Star Goose
A scrolling shooter with contoured terrain and tunnel mode.
Star Goose is a vertically scrolling shooter published by Logotron in 1988 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. The player controls Scouser-Gitt, piloting the Star Goose to collect 48 crystals from the planet Nom across eight levels. The game features contoured surfaces that affect bullet travel and tunnels that switch to a three-dimensional perspective for resource replenishment.
Quick Facts
- Publisher
- Logotron
- Designer
- Steven Cain; Graham Everett
- Artist
- Steven Cain
- Programmer
- Graham Everett
- Released
- 1988
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Amiga
- Atari ST
- MS-DOS
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Star Goose is a single-player vertically scrolling shooter. The player controls Scouser-Gitt, a disgraced fighter pilot recruited by a Tribal Elder to recover 48 crystals from the planet Nom by raiding military ammunition dumps. Each of the eight levels contains six crystals that must all be collected to advance. The player must bypass or destroy defense systems including missile launchers, gun turrets, mines, and enemy warrior vessels. A mother ship drops Scouser-Gitt above the surface at the start. Levels wrap around, returning the player to the start until all six crystals are gathered. The player begins with four lives and earns an extra life every 100,000 points. After losing all lives, the player may restart on the same level. The default weapon is a forward-facing gun, supplemented by a limited supply of missiles that can be fired from either side and are replenished at missile gates. The screen scrolls upward constantly, and contoured hills and valleys cause the ship to navigate automatically while altering bullet direction; shots hit enemies only when the ship is at the same level.
Development and release
Star Goose was the work of artist Steve Cain and programmer Graham Everett, who had previously teamed up on the platformer Black Lamp for Firebird Software. Cain’s earlier credits also include graphics for the 1985 title Frankie Goes to Hollywood from Denton Designs. Everett’s original plan was a first-person racing game set in tunnels, drawing inspiration from movie car chases around bowl-shaped tracks with sloped sides. After he felt the result wasn’t working, the project was reworked into a shoot ’em up. Logotron released it for the Atari ST and Amiga in 1988, followed by an MS-DOS port later that year. A Commodore 64 version was in the works but never came out. The music and sound effects were carried over from the Atari ST to the Amiga, which lessened their effect. Players could use a mouse, joystick, or keyboard depending on the system. Logotron promoted the visuals as “Full-Beef Scroll,” meaning the graphics filled the whole screen and gameplay info appeared within the play area instead of at the edges.
Reception and legacy
Star Goose received mixed reviews for its Amiga release. Chris Holmes of Amiga Computing rated it 66%, finding it difficult and monotonous once the challenge was overcome, and criticized the sound. Steve Jarratt of Commodore User gave it 4 out of 10, stating the gameplay did not fulfill the graphics' promise. Génération 4 rated it 45%, calling it a "pale copy of Zaxxon" while praising the graphics. Richard Silsby of Australian Commodore and Amiga Review recommended the Amiga version for its graphics and music. Tomas Hybner of Datormagazin gave it 3.75 out of 5, calling it original and highlighting its graphics. Reviews for the Atari ST version were more negative. Andy Wilton of ACE scored it 517 out of 1000, noting unusual features but poor integration of the contouring element. Julian Rignall of The One gave it 51%, saying it lacked polish and playability. Zzap!64 rated it 37%, criticizing graphics, gameplay variety, and sound originality. Matt Bielby of Computer and Video Games gave it 72%, calling it a game with good potential that "botches the job." ST/Amiga Format scored it 68%, praising graphics but criticizing gameplay and audio. ST Action gave it 71%. Budget re-releases in 1991 were better received.
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