Star Luster
Encyclopedia
is a first-person shooter
and space combat simulator
video game developed and published by Namco
in 1985 only in Japan
. It is an arcade-style
combat-dedicated, sci-fi
flight simulator that was first released for the Nintendo Famicom
. That same year, Nintendo
adapted the title for play in the arcade
as part of their Vs. Arcade system.
, StarBlade, Ace Combat 3
, Bounty Hounds
and New Space Order
. The game featured free-roaming open space
exploration allowing six degrees of freedom
, a cockpit view where the cockpit controls could be seen (and where the cockpit bobs up and down), bases where the player can be refueled, a map and radar displaying the locations of enemies and bases, a warp ability that allows the player to be warped to anywhere on the map, and a date system
keeping track of the current date which can change when warping long distances.
. In 1998, the game was also included on a compilation made for the PlayStation
known as Namco Anthology 1
where, like all of the Famicom games presented on the disc, an enhanced arrange mode was provided alongside the unaltered original game. The Famicom version was later included in the Japanese version of Nintendo's Star Fox Assault, and was ported to the Wii
's Virtual Console
on March 4, 2008.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
and space combat simulator
Space flight simulator game
A space flight simulator game is a genre of simulation video games that lets players experience space flight. Highly realistic examples lacking any sort of combat include Orbiter and Microsoft Space Simulator...
video game developed and published by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
in 1985 only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is an arcade-style
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
combat-dedicated, sci-fi
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
flight simulator that was first released for the Nintendo Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. That same year, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
adapted the title for play in the arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
as part of their Vs. Arcade system.
Description
The game's setting takes place in the UGSF universe, which is the same universe in GalaxianGalaxian
is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
, StarBlade, Ace Combat 3
Ace Combat 3
is the third installment in the Ace Combat series of games. A major departure from every other game in the series, it featured a futuristic storyline involving a war between a group of multinational corporations.-Plot:...
, Bounty Hounds
Bounty Hounds
Bounty Hounds is a third-person shooter-RPG published by Namco and developed by XPEC Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable system. It was released September 12, 2006 in North America and September 21, 2006 in Japan....
and New Space Order
New Space Order
New Space Order is an RTS currently in production in Japan by Bandai Namco Games. It contains elements from the Xevious video game series. In the game, there is an interplanetary nation called the "Military Empire," which the population speaks the Xevi language, the same language spoken by the...
. The game featured free-roaming open space
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
exploration allowing six degrees of freedom
Six degrees of freedom
Six degrees of freedom refers to motion of a rigid body in three-dimensional space, namely the ability to move forward/backward, up/down, left/right combined with rotation about three perpendicular axes...
, a cockpit view where the cockpit controls could be seen (and where the cockpit bobs up and down), bases where the player can be refueled, a map and radar displaying the locations of enemies and bases, a warp ability that allows the player to be warped to anywhere on the map, and a date system
Persistent world
A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...
keeping track of the current date which can change when warping long distances.
Ports
An enhanced version of it was later ported to the Sharp X68000Sharp X68000
The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030...
. In 1998, the game was also included on a compilation made for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
known as Namco Anthology 1
Namco Anthology
Namco Anthology is a two disc series of game compilations for PlayStation that have only been released in Japan in 1998. They are similar to the Namco Museum series except that the Anthology collections include games that have been developed on consoles originally...
where, like all of the Famicom games presented on the disc, an enhanced arrange mode was provided alongside the unaltered original game. The Famicom version was later included in the Japanese version of Nintendo's Star Fox Assault, and was ported to the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
on March 4, 2008.