Star Raiders on the Atari 800 was the first thing to compel me to stay up past midnight as a kid. On the 2600, I actually prefer Activision's Star Master for this sort of game but it never quite gets to the frantic levels of audio/visual bombardment shown here.
Loved both Atari 800 Star Raiders and Starmaster on the 2600. Phaser Patrol for the 2600 Supercharger was better than both. Easy to emulate these days.
This was one of my favorite games for the Atari 800. It wasn't until fairly recently that I learned there was a version for the 2600--and that cool controller! I had to have one so I bought the game at a local retro gaming shop and the Star Raiders controller off of eBay. The whole thing was about a $15 investment. The 800 version is much better of course, given that the machine has much better hardware. It's pretty amazing what was achieved on the 2600 version, though. My best ever rank was Star Commander Class 4, I think. (Class 1 is the best) Love your videos...keep 'em coming! I love that there are women out there that grew up playing nerdy video games just like I did. I have two to thank for a bunch of the retro gaming stuff I've acquired, the 2600 Harmony cart being one excellent example.
My daughter and I have spent hours and hours playing this game. Probably the greatest Atari game ever made. Looked like the 2 of you had a good time, that's awesome. Exactly what the developers intended! 10/10 I almost died when you reset the system. WHILE WINNING!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA 🤣🤣🤣 I bet the 2 of you were laughing your asses off after you hit stop on the camera!
One of the first real-time strategy games created. I have the Atari 600 version & still enjoy it 40 years later. Playing this game without directions & an understanding of the overlays is basically impossible because there’s so much going on & it’s all real-time. When I first picked the game up again I got smashed because I forgot how layered it was. If you want your ego to take a beating play on hard mode. Your ship gets constantly attacked, taking damage, everything breaks & it’s a battle just to warp to safety. A major adrenaline rush.
I had a couple of friends with this cartridge on the Atari 800. Now that you have played this one (with a manual! I would never have tried it without a manual), I would be interested in what your opinion of the Coco's "homage".... errr, "clone" would be. Project Nebula requires 2 analog joysticks (this is one game the black beauties are perfect for) and is very close to Star Raiders, but with some notable differences (have back and front radar scans is one off the top of my head). It was a favourite of mine as a teenager (and one of the very first 2 games I ever bought!), and we had a big 'ol comfy chair with large armrests... so naturally I taped a joystick to each arm, keyboard on a table in front of me, and commanded my very own spaceship on the big (for the time) 32" wood panel colour TV in our basement. Lots of fun! (I have a picture on my site from that time period, but the "captain's" chair is in the background and I was just using a stool - I think I was playing Phantom Slayer). Glad that you two had the same immersive experience with this type of game when you were younger too!
Oh, I so wish you had a photo of you with the joysticks (AKA remotes if you are AJ) taped to the armrests. Legendary. Sounds like we need to get our hands on the Coco version for sure. Maybe we can break it out at cocofest. Has it been on the game on challenge?
@@fractalMD - no photo of the taped up “Captain’s Chair” unfortunately… just the one photo of me from that time period. Nebula has not been done for the Challenge yet.
It's interesting hearing from a couple of ladies who enjoyed playing this Star Wars-like space game. I still have my old Atari video game system and my collection of games which, sure enough, includes Star Raiders. Of the collection of games that I have and played, this is the one that caused me to use the most body English during play. That's because the strategy is to maneuver your ship to get the enemy spaceships onto the lower half of the screen and then towards the corners, so as to make them easier to hit and destroy. Take note that game variations 3 & 4 are much more challenging than the first two. Your spaceship is much more vulnerable to damage. Even if your shields are only in damaged status, your ship can still be destroyed. Good gaming, ladies and be sure to seek out Activision's Starmaster which is regarded by many to be a better game.
I stayed up till midnight to play Resident Evil 4 when it released, instead Im watching Taylor and Amy play Star Raiders, and loving it cuz I never figured out that game either but loved it :)
I remember playing this! Probably still have the touchpad around here somewhere. Back in the day, I didn't have the controls sheet, and had no idea how to play this. Thanks for covering it!
Two gals doing retro video games? SUBBED! Edit: Oh Atari 400 package in 79 came with Star Raiders, and I made it to Star Commander once. Sounds are pretty similar.
Great video. You're both as crazy as a box of frogs (but as sweet as a box of kittens too 😉). I've only played the Atari 8 bit computer version, which is great too. We had a VCS/2600, but unfortunately not the Star Raiders cart. Please keep on saving us from those non-stick frying pans.
