Stellar Assault

n/a

PAL NTSC-J NTSC-U
Stellar Assault
System(s): Sega 32X
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (JP, EU), Sega of America (US)
Developer: Sega CS3
Sound driver: SMPS 68000
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-04-26 ¥7,8007,800 GM-4010 US 1995-06 $69.9969.99 84509 EU 1995-06 84509-50 DE 1995-06 DM 139.00139.00 84509-50 PT 1995 XJ84509 UK 1995-06 £49.9949.99 84509-50

Stellar Assault (ステラアサルト), known in the United States as Shadow Squadron, is a Sega 32X space combat simulator game developed by Sega CS and published by Sega. First released in Japan in April 1995, it was later localized and brought to the United States and Europe the following June.

In February 1998, the game received an enhanced port to the Sega Saturn, Stellar Assault SS, courtesy of developer SIMS.

Story

A coup d'état has occurred in the colonial star system of Sivos (シヴォス). The Rebel Army (反乱軍) quickly overwhelmed the star system with its military might and demanded the surrender of the Allied Forces (連合軍). When the Allied Forces refused, the Rebel Army used a powerful weapon called the Accelerator Gate (アクセルゲート) to bombard Laderia (惑星ラーデリア), the capital planet of the Allied Forces, with meteors. The remnants of the Allied Forces fleet must use its top secret Feather (フェザー) fighters to repel the rebel forces and destroy their Sun-powered Laser Cannon.

Gameplay

Ship selection

Color change

The game is a 3D space combat simulation similar to Star Wars Arcade. Players take control of either one of the two Feather fighter ships through six missions set across various sectors in outer space. Each of the two available spacecraft have their advantages and disadvantages: the Feather 1 is a highly maneuverable and fast light ship equipped with guided laser cannons, whereas the Feather 2 is a more powerful and heavier ship that relies on manual fire. Choosing the Feather 2 gives the player the option of enabling auto-pilot, which allows the computer to fly and the player to concentrate on shooting, though the computer pilot generally takes indirect paths through the missions and prolongs the length of the game. The Feather 2 can also be used in cooperative two-player games, with player one flying and player two shooting.

With the exception of some graphical effects such as explosions, the world is rendered entirely as flat-shaded 3D polygons. There are two types of enemies: fighters and carrier ships. Some missions requiring destroying both types of enemies, while others only the carrier ships must be eliminated. Before starting each mission, a tactical display shows the player's ship and all targets that must be eliminated. Both ships have circular radars that show the locations of nearby enemies during gameplay.

The player can control the tilt of the ship and fly in any direction. The ship banks with and . The vertical controls are inverted, so ascends and dives. The ships roll counterclockwise with and clockwise with . The ships accelerate with or decelerate with . The current speed of travel is shown as a green gauge. There are two Speed Control options available in the game options. The first method slows the ship down gradually when the accelerate button is not held down, while the second method maintains the ship's speed until the player changes it by accelerating or decelerating. Both ships are armed with laser guns, which are fired with . The player can switch between a first-person, in-cockpit view and a third-person, behind the ship view with  MODE .

When using a standard three-button control pad, the ships roll counterclockwise with HOLD  START  and clockwise with HOLD  START . They accelerate with and decelerate with  START +. The game can be paused with HOLD  START ++.

The ships have two types of energy: weapon/engine energy (red gauge) and shield energy (blue gauge). Weapon/engine energy is expended whenever the ships fire their weapons or engage their thrusters by accelerating. Shield energy represents the ship's protective shield; if it is depleted, the ship cannot sustain any more damage without being destroyed. If the ship runs out of weapon/engine energy, all of its shield energy reserves are transferred to weapon/engine energy, meaning that the next hit destroys the ship. The Feather 1 docks after each mission to replenish its weapon/engine energy and shield energy. The Feather 2 only replenishes its shield energy after each mission, so the player must manage its weapon/engine energy carefully since they must last the entire game.

If the ship is destroyed, players can continue a limited number of times. After the game ends, a Trace option is unlocked at the title screen, which replays the previous playthrough from a third-person perspective.

There are two difficulty levels (Easy and Hard). The game includes options to view the models used in the game or change the colors of the ships.

