The Last Starfighter

1.7 Q: ARE THERE ANY PLACES TO FIND SOUNDS?

1.8 The Last Starfighter TRIVIA!!!

     -- You may have recognized the actor who plays the part 
	of the "Hitchhiker," Marc Alaimo. He's a recurring actor in the
	Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine,  and he's 
	frequently seen as the Cardassian Gul Dukat on ST: DS9.

     -- And yes, the Wil Wheaton listed as "Louis' Friend" in the 
	credits is also a ST: Next Generation alumni,  Wesley Crusher.
	I wonder if he didn't have a bigger part, but possibly his 
	scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, since his total
	screen time is less than 60 seconds in the finished film.
	(I know, I've timed it. :} )

     -- Computer Trivia will end up here when I get around to doing it.

2) THE LAST STARFIGHTER: THE GAME

2.0) Q: WAS THERE REALLY AN ARCADE GAME?

     
	 A:      Yes and No. In the spring of 1995 I called Atari
        Games on an unrelated matter (trying to find an old        
	instruction manual for an arcade game) and asked the same
        question.
                 The representative I talked to said that the game
        was created, and test marketed in a limited fashion, but 
	never went into mass production, largely because of the
        glut in movie related games at the time, and the fact
        that Atari had lost a great deal of money paying licensing 
	fees for their previous movie related games (Star Wars, 
	TESB, Indiana Jones/Temple of Doom...).
             Around this time, Atari was also losing millions
        because of "The Crash" of the home gaming market, 
	so that may have been an additional nail in Starfighter's 
	coffin. 

• Update: 12/1/96
• I recently received an e-mail from one of Atari Games founders, Nolan Bushnell. Here's the contents of that e-mail:

  
  	From:	NolanB@XXX.XXX.XXX  
  	7-NOV-1996 13:17:10.38
  	To:	WAYLAND
  
  	>How many units were produced? What were the graphics like?
  
  	It was never produced. It earned almost no money.  
  	Some of the graphics were later used in another game.
  
  	Nolan
  
  

	I recently was able to contact Lyle Rains 
(formerly of 
Atari Games, now with Leisure Video 
Research) and 
Mike Albaugh (currently of Atari Games :}).
	They have graciously (and for me, sadly) solved 
the mystery of The Last Starfighter arcade game.

From: Mike Albaugh 
Subject: Re: Last Starfighter
To: WAYLAND@VAX1.BEMIDJI.MSUS.EDU
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 16:57:23 -0800 (PST)	

Our ``Postmaster'' sent this out:

>I received this mail sent to "postmaster" (as I am he).  
>Anyone care to answer?

>    At the end of the film, in the credits of course, it says that 
>    the arcade games were supplied by Atari.  I, and a great many 
>    of the people I know, have never seen the real, "Last Starfighter"
>    arcade game.

	To the best of my knowledge, _nobody_ ouside Atari or the
consultant (Ted Michon, of General Magic) who designed the video
hardware, or the film company, ever saw the Last Starfighter game.
It not only was never produced, it did not make it to field-test.

>    If possible, I'd like any information you could provide about the game.
>    I have "spoken" via e-mail with Nolan Bushnell and his answers were quite
>    brief, and only confirmed what we already knew, that the game never made
>    it into mass production.
>
>    1) Was The Last Starfighter an X-Y vector game, or a 
>       raster game?

	Raster, I believe Medium Res (512x384), but it might have
	been standard-res. Color.

>    2) How many units were actually produced? 5, 10, 1000?

	One prototype set of electronics. No actual cabinet. The
electronics consisted of a set of wire-wrap boards. The video was
designed by Ted Michon. The "Math box" was designed by me 
and programmed by Jack Ritter.

>    3) What kind of controls did it use? A flight yoke similar to the
>       Star Wars XY game?  Joysticks?

	Flight-yoke, originally designed for the military version of
BattleZone, later used on Star Wars.

>    4) What was the basic gameplay like?  Was it a scrolling shooter, 
>       like Raiden, Sky Shark or 1942?  Or was it a simulator style 
>	like the XY Star Wars?

	More like the Star-Wars game, although it didn't have the
performance it needed be be so involving, and the needed enhancments
would have driven its already too-high cost _way_ too high. If the
movie had been a real block-buster, it _might_ have been worth making
a few for promotional purposes, but...

