Starpath began in 1981 as Arcadia Corporation and changed its name shortly after launching the Supercharger in August 1982, because Emerson had a console called the Arcadia 2001. The Supercharger plugged into the 2600’s cartridge slot, added 6 KB of memory to the console’s own 128 bytes, and loaded games from an ordinary cassette player. Only Starpath made games for it. The extra memory allowed more detailed graphics and bigger games, and some tapes were “multi-load” games in several parts.
As the market collapsed, the company ran into financial trouble. Its last tapes were sold only by mail order, and Epyx took Starpath over in 1984. The site has twelve Starpath games, and you don’t need a tape deck to play them. Some highlights:
Phaser Patrol (1982): the first-person space combat game packed with the Supercharger.
Dragonstomper: Stephen Landrum’s fantasy role-playing game, ending in a fight with a dragon.
Escape from the Mindmaster (1982): Dennis Caswell’s 3-D maze game, with no shooting at all.
The Official Frogger (1983): Konami’s arcade game, closer to the original than the Parker Brothers cartridge.
Fireball (1982): a juggler hurls fireballs at a wall of blocks.
Sword of Saros (1983): a dungeon adventure from Starpath’s last, mail-order days.
Load any of them below and play in your browser.
Communist Mutants from Space Overview Game Development “Communist Mutants from Space” is a classic fixed shooter game, crafted by Stephen H. Landrum for the Atari 2600, utilizing the Starpath Supercharger cassette add-on for enhanced gameplay. Released in 1982…
Play ▸Phaser Patrol is a first-person space combat game designed by Dennis Caswell and released in 1982 by Arcadia, the company soon renamed Starpath. It was the first numbered release for the Supercharger, an add-on that plugged into the…
Play ▸Survival Island is a 1983 action-adventure by Starpath, programmed by Scott Nelson. It was not sold as a normal cartridge but on cassette tape for the Starpath Supercharger, an add-on that plugged into the Atari 2600's cartridge slot,…
Play ▸Sword of Saros is a 1983 dungeon adventure for the Starpath Supercharger, the add-on that let the Atari 2600 load bigger games from audio cassettes. Programmed by Jon Leupp and Stephen Landrum, it sends you through an evil…
Play ▸Suicide Mission is a 1982 action game for the Atari 2600 by Steve Hales and Stephen Landrum, released on cassette by Arcadia, the company soon renamed Starpath. It ran on the Supercharger, an add-on that loaded games from…
Play ▸Rabbit Transit is a 1983 game by Starpath for the Starpath Supercharger, an add-on for the Atari 2600 that loaded games from audio cassettes. It was designed by Brian McGhie. You guide a rabbit across a busy meadow…
Play ▸The Official Frogger is Starpath's 1983 version of Konami's arcade game, programmed by Stephen H. Landrum. It was not sold on a cartridge but on a cassette tape for the Starpath Supercharger, an add-on that plugged into the…
Play ▸Killer Satellites is a space shooter programmed by Kevin Norman and released by Starpath on cassette tape, most likely in early 1983. It ran on the Starpath Supercharger, an add-on that loaded games from an ordinary cassette player.…
Play ▸Fireball is a block-breaking game designed by Scott Nelson and released in August 1982 by Arcadia, the company soon renamed Starpath. It was one of the first games for the Supercharger, an add-on that plugged into the Atari…
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