An arcade game from a company better known for their text adventure games.
Stratos was advertised for the C64, Atari and TRS-80 – and seems to have been released for the last two platforms but the C64. They even have screenshots of the Atari and TRS editions on the advert, suggesting the C64 version wasn’t far along enough at the time.
We believe that the game was never actually released, and one possibility could be due to the original game not selling well. The advert has screenshots for the Atari & TRS-80 versions but only mentions Commodore 64 at the bottom.
The advert describes the game as follows:
“A Microcomputer experience for today.
Arcaders who’ve seen and played the ATARI and TRS-80 versions of STRATOS came to the same conclusions – these state of the art games were ahead of their time. After all, any program that boasts crisp graphics, punchy sounds, joystick compatibility and a full complement of extras, like high score saving and multi-player option has a definite touch of tomorrow.
THE GAME’S SCENARIO IS A REAL KNOCKOUT
The object is to successfully defend a futuristic city from waves of attacking alien ships. And these crafty alien critters are just part of a rapid-fire graphics bonanza that includes meteor swarms, multiple attack waves, and even a free-moving saucer that will repair your city’s damaged force field on the ATARI version.
GOOD NEWS
You don’t have to wait years for the spectacular – STRATOS is available now for the ATARI and TRS-80 systems. STRATOS. Entertainment of the future – today.”
Well, that was a load of old 1980’s hot air wasn’t it? Hopefully the game itself (if it can be found) will live up to the hyperbole of the advert, but regardless of that – the Atari and TRS-80 games look pretty interesting, so this would be a great curiosity to see. How far did it get, and was it ever completed though?
Contributor Glenn Stubberfield found an advert that lists Neil Larimer as the developer, who also developed the Atari version. Therefore its likely that the game is very similar to the Atari edition.
Neil got in touch via the comments to say that the Atari version had been selling well, but Adventure International went under when the industry “tanked” in the early 80s. Neil had received a C64 to develop a conversion, but never got the chance to start before things crashed.
So unfortunately, this is very much a case closed!
Contributions: Peter Weighill, Glenn Stubberfield
Hi. I am the Neil Larimer that developed Stratos for the Atari computer. It sold pretty well but my publisher(Adventure International) went under anyway when the industry “tanked” in the late 80’s. Scott Adams told me that computer games were dead. LOL Soon after the Nintendo and Mario Bros. were released by the Japanese. I did receive a C64 to develop a Stratos version but I never got a chance to start it. Blame Scott Adams.
Thanks for confirming Neil – i’ll update the page to reflect this. Sad to hear that nothing was started :(
Just a small snippet of info: I read in one advert that Neil Larimer was also to have been responsible for the C64 version- the game would have likely been identical to the Atari version.
Thanks Glen, that’s a great spot! Updated the page with the credit, and a credit to yourself too :)