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Defender: Your Thoughts on Clones and Related Titles to the Classic Arcade Game
Tue, 08/19/2008 - 7:14am — Bill Loguidice
I'm presently trying to finish off the Defender chapter. I was wondering if everyone could chime in with a few of their favorite Defender clones I need to be sure to look at, either arcade or home versions. Certainly there are the obvious ones like Parsec for the TI-99/4a, but any others that might not be so obvious? I'm also going to tie in a bit with later side-scrolling SHMUPS as appropriate, like R-Type and the like. Thanks, guys!
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Dropzone
Good ones. Yes, I used to enjoy Dropzone on the C-64. Even if I don't mention certain games in a chapter, I want to try and get a good variety in the screenshots/captions, so reminders like that are important, thanks.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Bill, you HAVE to look at
Bill, you HAVE to look at Dropzone (C64, NES) and Super Dropzone (SNES), coded by Brit developer Archer Maclean who went on to specialise in pool and snooker simulations that sold by the shedload in the UK. He's also responsible for the PSP's Mercury.
Protector/YASI
Yes, I do, Cecil. In fact, I mentioned it in the Vectrex article/book chapter for Gamasutra: http://armchairarcade.com/neo/node/1654
I'm definitely trying to figure out how to work it in, likely as one of the images on how its still beloved (it's also a popular XBLA title). It would be nice to mention the combo in the Space Invaders chapter too, but I don't like to double up...
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Protector/YASI
Hay Bill,
I am sure you have Alex Herbert's Vectrex homebrew two in one Protector (great Defender remake)/YASI (yet another space invaders). I beleive this game is deserving of an honorable mention.
Gameplay video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSCwxflTzoo
EPinions reviews:
http://www.epinions.com/game-Hardware-ClassicConsoles-All-GCE_Milton_Bra...
New cart order of the non-limited edition version only $11.50 usd +s/h :
http://www.vectrexcarts.com/order.html
Alex's homepage (bit out of date):
http://www.herbs64.com/
Nice shot of the boxart and screen overlay of the limited edition:
http://pelikonepeijoonit.net/protector.html
-Cecil
Star Ray = ROD
That's it, actually. I didn't realize it was the same as "Revenge of Defender". Star Ray must be the Euro or unlicensed name.
http://amr.abime.net/review_323
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
This one looks interesting:
This one looks interesting: Revenge of Defender. Can you shoot me a link to Star Ray? Can't find it anywhere.
Defending
That's according to Wikipedia. Not sure if I agree with that assessment though.
Attack of the Mutant Camels was a rip-off of Parker Brothers The Empire Strikes Back, neither of which is remotely like Defender, though I am willing to say that they were inspired by some of Defender's design, including the mini-map.
Though I've never seen Star Ray before, it looks like Defender with a lush graphical update, much more attractive than what was done for Defender 2000 on the Atari Jaguar (I have it and I'm not a fan of the chunky graphics). Definitely worth checking out.
Datastorm looks to be more visually faithful to Defender. Another one worth checking out.
Obviously I also reviewed a few of the Defender and Defender-like games for the Atari 2600 back in 2004, so I'll obviously be working that in as well. It's particularly intriguing how the home ports attempted to compensate for the arcade's overwhelming (for the time) control setup.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Defender (clones include
Defender (clones include Star Ray, Attack of the Mutant Camels, Datastorm)
That's according to Wikipedia. Not sure if I agree with that assessment though.
Scramble ....
The c64 defender port, a mean defender arcade port by the way!
But anything side scrolling from that era or later is much like defender in my opinion. Old c64 classics like Uridium, Cybernoid I and II, and Scramble and all it's spin-offs: Gradius, Nemesis, Parodius -> tons of ports to various plat-forms.
Gradius Advance intro sequence depicting the various Gradius games, starting with the old Scramble.
Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl