Stargate - Atari 400 / 800 - Atari - Emulated, Pantheon - Ships 4 Difficulty 2 - 27,300 points.

Описание: Stargate is the follow up to the Williams arcade game Defender. It is a bi-directional horizontally scrolling shooter, similar to Defender. No official Atari version of Stargate was released, but this game was written by Steve Baker for the Atari 400/800 around 1984 and remained at the prototype stage. It was basically finished and has survived to be preserved and playable today. The reasons for it not being released are unknown, but the game is noted as being a bit choppy in its movement and the graphical style can be a bit ugly at times.

Stargate follows the basic gameplay of its predecessor closely. The changes add new features and enemies to the original formula. One of the key changes is the use of the "Invisio" cloak which makes you invisible and indestructible. You can still shoot enemies while cloaked, so make the most of this brief period to destroy many of your enemies. The Stargate of the title is a major new feature and brings the ability to warp to danger spots within levels and also warp to other levels if certain criteria regarding collected humanoids are met. Humanoids can be freed and set down on the ground just like in Defender.

If you like Defender type games, you will like trying out this follow up. Archer Maclean also produced a version that was not released, but the example seen here is not that version. The graphics choice in this one is a bit unusual, reminding me of an Apple II display, but if you ignore that, you can have some fun with it as it is very intense in its gameplay. It can get very untidy on screen at times which makes it difficult to see what is going on. Trying out the new features, though, is worth spending some of your time on, as it opens up new strategies for the experienced Defender player. So overall, yes it could have been better graphically (both in looks and movement) and has other flaws but is still a game you can enjoy.

The date of this run was the 2nd January 2026. The emulator is Pantheon on PC. The settings chosen were Ships = 4 and Master Difficulty = 2. The final score was 27,300 points.

Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen, Ships = 4 and Master Difficulty = 2 selected. Other settings left at default.
00:39 Game start.
01:12 First life lost.
01:59 Attack Wave 1 completed.
02:08 Second life lost.
02:26 Third life lost.
02:35 Fourth life lost. Game Over! Final score 27,300.



Intro Music:
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Title: Legend
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