My thoughts: All four version here are very playable indeed, but a lot of interesting differences too. Firstly I should point out that the Vectrex game isn't a port of the Sega coin-op like the others, but it's still a pretty similar game, it's actually based on the movie instead. My favourite version here was the Atari 5200, it might not be the best looking or best sounding, I'd say that's the ColecoVision version, but it has the best gameplay and the difficulty curve is set just right too. The Coleco version is good, but the high difficulty, even on the lowest setting and the overly sensitive controls actually see me put this one bottom. The 2600 is very impressive indeed considering the hardware the Vectrex version is a lot of fun, if quite repetitive. So I will go Atari 5200 > Atari 2600 > Vectrex > ColecoVision.
I definetely agree with you. I've tested all of them. Vectrex and Coleco felt the worst to play, in spite of their capabilities. Star Trek in Atari consoles felt just right, and the 5200 has the best version of them all!
Got the Atari 8-bit cartridge of the game myself and it is a fun game, great if you don't have much free time. Coleco version does have some good use of music with the theme but if you can't skip it I can see it getting old after a while since it would be a delay to get into the game.
This was one of my favorite arcade games back in the day. My local arcade had a sit down version of the ST:SOS and was that fun and you could really get much better scores than the stand up cabinet that I would find at other arcades. None of the home versions did it much justice due to the unique control configuration on the arcade machines.
I had a college room mate who bought the original arcade coin op at a warehouse sale while we lived in Columbus Ohio in 1986. It needed a lot of work & didn't turn on at first. We had to leave to go back home after failing on our attempt at education... Last I heard he had finally managed to get the speech working.
One of my favorites. Underappreciated in the arcade and the home version. I played this to death on my Atari 800. I don't think you used photon torpedoes on the Atari 5200. 😢 Also, it's amazing how good this works on the 2600. The scrolling playfield and the asteroids level? The 2600 can't do that.😊
Love this game. The Arcade original is an awesome experience, especially the sit-down cab. Sadly they had a tendency to catch fire. The vector monitor overheated due to poor ventilation. The 2600 port plays well, even with with the various controls needed for game play being crammed into a joystick with a single button. The game came with a small overlay to put on the controller to help being familiar with them all. This becomes easier with the 5200 version due to the multiple buttons. Both this and the 2600 have the intermittent bonus screens with a chance to stock up on resources by docking with the space station repeatedly while avoiding collisions with either asteroids or fireballs. This wasn't part of the original Arcade game and does allow the game to be much easier. The CV port is the most accurate and, utilizing a Super Action Controller, plays the closest the original coin-op.
What makes you say that? Sure it has a few similarities, but it's a very different game. Also this came before Star Raiders 2, although after the original game.
My thoughts: All four version here are very playable indeed, but a lot of interesting differences too. Firstly I should point out that the Vectrex game isn't a port of the Sega coin-op like the others, but it's still a pretty similar game, it's actually based on the movie instead. My favourite version here was the Atari 5200, it might not be the best looking or best sounding, I'd say that's the ColecoVision version, but it has the best gameplay and the difficulty curve is set just right too. The Coleco version is good, but the high difficulty, even on the lowest setting and the overly sensitive controls actually see me put this one bottom. The 2600 is very impressive indeed considering the hardware the Vectrex version is a lot of fun, if quite repetitive. So I will go Atari 5200 > Atari 2600 > Vectrex > ColecoVision.
I definetely agree with you. I've tested all of them. Vectrex and Coleco felt the worst to play, in spite of their capabilities. Star Trek in Atari consoles felt just right, and the 5200 has the best version of them all!
Got the Atari 8-bit cartridge of the game myself and it is a fun game, great if you don't have much free time. Coleco version does have some good use of music with the theme but if you can't skip it I can see it getting old after a while since it would be a delay to get into the game.
This was one of my favorite arcade games back in the day. My local arcade had a sit down version of the ST:SOS and was that fun and you could really get much better scores than the stand up cabinet that I would find at other arcades. None of the home versions did it much justice due to the unique control configuration on the arcade machines.
I had a college room mate who bought the original arcade coin op at a warehouse sale while we lived in Columbus Ohio in 1986. It needed a lot of work & didn't turn on at first. We had to leave to go back home after failing on our attempt at education... Last I heard he had finally managed to get the speech working.
Those Vectrex graphics. They were awesome back then and they still are.
It got me in a really undecided mode... All the versions look and sound great in every respective system. I'm going to test them in emulation!
They are all great, and all quite different too!
One of my favorites. Underappreciated in the arcade and the home version. I played this to death on my Atari 800.
I don't think you used photon torpedoes on the Atari 5200. 😢
Also, it's amazing how good this works on the 2600. The scrolling playfield and the asteroids level? The 2600 can't do that.😊
Love this game. The Arcade original is an awesome experience, especially the sit-down cab. Sadly they had a tendency to catch fire. The vector monitor overheated due to poor ventilation.
The 2600 port plays well, even with with the various controls needed for game play being crammed into a joystick with a single button. The game came with a small overlay to put on the controller to help being familiar with them all. This becomes easier with the 5200 version due to the multiple buttons. Both this and the 2600 have the intermittent bonus screens with a chance to stock up on resources by docking with the space station repeatedly while avoiding collisions with either asteroids or fireballs. This wasn't part of the original Arcade game and does allow the game to be much easier. The CV port is the most accurate and, utilizing a Super Action Controller, plays the closest the original coin-op.
Yeah, I heard that Sega lost a lot of money on their vector games because of this.
This game seems like an exact copy taken from Star Raiders 2/The Last Starfighter.
What makes you say that? Sure it has a few similarities, but it's a very different game. Also this came before Star Raiders 2, although after the original game.