Anyone remember Steraranger?
Ray Ghanbari
Folks, hidden in a pile of boards that I just got was what looked like a
Galaxian, but with 2 oversized daughterboards instead of one. Since the
board level layout was the same, I assumed it was a Galaxian
conversion/rip off.
Anyway, after plugging it in, up came a graphic proclaiming the game to be
something called Steraranger (not in the KLOV BTW...how does one add new
games to that list??)
The surpising thing was the game play was virtually identical to an old
Apple ][ game called Space Eggs! You start with a 3 level ship, blow some
aliens away, then comes the docking stage where you have to take your
first stage and doc with the second stage. If you do so successfully, you
get more fire power. Get through a couple more waves, and you have a
chance to doc with the 3rd stage. Mess up or come in too fast, and you
blow yourself away.
Anyone know some history about this game or remember seeing it at the
arcades? I'm really curious to hear more about this board, esp. since
Space Eggs was one of my favorites way back when... (I hope I'm
remembering the right name ;-)
Someday I'll get around to looking at the traces and writing up a
conversion doc for galaxian (with today's larger ROMs, it should be
possible to pack each daughterboard onto a single chip) However, given
how full my garage is right now, it might be a while ;-) Anyone know of
other conversions for Galaxian that were interesting?
As an aside, I do have to put a good word in for Galaxian. The game is
_real_ fun, with pretty cool sound for something that came out in 1979.
Game play isn't quite as fast or as rich as Galaga, but it is still very
enjoyable. Good solid game, and quite a thrill to see it on the screen
after a 15 year wait...
--
Ray Ghanbari
Mayo Foundation
r...@mayo.edu
Callan D. Hendricks
>something called Steraranger (not in the KLOV BTW...how does one add new
>games to that list??)
>The surpising thing was the game play was virtually identical to an old
>Apple ][ game called Space Eggs! You start with a 3 level ship, blow some
>aliens away, then comes the docking stage where you have to take your
>first stage and doc with the second stage. If you do so successfully, you
>get more fire power. Get through a couple more waves, and you have a
>chance to doc with the 3rd stage. Mess up or come in too fast, and you
>blow yourself away.
This sounds like Moon Cresta. You probably have a pirate board.
Callan.
Holcomb
the Galaxian boards. There were several games that some
boards like Galaxian and Scramble could be converted to
with ROM swaps and the like. (maybe other mods were needed
too, I don't know as I've never gotten one of these kits).
--Dave H.
Stormoen, MD
>As an aside, I do have to put a good word in for Galaxian. The game is
>_real_ fun, with pretty cool sound for something that came out in 1979.
>Game play isn't quite as fast or as rich as Galaga, but it is still very
>enjoyable. Good solid game, and quite a thrill to see it on the screen
>after a 15 year wait...
And on that good note, and excellent reminder, I'll offer my extra Galaxian
for $45 + shipping. This is the same one Ray play-tested a few nights ago that
inspired him to write the above.
#8-)
Michael.
Scott Lemon
: Anyway, after plugging it in, up came a graphic proclaiming the game to be
: something called Steraranger (not in the KLOV BTW...how does one add new
: games to that list??)
: The surpising thing was the game play was virtually identical to an old
: Apple ][ game called Space Eggs! You start with a 3 level ship, blow some
: aliens away, then comes the docking stage where you have to take your
: first stage and doc with the second stage. If you do so successfully, you
: get more fire power. Get through a couple more waves, and you have a
: chance to doc with the 3rd stage. Mess up or come in too fast, and you
: blow yourself away.
You've found a Moon Cresta clone. Space Eggs (by Nasir!) was copied from
Moon Cresta, not the other way around.
Moon Cresta was originally made by Nichibutsu, I think the board was
built by a number of manufacturers. I have a clone board sitting around
somewhere, its a rats nest of daughterboards and wires. It looks nothing
like a Midway Galaxian.
: Anyone know some history about this game or remember seeing it at the
: arcades?
Yep, I used to play Moon Cresta a lot in the arcades, it was quite
popular out here for a while. When I got my own one, I was much better at
it than I was back then, which is strange because now I am lousy at all
the games I used to be really good at....
: As an aside, I do have to put a good word in for Galaxian. The game is
: _real_ fun, with pretty cool sound for something that came out in 1979.
: Game play isn't quite as fast or as rich as Galaga, but it is still very
: enjoyable. Good solid game, and quite a thrill to see it on the screen
: after a 15 year wait...
Great game, although it seems to be VERRRYY SLLOOOOOWW after you've
played Galaga and Gaplus (the king of all Galaxian games). My favorite
part is the little tune it plays when you put a coin in....(please, no
comments about getting a life...)