Oh cool, you're back, yay!! The ending reminds me so much of Amy's controller escapade on Super Mario :) Have you tried the Star Raiders controller in Basic Programming, or the regular keyboard in Star Raiders? From what I hear, those controllers (and the Sesame Street kids one) are wired exactly the same
Back in the day it felt like we were the only ones that knew about this little gem. It's so cool that other ppl were doing the exact same stuff that we were.
Wish I'd mispent my youth as well as you two did. I guess reading the manual helps, but then I'm not sure real space heros have manuals, so maybe you were doing it right back in '85.
Had this one back in the day too. I also bought the BASIC cartridge and had to swap my one Star Raiders keypad between ports to type stuff in lol. I really wanted to like Star Raiders because I loved Star Wars, but a lot of features felt weird, and the combat wasn't very satisfying; I only learned recently that this is because it's basically a de-make of a far superior Atari 8-bit computer version. Would be interested to see what you two think of that computer version! Apparently Activision also released a spin on this idea for the 2600 that people say is better, but I haven't played it.
Oooh, surely we could get our hands on the computer version. Yeah, the play on this is definitely button mashy. Still fun, but I don't think it's even possible to be skilled at it!
@@fractalMD The Atari computer version should be easy to acquire. It really is a staple of that machine -- and it for sure was my personal "killer app".
FWIW, Star Raiders is an update to the BASIC Star Trek games. It simply added the real time cockpit view combat, and starbase docking. The 8 bit computer version was revolutionary for the time, but I always thought the combat had unrealistic physics which made it more difficult. I thought the VCS version didn't play quite as well as the computer version, so I can understand the frustration.
@@fractalMD There is an update to the Atari 8 bit version of Star Raiders on Atariage. It was built from the original source code along with a few optimizations to make it run faster. They won't let me post a link, but the thread is titled "Star Raiders Source Code to be released?"
@@fractalMD The earliest Star Trek games just used ASCII characters to represent the map, ships and stars. Later, they used actual graphics. Of course they were all unlicensed. Basically (which is also a pun because many of them were written in BASIC) they would draw a random grid map, where each sector could contain a random number of stars, Klingons, and starbases, with starbases being rather rare. It would give you a view of what was in your current sector and if there were any Klingons, you could attack them with phasers or photon torpedoes. This was done by pressing the number key for that option, entering a direction via a number (1 = up, 2 = up/right, etc), and power level. If they survive, they get a chance to counterattack. To see what's in the sectors around you, you do a long-range scan. To travel to another sector, you enter the direction, and the "warp factor", which is really just a substitute for distance. To repair and recharge you dock with a starbase. When all the Klingons are dead, you win. Versions exist for pretty much every computer under the sun. There's a nice one for the C64, and even a commercial version (without the Star Trek license) called Space: The Ultimate Frontier. Actually, I think StUF is a reworked version of the freeware Star Trek game as they look quite similar. Someone recently took an old MS-DOS game called Super Star Trek, made it work on modern versions of Windows, and slapped the bridge graphics and sounds from Star Trek 25th Anniversary on it as an interface. The sector display still has primitive graphics though. Google for Super Star Trek 25th.
I like these type games, but I never liked this one. I got it for Christmas and never really knew what I was doing, even after reading the manual. I thought that Activision's Star Master and Starpath's Phaser Patrol were better on the 2600. They weren't as chaotic. I later got an Atari 5200 and that version of Star Raiders was much better. I imagine the Atari 8-bit version is pretty much the same. As for the Video Touch Pad, I think the idea was originally that the keyboard controllers would be a standard controller for some games, like the joysticks and paddles. However, I don't think any Atari bundle ever came with them, so they remained a niche product and only a few games supported them. When Star Raiders came out, I guess they figured that nobody would have keyboard controllers, so they decided to bundle a redesigned one with it. I think a couple third party companies did the same. All the various keyboard controllers are the same internally though.
Is that your original 2600? I don't have my original I got in 1982, but still my 2nd one I got at a yard sale in 1990.. I have a 7800 (yard sale find in 1993)and 5200 (2016) and XEGS (2017)now too
Pretty sure we never got this in the UK. 2600 faves for us lot in our street was Adventure (so into that), Defender and even Raiders of the Lost Ark (that one in particular is a lot better than it was given credit for).
@@fractalMD yeah just having a look now - ua-cam.com/video/r7U2TFIayos/v-deo.html it seems like Adventure but in a different "skin" kinda thing....there's even a bridge
Wow!!! Alien attacks, no stick space ships, close encounters, remote overlays …. Manuals!!! This episode has it all’s!!! 😂
What is NOT to love!
