page_title: Star Raiders
section_title: Ports
hierarchical_section_title: Star Raiders / Ports
caption_attribution_description: The Video Touch Pad controller for the Atari 2600 video game console. This controller was shipped with the game Star Raiders and was the only game that utilized it.
context_page_description: Star Raiders is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released in cartridge form by Atari in 1979. The game is commonly referred to as the platform's killer app. It was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST.
  The game simulates 3D space combat between the player's ship and an invading fleet of alien "Zylon" vessels. Star Raiders was distinctive for its graphics, which, in addition to various map and long range scan views, provided forward and aft first-person views, with movement conveyed by a streaming 3D starfield as the player engaged enemy spacecraft.
  While there had already been target-shooting games using the first person perspective, Star Raiders had considerably higher quality graphics and more complex gameplay. It inspired imitators throughout the 1980s as well as later-generation space combat simulation games. It is one of the games that inspired Elite, Wing Commander, and Star Wars: X-Wing.
context_section_description: Versions of Star Raiders were created for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST series of computers.
  The Atari 5200 version was done by programmer Joe Copson and released in autumn 1982. This version is nearly identical to the computer version, but takes advantage of the 5200's analog joystick by allowing for variable speed turning, and puts all the game functions in the player's hand via the controller's 12-button keypad. Other changes are graphical improvements to the Sector Scan mode by displaying small images of enemy ships and objects instead of pinpoints, alterations to some of the text responses to be more specific to the game-ending action, and automatically switching to Forward View when Hyperspace is engaged.
  The Atari 2600 version was programmed by Carla Meninsky and released in 1982. It suffers somewhat due to the 2600's weaker graphics and sound capabilities. It shipped with a special keypad controller, the Video Touch Pad, to take the place of the computer keyboard. Although the controller was designed to accept overlays for compatibility with multiple games, Star Raiders was the only game to utilize it. In this version the Zylons are renamed "Krylons".
  The Atari ST version was designed and programmed by Robert Zdybel with graphics and animation by Jerome Domurat and released by Atari Corporation in 1986. It is a very different game in many ways, with more enemy ship types, different weapons, slower action, and a map featuring a triangular grid instead of a square one, which makes it much easier for the Zylon ships to surround starbases.
caption: The Atari 2600 version shipped with the Video Touch Pad controller.
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