Star Cruiser

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Star Cruiser
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Masaya
Developer: Arsys Software
Genre: Adventure / FPS / RPG
Release Date RRP Code

Star Cruiser (スタークルーザー) is a 1990 FPS/RPG/adventure game for the Sega Mega Drive by Arsys Software, published by NCS. It is a port of Star Cruiser, which was previously released on various Japanese home computers, including NEC's PC-88 and PC-98 in 1988 and the Sharp X68000 in 1989.

No version has been released outside Japan. An English version, Star Quest, was planned for North American release in 1994, but was cancelled. A sequel, Star Cruiser II, was released for Japanese home computers in 1992.

Overview

Ahead of its time, it featured fully 3D polygonal graphics, true FPS gameplay (including strafing), open-ended space exploration, and an epic sci-fi space opera plot.

The game's innovations included fully polygonal 3D graphics (including nearly all objects, enemies, and backgrounds, with the exception of distant horizons that were pre-rendered), true first-person shooter gameplay (anticipating Wolfenstein 3D and Doom), gameplay mechanics such as strafing, fusion of first-person shooter and RPG mechanics (anticipating System Shock and Deus Ex), 3D open-ended sandbox exploration across a large game universe (spanning several star systems) with six degrees of freedom, 3D space flight simulator gameplay for exploring (and fighting enemy spacecraft in) outer space, a crosshair to target enemies (both on ground and in space), and a portable computer built into the player character's power suit that has various uses (such as displaying an automap and radar). The game had a large open-ended game universe, allowing the player to explore over 30 planets across four star systems.

The game also emphasized storytelling, with an epic sci-fi space opera storyline set in the 27th century, various plot twists, extensive character dialogues with NPCs (who have their own background stories), anime-style dialogue portraits for characters, visual novel style POV cutscenes, and animated cutscenes rendered using the game's 3D engine. It also had a chiptune FM synthesis soundtrack composed by Toshiya Yamanaka (later released as a seperate original soundtrack CD).

Reception

See Physical Scans for review scores

The original home computer releases were critically acclaimed, particularly the Sharp X68000 version, winning a number of awards from Japanese publications. However, the Mega Drive port had a mixed reception, with Japanese reviewers not considering it to be as good as the original computer versions. European import reviews were more critical, considering the heavy Japanese text to be a major obstacle to enjoying the game. However, Electronic Gaming Monthly's preview of the unreleased English version, Star Quest, was generally positive.

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Famitsu (JP) 60 60 Famitsu Joystick (FR) 40 №14, p133 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 47 №5, p94 Sega Power (UK) 20 №23, p54 №46, p98 Sega Pro (UK) 35 №18, p67

	44
Based on 6 reviews

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 78 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 60 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 70 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 40 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 71 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 0

	53
Based on 6 reviews

Star Cruiser

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual