The (Real) Last Starfighter

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a video game programmer or designer. Somewhere along the way, however, that dream got lost and I ended up studying accountancy and enjoying my job as a writer and editor. Hmmm, I’m straying from the topic here. We’re here to talk about The Last Starfighter, a 1984 science fiction adventure film directed by Nick Castle, and the video game(s) it has spawned in the last two decades and the dream of becoming a video game designer it nourished in a young boy.

Actually, there’s no “The Last Starfighter” game, despite being promised in the end credits of the film. Why? Because Atari shelved the idea after figuring out that the arcade machine would have had a sale price of US$10,000. Pretty steep in the 1980s. The developer’s solution: make the game playable on the Atari 2600, 5200 and 800. These versions of the game were, however, never marketed.

According to Wikipedia, the game’s 16-bit version was subsequently renamed and, after removing all references to The Last Starfighter, sold under the name Star Raiders 2.

So what does this have to do with my dream? I tried “developing” a The Last Starfighter game on my Apple IIc using Basic. Duh! As if that would work. Hey, I was desperate!

Fortunately, more than two decades after the film’s release, a fanware/freeware version of the game was released. Check it out. It might be worth your time (and memories, if you’re an 80s kind of guy like me). I’m downloading it right now.