Star Maze

Star Maze is a space-themed shooter taking place in a multidirectional scrolling maze published by Sir-Tech in 1982. It was written by Canadian programmer Gordon Eastman for the Apple II, based on a design by Robert Woodhead.[3] Atari 8-bit family[1] and Commodore 64[4] versions followed in 1983.

Star Maze
Developer(s)Eastman Computing [1]
Publisher(s)Sir-Tech
Designer(s)Robert Woodhead [2]
Programmer(s)Gordon Eastman [2]
Platform(s)Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64
Release1982: Apple
1983: Atari, C64
Genre(s)Multidirectional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The object of Star Maze is to collect the nine jewels in a large, randomly generated, maze-like structure.[5]

The player flies through the maze in a spaceship that looks and controls like the ship from Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade game: one button applies thrust, the other button shoots in the direction the ship is pointing. The joystick orients the ship. A hyperspace key drops the ship in a random location in the maze, and a finite number of antimatter bombs destroy all visible enemies.[5] Unlike Asteroids, the ship has limited fuel, and the hyperspace option uses a significant amount of it. A jewel can only be collected it the ship's speed is below a certain threshold, then the jewel can be flown to the mothership in exchange for additional fuel.[6]

Completing a maze gives a bonus based on how much time it took.[6] There are 16 levels.

Development

According to a 1983 article in TODAY magazine, Star Maze took ten months of weekends to create.[7]

Reception

Electronic Games was impressed with the visuals and called Star Maze, "a totally fascinating space epic worthy of every Apple-gamer's attention."[5] Arcade Express pointed out the difficulty of the control scheme, but called it "so fascinating and varied in its play-action that it overcomes any such learning difficulties with ease," giving a 10/10 score.[8] Computer and Video Games scored Star Maze a 10 for playability, with the reviewer writing, "Once I mastered the controls the game became more and more fascinating and I can confidently recommend it as one of the best games now on sale for the Apple."[9]

Apple magazine Peelings II gave an "A" grade, but noted that the mazes all feel similar and sometimes a new ship is destroyed by an enemy or rock immediately after starting out.[6]

See also
  • Bolo, another Apple II multidirectional shooter in a large maze

References
  1. "Star Maze". Atari Mania.
  2. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  3. Salmons, Jim (August 1982). "Exec Sir-Tech: Wizzing to the Top". SoftTalk. 2 (12): 36.
  4. Star Maze at Lemon 64
  5. Davidson, Steve (March 1983). "Computer Gaming: Star Maze". Electronic Games. 1 (13): 68–70.
  6. Lee, Monty (1983). "Star Maze". Peelings II. 4 (8): 26–27.
  7. Hohmann, Kaye (January 1983). "Software Creators and Crooks Play Hardball". TODAY. 2 (3): 10.
  8. "The Hotseat: Star Maze". Arcade Express. 1 (8): 7. November 21, 1982.
  9. "Software Reviews: Star Maze". Computer and Video Games (20): 105. June 1983.
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