Super Stardust

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Schaumund strikes back. One year has passed since the evil Professor Schaumund's troops were defeated and the Professor himself was banished from the Galaxy...! Now the Professor has returned, followed by a new, terrifying army of destruction! Determined to gain control of the Galaxy he is more than willing to sacrifice millions of innocent lives and kidnap once more the beautiful princess Voi Levi (not to mention getting even with the one that ruined his plans in the first place)...You! The Professor is back in business! So beware! Much like the original Stardust, you control a spaceship (viewed from above) and you must destroy all the meteorites and other space objects that move around you. Your spaceship (that can turn 360 degrees on screen), moves (via thrust) in every corner of the level, in order to avoid incoming objects and enemies. You use your laser guns and collision shields to complete each level. The game offers five worlds and around 30 levels in total with different difficulty levels. At the end of each level, you must confront a big mother-ship in order to fly to the next world. During this travel, the camera perspective changes and it takes you to a 3D-style shooter (you see the enemies coming from the background, like in Space Harrier). Those stages are the warp tunnels which bring a hell of impressive graphics before your eyes! The gameplay is very addictive, even if you are not a fan of the Asteroids series, since Stardust takes the series to a higher level. You must also collect bonuses by shooting enemies which will help you upgrade your weapons, gain energy and refuel your shields. The time limit to clear some of the levels is set too strictly. Also, swarms of metallic bugs (!) invade and follow you around the screen in a crazy and frustrating fashion.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game looks pretty much like its predecessor in terms of gameplay and graphics (but uses up to 256 colors on screen). The sprites are well polished while the backdrops are jaw-dropping! The main game's graphics are amazing but you will go seriously nuts if you see the (new) and improved warp tunnel sequences. The warp levels could fill a game on its own rather than just a sub-section that links the five levels together! The tunnel sequences are much faster, smoother and with more ray-traced objects flying around when compared to the original title. And imagine that the original Stardust has pushed the Amiga 500 (and the Atari STE) to its limits! Super Stardust sound is great, offering a variety of stereo techno-tunes! The game offers a plethora of hardcore break-beats and some of the hardest and nastiest sound effects, along with high quality speech too!