Retro Video Gamer

Continuing the series, here we have comparisons of another great classic:  Defender & Defender 2/Stargate.

One of my favourite games of all time! 

However he missed out the Atari ST version!!!  >:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Di4AoGwjNQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Di4AoGwjNQ)

I've always been very impressed with the 2600 version of Stargate/Defender II.  I think it is the best arcade port for the system. 

Quote from: "TrekMD"I've always been very impressed with the 2600 version of Stargate/Defender II.  I think it is the best arcade port for the system.

Agreed 100%

I believe I gave it 10/10 in the review guide 

There's also Defender 2000 for the Jaguar that he didn't include but I suppose, since it is an update and not a direct port of the arcade, that is ok. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQoCfgPfZOc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQoCfgPfZOc)

And the clone, Protector SE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frqSr3cz-M8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frqSr3cz-M8)

Defender was probably my favorite 2600 game and Defender 2000 and Protector SE are two of my favorite Jag games. Very easy games to pick up and play but very tough to master!

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Defender was probably my favorite 2600 game and Defender 2000 and Protector SE are two of my favorite Jag games. Very easy games to pick up and play but very tough to master!

So you are not among those who felt that Atari port of Defender was poorly made?

Quote from: "TrekMD"

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Defender was probably my favorite 2600 game and Defender 2000 and Protector SE are two of my favorite Jag games. Very easy games to pick up and play but very tough to master!

So you are not among those who felt that Atari port of Defender was poorly made?

No but to be honest I was really young and I don't think I had ever played it in the arcade before so I had nothing to compare it to. As for 2000 I know a lot of people don't really like it and I will admit that Protector is a lot closer to classic Defender then 2000 is but that doesn't make it bad, just a little different.

I don't think Defender 2000 is bad at all.  But I will admit that I do prefer to play Protector SE. The size of the ship on Defender 2000 makes it a bit harder to play. 

Quote from: "TrekMD"I don't think Defender 2000 is bad at all.  But I will admit that I do prefer to play Protector SE. The size of the ship on Defender 2000 makes it a bit harder to play.  :)

For me Protector: SE is one of the best games on the Jaguar. Defender 2000 is actually best played in the "PLUS" mode I think, far easier to see what is going on.

You might have noticed that the Atari ST version of Defender/Defender 2/Stargate was also programmed by Jeff Minter back in the early days of the ST. His work for Atari on that was what led to him getting hired to do Jaguar coding.

Quote from: "The Laird"For me Protector: SE is one of the best games on the Jaguar. Defender 2000 is actually best played in the "PLUS" mode I think, far easier to see what is going on.

You might have noticed that the Atari ST version of Defender/Defender 2/Stargate was also programmed by Jeff Minter back in the early days of the ST. His work for Atari on that was what led to him getting hired to do Jaguar coding.

Nifty!

Getting a little off topic here but anyway what is the story behind Protector? Where does Bethesda fit in and how did Carl end up getting it?

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Getting a little off topic here but anyway what is the story behind Protector? Where does Bethesda fit in and how did Carl end up getting it?

The original protector by Synapse Software was a game for the Atari 8-bit and the Commodore VIC-20. It came out way back in 1981.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/protector__ (http://www.mobygames.com/game/protector__)

It also had a 1982 sequel that came out on the Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TI-99/4A and the TRS-80 CoCo

http://www.mobygames.com/game/protector-ii (http://www.mobygames.com/game/protector-ii)

(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/460671-protector-ii-atari-8-bit-screenshot-i-am-carrying-a-person.png)

The Jaguar version was programmed as a brand new follow up to those games and was offered to Atari for publication but they turned it down because they were already developing the very similar Defender 2000, much to the coders disappointment. Synapse Software were taken over by Bethesda Softworks and so when Carl discovered the games existence he licensed the game from them and finished it off himself.

Cool, didn't know any of that. Thanks 

I'm impressed the Colecovision scrolled so smoothly.

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"

Quote from: "TrekMD"

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Defender was probably my favorite 2600 game and Defender 2000 and Protector SE are two of my favorite Jag games. Very easy games to pick up and play but very tough to master!

So you are not among those who felt that Atari port of Defender was poorly made?

No but to be honest I was really young and I don't think I had ever played it in the arcade before so I had nothing to compare it to. As for 2000 I know a lot of people don't really like it and I will admit that Protector is a lot closer to classic Defender then 2000 is but that doesn't make it bad, just a little different.

That was my exp.sumned up, never knew at the time of Defenders origins when i got my mum to pick it up for me on 2600 as a kid, box art looked 'cool' and i had many hours of fun with it and it'd make my top 10 2600 VCS games.

Defender 2000 (Jaguar) however, i bought and hated.Ship was far too big, powerful, audio was'nt a patch on Tempest 2000's, the game just looked and felt like something from the P.D scene, but then i never felt Jeff (for all his genius) had ever managed to do a decent version of Defender.

Personal tastes an all that but.....

The Spectrum never got an official port of Defender or Stargate but it did get this utterly brilliant clone.

I clearly remember buying this game for £2.99 back in the day and playing it non-stop!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeIjKuE1pTA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeIjKuE1pTA)

Very impressive!

Defender clone Spice on the Atari Falcon:

ATARI FALCON 030 (SPICE) (//http)

The ships and enemy sprites are rather large on that clone.  And those screams!  Oh, those screams!

How many of you have played the pretty much unknown 3rd Defender game?

I played it on holiday once and have never seen it since, shame as I remember it being excellent!

This is the first time I see this game.  Those screams! 

Strike Force has lush backgrounds ala Darius. It almost took me to that game in watching the clip.

No I've never heard of Strike Force before. Looks awesome 

that Strike Force looks great, never heard of it before.

John Hancock did a release looking at three versions of Defender and I also discovered an updated version (albeit several years old already) of the Let's Compare video in the first post.  Check these out...