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Super Stardust HD: where Asteroids and Geometry Wars collide
TheSonicRetard
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I searched the forums for information on Super Stardust HD but found nothing, so excuse me if this has already been discussed. I've been sick in bed all day, so I hopped online to look for a good game to buy. Now, I love shmups. I love them. All sorts - horizontal, vertical, bullet hells, etc. I'm a giant fan of geometry wars because it seemed to capture the essence of gameplay over graphics, and yet it still had enticing graphics. Thats why when I stumbled upon a review of Super Stardust HD which claimed it was "the PS3 version of Geometry Wars" I knew I had to check it out.
holy shit
That review I read was a bit misleading. Geometry wars is more of a pretty remake of robotron, while Super Stardust HD is more like astroids. As far as I can tell, people claim their similar because of their graphics style and control scheme. But really, the underlying mechanics behind the two are very different. Both Geometry wars and Super Stardust HD share the same control scheme - left stick moves your ship in any direction, right stick fires in any direction. You can fly left and fire right at the same time. The triggers fire a bomb, which also works the same in both games - a circular pulse emanates from the center of your ship, obliterating everything around you. Also similar between both games is the scoring system - the longer you stay alive and kill things, the more your multiplier goes up. So, after a certain point, you'll get 2X, 3X, 4X, and so forth.
holy shit
Also similar between the two game is the graphics style. Geometry wars is a little more abstract, and Super Stardust HD is a little less flashy, but both games feature the same glowy style. You'll see lots of neon lights, lots of beautiful particle effects, and lots and lots of glowing shit all over the screen. Both games also take place on a neon grid (a sphere in Super Stardust HD's case). And like Geometry Wars, Super Stardust is also in HD, and it looks fantastic.
holy shit
That, however, is where the similarities end. The actual underlying game principles are pretty different. Geometry wars relies a lot more on randomness with ramping franticness. Super Stardust HD, while also hectic as hell, actually has order to it's chaos. There is actual level design in Super Stardust HD. There are 5 planets to conquer, each with 5 phases. The planets on the surface all appear the same - a giant spherical grid with asteroids and enemies dropping down. However, the order and placements of where these asteroids and enemies drop is never random. For example, planet 1 phase 1 always begins with the big asteroid dropping down in the center, phase 2 always includes the asteroid which has the countdown sequence, etc. In this way, there's a definite level structure.
holy shit
this is not to say Super Stardust HD is by the books. Not by any means. While the placement off dropping asteroids and enemies is set, the way the asteroids break and enemies move will always ensure a constant challenge. As you attack asteroids, they break up into smaller chunks (just like asteroids) and bounce around the sphere. You can travel all around the sphere, and these asteroid chunks never disappear, so unless you keep your sphere clean, the game will get extremely hectic. But not to worry, you have help - super stardust HD features a leveling up system. As you go through the game, you'll find green glowing pieces of rock inside asteroids. Shooting these pieces will give you a range of items, ranging from shields, to weapons upgrades, to bombs, to extra lives, to just plain points.
holy shit
speaking of weapons, super stardust offers a twist on the old "shoot everything" formula in the form of 3 different weapons - a green "rock crusher" bullet, a blue "ice blaster" bullet, and a red "gold melter" laser. You have all 3 weapons at all times, and switch between them with L1 and R1. These weapons feel very different from one another - the rock crusher is a spread shot, the ice blaster is a speed shot, and the gold melter is a long stringy laser which seeks out and blows up anything around it like a whip. Additionally, differently colored enemies and asteroids are weak to certain attacks. Gold asteroids, for example, are weak to gold melter, while ice asteroids are weak to ice blaster. Each weapon is independently leveled up from one another. As they level up, they change in various ways, and by the end of the game you find yourself a badass with a god-like arsenal of weapons. Power ups also don't disappear after you die so you don't have to worry about losing them.
holy shit
Super Stardust HD is a remake of a sequel to an arcade game, with amiga backgrounds. So it goes without saying that it's going to have an amazing techno soundtrack. If you enjoyed the soundtrack for Geometry wars, you'll like the stuff here. Also included is a co-op mode (with, sadly, no online support) and an online leaderboard. All in all, I gotta say I'm impressed with it - I was looking for another geometry wars style game and, for the most part, Super Stardust HD delivers. That's not to say it's just a geometry wars clone - it has more than enough to distinguish itself, but there's also enough overlap that I can whole heartedly recommend it to anyone who was a fan of geometry wars. It fills the same niche. It's not a question of "is it better" because both games are insanely good, but rather "will I like it." And the answer is "FUCKING YES."