The Panic, The Drama, The Excitement, The Volume! Thanks for turning it down a bit Taylor. You two are so adorable as friends!! Re, Mi, Do, Do, So!
If you can believe it, it was louder in person!!!!! :)
I for one welcome our new Krylon Overlords.... Good fun!
May your eggs never stick to the pan.
fantastic! (watching here from the UK) you two are brilliant x
Thanks! 🇬🇧
Watched while enjoying my morning cup of Java, what a way to start the day :)
The best!
This was so much fun to watch! Thanks for all the fun and the epinephrine rush at the end! 💜
😃❤️
The sound of the 2600 is so unique and recognizable!
It will smack you upside the head and make you a coffee, fo sho.
Star Raiders on the Atari 800 was the first thing to compel me to stay up past midnight as a kid. On the 2600, I actually prefer Activision's Star Master for this sort of game but it never quite gets to the frantic levels of audio/visual bombardment shown here.
I mean utter sensory overload. Did you also enjoy the occasional Dorito?
Loved both Atari 800 Star Raiders and Starmaster on the 2600.
Phaser Patrol for the 2600 Supercharger was better than both. Easy to emulate these days.
@@xenosaga1348 Hell yeah. Good to know.
@@fractalMD plus you have a Harmony Cart and all Supercharger games work great with it.
This was one of my favorite games for the Atari 800. It wasn't until fairly recently that I learned there was a version for the 2600--and that cool controller! I had to have one so I bought the game at a local retro gaming shop and the Star Raiders controller off of eBay. The whole thing was about a $15 investment. The 800 version is much better of course, given that the machine has much better hardware. It's pretty amazing what was achieved on the 2600 version, though. My best ever rank was Star Commander Class 4, I think. (Class 1 is the best)
Love your videos...keep 'em coming! I love that there are women out there that grew up playing nerdy video games just like I did. I have two to thank for a bunch of the retro gaming stuff I've acquired, the 2600 Harmony cart being one excellent example.
That is great!
I never had the keypad controller, so star master from Activision was my go-to space combat game.
Great video!
Oooh, Star Master. What s name!
Midnight Magic, one of my favourite Atari 2600 games.
I don't think I've even heard of that. Googling now.
My daughter and I have spent hours and hours playing this game. Probably the greatest Atari game ever made. Looked like the 2 of you had a good time, that's awesome. Exactly what the developers intended! 10/10 I almost died when you reset the system. WHILE WINNING!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA 🤣🤣🤣 I bet the 2 of you were laughing your asses off after you hit stop on the camera!
This is just such an us thing to do. I swear none of this is staged! 😂😂😂
One of the first real-time strategy games created. I have the Atari 600 version & still enjoy it 40 years later. Playing this game without directions & an understanding of the overlays is basically impossible because there’s so much going on & it’s all real-time. When I first picked the game up again I got smashed because I forgot how layered it was. If you want your ego to take a beating play on hard mode. Your ship gets constantly attacked, taking damage, everything breaks & it’s a battle just to warp to safety. A major adrenaline rush.
Ego beating fo sho!
I had a couple of friends with this cartridge on the Atari 800. Now that you have played this one (with a manual! I would never have tried it without a manual), I would be interested in what your opinion of the Coco's "homage".... errr, "clone" would be. Project Nebula requires 2 analog joysticks (this is one game the black beauties are perfect for) and is very close to Star Raiders, but with some notable differences (have back and front radar scans is one off the top of my head). It was a favourite of mine as a teenager (and one of the very first 2 games I ever bought!), and we had a big 'ol comfy chair with large armrests... so naturally I taped a joystick to each arm, keyboard on a table in front of me, and commanded my very own spaceship on the big (for the time) 32" wood panel colour TV in our basement. Lots of fun! (I have a picture on my site from that time period, but the "captain's" chair is in the background and I was just using a stool - I think I was playing Phantom Slayer). Glad that you two had the same immersive experience with this type of game when you were younger too!
Oh, I so wish you had a photo of you with the joysticks (AKA remotes if you are AJ) taped to the armrests. Legendary.
Sounds like we need to get our hands on the Coco version for sure. Maybe we can break it out at cocofest. Has it been on the game on challenge?
@@fractalMD - no photo of the taped up “Captain’s Chair” unfortunately… just the one photo of me from that time period. Nebula has not been done for the Challenge yet.
