Stardust
This is where it all began – way back in 1993 with the original Stardust, a legendary shoot-em-up for the Amiga 500 (an Atari STE version followed in ‘94) that wowed critics and gamers alike. Stardust dazzled with its tight controls, solid gameplay and stunning technical achievements like ray-traced graphics, full-screen animations & 3D hyperspace tunnel sequences. Players controlled an upgradeable starship equipped with various weapons, missiles and shields. The playfield “wrapped”, so if anything went off-screen it reappeared on the opposite side. Stardust featured five different worlds (all connected by 3D hyperspace tunnels) and 30 action-packed levels full of asteroids, enemies, and bosses bent on destruction. At game’s end, the evil mutant penguin Professor Schaumund made his first-ever appearance (and subsequent escape), meaning he could (and did) return to wreak cosmic havoc in future Stardust titles!
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
HISTORY
Stardust is a 1993 multidirectional shooter video game developed and published by Bloodhouse for the Amiga. The game is an Asteroids clone with enhancements, such as power-ups, shields, a high-energy techno module soundtrack, vivid use of colors and the occasional tunnel section that revolves around a sphere. The game's graphics drew critical acclaim for the aforementioned tunnels and the liberal use of ray-tracing. The company has since merged with Terramarque to form Housemarque.
The Finnish developers gave several things ludicrous names in their own language, which were (and still are) highly obscure in the international market. The damsel in distress is named after a brand of margarine, and the final confrontation takes place over the planet Imatra.
Ports
The game was ported to MS-DOS, but not by the original programmers. This version was buggy, scant on details found in the Amiga version and severely lacking in both control and gameplay polish.
A conversion was made for the Atari STE by Aggression demoscene crew, published in 1995 by Daze Marketing. It is one of the few STE exclusive games, and uses the machine's updated capabilities.
Legacy
An enhanced sequel named Super Stardust was released in 1994 for AGA Amigas, in 1995 for Amiga CD32, and finally in 1996 for the IBM PC compatible platform as well (the latter also known as Super Stardust '96). The Amiga CD32 and IBM PC compatible versions were released on CD and featured a CD soundtrack from Slusnik Luna, FMV cut-scenes, high speed gameplay and completely new levels and enemies.
In April 2007, Bloodhouse's successor Housemarque developed Super Stardust HD, released by Sony Computer Entertainment as a downloadable PlayStation Network game for the PlayStation 3.
In February 2012, Super Stardust Delta was released on the PlayStation Network as a downloadable title for the PlayStation Vita.
Sony Interactive Entertainment owns the game and its sequels, as they had acquired Housemarque in 2021 through PlayStation Studios.
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.