The Adventures of Star Saver

Overview

The Adventures of Star Saver is an action game developed by A-Wave and published by both Taito Corporation (US and EU regions) and King Records (Japanese region) for the Game Boy platform.

Plot

In The Adventures of Star Saver a brother and sister are both abducted by aliens and forced into helping them invade Earth. When they both refuse to help the aliens the brother and sister are dropped off on different far away planets. The brother gets a mech suit and sets out to save his sister.

Gameplay

The gameplay in The Adventures of Star Saver consists of both platforming and shooting. Each level in The Adventures of Star Saver requires the player to go from the left side of the screen to the right side. There are some points in the levels in which the player will descend/ascend, but will always still go to the right. At the end of each level there is a boss that must be defeated to move on.

Controls

• D-Pad - Pressing left or right on the D-Pad will move the playable character in that direction.
• A Button - Pressing the A button will cause the character to jump, pressing the A button a second time while in the air will use the mech suits thrusters.
• B Button - The B button is used to shoot projectiles at the enemies, holding the B button will allow the character to run.
• Start Button - The start button allows the player to pause the game.
• Select Button - The select button serves to purpose in The Adventures of Star Saver.

Power Ups

There are various power ups that can be collected throughout the levels.

Gun Power Up

The gun power up is a block with a picture of a hand gun. This power up has two uses, one for when in the mech suit and the other while out of it. While in the mech suit the power up will grant a spread shot while out of the suit it grants rapid fire.

Power Block

The power block is only used if the player has lost the mech suit, otherwise it is only worth points. If the player has lost the mech suit and stands on top of one of these power blocks, a new suit will fall out of it and the player can use it.

Invincibility

The invincibility power up looks like a floating triangle. If the player picks this triangle up they will be invulnerable to any enemies and will defeat the enemy just by touching it. While invincibility is active the players character will blink.

Thruster

The thruster power up looks like a shoe with a wing on it. If the player has acquired this power up and holds the A button while in the air, they will float down more slowly.

Lion Head

The lion heads are a secret power up that can only be located by shooting their location first. Once the lions head has been acquired it will grant temporary invincibility much like the triangle. The lion heads power lasts for a longer period of time than the triangle.

Arrows

The bow and arrow looking power ups are used in the case of falling off of a platform. If the player has fallen off of a platform, instead of instant death the character will automatically use a grappling hook to bring itself back on to the nearest platform.

Critical Reception

When released Electronic Gaming Monthly issued the following scores, 5,6,5,6 adding, "...this game does have its strong points, including decent graphics and play, it doesn't stand up next to similar efforts like Mega Man have been produced almost flawlessly".