How to play Stargate online
The game reads both joystick ports. In the emulator the second joystick is on the T/F/G/H keys and A.
- Fly the ship: arrow keys
- Fire at aliens: Space bar
- Smart bomb: A (the second joystick’s fire button)
- Inviso cloak: T (second joystick up)
- Hyperspace: G (second joystick down)
- Start a new game: F12 (Reset)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
Humanoids stand on the planet surface. Landers swoop down to grab them, and if a Lander carries one to the top of the screen, it turns into a Mutant that hunts you. Shoot the Lander, catch the falling humanoid and bring it back down. If every humanoid is lost, the planet is destroyed. The game ends when that happens or when your last ship is gone. The manual describes up to 100 waves.
You start with three ships, three smart bombs, about six seconds of Inviso and one hyperspace jump. A smart bomb destroys every enemy on screen. Inviso makes you invisible for a moment, and you can still shoot while cloaked. Hyperspace moves you to a random spot, which can drop you straight into trouble. If you press the second fire button with no smart bombs left, it uses Inviso instead, and then hyperspace. Every 10,000 points gives you another ship, another smart bomb and more Inviso time.
The Stargate itself is a warp. Flying through it takes you to a humanoid in danger, or to the far side of the planet if everyone is safe. In waves 1 to 9, carrying four or more humanoids through the gate jumps you ahead four waves, with 1,000 points for each humanoid. Every tenth wave, starting at wave 5, is a Yllabian Dogfight, and every tenth wave from wave 10 is a Firebomber Showdown.
| Enemy | Points |
|---|---|
| Munchie | 50 |
| Lander, Mutant, Swarmer | 150 |
| Yllabian Space Guppy, Dynamo, Baiter, Phred | 200 |
| Firebomber | 250 |
| Pod | 1,000 |
Tips
- Keep one hand on each joystick. Use the arrow keys with one hand and T, G and A with the other, so the escape moves are always ready.
- Cloak before you bomb. Inviso buys you a second or two in a crowd, and a smart bomb is harder to replace.
- Use hyperspace last. The landing spot is random.
- Don’t dawdle. Baiters appear if you take too long to clear a wave.
- Be ready after shooting a Pod. It releases three Swarmers, so keep firing.
Stargate or Defender II?
The 2600 cartridge first came out as Stargate in 1984. Atari later re-released the same game under the name Defender II. Williams used the Defender II name for home versions because it wanted to be sure it owned the trademark, although the arcade machines kept the Stargate title. Other home versions appeared on computers such as the Commodore 64 and Apple II, and on the NES. If you want the later release, see Defender II below.
