couple years ago and played it for hours and remembered how fun it was and it brought me back instantly almost 40 years. If I could find one of these consoles in good condition today I would buy it immediately.

[@psterud]

I can totally relate to your paper route money and the arcade. I did the same thing. I wasn't quite at working age yet when Star Castle came out, so I had to take the rare quarter where I could find it, usually eating less during lunch at school so I could haul my two quarters a mile away on foot to play it. The best days.

[@tarstarkusz]

I never saw Star castle in the galaxy. I spent many a night as a teenager in the Galaxy at the Roosevelt mall in the mid 80s. It was out of date and the Galaxy always had the newest games. It was sad to see it close, which I think was about 1990. Star Castle was also one of my favorite early arcade games. I went to TNT just outside of Philly and asked about buying an upright Star Castle machine. The guy told me they were junk and very difficult to keep in working condition. This would have been some time in the 90s before old arcade games started selling for STUPID prices. He had a Tempest for like 3 grand. It was restored (whatever that means). I got a vectrex instead. The Vectrex version is great.

[@johncapaldi7890]

@@tarstarkusz star castle came up in the early 80s around 1980 81,82.

[@tarstarkusz]

@@johncapaldi7890 Early vector game, 1980.

[@brian7333]

It was one of the 3 arcade games the Ghostbusters had in their Firehall. You can see it in the movie.

[@expandingknowledge8269]

I played Star Castle at Dover NH FunSpot back in the day, I am 67 now, and mastered this game. Not to hard once you figure it out. People would gather behind me just to watch me play for hours and hours on one quarter, those were the best of times for me growing up!

[@squatrx]

Same - it was one of those games that you could play forever if you understood it. Jungle King and Alpine Ski were also like that for me.

[@stevethepirate8907]

I worked at Cinematronics way back when. That's where I met my wife. I installed the wiring harnesses and my wife assembled the harnesses. We got to play the games for free while on break. There was one guy whose job it was to play all the games. Brings back memories.

[@QCJSiteB]

That's pretty cool. How long did you work there? Did you stay in the industry afterwords?

[@stevethepirate8907]

@@QCJSiteB I worked there for less than a year, I was laid off along with 95% of the workforce. I went back into the military and retired after 20 years.

[@richardherzog5405]

GREW up playing this at the local hotdog stand. Awesome game

[@progrocker69]

The strategy for this game is to fly at diagonals and fire about 45 degrees from your flight path toward the Star Castle. In other words, you fly to the center of the right edge, coming out on the left. Fire some bullets at the boss and then fly towards the center of the top of the screen. You come out on the bottom, fire a few bullets straight up to the Castle, fly back to the center right of the screen, and just continue that pattern until the boss dies. Dodging the dots is easier.

[@KanWoo76]

This was one of my favorites and I have been looking for this for years! This game was also in the opening of Rocky III! Great trip down memory lane. Thanks

[@hdgehog6]

Best game ever! If I were ever to buy an arcade console this would be it.

[@cozmicmojo2181]

What stinks is that vector game cabinets break more often than others. But they're the best.

[@tristanjacobucci]

I'm so glad this video exists! Was just watching Ghostbusters and seen briefly the arcade machines in the firehouse! Had to know about em ever since

[@TheFutureIsPrimitive]

I have a boxed copy of Star Castle for the Vectrex myself. It's a faithful port with only a few minor differences like: the colored rings on the overlay are too big so they color the entire castle yellow (it still has one of the best Vectrex overlays), the sounds are a bit different, there's no constellation of a pin-up model in the background, and the ship maneuvers a little differently. However, Star Castle is definitely an acknowledged influence of Yars' Revenge.

[@n8goulet]

The buttons as a controller, like Asteroids, work very well. As a game collector, I find people that didn't grow up playing these machine have a hard time learning how to use the buttons as the controller. I've noticed it takes people a while to get used to it, but I can say works very well once you've reached that point. I've played the game & Asteroids emulated using a joystick, and it does not control nearly as well as using the buttons which must be why buttons were chosen by the manufacturers as joysticks were widely available.

[@arcadely]

I think this dates back to Spacewar! on the PDP-1 back in the 60s, where the only control mechanism available was, firstly, the switches on the front panel of the computer and, in due course, a custom control pad that used a set of buttons to control the ships. This influence carried through to some of the arcade games that came out in the late 70s and early 80s.