Thanks for saving the galaxy before self destruction! I needed a pick-me-up this afternoon. Mission accomplished!
Eric, we were at least as into this as we appeared. I'm still a little jumpy.
It's interesting hearing from a couple of ladies who enjoyed playing this Star Wars-like space game. I still have my old Atari video game system and my collection of games which, sure enough, includes Star Raiders. Of the collection of games that I have and played, this is the one that caused me to use the most body English during play. That's because the strategy is to maneuver your ship to get the enemy spaceships onto the lower half of the screen and then towards the corners, so as to make them easier to hit and destroy.
Take note that game variations 3 & 4 are much more challenging than the first two. Your spaceship is much more vulnerable to damage. Even if your shields are only in damaged status, your ship can still be destroyed.
Good gaming, ladies and be sure to seek out Activision's Starmaster which is regarded by many to be a better game.
Will look for Starmaster!
OUTTA THIS WORLD!
😎
Wow played this game a lot when I was a kid, that extra control pad was magical!
It made it all seem so fancy!
I stayed up till midnight to play Resident Evil 4 when it released, instead Im watching Taylor and Amy play Star Raiders, and loving it cuz I never figured out that game either but loved it :)
It's only took us a few decades to sort it out!
That was great well done on saving the whole galaxy. I always love seeing how much you both enjoy playing these old games :)
All in a days work!
I remember playing this! Probably still have the touchpad around here somewhere. Back in the day, I didn't have the controls sheet, and had no idea how to play this. Thanks for covering it!
We now know how to play it.... slightly. Hi Chris!
@@fractalMD haha yea, you made some good progress. It was fun to see!
Very intense. 😀
THE MOST INTENSE!
Two gals doing retro video games? SUBBED!
Edit: Oh Atari 400 package in 79 came with Star Raiders, and I made it to Star Commander once. Sounds are pretty similar.
Hooray!
Great video. You're both as crazy as a box of frogs (but as sweet as a box of kittens too 😉). I've only played the Atari 8 bit computer version, which is great too. We had a VCS/2600, but unfortunately not the Star Raiders cart. Please keep on saving us from those non-stick frying pans.
I mean, the fact that nothing sticks to them makes them 1000% harder to kill!
Oh cool, you're back, yay!! The ending reminds me so much of Amy's controller escapade on Super Mario :)
Have you tried the Star Raiders controller in Basic Programming, or the regular keyboard in Star Raiders? From what I hear, those controllers (and the Sesame Street kids one) are wired exactly the same
I definitely have...a playing style. We have not messed around switching up the keyboard and controller. Could be interesting.
Classic game. My cousin had that first then I got a copy.
Back in the day it felt like we were the only ones that knew about this little gem. It's so cool that other ppl were doing the exact same stuff that we were.
Wish I'd mispent my youth as well as you two did. I guess reading the manual helps, but then I'm not sure real space heros have manuals, so maybe you were doing it right back in '85.
Carried on to mispend adulthood, as well!
Commander Champion's quest to rid the galaxy of Krylon.
Not a molecule shall remain.
That looks and sounds so much like Solaris
Nice.
LOL ,..no Hollywood film can be Better ,..LOL ...This is FUN
I have the Activision version Star Something or Other on a PS1 collection. Which is fun but no frills.
Frills are for chumps!
Taylor knows her sol-fa!
🎶 🎵 🎶
Had this one back in the day too. I also bought the BASIC cartridge and had to swap my one Star Raiders keypad between ports to type stuff in lol. I really wanted to like Star Raiders because I loved Star Wars, but a lot of features felt weird, and the combat wasn't very satisfying; I only learned recently that this is because it's basically a de-make of a far superior Atari 8-bit computer version. Would be interested to see what you two think of that computer version! Apparently Activision also released a spin on this idea for the 2600 that people say is better, but I haven't played it.
Oooh, surely we could get our hands on the computer version. Yeah, the play on this is definitely button mashy. Still fun, but I don't think it's even possible to be skilled at it!
@@fractalMD The Atari computer version should be easy to acquire. It really is a staple of that machine -- and it for sure was my personal "killer app".
@@oldguy9051 We might even already have it...
@@fractalMD If you try it you may want to first activate the shields before you try to catch asteroids and plasma projectiles! ;-)
@Old Guy But then are you even truly living?
Love Star Raders
SO MUCH. All the feels.
You both don't seem old enough to of been around in the 80's! 😯😯
I spy your NABU computer hiding under your monitor.