From: Mike Albaugh 
Subject: Re: Last Starfighter
To: WAYLAND@VAX1.BEMIDJI.MSUS.EDU (Wayland DeGreene)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 08:29:36 -0800 (PST)

	First a correction. I wrote Ted Michon, of General Magic.
That was a brain-slip. It should have been of Technical Magic.

> Do you know if the original source code still exists
> for the game?  Given the recent explosion of ``non-professional'' 
> arcade game emulators out there now, and with modern computer 
> hardware as advanced as it is, it might be fun to see an 
> emulation of The Last Starfighter.

	I doubt it would be of interest, _if_ you could read it. Game
code from that time is archived on nine-track (6250 or 1600 BPI) 
Magnetic tape in VMS BACKUP format. 
	_If_ we could find the specific tape, and _if_we could 
scounge up a nine-track drive to hook to one of our current 
machines and _if_ we could also scrounge software to read 
the archive, then what you would get is 68000 and TMS32010 
assembly code for a _very_twisty (and ill-documented, even at the 
time) hardware. 
	_If_ you persevered anyway, you would eventually 
have a very preliminary game that played much like Star Wars, 
but on a raster screen with ships that looked something like those 
in the movie. Oh yeah, it would be slow and a little flakey. 
	What killed the project was the realization that it 
would take more time and money to get a playable game than we 
really had.
	About the only really interesting bit for _me_ would be 
to find the original 3D data describing the objects in the game.
	Again, I have my doubts, but maybe one of the guys who 
was more involved with the game has photos. If I had the kind of 
time and money it would take to actually reproduce the hardware 
and software to take screen-shots today, I'd spent it on a nice 
house, and my _current_house cost about $500K :-)

	Mike

Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 15:21:14 -0800
To: Wayland@vax1.bemidji.msus.edu
From: Lyle Rains 
Subject: Last Starfighter

  	A few months into the project, several troubling things 
happened.  First,the guys who did the hardware had a falling out 
with each other, and the design engineer left the subcontractor's 
company.  So the ability to correct the remaining design problems 
and put the electronics into production was severely hampered.  
	Next, old Atari Inc. was coming apart.  This was the time 
of the huge losses incurred by Atari in the consumer and computer 
businesses, which ended with Warner Communications selling almost 
everything but the Coin-op Division to Jack Tramiel.  
	The Last Starfighter movie had already been released, and 
was far from the huge commercial success aniticipated.  Also, the 
arcade games business was poor, with a huge amount of used equipment 
on the market, and little sales of new equipment.  
	Finally, the Coin-op division was also on the auction block, 
and Warner Communications agreed to eat certain costs in order to 
make the division more attractive.  One such cost was the $1 million 
guarantee in Last Start Fighter royalties which old Atari Inc. had 
incurred.  
	It was decided that since the hardware was a problem, and 
would result in avery expensive product in a poor arcade market, and 
since the movie had not been a huge hit, that the risks in continuing 
the project (and possibly incurring the million-buck guarantee) were 
imprudent.  
	Consequently, with little fanfare,and in an environment of fear 
and loathing following several rounds of layoffs, the project was 
killed.  We may have designed a game cabinet for the movie (I don't 
recall), but there was never an actual Last Starfighter game 
completed beyond early prototypes.  
	After 21 years at Atari, I left 2 years ago.  There are probably 
only a couple of people left at Atari who would remember anything 
about this game.  And they probably don't know as much of the story 
as I do.  Almost none of the people who worked on the Last 
Starfighter are still at the company.	

Lyle Rains

Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 09:20:11 -0800
To: Wayland DeGreene 
From: Lyle Rains 
Subject: RE: Last Starfighter

>Thank you for replying to my questions about the
>game, The Last Starfighter.  It's nice to finally
>have some first hand recollections about the game,
>which has long been a source of speculation
>among my fellow arcade game collectors.
>Now all I have to do is find a Prototype boardset 
>and I can die a happy man. :}