[@shawbros]

I imagine a spinner would work better than a joystick or buttons.

[@classicarcadeamusementpark4242]

@@shawbros For a novice, yes. For someone that understands the controls, no.

[@SteveT-o4g]

Reward for high score was a case of pop weekly @ 41st in Everett, WA. by the time I kicked ass it was 1/2 case. Fun challenge fer sher

[@SkyChaserCom]

I loved that game as a kid in the early 80s. The eerie "flanging square wave" sound too. Asteroids and early Tempest were other vector graphics games.

[@psterud]

Vector games need to make some sort of comeback. They were so cool. The first Star Wars game was vector too.

[@TheGamerZapocalypse]

Played this back in the day at the Arcade...what a blast from the past and what a great game!

[@DishNetworkDealerNEO]

When the cannon fires that electrical arcing sound gave me a shot of adrenaline every time! Lol

[@xfanman]

BZZZWHIIIIIIIIZZZZZHHHH! BZZZZWHIIIIIZZZZZZHHHH!

[@charlesantill5838]

I remember this one the most from my youth: Pure arcade magic.

[@JasonRainbows]

We had one of these in our little hippie house in Rochester, NY. It was set up to use pennies so while the band would practice everybody could play it. I got really good at it. Trick is to keep bouncing back and forth side to side shooting straight in all the time. Thanks for the nostalgia.

[@henrynevins1]

I'll give you the Star Castle tip or flaw in the game. If you take your ship to the edge of the screen, facing the edge any where and fire, your bullets will pass around the back of the picture tube, appear on the other side and begin decimating the rings and ultimately the ship within the rings. When the inner ship attempts to send out a fireball from the direction of your bullets, it can't find your ship because your not there. Back in 1980 I loved playing it in arcades, plus "beating the system". My one quarter could last me 15 to 20 minutes or until I got tired of winning. I would love to have a chance to play an original Star Castle again. I think my tip will only work on a machine with a picture tube. That's your best plan of attack. Enjoy!

[@buskid627]

My buddy and I had a technique that we called "Running". We would fly off the screen and then swerve our ship to the other side (From the bottom to the right side of the screen and then swerve our ship to the left side and exit the top of the screen and then swerve again from the bottom of the screen to exit the right side again). You fire at the center as you pass and eventually you only have one piece of each ring. Continue "running' and you can destroy the center ship. The missiles that chase you get confused every time you leave the screen and cannot destroy you. The same thing we did while playing Asteroids. Fly from the bottom to the top of the screen shooting the ships as they entered the screen.

[@TortureBot]

Lol! That's hilarious! It's in the programming! Tube or LCD it should work the same. (Visualizing tiny bullets bouncing around in a picture tube!)

[@arcadely]

That's interesting. I didn't realise the cannon in the original would fire at where your bullets came from rather than where your ship is. I know there was a "bug" in early releases where you could amass a huge score by bouncing off the shields top and bottom and firing to blast your way through as you wrapped across the top and bottom of the screen to eventually destroy the cannon. Later releases included a fix that made this impossible to pull off for any sustained play.

[@shawbros]

At the arcade I went to as a kid, there was a guy that used to go there in the morning, put one quarter in the star castle machine, and play on that same quarter until the arcade was ready to close at night.

[@kooky216]

Awesome review! Music, lots of angles, your efforts are appreciated Mark.

[@TheGorillafoot]

One was also on Maximum Overdrive, the arcade scene.

[@gabrielzamudio3001]

Only reason I’m looking it up now! Lol

[@monk-ld3jt]

@@gabrielzamudio3001 Tell me about it this guy is lucky that the comet is not flying over our planet anymore!

[@MeatShield666]

Killed Gus before Walt

[@TheGorillafoot]

@@gabrielzamudio3001 I seriously love that movie right down to the fact that ACDC did the sound track because Stephen King liked them so much.

[@user-9sidfgsxgj]

The sound effects for this game are amazing, all 4 or smth of them!

[@orionpax55]

Thank you PAPA, for you have finally given Mark the chance to review actual arcade games, cabinets and all.

