Sinistar Arcade Game
YOUR INTERGALACTIC CRYSTAL-MINING MISSION takes you to the antipodes of the known universe. But your parametric DeepSpace scanner faithfully displays the sector of the galaxy you presently occupy (including an area fully 3 parsecs across, no less)!KEEP THE GALAXY SAFE for all it's sinizens! Fiendish Worker ships from the planet Sporg will attempt to fabricate a Sinistar from the remains of derelict planetoids in your very sector. You must not let them do this for two reasons:1) These planetoids contain the life-sustaining crystals that your civilisation requires for its vital technologies.2) With the eminently unstable Sinistar in their possession, the Sprogites can lay waste to any civilization in your sector. You alone stand in their way.YOU MUST MINE THE SINISITE CRYSTALS. Williams has equipped you with the latest heuristic electret cannon technology. All you need to do is aim at a planetoid and shoot.
Now collect your motherlode!IN FACT, ONLY WITH SINISITE CAN YOU MANUFACTURE SINIBOMBS to eradicate the Sinistar. Majalah apo. But you must also rebuff the Workers and disintegrate their even more aggressive comrades-at-arms, the evil skelomorphic Warriors!
Intelligent beings everywhere depend on your courage, your dedication, your reserve, your shrewd command of tactical invention! It's up to you space cadet!- TECHNICAL -Main CPU: M6809 (@ 1 Mhz)Sound CPU: M6808 (@ 894.75 Khz)Sound Chips: DAC, HC55516 (@ 894.75 Khz)Players: 2Control: 8-way joystickButtons: 2= 1 FIRE, 2 SINIBOMB- TRIVIA -Released in February 1983.Also released as:'Sinistar Cockpit model'Sinistar DuraMold model'This game was originally going to be called 'Juggernaut', then 'Darkstar'.
The prototype version called Sinistar is a machine that was displayed at the November 1982 AMOA show in Las Vegas. The revision 2 was the most common version of the game.The game is jokingly referred to as 'Opie-Star' at Williams' offices, because Sinistar's 'Run, Coward!' SCORING -Planetoid: 5 points.Worker: 150 points.Crystal: 200 points.Warrior: 500 points.Sinistar Piece: 500 points.Destroying Sinistar: 15, 000 points.- TIPS AND TRICKS -. Programming Credits And Williams message:1) Set lives to 1 (this is optional, it merely saves time).2) Insert one credit.3) Bump into a Planetoid (rock).4) Push the fire button 7 times.5) Avoid Planetoids and Workers, don't fire at anything and get shot by a Warrior. If you set lives to 1, the game will now be over. If not, lose all lives in this manner until the game ends.6) Enter initials.7) Press the 2 Player button 3 times, then insert one coin and start a new 1 Player game.8) Don't move or fire, just push the Sinibomb button once.There are now two messages which can be displayed for the credits:9) Insert 3 coins, then push the Sinibomb button again. The 'crossword' credits should now be displayed.
For the Williams Electronics message:10) Simply end the game by getting shot without hitting a Planetoid or firing, then push the 1 Player button to display the message. 255 Lives Trick: This little trick is harder than the game itself, but worth it if you pull it off. On your last man, make sure a warrior fires at you just as Sinistar sucks you in. As the Sinistar sucks you in, you will lose your last man, but when the warrior's bullet hits you, you will have one less than zero ships.Note: The warriors stop shooting as soon as you are 'caught' by Sinistar. The game was programmed this way, to prevent you from dying twice. Since you are trying to die twice, you have to let a warrior shoot at you, before you get sucked in, then hope that the shot hits you after you have been sucked in. This is very tricky.Note 2: 8-bit processors can only handle values from 0-255, for a total of 256 values.
Sinistar Arcade Game Online
Therefore, 'one less than zero ships' will roll around to 255.
Notes:Port of the 1982Williams coin-opSinistar on the 2600?!?! Yes you're reading this right;Sinistar on the Atari 2600.
Somehow Atari managed to cram thecomplex arcade game Sinistar into an 8K 2600 cartridge, and theresults were simply amazing! After many arcade ports ofquestionable quality, Atari finally managed to get one right.Too bad they never released it.For those of you who've never played Sinistar. Shame On You!Sinistar is one of the most beloved (and difficult) arcadegames of all time, combining fast action, mind numbing speed, andevil sounding voice synthesis into one explosive package.The main object of the game is to destroy Sinistar, a giant metalcreature bent on destroying the universe and whatever else thatgets in its way. Of course to destroy Sinistar you're goingto need some firepower, and in Sinistar firepower comes in theform of Sinibombs. To manufacture Sinibombs, your ship needs to harvest Sinisitecrystals out of the planetoids. To harvest the Sinisitesimply move in close to a planetoid and start shooting away.After a few shots tiny Sinisite crystals will appear which youmust quickly grab before they float away. Worker ships flyaround the screen and harvest their own crystals to help buildSinistar, taking away valuable resources.
In the arcadeWorkers would also steal your crystals, but for some reason theyseem to have turned over a new leaf and give the crime a rest inthis version (be thankful!). As you attempt to minecrystals, Warrior ships will zip around the screen attempting toblow your ship to kingdom come. If you can successfully manage to hold off the Warrior shipslong enough to harvest some crystals, your ship will eventuallyfill up with Sinibombs. It's about this time Sinistar willusually start chasing your ship. If your lucky enough (anddestroyed a large number of Workers), you can find Sinistar halfbuilt and defenseless, otherwise he'll be on the move and afteryou. As Sinistar is chasing you, you must press the firebutton to release the Sinibombs. Sinibombs are the onlything that can harm Sinistar, so don't even bother trying to shoothim with your lasers.
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Each Sinibomb will blast off a segmentof Sinistar until he is completely destroyed (which takes 18direct hits). If you only manage to blow off a few segmentsthe Workers will start repairing him, and he'll continue to chaseyou. If you manage to totally destroy Sinistar you will betransported to the next sector where the action resumes at aharder difficulty level. It's simply amazing how Atari managed to capture the action andexcitement of Sinistar and condense it into the tiny 2600.The graphics are excellent (by 2600 standards), and the controlsare sharp and precise. The only places Atari had tocompromise on were the voice (which was impossible to reproduce onthe 2600), and the controls which had to be simplified slightlydue to the 2600 only having one fire button. In the Arcadethere were separate fire buttons for shooting and droppingSinibombs, but on the 2600 your ship has auto fire, so the firebutton drops the Sinibombs instead.
This really doesn't takeaway from the gameplay since you were always shooting in thearcade anyway (your fingers just got a bit of an extra work out).So why wasn't Sinistar released? Around the time Sinistarwas being completed (early 1984), the video game market wascrumbling fast and many new games never got released. Atarihad already commissioned artwork for Sinistar, and the game seemsto have been nearly completed so it was probably a matter of weeksbefore Sinistar would be finalized and ready for production.Perhaps playtesters thought the game was too difficult orwasn't polished enough, but whatever the reason Sinistar gotshelved and was forgotten about.
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An Atari 400/800 versionwas also in the works and nearly complete. VersionCart TextDescriptionSinistar 1/04/84Early version without flickerimplementedSimilar to Early Version but with someimprovementsSinistar 1/23/84Mid-Level WIP version. NoWarrior Ships.Sinistar 2/13Almost complete.