Defender II/Stargate (ARC, 1981/MD, 1996)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7 Control-7.5 Challenge-8.5/7.5* Story-N/A
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9/8* Fun-6.5/7* Originality-6.5?
Overall Score-6.5
*Low point intervals
+
Inviso mode - time limited invincibility mode where your ship becomes invisible but you can ram enemy ships
Pretty detailed difficulty options (lives, point intervals for extra lives and bombs+seconds of inviso time, inviso time - up to 20 for the whole game?, max difficulty level for the entire game loop - up to 5 here)
men to warp and last wave for warp (not sure what either of these mean)
Smart bombs - see Defender
Better looking explosions and some enemies
The homing swarmer enemies spawned from the purple stars (pods) don't appear if you use a smart bomb on the pod here
Stargates - these teleport you to where a humanoid is being abducted by an alien ship
End of wave point bonus opportunity: If all enemies are destroyed and a humanoid is falling to the ground, the player receives a 2,000 point bonus if the ship is positioned at ground level directly under the humanoid, so as to simultaneously catch the humanoid and place it back on the ground. If the player simply catches the humanoid in mid-air while above the ground, the wave ends with the player only receiving the 500 points for catching the humanoid
+/-
No options for how much the difficulty level increases (per level?) or no. of enemy waves per level here - see the prequel
Only one continue/credit
No auto-fire
Still can't pick up the NPCs or otherwise interact with them - only (try to) defend them from the aliens picking them up
Momentum-based controls return
Can't check what difficulty level you're currently at while in-game
Added "dogfights" which are just in space segments without a planet surface
Since your ship is invisible during inviso mode it's pretty hard to use
-
Slowdown on MD - kinda bad when using bombs on multiple enemies at once
Seemingly impossible to actually save a planet after the first level or so
Acceleration and deceleration when turning around is still a bit too slow (seems identical) considering how quickly enemies can move
Cheap deaths from enemies spawning at your position or right where you are randomly teleporting to - inviso dodging kind of replaces warping or if you lower the point intervals you can keep bombing frequently
Starts off quite tough on default difficulty
Repetitive - no bosses and no weapon upgrades or alternate main weapons, not enough new enemies
Smart bombs still don't get rid of enemy bullets+the debris still makes it hard to see them at times - would've been good if those bullets pulsated or the debris could be limited
No music
Notes:
-Played it on MD via the Williams' Arcade Greatest Hits collection
-Beat about 20 attack waves at about 1/3 of default difficulty
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9/8* Fun-6.5/7* Originality-6.5?
Overall Score-6.5
*Low point intervals
+
Inviso mode - time limited invincibility mode where your ship becomes invisible but you can ram enemy ships
Pretty detailed difficulty options (lives, point intervals for extra lives and bombs+seconds of inviso time, inviso time - up to 20 for the whole game?, max difficulty level for the entire game loop - up to 5 here)
men to warp and last wave for warp (not sure what either of these mean)
Smart bombs - see Defender
Better looking explosions and some enemies
The homing swarmer enemies spawned from the purple stars (pods) don't appear if you use a smart bomb on the pod here
Stargates - these teleport you to where a humanoid is being abducted by an alien ship
End of wave point bonus opportunity: If all enemies are destroyed and a humanoid is falling to the ground, the player receives a 2,000 point bonus if the ship is positioned at ground level directly under the humanoid, so as to simultaneously catch the humanoid and place it back on the ground. If the player simply catches the humanoid in mid-air while above the ground, the wave ends with the player only receiving the 500 points for catching the humanoid
+/-
No options for how much the difficulty level increases (per level?) or no. of enemy waves per level here - see the prequel
Only one continue/credit
No auto-fire
Still can't pick up the NPCs or otherwise interact with them - only (try to) defend them from the aliens picking them up
Momentum-based controls return
Can't check what difficulty level you're currently at while in-game
Added "dogfights" which are just in space segments without a planet surface
Since your ship is invisible during inviso mode it's pretty hard to use
-
Slowdown on MD - kinda bad when using bombs on multiple enemies at once
Seemingly impossible to actually save a planet after the first level or so
Acceleration and deceleration when turning around is still a bit too slow (seems identical) considering how quickly enemies can move
Cheap deaths from enemies spawning at your position or right where you are randomly teleporting to - inviso dodging kind of replaces warping or if you lower the point intervals you can keep bombing frequently
Starts off quite tough on default difficulty
Repetitive - no bosses and no weapon upgrades or alternate main weapons, not enough new enemies
Smart bombs still don't get rid of enemy bullets+the debris still makes it hard to see them at times - would've been good if those bullets pulsated or the debris could be limited
No music
Notes:
-Played it on MD via the Williams' Arcade Greatest Hits collection
-Beat about 20 attack waves at about 1/3 of default difficulty