Star Soldier

Star Soldier[lower-alpha 1] is a series of shoot 'em up video games mainly developed by Hudson Soft. Konami has owned the rights to the series since their absorption of Hudson Soft in 2012. The first game, named Star Soldier, appeared on the MSX and NES in 1986, and the series has continued on various gaming systems. Star Soldier itself has received enhanced remakes for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003, and a different remake for the PlayStation Portable in 2005, while the latest installment of the series was released on the Wii as a WiiWare game in 2008. In addition, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Soldier Blade and Star Parodier have been re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console and on the Japanese PC Engine's Best Collection lineup for the PSP. The Star Soldier games are best known for their distinctive music, unique weapon power-ups, and a special time attack high score mode called "Caravan Mode".[1]

Star Soldier
Genre(s)Vertical-scrolling shooter
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)Hudson Soft
Platform(s)MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System, TurboGrafx-16, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Mobile phone, PlayStation Portable, Wii, iOS
First releaseStar Soldier
June 13, 1986
Latest releaseStar Soldier R
March 25, 2008
Spin-offsStarship Hector
Blazing Lazers
Star Parodier

Caravan gaming tournaments

Star Soldier was developed as a spiritual successor to Tecmo's Star Force, from which it borrows most of its gameplay elements. The Star Force series, along with Hudson's Star Soldier, was often featured in the popular Japanese gaming tournament known as "Hudson All-Japan Caravan Festival". Home ports of Star Soldier games would sometimes feature "Caravan" modes in which the player would race through timed stages while trying to accumulate a high score.

Common elements

Being an arcade-style game, Star Soldier's objective is primarily based on achieving a high score. The series often makes use of hidden destructible tiles that offer bonus points when shot, but may occasionally power-up the player's ship instead. Bonus points will also be awarded for defeating sequences of enemy formations while they're within a certain proximity to the player's ship, or defeating mini bosses before they have a chance to attack.

Games
Release timeline
1986Star Soldier
1987Starship Hector
1988
1989
1990Super Star Soldier
1991
1992Soldier Blade
Star Parodier
1993
1994
1995Caravan Shooting Collection
1996
1997
1998Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003Star Soldier (GCN)
2004
2005Star Soldier (PSP)
2006
2007Soldier Collection
2008Star Soldier R

Crossover

Compilations & remakes

Canceled games
  • 1995: Kuma Soldier - PC-FX

Other media
  • 1985–1987: Famicom Rocky - Manga : Star Soldier is one of the Videogames based in the manga.
  • 1986–1987: Nekketsu! Famicom Shounendan : Star Soldier is one of the Videogames based in the manga.
  • 1991–1993: Cyber Boy - Manga : Soldier Blade and Star Parodier, two of the video games based in the manga
  • 1986: Running Boy Star Soldier no Himitsu - Anime movie

Notes
  1. Japanese: スターソルジャー, Hepburn: Sutā Sorujā

References
  1. Hard Core Gaming 101 - Star Soldier
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