Ships

	Feather 1
	The Feather 1 is a light fighter. It is weaker than the Feather 2, but it is agile and easy to maneuver, and its weapons are easier to aim. It is armed with twin laser guns. They are semi-guided, so they home in on any targets within the targeting reticle. The laser guns are fired with , which can be rapid-fired by holding the button. It is also armed with guided laser torpedoes. These can be fired by pressing twice and holding, which causes the targeting reticle to enlarge. Targets within the reticle are highlighted in a similar manner to After Burner, initially in red and then in white. Any targets highlighted in white when the player releases have torpedoes fired at them, up to a maximum of four at a time. Targets are deselected if they leave the reticle area before the player fires the torpedoes. The weapon cannot be fired again until all of the torpedoes have met their targets. Guided laser torpedoes consume more weapon/engine energy than the standard laser guns. The ship is equipped with a Spectral Shield, activated by holding . The Spectral Shield envelops the vessel in an energy shield that protects it from enemy fire and collisions. The screen is tinted to indicate when the shield is active. However, using the Spectral Shield drains shield energy and only reduces rather than completely negating damage taken while it is enabled. The Feather 1 has its weapon/engine energy and its shield energy replenished after every mission.
	Feather 2
	The Feather 2 is a heavy fighter. It is stronger than the Feather 1, but it moves more sluggishly, and its weapons must be manually aimed. It is the only craft available in two-player games, with player one flying and player two shooting. In single-player games, the player can choose auto-pilot mode, where the computer flies the ship while the player shoots. It fires a single large laser with . Its laser gun lacks a guidance system and must be manually aimed using a relatively small reticle. However, the laser is powerful and capable of destroying enemy missiles (which the Feather 1 cannot do with either of its weapons). It can also fire energy torpedoes by holding , which causes crosshairs to close into position. After the crosshairs have locked into place, the weapon can be fired by releasing the button. Energy torpedoes drain shield energy when used. Because the Feather 2 only replenishes its shield energy after each mission, it starts with a large reserve of weapon/engine energy. This energy must last the entire game, so players should conserve it as much as possible.

Missions

The missions incrementally move closer to the Sun in the middle of the solar system.

	Graduation Day
	Destroy the two Delmmer carriers and all enemy fighters.
	No Admittance
	Destroy the Delmmer carrier, two Balsark carriers, and Accelerator Gate in the center of the sector.
	Dodge 'Em
	Set in an asteroid field. Destroy the two Delmmer carriers, small "booster" ships, and all enemy fighters.
	Armada
	Destroy all ten carriers, a fleet of Delmmer, Balsark, Medelus, and Carvelus carriers.
	Ganeluza Grandslam
	Destroy the two Carvelus flagships and the massive Ganeluza carrier.
	G.L. Cannon
	Destroy the Laser Cannon in the center of the sector, which is surrounded by a ring of "slave units" and defended by a sortie of fighters. This mission has a time limit.

History

Development

During development, Stellar Assault was known by the name Bullet Fighters.

The game averages at around a 20 FPS refresh rate, although palette cycling occurs at 60 FPS. Some of the performance gains (and the use of a wider colour palette than most 32X titles) can be attributed to the game's decision to use a 288x224 screen resolution (with extra borders).

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Stellar Assault	Stellar Assault
English (US)	Shadow Squadron	Shadow Squadron
Japanese	ステラアサルト	Stellar Assault

Production credits

Main article: Stellar Assault/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Stellar Assault/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (JP) #1995-07: "July 1995" (1995-06-08)

Print advert in (ES) #46: "Julio 1995" (1995-xx-xx)

Artwork

• 

  US prototype cover

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (FR) 32 (FR) 70 (UK) 81 (US) NTSC-U 51 (JP) NTSC-J 65 (US) 67 (US) NTSC-U 85 (US) NTSC-U 71 (US) NTSC-U 75 (US) NTSC-U 81 (ES) 60 (DE) PAL 77 (DE) PAL 77 (UK) PAL 80 (US) NTSC-U 50 (FR) 70 (DE) 79 (JP) NTSC-J 66 (UK) PAL 87 (UK) PAL 82 (JP) NTSC-J 73 (JP) NTSC-J 85 (ES) 88 (FR) 65 (DE) PAL 78 (US) NTSC-U 90

	72
Based on 26 reviews

Stellar Assault

32X, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

32X, US
Cover
Cart Manual

32X, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

32X, PT

Technical information

Main article: Stellar Assault/Technical information.