[@BoundaryBreak]

Ghostbusters brought me here

[@Eword70]

lol. 😂 Maximum OverDrive brought me here!!! 😂

[@WonkaVator72]

When I was about 14, we were visiting Ann Arbor in eastern Michigan, not far from the bridge to Windsor, Canada. My mom took us across for a day trip... where we'd change one American dollar for _five_ Canadian quarters. To us, that meant a bonus game for every dollar spent. We went to an arcade where a guy a few years older than me was playing Star Castle. He was a master and had figured out that the way to beat the game was to fly at top speed across the top of the board from right to left, shooting a few times at the rings with each pass. Flying like this deprived the ship in the center from targeting him since once it tracked his ship to the left of the screen, he's then pop up on the right and the enemy would turn towards him again. Slowly. Long story short, after he'd earned something like 20 bonus ships, he let me have the game. For a quarter. I soon lost all of the ships he'd earned. But in effect, he got to play for thirty minutes or so... for free. I learned a valuable lesson that day. The guy was a pro and made it look easy. But as a novice myself, it wasn't nearly so easy.

[@ComicRichard]

God I remember this. It was in the old amusement arcade near my house!! I had no idea it was so old - must've been about 15 years old when I was playing it! I remember it being near enough impossible to get anywhere with it!

[@matthewwolfe6848]

This was one of those games that you could hear from outside the arcade. This mixed with Defender, Robotron, Tempest, and Berzerk...those were great times.

[@caligulapontifex5759]

Best of times.

[@mr.aerial1885]

Star Castle had a pattern. You just had to shoot the center at full forward speed coming from below then off screen going on top. Using this continuous pattern you could score all day. We would play this thing for hours at our local 7-11.

[@Freakinreviews]

Confirmed! I used this technique and could play endlessly.

[@psterud]

Can confirm as well. It was so much easier than other games from the time. For a kid with only a couple of quarters in his pocket, that was priceless.

[@denBlackie]

I'm always happy when I see it's another ARCADE REVIEW !

[@psterud]

This game was at the corner deli that took us kids a long time to walk to with our measly two quarters burning holes in our pockets. It followed Space Invaders and Asteroids. I found that although I wasn't all that great at those games, I was pretty good at Star Castle, and my quarters would last for much longer on it, which meant I bonded with it much more. I'll always have a very, very soft spot in my heart for this game.

[@charleskriner6541]

I used to play this in the early '80s between classes at Temple University. I could play for hours on one quarter. The only game I ever got so good I beat it. LOL. There was another vector graphics game called Rip Off there that was also great. And let's not forget Battle zone. Great game. Great memories.

[@xfanman]

I couldn't stand Rip Off, star ships don't drive like go carts!

[@midnightkitty8172]

Oh yeahh, Battlezone! Couldn't resist playing that one ( at least once ) whenever I could.

[@silicon212]

This was my favorite arcade game as a kid. I still love it. Here's an interesting note on this and other vector games by Cinematronics - they used discrete logic in the place of a CPU for the computer. That's right, no CPU in this machine.

[@arcadely]

That's interesting - I did not know that.

[@mamaharumi]

"It's a board of discrete chips, attached to a tv screen that works like an oscilloscope." "... a 12 bit 'bit slice' machine the game sends numbers to a 12 bit DAC that moves the electron beam in the display."

[@fake12396]

cinematronics vector machines do have a cpu, it's just a custom one implemented in discrete logic, kinda like minicomputers did in the 70s. games like pong are what didn't have a cpu, and monaco gp is pretty much the peak of that technology. you can't make a game this sophisticated without a cpu.

[@spiff2268]

Damn, yet another game I'd completely forgotten about. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

[@Komet163B]

Best video of Star Castle I've ever seen on the net! Great job!

[@elvishickmanful]

miss this game

[@arcadely]

Miss it no more: arcade.ly/games/starcastle/. I still haven't got this quite right in "classic" mode though so yell if you spot any flaws.

[@dbpooper7512]

Great sound effects.

[@PioloAskal2009]

i enjoy watching mark review games and stuff over playing live and psn.

[@mrawls24]

I remember playing this game when I was 17 years old and a senior in high school back in 1980. I loved it. I specifically remember coming in to the arcade drunk off my butt on New Years Eve of 1980 and getting the new high score even though I was plastered. Prior to that the game had been kicking my butt. Some how in my drunken stupor I found a strategy the game had trouble compensating for.

[@shawbros]

That's like the video game version of drunken style kung fu.

[@mikemcelveen2973]

The hum from this game was the first thing you heard when you walked into the arcade! After a few games then you went to look for your girlfriend for the night,score some weed and drink some beer! I cant believe I'm still alive😂 Flipped this machine plenty of Friday nights.

[@sonicmario64]

It can be seen in "Ghostbusters"? I did not know that! :o

[@telecomboring]

With that headband, Mark should be a character in the next soul caliber.

[@shawbros]

At the arcade I went to as a kid, there was a guy that used to go there in the morning, put one quarter in the star castle machine, and play on that same quarter until the arcade was ready to close at night.

[@MattMcIrvin]

I never got any good at this, but when I encountered it again at Funspot not long ago, the thing I hadn't remembered was the thunderous bass in this thing's sound effects. The explosions are absolutely epic. Likening it to Yars' Revenge is amusing, because Yars' Revenge started out as a failed attempt to port Star Castle. (Many years later, D. Scott Williamson actually made a credible 2600 port of Star Castle as a 32k homebrew; this kind of project wouldn't have been commercially reasonable at the time Yars' Revenge came out.)

[@pandanurse]

you're one of the only people I've seen that look good in a headband.

[@ProtoFalcon07]

There was a very good clone of this game on the Macintosh called "Cyclone", which was released in 1994 by a software company named "High Risk Ventures" (also had a better-looking sequel - Cyclone II, released in 1996). It was perhaps the very first computer game I've ever played back in the mid 1990's on a Macintosh TV, and a Power Mac 5200. I was surprised to hear in another video that the original Star Castle had near-identical sounds, so I decided to look up the actual gameplay for the first time, and here it is, from the perfect reviewer. :D

[@ground_gainer9977]

Lovin' all the arcade machine reviews!!! KEEP IT UP!

[@TheDopoqob]

Oh, such an epic line at the end!

[@Caridani23]

Awesome game. I just wish they can bring back arcades to mainstream popularity.

[@naaj100]

nice headband Mark :D Now i need that arcade machine... it looks so cool

[@chronictron]

that headband gave you +10 to your rate of fire! lol, awesome machine, great review.

[@NYBredBamaFed]

I'm really digging these reviews of actual arcade games. I hope to see more in the future. Maybe Mark can take a visit to Funspot or Richie Knuckles arcade in the future to do a ton of reviews of these awesome classic arcade games.

[@DaVince21]

The sounds on this are really cool.

[@Swamplord]

This was certainly one of the more epic reviews you've done, that headband sets it apart from the other reviews. You're lucky to have an arcade to go to also :(

[@DudeJericho]

Thumbs up given for the VT4 headband

[@turgo82]

Thanks for this review. Vectrex games where always amazing. Use to actually own one.... got rid of it before I know what gold I had.

[@errolstewart4438]

Here from Ghostbusters blu-ray, where it's possible to actually see the title of the games in the firehouse.

[@RemixedVoice]

Your narrating voice is on par with Morgan Freeman. Congratulations, you are now a God.

[@DimitrisVasil]

The last line was EPIC!!!!!

[@demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy3929]

My all time favorite of the old vector graphic games.

[@IcarusMoonsight]

I switch between the up/down or left/right shield bounce and the diagonal fly by strafe. The strafe maneuvers seem to work best when the stars get really fast. It's important to always stay moving though.

[@miguelangelv7]

^^ enjoy all your reviews and your humor makes even better

[@Crit-Chance]

Oh man, this spinning shields thing reminds me a lot of the Dingodile boss battle in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped! :D

[@LaatiMafia]

Mark looked like a ninja at the end :)

[@Cabooseified]

You rock that head band Mark!!

[@hookahb8299]

I hope 1up Arcade comes out with this..I loved playing this one back in the day

[@russellcarter1872]

One of my favorites! I miss these much simpler games.

[@psterud]

There are still quite a few arcades with original machines. Maybe there's one near you.

[@upsidedownfuji]

A thumbs up just for the headband serious game time near the end. :D

[@hookahb1901]

Man i want that...I loved playing that at the Bowling alley

[@SirenoftheVoid]

looks really cool,it immediately caught my eye!

