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Sinistar

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announces "Beware, I live" and Sinistar chases the player's ship while making threatening remarks: "Run! Run! Run!", "Beware, coward!", "I hunger!", "Run, coward!", and a loud roar. It has no weapons, but it destroys the player's ship on contact, after which it sometimes proclaims "I am Sinistar". A
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Sinistar does not exist at the start of a level, but is constructed by red enemy worker ships. Workers cannot hurt the player, but they compete to collect crystals to build the Sinistar. Warrior ships directly attack the player's ship, shoot planetoids to mine crystals, and guard the Sinistar while
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is defeated. The unnamed first zone is followed by the Worker Zone, Warrior Zone, Planetoid Zone, and Void Zone, then it cycles back to the Worker Zone. Each zone emphasizes a particular game feature, with the Void Zone having fewer planetoids. In all but the first zone, a completed but damaged
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it is being built. It takes 20 crystals to create the 20 pieces of a completely built Sinistar, but only 13 Sinibombs to destroy it. The 7 pieces making up the face are considered a single piece once Sinistar is active.
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dedicated button releases a Sinibomb which automatically targets the Sinistar. A Sinibomb can be intercepted mid-flight by Workers, Warriors, and planetoids. Successfully damaging the Sinistar causes angry roaring.
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is about to eat the player's ship. If a warrior ship shoots and destroys the ship at this moment, it immediately takes the player to zero lives, and the
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sound (in the sit-down version), with two independent front and back sound boards for this purpose. It also uses a 49-way optical
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uses the sound bite "Beware, I live" in its theme tune. The game was featured prominently in the music video for the
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uses "Beware, I live", "I hunger", "Run, coward", and Sinistar's roar. Sinistar makes several appearances in the
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72nd on their Top 100 Video Games. They praised the game calling it a "truly harrowing" arcade classic.
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face. A planetoid contains a limited number of crystals; shooting it too rapidly causes it to explode.
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that grants the player many lives (ships). It happens only if the player is down to one life and the
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can be repaired by enemy Workers, extending its lifespan if the player is unable to kill it quickly.
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The player's ship, left of center, below a Warrior and partially obscured by a just-released Sinibomb
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eating the player subtracts another life. Since the number of lives is stored in the game as an 8-
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A 3D sequel from a different developer and publisher was released for Windows in 1999 as
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The game was released in 1983. The in-game copyright notice incorrectly reads 1982.
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Burnham, Van (2003) "Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984"
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in 1984. It was originally developed as an official port to be released by
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to the largest value representable with 8 bits, which is 255 in decimal.
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CD-ROM for DOS and Microsoft Windows, Williams Entertainment, 1996
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was included in various arcade compilations. A sequel entitled
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receives a large reference in chapters 30 and 31 of the book
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Commercial video games with freely available source code
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song "Grand Ol' Party Crash" samples Sinistar. The film
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The voice of Sinistar was recorded by radio personality
