Line #27 Videogame/Starblade


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Starblade_3930.jpg]]
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3	''Starblade''[[note]]sometimes stylized as ''[[CamelCase StarBlade]]''[[/note]] (not to be confused with the Platform/AtariST[=/=]Platform/{{Amiga}} adventure game) is an early polygonal RailShooter developed and published by [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] in 1991. It is part of a loose series along ''[[VideoGame/{{Galaxian}} Galaxian3]]'', ''Attack of the Zolgear'' and the space flight game ''Star Ixiom'', and part of the "United Galaxy Space Force" saga, which also includes such diverse games as ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'', ''VideoGame/BurningForce'', and even ''VideoGame/DigDug''.
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5	A mechanized alien task force spearheaded by the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]]-like structure Red Eye has entered the Federation's space and is fast-approaching the Federation's home planet. In response, the Federation scramble several fighters unit to attack Red Eye and destroy its power reactor, Octopus. The player is a gunner aboard one such fighter, the FX-01 "[=GeoSword=]".
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7	The game is a fairly simple RailShooter. The player controls a {{crosshair\|Aware}} overlaid on the screen and shoots at enemies. There are no alternate weapons, [=GeoSword=]'s movement is [[GameplayAutomation completely automated]], and survival is limited to shooting enemies before they shoot you.
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9	Contemporary ports were released for the Platform/SegaCD, the [[Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]] and the Platform/PlayStation (as ''Starblade α''[[note]]pronounced "[[GratuitousGreek alpha]]"[[/note]]). The Sega CD version used coloured wireframe models due to the add-on's limitations, while the [=PlayStation=] and 3DO versions more accurately replicated the original arcade graphics and included a mode with textured graphics. However, the background and larger objects were made part of a single continuous FMV instead of being rendered in real-time.
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11	The game was later featured as the loading screen minigame of ''VideoGame/Tekken5''[='s=] home port, and a full port of it can be unlocked. It was also released on the Platform/VirtualConsole, though only in Japan.
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13	A sequel titled ''Starblade: Operation Blue Planet'' was in development and made it to the location test phase in 2001, before being scrapped. The game sported a stylized, ''VideoGame/{{Rez}}''-like take of the original's untextured graphic and made us of the ORBS system, a cabinet set-up which had the player enclosed into a sphere.
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15	Namco later released a video of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leT3saYfZr4 a full playthrough of the location test build]] as part of the ''USFG'' website and a scaled-down version of the ORBS technology was used for 2006's ''Mobile Suit Franchise/{{Gundam}}: Bonds of the Battlefield'', ''Mach Storm'', and ''Franchise/StarWars: Battle Pod'', the latter two which was released in 2014.
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18	!!This game contains the following tropes.
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20	* AsteroidThicket: Your ship travels through one on its approach to Red Eye. While there's no danger of hitting one, [[GameplayAutomation as the fighter is under computer control]], some are more than mere space rocks.
21	* DirectContinuousLevels: The game never takes control away from the player, apart from two shorts cutscenes playing when reaching Red Eye and leaving it.
22	* DiscOneFinalBoss: After you destroy the reactor, you escape the exploding station, and MissionControl congratulates you and tells you to return home. Then things are cut short by a RedAlert and orders to pursue the flagship -- you're only halfway through the game.
23	* TheFederation: Mentioned in the backstory of the game as having their space invaded by Red Eye.
24	* FinalBossPreview: The enemy flagship commander appears several times during the course of the game, taking potshots at the player and fleeing before it can be destroyed. It is eventually fought as the final boss.
25	* OperationBlank[=/=]TitleDrop: The attack on the Red Eye space space station is called "Operation: Starblade".
26	* PlanetSpaceship: The Red Eye, stated in-game to have a size of 780 kilometers.
27	* PreRenderedGraphics: The arcade version was rendered in real-time, but the home ports instead used pre-rendered backgrounds with real-time enemy models and projectiles overlaid.
28	* RailShooter: As noted above, you control just the weapons of your fighter with the computer taking care of its movement.
29	* ReactorBoss: Octopus and the Collosus' reactor.
30	* ShoutOut: The game clearly owes ''a lot'' to ''Franchise/StarWars'', with the Red Eye looking a lot like the Death Star, the attack on the Octopus reactor clearly inspired on ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', and some enemy warships resembling Imperial Star Destroyers.
31	* SpaceFighter: The player's starship, the [=GeoSword=].
32	* TechDemoGame: Featured advanced (for the time) polygonal graphics rendered in realtime at a consistent 60 FPS.

Context Videogame / Starblade