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Star Warrior Star Warrior - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

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Description

A space shooter game that was produced by a mortgage company!

Star Warrior was produced by Potomac Mortgage Company in 1981.

Potomac Mortgage Company released 4 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1980. Potomac Mortgage Company was based in United States.

Other machines made by Potomac Mortgage Company during the time period Star Warrior was produced include: Star Invaders, Star Fighter, and Kamikaze

Specs

Name Star Warrior
Developer Potomac Mortgage Company (United States)
Year 1981
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 9772
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Monitor
Conversion Class unique
# Simultaneous Players 1
# Maximum Players 2
Game Play Alternating
Control Panel Layout Single Player
Controls
  • Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
  • Buttons: 2 - FireShield
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles
  • Cocktail - Star Series
Instructions Star Warrior Instructions Image
Bezel Star Warrior Bezel Image
Control Panel Star Warrior Control Panel Image

Game Introduction

This game is very similar to the Galaga / Galaxian games except that the waves of ships do not arrange in formation on the screen. The game just has wave after wave of attacking ships. Some ships take several shots to destroy and the largest ships have shields. There are also exploding "bomb" drones which appear from time to time that drop and spray bombs across the screen. There is a shield weapon which allows the player to fly up screen and ram alien ships to destroy them, but the shield can only be used once per life.

Game Play

The game play is very much like Galaga or Galaxian in that you have a ship which can go from side to side at the bottom of the screen. Ships attack in waves and rain bombs down on the player's ship. Alien ships may also make kamakazie runs at the player's ship to destroy it. Attacks and formations seem to be much more random. At each increasing level, larger ships require more shots to destroy.

This game also has bomb drone that drops down and explodes, sending bombs out in a 180 degree arc across the screen when it reaches the bottom, destroying the player's ship. Bombs are also released when the drone is destroyed. Destorying a drone does not guarantee survival of the player's ship, although survival chances greatly increase (and point value decreases) the higher the drone is on the screen when destroyed.

Each level starts with 50 ships. Like Galaga, some ships will not return after flying down the screen several times.

In addition to the usual missles that can be shot at the attackers, the player has an indestructable "shield" that can be used once per life to scroll up the screen and destroy any alien ships by ramming them.

Star Warrior KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 0.00 (0 votes)

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Cheats, Tricks, Bugs, and Easter Eggs

The player's ship actually travels in an arch and elevates towards the sides of the screen. You can use this to allow alien ships and bombs to pass under your ship.

If a bomb drone is dropping close to the side of the screen, you can survive by being at the other side when it explodes.

Images

Trivia

This game was produced by a mortgage company with a dedicated game division!

Cabinet Information

The game is encased in a black cocktail table with panel veneer on the sides. It appears to be very similar to the early Atari cocktails, with their rectangular glass and control panels along both sides. The overlay says "Star Series" and "Potomac" on both control panels. The underglass stickers have the "Star Warrior" game title and indicate that the game was produced by Potomac Mortgage Company of Dallas Texas.

Miscellaneous

Most parts used in the game are off-the-shelf and can be found at any home or electronic supply store. The monitor and fan have standard electrical appliance plugs and plug into standard outlets! Given the extensive use of off-the-shelf parts (everything beyond PCB), this game appears to be part of a very limited run. Given the artwork on the control panels, it is more than likely that this company produced some other space-related arcade games.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Star Warrior Census

There are 15,220 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,649 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,619 machines (6,982 unique titles).

Scarce - There are 3 known instances of this machine owned by Star Warrior collectors who are active members. Of these, 3 of them are original dedicated machines.

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Star Warrior machine for sale.

Wanted - There is one active VAPS member currently looking for Star Warrior.

This game ranks a 1 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 2 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Technical

The game does not have any DIP switches to set difficulty or to allow free play.

The volume control is directly on the PCB and is a white pot marked "VRL".

Fixes

The soldering on the board containing the monitor adjustment buttons is weak and prone to breaking when making adjustments.

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Star Warrior Videogame machines and related items.

Click to search eBay for Potomac Mortgage Company for machines and parts.

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TOP WATCHED LISTINGS FOR: Star Warrior

Ebay Compatible Application

Taito STAR WARRIOR Arcade Video Game Manual - good used original

Auction ends in: 4 days, 9 hours

FixedPrice
$10.99

****** Na Star Warrior Arcade Game Manual Service Guide Coin-op *****

Auction ends in: 1 week, 7 hours

FixedPrice
$14.95

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