Super Stardust HD previewed

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:48 pm

So the first preview is out from the closet. I guess I can say now that I saw it running some months ago, and it looked great.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3 ... c=PREVIEWS

later this week I'll go to see developers to give it a quick & unofficial playtest, hopefully they have got it right

[edited for typos]

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:16 am

Interesting... Most likely I'll be buying this then. PSN downloadable game pricing is extremely reasonable, and Housemarque's PC title "The Reap" was not bad for a budget shmup.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 4:50 am

Whoa...awesome. I didn't think Housemarque was still around, or rather I thought they had devoted themselves exclusively to making shitty snowboarding games. Doesn't look much like Stardust from the screens, but still more than enough to pique my interest. I wonder if they will keep the tunnel levels intact? Those were the most impressive parts of the original game.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:16 am

tunnel sequences happen when you enter the level - what I saw was crazily impressive zoom to the planet through some real-time nebula clouds

unfortunately, it was only a graphical effect - there are no playable tunnels as they don't have enough time to do it properly. It takes ages just to tune the playability.

early version felt actually bit like geometry wars, but it had no extra weapons yet. They are in now, I heard they are using the flamethrower again.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:34 pm

I had a go yesterday; and liked it a lot.
It played lot like original, except there was certainly some elements from geometry wars thrown in. Tunnel sequences and map screens were left out; but I can't say that I missed them much.
Original boss from the old games made reappearance, as well as the cargo ships.
What was a nice touch was that in order to retrieve the cargo, you had to shoot at the ship's cargo holds; first you shot the lock to open it, then you shot the cargo barrel, which starts to nudge out from the cargo hold as you keep shooting it, and then it's released.
Other great touch was that new asteroids were often 'dropped' to the playfield - you could see warning rings on where the asteroids would fall.
weapons were changed with L1 and R1 buttons; no more annoying weapon selection menus, thank god. 'Gold melter' - weapon was awesome, because you could control it with analogue stick like a whip - you could rotate it quickly for a nice looking 360-720 degree whirl around the ship to make a quick (but not too strong) firewall; to keep off smaller enemies; or you could do a zigzag pattern to wipe out enemy attack waves; or you could just shoot forward to kill stronger opponents.
Graphics looked great and music had a very nice 'movie-like' atmosphere, without sounding too pompous or overdramatic.

And no, they didn't pay me to write this

I used to work for them some years ago so they invited me for quick playtest.
Stardust probably isn't high-profile shmup as not too many people had amiga to start with; but I do think that this is quite a 'must-have' for any shmupper who has PS3, and probably one of best shmups for PS3 until next gradius / cave port drops in.

[edited for typos]

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:48 am

MJR wrote: Stardust probably isn't high-profile shmup as not too many people had amiga to start with; but I do think that this is quite a 'must-have' for any shmupper who has PS3, and probably one of best shmups for PS3 until next gradius / cave port drops in.

Sounds good. I hope the asteroids look as mindblowing as in the original. It's that day again, namely Thursday, which means that the three playstation stores are updated. I'm hoping to see Stardust there already, preferably for 5-10 euros.

There are like a million racing games for PS3 but so far only two shmup-like games, Blast Factor and Stardust.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:53 am

I think they will be finetuning the game for one more month, before it's ready for release.

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:54 pm

An old Amiga classic making a comeback on the PS3, what a nice surprise! Btw, on Housemarque's site it says that they're also working on a XBLA title. I'd really like to know what it is...a remake/ sequel of REAP would be pretty cool!

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:00 pm

I don't exactly know what else they are working on but I guess it's safe to say that it ain't a shmup..
Whether there will be any more shoot'em ups from Housemarque will probably depend on how well this title will sell..

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:22 am

MJR wrote:I think they will be finetuning the game for one more month, before it's ready for release.

An SCEE-affiliated blog reports a tentative EU release date of June 15th.

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:21 pm

Just wanted to let everybody know that there's a really nice trailer (HD and lowres) available at gametrailers.com. Looks really beautiful and fun!
So maybe in a year or two when the PS3 has a price tag which I can afford...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu May 03, 2007 11:16 pm

Necronom wrote:Just wanted to let everybody know that there's a really nice trailer (HD and lowres) available at gametrailers.com. Looks really beautiful and fun!
So maybe in a year or two when the PS3 has a price tag which I can afford...

Yep, the trailers are right here:

http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=4770

I hear 'ya Necrom. Maybe I should have asked for Colorado Lotto or Powerball tickets for my birthday this year?

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:20 am

IGN has a developer interview that states the official release date for this is now "the end of June"

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:51 am

..And for those who care;
I saw their tester playing it to the final boss, and yes, it is professor Schaumund again!

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:45 pm

Both Stardust and Super Stardust on Amiga were amazing.

Stardust really blow everyone, running from a Vanilla A500 with 1Mb. That shit was AMAZING.

And they did not only look good, they played superbly. It's the best asteroids alike game ever.

DOn't know if everyone is aware of that, but Housemarque is made of when Bloodhouse and Terramarque. Bloodhouse made one of the most amazing games on Amiga, exactly Stardust (and later Super Stardust), and Terramarque made the other amazing (Technically, as the gameplay wasn't so hot) game on the system: Elfmania.

Shame I don't have a PS3 and won't have one for like the next.. hmm.. 5 years?

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:48 pm

The good thing about online store is that the title will still be available, even after those 5 years

but yeah, publishing date is 21st of june.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:44 am

The new announced EU release date for Super Stardust HD is June 29th, priced at just £4.99

(link)