	I happened to re-read the reply I sent you, and 
I noticed that somehow, in the editing, I had deleted the 
first few paragraphs of the message!  Don't ask how, 'cuz 
I have no idea!!
	Anyway, besides a brief introduction, I had meant 
to include a description of the game.  It was going to be a 
flat-shaded polygonal game, sort of like I, Robot (a few years 
later).  The game was going to start with shooting target 
bouys and proceed to taking on the whole enemy armada single-handed 
(just like the movie).  
	There was a button to push that would put you in
the berserker mode (star-blossom, or whatever it was called),
again, just as in the movie.  I think we were even going to try
to implement the enemy mother ship, which was cutting a hole in
the frontier shield, but I don't think we ever got beyond a design
for it.  The controls were going to be the same as Star Wars.
	I also explained that the hardware was designed by an outside
company, while the programming was being done at Atari.  I don't
believe any surviving prototype boards exist (but ya never know).         

	Lyle Rains 

2.1) Q: WAS THERE AN ATARI 2600 T.L.S. GAME?

     A:      There was at least was one in development, but the final
        version of the gamecart never made it into mass production,
        again due in part to the ``Crash'' of the home videogame market.

             A version was also created for the Atari 5200 game system,
        and the Atari 800 computer system.  The prototypes of the game
        contain a Last Starfighter intro, and graphics similar to the
        ships from the movie. Gameplay involved fighting your way through
        wave after wave of enemy ships, and then a final confrontation
        with the with the command ship, which would then pound you into
        infinity. :}
             The prototype Last Starfighter game was suddenly renamed
        and released as ``Star Raiders II'' in both cartridge and floppy
        disk format for the 5200 console and Atari 800 computer systems.
	The game has slightly changed graphics and an increased difficulty.
	The TLS intro was also removed and replaced with an Atari corporate
	logo.

	Here's the Atari 2600 listing of the game.

Name                     Atari     Rar Gr  Pl  Model No.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Last Starfighter               NR  ?   ?   CX26134      

Rar= rarity (Not Released), Gr=Graphics Pl=Playability

Update:11/1/99

	A: Apparently there do exist commercial copies of The Last Starfighter 
	   which were released for the old Atari 800 computers. I've 
	   had many people e-mail me saying that they have a copy they 
	   could send me if I wanted it. Actually, I'd be more interested 
	   in a copy of the ARCADE roms if anyone has them. :}

2.2) Q: HAS T.L.S. EVER BEEN RELEASED FOR ANY OTHER GAME SYSTEMS/PLATFORMS?

     A:      Yes it has.
	     There was supposedly a version released for the 8 bit Nintendo
        NES system. It's reported to be a scrolling shooter, in the same 
	style as Sky Shark, 1941, Raiden and others. That's the only 
	other version said to exist. 

(Update:8/10/96)

     A.1:    The NES version of TLS is a _Terrible_ game. It's a side 
	scrolling shooter like the games mentioned above. The intro 
	says ``The Last Starfighter'' in a font like that used in the 
	film. It also contains an abridged version of the soundtrack 
	score. The high scores contain some _really_ bad mispellings 
	of the names (Xur is Zur, etc.) And that's about it. 
	Not worth buying, _or_ renting, unless you're a true die-hard
        TLS fan. And maybe not even then... 

Update:12/1/96

     A.2: Chuck Cochems zaphod@majornet.com claims...

        "It's just a renamed "Uridium".  
	I've played Uridium on the c64, and that "the 
	last starfighter" game I saw for it The NES Version
        looked VERY familiar...
        So, to sum up, the game is not a true Last Starfighter game 
	at all.
           It is simply a conversion of a c64 game called Uridium.

    I have no way of confirming these claims, So I'll just assume he's
     Correct about the game.  Either way, it's still a lousy game.

 

Robin Harbron says...

>   Hey, I like your FAQ an awful lot, it was brought up in
> RGVC Rec.Games.video.Classic, so I followed through.  
>   I'm a classic video game
> collector, a fan of TLS, but #1 a commodore 64 fan :)
>   I've never seen the NES TLS game, but I've played the
> c64 game called Uridium.  Nearly every c64 user over the
> years has played this game, and it is pretty much
> universally accepted as a massive classic.  It was
> written by a fellow named Andrew Braybrook, who is highly
> esteemed by many :)

>   Anyway, my point is, if TLS for NES is truly a conversion
> of Uridium, it must be a very bad one, as Uridium is truly
> brilliant.  Or alternatively, perhaps Chuck didn't mean it
> was a conversion, but merely a similar game, one of the 
> same "genre".

