Starmaster
Starmaster — frequently asked questions
- Is Starmaster on Steam?
- No. Starmaster is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
- What platforms is Starmaster on?
- Starmaster is available on Atari 2600.
- When did Starmaster release?
- Starmaster was first released on December 31, 1982.
About Starmaster
In the game the player pilots a starfighter, with the purpose of destroying a number of enemy ships before they destroy four friendly starbases. Gameplay is presented mostly in first person cockpit view, which is achieved with surprisingly good effect given the 2600's primitive graphics capabilities. The starfighter carries laser weapons, shields, and a faster-than-light drive. The fighter also carries a limited energy supply, which is drained by firing the lasers, being hit by enemy fire, warping, or simply flying around. If the ship's energy drops to zero it is destroyed, and the game ends. Enemy fire can knock out the fighter's subsystems (such as weapons) on top of draining energy. The game "universe" is a square-shaped galaxy mapped into a grid of 36 sectors. Each sector can be home to some enemy ships, a starbase, both, or nothing. The player "warps" the fighter to a sector to engage enemy ships; once they are all destroyed, the player moves on to another. The player can also warp to a sector with a starbase, and dock with it (a rather tricky process) to replenish energy and repair damaged subsystems. Enemy ships in turn maneuver through the galaxy as they home in to destroy the starbases. The game is won when all enemy ships are destroyed, or lost if either the player's fighter or all four starbases are destroyed.
Summary via IGDB.
Starmaster on Wikipedia
Starmaster is a space combat simulation video game written for the Atari 2600 by Alan Miller and published in June 1982 by Activision. The game involves the player travelling through space attacking enemy starfighters who are invading starbases. The player traverses through a map called the galactic chart to destroy all the enemies and survive against oncoming enemy attacks and crashing with meteors.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Atari 2600
- Developer
- Activision
- Publisher
- Activision
- Game modes
- Single player
- Themes
- Action, Science fiction
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Collector value & authenticity
Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06
Release record
| Territory | Label | Catalog # | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America Activision | Standard | AX-016 | Common+ |
| Australia HES | — | — | — |
Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database
- Region
- NA+EU
- Released
- 1982
- Controller
- Atari Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Authenticity
- Low
Alan Miller's award-winning Activision space-combat game, a strong 2600 original at a low price.
Starmaster is a space combat game written by Alan Miller and published by Activision in June 1982. You travel a galactic chart, hunting enemy starfighters that are attacking your starbases while avoiding meteors. Miller said it was influenced by Cosmic Conflict on the Odyssey 2 and Star Raiders on the Atari 8-bit computers.
It became Miller's most successful game up to that point and drew positive reviews. At the Fourth Annual Arcade Awards in 1983, it shared a Certificate of Merit in the Videogame of the Year category with Atlantis.
How it was made
Written by Alan Miller, who had programmed 2600 games at Atari before co-founding Activision with David Crane. His earlier Activision games included Checkers, Tennis and Ice Hockey. Starmaster was released in June 1982, with a PAL release later that year.
What the press said at the time
| AllGame | 4/5 | |
| The Fresno Bee | A | |
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 1 No. 4 | July 1982 | Graphics ★★★★ · Play-Action ★★★★ |
| JoyStik January 1983 | January 1983 | ★★★★ |
“Starmaster is a game to challenge the most sophisticated player, with enough features to make total mastery a long-term proposition.”
“Starmaster is the type of videogame that really has staying power. There is such a wide range of play possibilities that boringly repetitive play is largely avoided.”
“We like Starmaster's re- alistic point of view. The feeling of being inside your Spaceship looking out is one of the most original ideas in home video.”
“This is the best space-piloting game cartridge ever created for a programmable video-game system”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — stars in most years, diamonds in 1986–87 — comparing each game only with other games for the same system. JoyStik’s capsule ratings run from one star to five.
Cartridge & preservation record
Program size 4 KB, measured from the preserved dump.
Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.
Worth knowing
- Shared honors. Starmaster and Imagic's Atlantis both won a Certificate of Merit in the Videogame of the Year category at the 1983 Arcade Awards.
- 1983 Arkie Award. Electronic Games gave Star Master a Certificate of Merit for Videogame of the Year in its 1983 Arkie Awards.
- Sold as "rare" in 1986. By spring 1986 the 2600 market had moved on far enough that Computer Entertainer's mail-order list sold brand-new copies under the heading "RARE GAMES — THESE ARE YOUR SPECIAL PRICES", at $8.00 (good through 10 May 1986).
Before you buy
Low risk; Activision carts of this period were made in quantity and are not reproduction targets. Loose carts are inexpensive. Boxed copies cost several times as much, so check box and manual condition before paying for a complete one.
Starmaster screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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