Information

Starglider 2 is the sequel to the original Starglider game published by Rainbird two years earlier in 1986.

Whilst the original game used the less processor-intensive hidden line removal 3D wire-frame technique, the sequel employs a solid 3D graphics engine. Whilst it's true that objects often 'pull apart' when viewed too closely, the game manages to maintain solid 3D and fast performance and was heralded as a breakthrough in 3D gaming when it was released in September 1988.

The game itself is a mixture of 3D blasting and object collecting. The player has to collect a series of parts that combine to make a Neutron bomb. This is then fired at the evil Egron's space station (hopefully) before its construction is completed.

There are some very esoteric moments inbetween the blasting in Starglider 2. Trying to capture mechanical Egron space whales who 'swim' in the upper atmosphere of one of the planets in the Solice system is something most players won't have done before, and refuelling by flying perilously close to the sun is another. If the player get stoo close, the Starglider cockpit would melt and the ship would explode!

Buried in the main game menu is the option to 'Paint with Rolf'. Although partially inspired by the 'Doodle City' option included in the classic Atari coin-op game I Robot, this feature originated from a bug in Argonaut's 3D object editor, which left trails of 3D objects across the screen. 'Rolf' was a not-so-subtle reference to the (now infamous!!) Australian artist and UK TV presenter Rolf Harris.

ST and Amiga players only get to hear the sampled music over the title screen if their machines have 1mb of memory. ST users also needed a double-sided internal disk drive to be able to detect and load the music into the extra memory.

Starglider 2 was one of a handful of Rainbird titles that also runs on a Mono Atari ST. At the time, STs were quite popular for DTP and other applications that required a higher screen resolution. The game was initially available for the ST and Amiga only, but other versions appeared later, including the Sinclair Spectrum (48k and 128k), IBM PC, and the Apple Macintosh. The latter versions were published after the sale of TelecomSoft to Microprose UK Ltd.