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for the PlayStation Portable in late 2005; and part of
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was commercially available in the mid-1990s as part of
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project
750: 626:is referenced in various non-video-game media. The 386:that Williams produced specifically for this game. 187:Although not ported individually to home consoles, 611:(1989) is a clone for the Tandy Color Computer 3. 339:, Sinistar, an animated spacecraft with a demonic 1313: 615:(1994) is a public domain clone for the Amiga. 840:"Noah Falstein on the development of Sinistar" 168:. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, 1342:Cancelled BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games 896:Williams, G. Christopher (26 January 2021). 439:https://github.com/historicalsource/sinistar 327:at the top of the screen. Shooting drifting 1178:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( 1151: 1377:Video games developed in the United States 1217: 531:in 2003, and for Windows in 2004; part of 30: 1362:Multiplayer and single-player video games 992:(4). Harris Publications: 31. April 1995. 879:"The Most Difficult Arcade Games – Ever!" 358:The player warps to a new zone each time 299:Learn how and when to remove this message 1220:"Sheena easton - Almost over you - 1983" 1052: 895: 780: 310: 1304:RJ Mical talks about the easter egg in 1314: 1091:"Acorn User Review Archive: DEATHSTAR" 783:"Reflections on the Birth of Sinistar" 534:Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play 1053:Claiborn, Samuel (13 November 2012). 793: 618: 479:were in progress, but not completed. 1337:Cancelled Atari 8-bit computer games 1027: 1002: 776: 774: 772: 467:There were no contemporary ports of 237:adding citations to reliable sources 208: 834: 832: 830: 828: 350:When the Sinistar is complete, its 13: 1139:"Aminet - game/Shoot/Xenostar.lha" 889: 876: 513:. It is also available as part of 14: 1398: 1263: 1118: 769: 1285:information page at sinistar.com 825: 753: 213: 1238: 1226:from the original on 2021-12-13 1218:lolymaslol (9 September 2010). 1211: 1186: 1145: 1131: 1125:Tandy Color Computer Games List 1112: 1083: 1072: 1061: 1046: 1021: 996: 978: 962: 944: 919: 665:. The audio version of podcast 486:Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits 393:and played through an HC-55516 224:needs additional citations for 1382:Video games set in outer space 1192: 1055:"Midway Arcade Origins Review" 908: 870: 861: 809: 733: 370: 164:developed and manufactured by 1: 805:. Williams Electronics. 1983. 746: 558:Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits 781:Falstein, Noah (Fall 2009). 444: 7: 802:Sinistar Instruction Manual 204: 10: 1403: 1352:Fictional doomsday devices 1332:Cancelled Atari 2600 games 1152:DKTronics70 (2008-06-19), 1372:Fiction about spaceflight 1367:Multiplayer hotseat games 1357:Multidirectional shooters 1276:Killer List of Videogames 577: 462: 319:The player pilots a lone 139: 127: 119: 107: 97: 79: 63: 53: 41: 29: 24: 1030:"Sinistar (Atari 8-bit)" 973:Williams Arcade Classics 726: 378:was the first game with 159:multidirectional shooter 134:Multidirectional shooter 1095:www.acornelectron.co.uk 1005:"Sinistar (Atari 2600)" 927:"MAME 0.36b7 changelog" 915:Internet Movie Database 516:Midway Arcade Treasures 146:, 2 players alternating 698:, a 2011 novel in the 331:releases small, white 316: 986:"Top 100 Video Games" 867:Burnham (2003) p. 320 540:Midway Arcade Origins 477:Atari 8-bit computers 314: 1387:Williams video games 1234:– via YouTube. 1155:Bits Series 1 Part 1 642:Bob the Angry Flower 233:improve this article 166:Williams Electronics 59:Williams Electronics 48:Williams Electronics 720:Monsters and Robots 659:video-game TV show 571:Sinistar: Unleashed 194:Sinistar: Unleashed 1327:Arcade video games 1248:. 27 December 2010 1119:Boyle, L. Curtis. 