[@jamesblanton8157]

I was literally unbeatable at this game. I could play indefinitely on one quarter because the game gave you a new life everytime you destroyed the center command. I got so good that I could destroy the center command ship, but never get killed myself. Usually, after hours of playing on one quarter, I would eventually just walk away. And I kid you not, I could play hours upon hours on one quarter. I was able to get this good because I met a worker of Cinematronics in El Cajon, CA where they made the game who told me the best strategy to the game. Now it took many quarters to get that good, and I don't know if the worker even knew that the strategy could lead to unlimitless play. However, I never failed to get a high score. The strategy by the way was to head up, shoot, head left, shoot and always going off screen. The bombs could never catch up to the other side of the screen before you shot and pulled away, and the center command ship could never turn around to fire in time either.

[@xfanman]

I used to roll this myself, back in ancient times. Pay a quarter, play for half an hour, come back the next day. Love this game.

[@katakisLives]

That is a seriously awesome cabinet!

[@kellieparks8146]

I remember playing this as a kid. It's the only game I really remember.

[@newkillergenius]

@NardDogz Thanks! Will be looking them up today!!

[@xj0462]

did you know the atari game yars revenge started out as a atari 2600 version of star castle?

[@MrSkoufilds1]

3d effects on the side of the Star Castle blew my mind... Who needs 3ds?

[@chriswilson5257]

I played this a lot back in the day!

[@RobNoonanic]

Awesome machine! great video.

[@barryismygod]

this game is also sitting in the game room of the Dixie Boy Truck Stop in the movie Maximum overdrive.

[@hlbatesjr]

Another awesome VG that I dropped coins into back in the day. I WANT MORE!!!!

[@striderdan]

is it just me or is there something just magical about vector graphics?

[@PPGIRL420]

Mark you have the best job ever!

[@miaouew]

It was also in an episode of Columbo and the movie Maximum Overdrive.

[@seriouslyyoujest1771]

They had this in El Cajon at G&S Surfboard Shop in 1978

[@seancooney368]

It was also in the movie Maximum Overdrive which was where I heard of it.

[@RetroGaming-gp2ef]

Also one of these machines were in the movie Maximum Overdrive

[@flyacow]

So you are real not just some robot 1979. Good to see you great videos:)

[@Tool0GT92]

In memory of Mark I played some Pinball at a beach arcade last night.

[@pcostel1]

You should check out Gatling Gears for XBLA Mark! Robotron style game with upgrades and Steampunk styling, I'm certain you would dig it!

[@hopelines1397]

Ode to good old times, the California suburbs and Bruce Wynn. He could play all day on one quarter!

[@Virusone1980]

Can't wait for Classic Game Room: The Movie.

[@mr.disney4740]

Badass...i love this game!👍👍

[@bluemonkjd]

we want more arcade game reviews!

[@dinosaur6756]

This game is tough but van be fairly easy if you know the secret. When your ship appears turn it 180* go horizontally towards the right edge of screen. You'll come out the left side headed towards the center. Rapid fire until you bounce of the center shield 180* and go the opposite way off the left side, coming out the right side towards the center, fire, bounce off 180*, and keep repeating. It takes some skill controlling the ship once you bounce off to get going exactly 180 degrees the opposite direction but with a little practice it's high score city.

[@lordwolve]

I owned one of these when i was like 14..(53 now) bought it for 100 bucks!.. I would think im still unbeatable!

[@jameseyk1]

Mark could review that virtua tennis 4 headband and it would still be awesome.

[@theoriginaltylerdurden]

Love this game. Wish I owned one.

[@Zoey2k1]

Mark, you remind me of Kevin Flynn. You have to throw in a line from tron one of these days!

[@theawesomegamr]

the vectrex overlay looks exactly like the one in the video :D

[@rauljg]

always found flying off across screen away to opppsite side attacking back and forth full speed shooting from side worked best. Button controls same as Asteroid game took getting used to.

[@newkillergenius]

@Chopsticksnitemare It actually has been super difficult. Posted on several arcade resto sale sites as well with no responses anywhere, plus a few of the parts in the PSU are no longer manufactured, or at different farad ratings. The PSU is very particular to this machine with voltages that are uncommon in most machines.

[@hardkoregamer1981]

old school gaming ftw!

[@Sqeeners]

@Slixstudios That guy meant lord Karnage, mark's epic hero kinda guy he created