Wow, 1977. Star Ship didn't look great then, and age has only made it worse (this also applies to "Outer Space," the Sears version with an equally generic title).
17 variations of speed and objects can't save this ship from sinking. In most games, you shoot down very chunky robots and ships while avoiding asteroids. The only goal? Get the most points before that classic two minutes and sixteen seconds is up. (Many Atari games have a time limit of 2 minutes and 16 seconds, due to technical limits . . . I think.) In the "Warp Drive" variation, the goal is to travel as many parsecs as possible, usually while avoiding asteroids. And that's all I have to say about that.
Now check out this scaling!
The stars are made of twinkling blocks. Background sound effects sound like standard bleepy space noises, because space beeps (or spaceships beep?). The "Enemy Space Objects" scroll, or rather jump, at you.
In the later game variations, you must land a Lunar Lander on a moon that has no orbital path and is not much larger than your lander.
Star Ship features many two player variations. In some, the second player steers a Space Module that the first player attempts to shoot down. In the lunar lander games, the second player controls the moon, in an attempt to avoid the lander. The controls switch halfway through, reversing the players. This is all exactly as fun as it sounds.
Star Ship (or Outer Space) is as dull as its uninspired names. Star Ship is notable because Atari needed a space shooter upon the release of the VCS in 1977--you may recall a certain movie featuring space battles released in 1977--but more polished titles like Star Raiders would soon jettison Star Ship into the past.
That said, I find Star Ship charming. I enjoy the blocky scaling UFOs and robots and "Star Fighters" that look to me a bit like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek, if a four year old constructed the Enterprise from blocks. I even like the background space beeps, and I enjoy the flashing explosions when you collide with an asteroid. Unfortunately, the charm of 1977 Atari graphics and sounds cannot compensate for the repetitive and mind-numbing gameplay.
Final Star Ship (Outer Space) review:
If you can't get enough chunky Atari pixels, you may find Star Ship a charming relic. Otherwise, I recommend Star Ship (or Outer Space) to collectors only.
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