883:Liberty Games Blog 761:Video games portal 633:We Are the Strange 619:In popular culture 317: 709:Vocal samples of 651:episode trilogy " 601:Superior Software 511:Microsoft Windows 337:end of level boss 309: 308: 301: 283: 199:Microsoft Windows 197:was released for 150: 149: 1394: 1322:1983 video games 1257: 1256: 1254: 1253: 1242: 1236: 1235: 1233: 1231: 1215: 1209: 1208: 1206: 1205: 1190: 1184: 1183: 1177: 1169: 1168: 1167: 1158:, archived from 1149: 1143: 1142: 1135: 1129: 1128: 1116: 1110: 1109: 1107: 1106: 1097:. Archived from 1087: 1081: 1076: 1070: 1065: 1059: 1058: 1050: 1044: 1043: 1041: 1040: 1028:Reichert, Matt. 1025: 1019: 1018: 1016: 1015: 1003:Reichert, Matt. 1000: 994: 993: 982: 976: 966: 960: 959: 956:www.system16.com 948: 942: 941: 939: 938: 929:. Archived from 923: 917: 912: 906: 905: 893: 887: 886: 874: 868: 865: 859: 858: 856: 855: 846:. Archived from 844:www.sinistar.com 836: 823: 813: 807: 806: 797: 791: 790: 778: 763: 758: 757: 756: 740: 737: 563:Game Boy Advance 455:magazine ranked 437:is available at 433:source code for 420:unsigned integer 304: 297: 293: 290: 284: 282: 241: 217: 209: 34: 22: 21: 1402: 1401: 1397: 1396: 1395: 1393: 1392: 1391: 1312: 1311: 1266: 1261: 1260: 1251: 1249: 1244: 1243: 1239: 1229: 1227: 1216: 1212: 1203: 1201: 1191: 1187: 1171: 1170: 1165: 1163: 1150: 1146: 1137: 1136: 1132: 1117: 1113: 1104: 1102: 1089: 1088: 1084: 1079:Webcitation.org 1077: 1073: 1066: 1062: 1051: 1047: 1038: 1036: 1034:AtariProtos.com 1026: 1022: 1013: 1011: 1009:AtariProtos.com 1001: 997: 984: 983: 979: 967: 963: 950: 949: 945: 936: 934: 925: 924: 920: 913: 909: 894: 890: 877:Sawyer, Steve. 875: 871: 866: 862: 853: 851: 838: 837: 826: 814: 810: 799: 798: 794: 779: 770: 759: 754: 752: 749: 744: 743: 738: 734: 729: 678:Almost Over You 653:Imaginationland 621: 599:, published by 580: 555:is included in 471:. Versions for 465: 447: 373: 352:digitized voice 305: 294: 288: 285: 242: 240: 230: 218: 207: 92: 90: 86: 72: 37: 36:Cabinet marquee 20: 19:1983 video game 17: 16:1983 video game 12: 11: 5: 1400: 1390: 1389: 1384: 1379: 1374: 1369: 1364: 1359: 1354: 1349: 1344: 1339: 1334: 1329: 1324: 1310: 1309: 1301: 1287: 1278: 1265: 1264:External links 1262: 1259: 1258: 1237: 1210: 1185: 1144: 1130: 1111: 1082: 1071: 1060: 1045: 1020: 995: 977: 961: 943: 918: 907: 888: 869: 860: 824: 808: 792: 767: 766: 765: 764: 748: 745: 742: 741: 731: 730: 728: 725: 620: 617: 597:Acorn Electron 591:clone for the 579: 576: 464: 461: 446: 443: 372: 369: 307: 306: 221: 219: 212: 206: 203: 178:Python Anghelo 148: 147: 141: 137: 136: 131: 125: 124: 121: 117: 116: 111: 105: 104: 101: 95: 94: 83: 77: 76: 67: 61: 60: 57: 51: 50: 45: 39: 38: 35: 27: 26: 18: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1399: 1388: 1385: 1383: 1380: 1378: 1375: 1373: 1370: 1368: 1365: 1363: 1360: 1358: 1355: 1353: 1350: 1348: 1345: 1343: 1340: 1338: 1335: 1333: 1330: 1328: 1325: 1323: 1320: 1319: 1317: 1308: 1307: 1302: 1299: 1295: 1293: 1288: 1286: 1284: 1279: 1277: 1273: 1272: 1268: 1267: 1247: 1246:"Ghost Story" 1241: 1225: 1221: 1214: 1200: 1196: 1195:"Game Scoop!" 1189: 1181: 1175: 1162:on 2012-07-14 1161: 1157: 1156: 1148: 1140: 1134: 1126: 1122: 1115: 1101:on 2016-03-04 1100: 1096: 1092: 1086: 1080: 1075: 1069: 1064: 1056: 1049: 1035: 1031: 1024: 1010: 1006: 999: 991: 987: 981: 974: 970: 969:Noah Falstein 965: 957: 953: 947: 933:on 2011-10-07 932: 928: 922: 916: 911: 903: 899: 892: 884: 880: 873: 864: 850:on 2021-05-16 849: 845: 841: 835: 833: 831: 829: 822: 821:0-262-52420-1 818: 812: 804: 803: 796: 788: 784: 777: 775: 773: 768: 762: 751: 736: 732: 724: 722: 721: 716: 712: 707: 705: 701: 700:Dresden Files 697: 696: 691: 687: 685: 684: 679: 675: 674:Sheena Easton 671: 669: 664: 663: 658: 654: 650: 649: 644: 643: 639: 635: 634: 629: 625: 616: 614: 610: 606: 602: 598: 594: 590: 586: 585: 575: 573: 572: 566: 564: 560: 559: 554: 550: 546: 545:PlayStation 3 542: 541: 536: 535: 530: 529:PlayStation 2 526: 522: 518: 517: 512: 508: 504: 500: 496: 492: 488: 487: 482: 478: 474: 470: 460: 458: 454: 453: 442: 440: 436: 432: 427: 425: 421: 418: 414: 410: 406: 402: 398: 396: 392: 387: 385: 381: 377: 368: 366: 361: 356: 353: 348: 344: 342: 338: 334: 330: 326: 322: 313: 303: 300: 292: 289:February 2022 281: 278: 274: 271: 267: 264: 260: 257: 253: 250: –  249: 245: 244:Find sources: 238: 234: 228: 227: 222:This section 220: 216: 211: 210: 202: 200: 196: 195: 190: 185: 183: 179: 175: 171: 170:Noah Falstein 167: 163: 160: 156: 155: 145: 144:Single-player 142: 138: 135: 132: 130: 126: 123:February 1983 122: 118: 115: 112: 110: 106: 102: 100: 96: 89: 84: 82: 81:Programmer(s) 78: 75: 74:John Newcomer 71: 70:Noah Falstein 68: 66: 62: 58: 56: 52: 49: 46: 44: 40: 33: 28: 23: 1305: 1297: 1291: 1282: 1270: 1250:. 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Index


Developer(s)
Williams Electronics
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)
Noah Falstein
John Newcomer
Programmer(s)
RJ Mical
Artist(s)
Platform(s)
Arcade
Genre(s)
Multidirectional shooter
Single-player
multidirectional shooter
arcade game
Williams Electronics
Noah Falstein
RJ Mical
Python Anghelo
John Doremus
Sinistar: Unleashed
Microsoft Windows

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