Stardust

STORY / GAMEPLAY
You control a spaceship (viewed from above) and you must destroy all the asteroids and other space debris or alien spacecrafts that move around you. You use your laser guns and collision shield to protect your ship and complete the level. Each world is divided into 6 different levels, with increased difficulty. At the end of each level you must battle against a gigantic mother-ship to fly to the next world. Upon travelling to the next world the camera perspective changes to a 3D-style shooter game (you see the enemies coming from the background) like Space Harrier. The gameplay is pretty addictive even if you are not an Asteroids fan since Stardust takes the series to a much higher and more impressive status. You can also collect a variety of bonuses by shooting enemies. These are vital and will help you upgrade your weapons, increase the ship's energy and recharge your shields.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
Stardust is very impressive, from the great introduction that looks like a Star Wars intro to the in-game action. Although there is no background scrolling (except for the 3D stages), the sprites are pre-rendered and move fast and smooth around the screen. Each level is superbly detailed, having a variety of animated scenes. The animation is flawless and the visuals feature a wide variety of metallic colors. I must also admit that the 3D perspective stages are way too impressive! Note that the PC version offers up to 32 colors on screen (same as the Amiga version) and although it could easily use 256 simultaneous colors (running only on VGA) the graphics look great. The game's sound features in-game techno music and sampled stereo effects (lasers, explosions, a robotic voice that announces bonuses and more).