is a series of scrolling shooters mainly developed by Hudson Soft. Konami has owned the rights to the series since their absorption of Hudson Soft in 2012.
The eponymous first game, Star Soldier, was released in 1986 for the MSX and NES, and lead to a series of sequels that continued on various gaming systems. Star Soldier itself was re-released with little change in the compilation Caravan Shooting Collection for the Super Famicom in 1995, received enhanced remakes for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003, and a different remake for the PlayStation Portable in 2005. The Nintendo 64 got an exclusive release called Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth in 1998, while the latest installment of the series was released on the Wii as a WiiWare game in 2008. In addition, the TurboGrafx-16 games Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Soldier Blade and Star Parodier have been re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console and on the Japanese PC Engine's Best Collection lineup for the PSP.
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".Hard Core Gaming 101 - Star Soldier
Caravan gaming tournaments 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.
Common elements Being an arcade-style game, Star Soldiers 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 are within a certain proximity to the player's ship, or defeating mini bosses before they have a chance to attack.
Games
1986: Star Soldier - MSX, Famicom/NES, Game Boy Advance, iOS, Wii VC, 3DS VC, Nintendo Online (Switch). Star Soldier Special+ - Mobile Phone Star Soldier SP Arcade - Mobile Phone Star Soldier Fukkoku-Ban - Mobile Phone 1990: Super Star Soldier - PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, Wii VC, Windows Store, Wii U VC 1991: Final Soldier - PC Engine, Wii VC, Wii U VC 1992: Soldier Blade - PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, Wii VC, Wii U VC 1992: Star Parodier - PC Engine CD ROM, Wii VC 1998: Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth - Nintendo 64 2008: Star Soldier R - Wii (WiiWare) 2010: Star Soldier Mission Mode - Mobile Phone 2013: Star Soldier for GREE - iOS
During the Konami Action & Shooting Contest hosted by the Shueisha Game Creator’s Camp and Tokyo Game Show 2022, Beep won the rights from Konami to develop the game through the competition, a game titled Star Soldier RE:VIVE Multiverse is in development.
Crossover 2006: Star Soldier vs DoDonPachi DaiOuJou CARAVAN'06 - Mobile Phone 2018: Super Bomberman R - Nintendo Switch 2018: Pixel Puzzle Collection - iOS, Android
Compilations and remakes 1995: Caravan Shooting Collection - SNES Compilation of Star Force, Star Soldier and Starship Hector 2003: Star Soldier - GameCube, PS2 3D remake with arranged stages 2005: Star Soldier - PSP Enhanced port of the 2003 remake 2006: Hudson Best Collection Vol. 5: Shooting Collection - GBA Compilation of Star Force, Star Soldier and Starship Hector 2008: PC Engine Best Collection: Soldier Collection - PSP Compilation of Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Star Parodier and Soldier Blade
Canceled games 1995: Kuma Soldier - PC-FX
Other media 1985–1987: Famicom Rocky - manga: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga. 1986-1987: Famicom Cap - manga: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga. 1986–1987: Nekketsu! Famicom Shounendan: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga. 1991–1993: Cyber Boy - manga: Soldier Blade and Star Parodier, two of the video games based on the manga. 1986: Running Boy Star Soldier no Himitsu - anime film
Notes
References
External links Hard Core Gaming 101 - Star Soldier