and just for shits, here's some high res screenshots to make your pants all soggy in the front:
and one last time:
holy shit
EDIT: now with less h-scroll rape
also,
holy shit
holy shit
That review I read was a bit misleading. Geometry wars is more of a pretty remake of robotron, while Super Stardust HD is more like astroids. As far as I can tell, people claim their similar because of their graphics style and control scheme. But really, the underlying mechanics behind the two are very different. Both Geometry wars and Super Stardust HD share the same control scheme - left stick moves your ship in any direction, right stick fires in any direction. You can fly left and fire right at the same time. The triggers fire a bomb, which also works the same in both games - a circular pulse emanates from the center of your ship, obliterating everything around you. Also similar between both games is the scoring system - the longer you stay alive and kill things, the more your multiplier goes up. So, after a certain point, you'll get 2X, 3X, 4X, and so forth.
holy shit
Also similar between the two game is the graphics style. Geometry wars is a little more abstract, and Super Stardust HD is a little less flashy, but both games feature the same glowy style. You'll see lots of neon lights, lots of beautiful particle effects, and lots and lots of glowing shit all over the screen. Both games also take place on a neon grid (a sphere in Super Stardust HD's case). And like Geometry Wars, Super Stardust is also in HD, and it looks fantastic.
holy shit
That, however, is where the similarities end. The actual underlying game principles are pretty different. Geometry wars relies a lot more on randomness with ramping franticness. Super Stardust HD, while also hectic as hell, actually has order to it's chaos. There is actual level design in Super Stardust HD. There are 5 planets to conquer, each with 5 phases. The planets on the surface all appear the same - a giant spherical grid with asteroids and enemies dropping down. However, the order and placements of where these asteroids and enemies drop is never random. For example, planet 1 phase 1 always begins with the big asteroid dropping down in the center, phase 2 always includes the asteroid which has the countdown sequence, etc. In this way, there's a definite level structure.
holy shit
this is not to say Super Stardust HD is by the books. Not by any means. While the placement off dropping asteroids and enemies is set, the way the asteroids break and enemies move will always ensure a constant challenge. As you attack asteroids, they break up into smaller chunks (just like asteroids) and bounce around the sphere. You can travel all around the sphere, and these asteroid chunks never disappear, so unless you keep your sphere clean, the game will get extremely hectic. But not to worry, you have help - super stardust HD features a leveling up system. As you go through the game, you'll find green glowing pieces of rock inside asteroids. Shooting these pieces will give you a range of items, ranging from shields, to weapons upgrades, to bombs, to extra lives, to just plain points.
holy shit
speaking of weapons, super stardust offers a twist on the old "shoot everything" formula in the form of 3 different weapons - a green "rock crusher" bullet, a blue "ice blaster" bullet, and a red "gold melter" laser. You have all 3 weapons at all times, and switch between them with L1 and R1. These weapons feel very different from one another - the rock crusher is a spread shot, the ice blaster is a speed shot, and the gold melter is a long stringy laser which seeks out and blows up anything around it like a whip. Additionally, differently colored enemies and asteroids are weak to certain attacks. Gold asteroids, for example, are weak to gold melter, while ice asteroids are weak to ice blaster. Each weapon is independently leveled up from one another. As they level up, they change in various ways, and by the end of the game you find yourself a badass with a god-like arsenal of weapons. Power ups also don't disappear after you die so you don't have to worry about losing them.
holy shit
Super Stardust HD is a remake of a sequel to an arcade game, with amiga backgrounds. So it goes without saying that it's going to have an amazing techno soundtrack. If you enjoyed the soundtrack for Geometry wars, you'll like the stuff here. Also included is a co-op mode (with, sadly, no online support) and an online leaderboard. All in all, I gotta say I'm impressed with it - I was looking for another geometry wars style game and, for the most part, Super Stardust HD delivers. That's not to say it's just a geometry wars clone - it has more than enough to distinguish itself, but there's also enough overlap that I can whole heartedly recommend it to anyone who was a fan of geometry wars. It fills the same niche. It's not a question of "is it better" because both games are insanely good, but rather "will I like it." And the answer is "FUCKING YES."
and just for shits, here's some high res screenshots to make your pants all soggy in the front:
and one last time:
holy shit
EDIT: now with less h-scroll rape
also,
holy shit
TheSonicRetard on
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You sir, just saved me from myself. Thank you. (that is-- until/if they fix this game)
When did this ever happen? I've played through the game from begining to end 3 times and never once saw something like that happen. Although, on the last world I do kill alot of enemies by just boosting through them...
