Star Soldier (video game)

Star Soldier[a] is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the MSX.[2] The player pilots the starship "Caesar", travelling through space stations occupied by powerful supercomputers known as "Starbrains" who threaten the galactic empire. Star Soldier greatly resembles the earlier arcade game Star Force.[3]

Star Soldier
North American NES cover art
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Takeaki Kunimoto
SeriesStar Soldier
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Game Boy Advance, mobile phone, iOS
Release
June 13, 1986
  • Famicom/NES
  • MSX
  • Mobile phone
    • JP: January 26, 2001
    • JP: March 2, 2004 (Special+)
    • JP: December 14, 2005 (SP Arcade)
    • JP: October 6, 2008 (Fukkoku-Ban)
  • Palm OS
    • JP: November 22, 2001
  • Game Boy Advance
    • JP: February 14, 2004
  • iOS
    • NA: January 4, 2012
    • JP: June 20, 2013 (GREE)
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

Mobile versions were released on January 26, 2001, in Japan as Star Soldier Special+ in 2004, Star Soldier SP Arcade in 2005 and Star Soldier Fukkoku-Ban[b] in 2008;[4] they were also released for Palm OS in November 2001 in Japan and iOS on January 4, 2012, in United States.

Star Soldier has spawned numerous sequels, starting with Super Star Soldier on the PC Engine. It was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2004 in Japan as part of the Famicom Mini series, and to the Wii's Virtual Console in the Japanese and North American regions in July 2007.[5][6] An enhanced remake of the game was released on PlayStation Portable only in Japan in 2005.

Star Soldier was re-released by Konami on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on November 14, 2012, in Japan,[7] on August 15, 2013, in PAL regions,[8] and September 24 in North America, and via iOS, titled Star Soldier for GREE[c] on June 20, 2013, in Japan.[9]

Legacy edit

In 2021, Konami announced a contest encouraging indie developers to make games based on some of its classic series, including Star Soldier.[10]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Japanese: スターソルジャー, Hepburn: Sutā Sorujā
  2. ^ Japanese: スターソルジャー 復刻版, Hepburn: Sutāsorujā fukkoku-ban
  3. ^ Japanese: スターソルジャー for GREE, Hepburn: Sutāsorujā for GREE

References edit

  1. ^ "Hudson - Shooting game [NES] (Archive)". Hudson. Archived from the original on 6 February 1997. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Star Soldier (1986)". MobyGames. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  3. ^ "Hardcore Gaming 101: Star Soldier". hg101.kontek.net. Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  4. ^ スターソルジャー復刻版 an 2008's Mobile version in Docomomarket (in Japanese)
  5. ^ "VC スターソルジャー". www.nintendo.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  6. ^ "Star Soldier for Wii - Nintendo Game Details". Archived from the original on 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  7. ^ "スターソルジャ ー | ニンテンドー3DS | 任天堂". 任天堂ホームページ. Archived from the original on 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  8. ^ "Star Soldier". Nintendo of Europe GmbH. Archived from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  9. ^ iOS「スターソルジャーforGREE」 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine as released and dissolved by Konami in Game Watch Impress (in Japanese)
  10. ^ Shigeta, Ryuichi (October 2, 2021). "Konami is Inviting Indie Developers to Make New Games Based on Some of Its Classic Series — Famous IP from the past may be revived through indie creators' eyes". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2022-08-30.

External links edit