That's just our VCR. 😃
@@fractalMD Can you control your VCR with the Star Raiders Palm Pilot? LOL!
@Geek With Social Skills you know it!
FWIW, Star Raiders is an update to the BASIC Star Trek games. It simply added the real time cockpit view combat, and starbase docking.
The 8 bit computer version was revolutionary for the time, but I always thought the combat had unrealistic physics which made it more difficult.
I thought the VCS version didn't play quite as well as the computer version, so I can understand the frustration.
No wonder we like it. Star Trek adjacent!
@@fractalMD There is an update to the Atari 8 bit version of Star Raiders on Atariage. It was built from the original source code along with a few optimizations to make it run faster.
They won't let me post a link, but the thread is titled "Star Raiders Source Code to be released?"
@@Phantom8Bit nice!
@@fractalMD The earliest Star Trek games just used ASCII characters to represent the map, ships and stars. Later, they used actual graphics. Of course they were all unlicensed.
Basically (which is also a pun because many of them were written in BASIC) they would draw a random grid map, where each sector could contain a random number of stars, Klingons, and starbases, with starbases being rather rare. It would give you a view of what was in your current sector and if there were any Klingons, you could attack them with phasers or photon torpedoes. This was done by pressing the number key for that option, entering a direction via a number (1 = up, 2 = up/right, etc), and power level. If they survive, they get a chance to counterattack. To see what's in the sectors around you, you do a long-range scan. To travel to another sector, you enter the direction, and the "warp factor", which is really just a substitute for distance. To repair and recharge you dock with a starbase. When all the Klingons are dead, you win.
Versions exist for pretty much every computer under the sun. There's a nice one for the C64, and even a commercial version (without the Star Trek license) called Space: The Ultimate Frontier. Actually, I think StUF is a reworked version of the freeware Star Trek game as they look quite similar.
Someone recently took an old MS-DOS game called Super Star Trek, made it work on modern versions of Windows, and slapped the bridge graphics and sounds from Star Trek 25th Anniversary on it as an interface. The sector display still has primitive graphics though. Google for Super Star Trek 25th.
I like these type games, but I never liked this one. I got it for Christmas and never really knew what I was doing, even after reading the manual. I thought that Activision's Star Master and Starpath's Phaser Patrol were better on the 2600. They weren't as chaotic.
I later got an Atari 5200 and that version of Star Raiders was much better. I imagine the Atari 8-bit version is pretty much the same.
As for the Video Touch Pad, I think the idea was originally that the keyboard controllers would be a standard controller for some games, like the joysticks and paddles. However, I don't think any Atari bundle ever came with them, so they remained a niche product and only a few games supported them. When Star Raiders came out, I guess they figured that nobody would have keyboard controllers, so they decided to bundle a redesigned one with it. I think a couple third party companies did the same. All the various keyboard controllers are the same internally though.
It is indeed, pure chaos.
Beware the spray paint armada! 😆
Hide your kids, hide your wife!
Very Nice Game Play Taylor and Any But On The NABU I Think Arctic Adventure Needs To Be Addressed If You Up To The Challenge
We are still recovering from this!! 🤣
@@fractalMD Ok LOL
@@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs I do want to know if you can time it to catch a fish...
@@fractalMD Have not tried that ?
@@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs I must know.
What a laugh 😊
We get so into it SO FAST.
Is that your original 2600? I don't have my original I got in 1982, but still my 2nd one I got at a yard sale in 1990.. I have a 7800 (yard sale find in 1993)and 5200 (2016) and XEGS (2017)now too
My original is no longer working, sadly. But a lot of those cartridges are. I think Taylor picked this one up later on.
This is The Way ... to play Star Raiders.
This is The Way.
Pretty sure we never got this in the UK. 2600 faves for us lot in our street was Adventure (so into that), Defender and even Raiders of the Lost Ark (that one in particular is a lot better than it was given credit for).
I was obsessed with Adventure and esp Raiders.
@@fractalMD sweet - was Superman any good?? I felt it should've been, but in practise it seemed dire.
@ Unfunny Username #389 I don't think I ever played that one but now I have to Google it.
@@fractalMD yeah just having a look now -
ua-cam.com/video/r7U2TFIayos/v-deo.html
it seems like Adventure but in a different "skin" kinda thing....there's even a bridge
@@Unfunny_Username_389 You know what, this looks vaguely familiar. Maybe i blocked it out to protect my sanity.
Space fighter fueled by wine?
As are all the best space fighters....
😃
☺️
You two are very bad at that game.
You are correct!