Same here. Uncharted, Ratchet, the CCG camera game, they all look fun, but this is the game I most want to get ported to the 360.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
Are you sure it was an Arcade game TSR? Other than if you're counting asteroids
I had (and still have) Stardust on the old Amiga 600 and I only yesterday booted up Super Stardust on the CD32 just to compare it against this. Super Stardust was pretty much just an AGA expansion of stardust, although I believe it added a couple of behind-the-ship sections where you fly down 3D tunnels to get to the next stage. Anyway to say the game has come on leaps and bounds would be more than an understatement! That said the original Amiga versions are still very very fun.
Back to this one though, it's fucking AWESOME and looks beautiful. I've never yet had any "bullet not registering" problems and have honestly heard nothing of the sort.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
I think a big thing personally for me is also rampart. I heard they are getting atari's rampart. Now I'm not certain that has online multiplayer but if it does thats pretty damned awesome. The PS3 is finally getting some decent software that I actually care about.
I have no idea what he's talking about ether, I've had it since I got my PS3 (3-4 months now) and I haven't experienced a single bug.
Anyway, the patch hasn't been released in the US, has it? It added custom soundtracks, an in-game store (where you'll be able to buy the multiplayer expansions they plan on releasing) and Dual Shock 3 support. It's pretty damn awesome.
RainbowDespair: Sony published Super Stardust HD so the chances of it going to XBLA are slim to none.
Viscountalpha: Rampart has been on the PS Store since May/June last year and from what I've seen, it's pretty much a direct port of the arcade version but with online multiplayer.
Awww man.....
I havn't played plannet mode since the game first came out, but I'll go ahead and top my old score after work today.
It's so totaly fucking on.
I have to drive to austin later today so I can't wreck your shit till tonight.
But when I get to austin, I'll have a case of guinness on hand and nothing but free time to destroy your records.
Sorry took me about 15 minutes to get my groove back hadn't played in a month due to uncharted warhawk ect. Forgot just how awsome this game is.
With style.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
They have a demo out for this? I coulda swore I looked for one and found nothing. Or is this one of those demos they release in one region and not another? Do I have to make a phony European account now?
They released an update to the game and bundled a demo in. It's called something like:
"Super Stardust HD: Update and Demo".
If you download that without the full game you get the free demo. Dunno if it's on the American store.
If not just create a new Euro account, use address details like:
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AJ
It doesn't check. Apparently you don't even need to use a valid email address.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
The update is coming to the US soon, but it's not out yet. Apparently a couple of people have had problems installing the update over a US version of the game. Or so I hear.
but if you're patient you'll probably get the demo too when the US update comes out.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Well, I have the full version of the game, so I don't really need the demo.
But damn this game is great. Pick it up and join in on the leaderboard race me and Malechai are having.
This is so much fucking fun, it's like being in the arcade again.
Yeah, I'm going to download it (*cough*ifthegirlfriendletsmewe'resavingtogoonholiday*cough*) asap as I loved the demo and I adored the previous Amiga games.
I meant the demo for "Dirty" who was asking about it.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
By far one of the best DLC purchases I've made this gen.
Anyway yes I have it too and this is my FAVORITE game on the PS3. Honestly I like it more than Geometry Wars.
This is one of my GF's favorite PS3 games, FWIW.
Simply pure fun.
I'll have to put in a few rounds when I get home tonight.
Warrior | Mage
Damn I love Overdrive on rockcrusher.
Noooooo my monies!
MY MIND!
Only got a 40GB system, so I can't see that I only have 28 GB left with just Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk, Rock Band, UTIII, and the Super Stardust demo on the system.
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Save file? The game caches aren't saved under the save files, they're saved under the Game Data Utility folder (which is at the top of the Game menu). On my system Warhawk takes up just under a gig (I've got the retail copy and have downloaded the patches and DLC), R&C takes up around 400MB but UTIII takes about 2.5GB's (then again, my brother has downloaded a lot of new maps and mods for it). I've no clue how much Rock Band takes up on your system though.
Also, it seems like the PS3 itself takes up around 3-5 gigs. It's probably using it as a cache for a bunch of different things (like the internet browser for one).
Downloading the game now.
Why bother getting a SD card reader and SD cards? Just upgrade your HDD. Any ol' 2.5" SATA HDD should work, I'm planning on getting a 250GB one just so I never have to worry about space.