>   Sorry if this isn't much use to you, I guess I just didn't
> like how it is sort of implied that Uridium stinks, when
> in fact just TLS on NES stinks. :)

OK, What I said was... 
	``I have no way of confirming these claims, 
	So I'll just assume he's correct about the game.  
	Either way, it's still a lousy game.''

What I meant to say was...
	``I have no way of confirming these claims,
	So I'll just assume he's correct about the game.
	As far as I'm concened it was the wrong game to put
	the Last Starfighter name on.  The ships look _NOTHING_
	like those in the film, not even remotely close.  Putting 
	"The Last Starfighter" name on a Donkey Kong cart would
	have done the same job.  Taken by itself as a side 
	scrolling shooter, The 8 bit NES LSF is a decent game.
	But as a representation of The LSF film, it doesn't
	even come close to the mark.

Update: 8/10/96

     A.3:      Well, there was another version. Sort of.  
	FASA, (famous for the Battletech/Mechwarrior games) 
	produced a Last Starfighter Board game, where you
        pilot your Gunstar through tunnels looking for things 
	to shoot at.        
	This game has been out of print since about 1985-86.

        Last Starfighter: Tunnel Chase Game
        Publisher : FASA
        In print? : No
        # players : 2-6
        Plays best with: see comments
        Ease of learn? : 5-10min
        Avg. play time : 31-60min
        Immed. replay : 3+/session
        Longterm replay: Average
        Format : Board
        Genre : SciFi
        Feel : Serious
        Description : The two player game portrays the battle in
         	the asteroid in the movie _The Last Starfighter_. 
		(More than two players just gives different starting 
		conditions.)
	        The players have to attempt to outflank the other 
		player(s) through the tight quarters of an asteroid 
		full of tunnels while avoiding damage by being shot 
		and/or hitting walls.
	        Last one alive wins. The 'asteroid' is assembled from a
	        central hexagon (which is symetrical) and six surrounding
	        hexagons, so there are 720 possible asteroids'.
        Comments : RE: Plays best with: That depends on what type of game
	        you want. 2 players gives a nice game of trying to outflank 
		the other player and get several good shots. With more 
		players, it devolves into a chaotic ruckus where you can't 
		afford to just pursue one other player.

3) THOSE WHO HELPED WITH INFO FOR THE FAQ...

   	Here's the names of the intrepid souls who donated knowledge to
        this FAQ: 

Lyle Rains, Formerly of Atari Games, now with Leisure Video Research 
Mike Albaugh, Currently with Atari games (Thanks Mike!!) 
Val Kartchner (val@cs.weber.edu) - TLS FASA Game Review
Chuck Cochems (zaphod@majornet.com) - Info on the NES/C-64 game.
Nolan Bushnell, Formerly of Atari Games.
Kevin Chase (vgr@clark.net) - The Atari 2600 gamecart list Located 
at www.clark.net/pub/vgr/lists/plain/atari
The Internet Movie Database at:http://uk.imbd.com/Movie/
The internet newsgroups: 
   
Rec.Games.Video.Classic

Rec.Games.Video.Atari

and 

Rec.Games.Video.Arcade.Collecting

The Deja-News Usenet News collection at: http://www.dejanews.com 



3.1) ADDITIONS? 

Do you have some info on The Last Starfighter that _NEEDS_ to be shared? 
If so, send the info, along with your name and e-mail address to 
me 
with ``LAST STARFIGHTER SUBMISSIONS'' in the subject line. And thanks! 

4) LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO, ET AL... 

The names of films, books, games, etc. mentioned in this work 
are Copyright by the original copyright holders, and their inclusion 
in this FAQ is not intended to be an infringement of those rights. 
``The Last Starfighter FAQ'' is © 1996-1999 by 
Russ Krook III
 and may be freely distributed in it's original form as long 
as this copyright notice remains intact, and the person distributing 
this FAQ does not recieve monetary compensation, other than user 
registration fees normally associated with the operation of an 
electronic Bulletin Board Service. 

All Other Rights Reserved. 
This FAQ and any information contained therein may NOT be published in any 
printed form, or distributed via CD-ROM/Magnetic media in 
``best of'' or compilation disks without the express written 
consent of the author wayland@paulbunyan.net.