Star Maze
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| Star Maze | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Eastman Computing[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Sir-Tech |
| Designer(s) | Robert Woodhead[2] |
| Programmer(s) | Gordon Eastman[2] |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1982: Apple 1983: Atari, C64 |
| Genre(s) | Multidirectional shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Star Maze is a space-themed shooter taking place in a multidirectional scrolling maze published by Sir-Tech in 1982. It was written by Canadian programmer Gordon Eastman for the Apple II, based on a design by Robert Woodhead.[3] Versions for the Atari 8-bit computers[1] and Commodore 64[4] followed in 1983.
The object of Star Maze is to collect the nine jewels in a large, randomly generated, maze-like structure.[5]
The player flies through the maze in a spaceship that looks and controls like the ship from Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade game. One button applies thrust, the other button shoots in the direction the ship is pointing. The joystick orients the ship. A hyperspace key drops the ship in a random location in the maze, and a finite number of antimatter bombs destroy all visible enemies.[5] Unlike Asteroids, the ship has limited fuel, and the hyperspace option uses a significant amount of it. A jewel can only be collected it the ship's speed is below a certain threshold, then the jewel can be flown to the mothership in exchange for additional fuel.[6]
Completing a maze gives a bonus based on how much time it took.[6] There are 16 levels.
Development
According to a 1983 article in TODAY magazine, Star Maze took ten months of weekends to create.[7]