Nintendo Famicom Star Soldier SKUFM74

Nintendo Famicom Star Soldier SKUFM74 is a shoot ’em up video game developed and published by Hudson Soft, The player pilots the starship “Caesar”, travelling through space stations occupied by powerful supercomputers known as “Starbrains” who threaten the galactic empire. Star Soldier greatly resembles the earlier arcade game Star Force.  A pilot and his advanced space-fighter, the Caesar, are on the front line of battle and they are mankind’s last hope against the imminent menace. The space fighter comes equipped with a Vulcan gun – the weapon can be upgraded to fire in multiple directions by collecting floating pods with a “S” stamped on them. The fighter can also gain a rotating shield and the almighty rapid-fire. Star Soldier is built around a score attack theme which focuses on achieving the highest score – consequently, levels are littered with tiles, large blocks and other destructive elements allowing the player to crank up his score. The game features sixteen stages each one capped by a Star Brain boss and, interestingly, each one of them must be destroyed within a time limit. If the player fails to do so then the Star Brain escapes and the stage has to be played through again. Another unusual gameplay element of Star Soldier is the abilitity to fly the Caesar underneath certain the background to avoid enemies – however the ship can’t fire in this mode.

The Star Soldier games are best known for their distinctive music, unique weapon power-ups, and a special time attack high score mode called “Caravan Mode”

Star Soldier was developed as a spiritual successor to Tecmo’s Star Force, from which it borrows most of its gameplay elements. The Star Force series, along with Hudson’s Star Soldier, was often featured in the popular Japanese gaming tournament known as “Hudson All-Japan Caravan Festival.”   Home ports of Star Soldier games would sometimes feature “Caravan” modes in which the player would race through timed stages while trying to accumulate a high score.

Being an arcade-style game, Star Soldier‘s objective is primarily based on achieving a high score. The series often makes use of hidden destructible tiles that offer bonus points when shot, but may occasionally power-up the player’s ship instead. Bonus points will also be awarded for defeating sequences of enemy formations while they’re within a certain proximity to the player’s ship, or defeating mini bosses before they have a chance to attack.

Actual item pictured

Awesome little retro machines.