Astro Tripper

Just writing this to add a positive, as this IS Space Tripper, just newer and gaudier. Menus aside, it's identical to play*. I played Space Tripper to death so feel qualified to say this.

And...it's nothing like Defender. I don't understand why so many reviews include this as a reference, other than you can shoot stuff and change direction. It's Uridium (which was also nothing like Defender) but you die if you move off the play area.

PS. Space Tripper is available to download via grey means as it's no longer legally distributed anywhere so no-one's out there stomping about with their Cease-And-Desist orders.

*update - after playing both, one after the other:

Astro Tripper has the ability to move faster vertically but that's it.

Played SpaceTripper like crazy at the time and AstroTripper is an minor update of that. Very tricky but super-satisfying at Hard to Harder level. Scratches the same itch as Doom Eternal on Nightmare mode for me.

I bought this game for nostalgic reasons. It's as good as I remember. Highly recommended oldskool shoot'em up in veins of Defender and Uridium.

cool game

Excellent remake

I played it alot - even the predecessor space tripper. I think it is a difficult but entertaining game. It is sure worth 5€ if you like old - school top down shooters. You cant learn the steering properly in under 2 hours - no need to pay attention to reviews with a playtimetime below that.

Seeing as there are hardly any reviews for this and Steam is reporting that reaction is "mixed", I thought I'd ought to throw my opinion in here.

I bought it because I have memories of playing the demo for the original (Space Tripper) way back, and not ever being able to finish it beause it was so damn difficult. Guess what- it still is. And that's good.
Some people have given it negative reviews saying that its frustrating and too difficult; I can't count that aginst it because that is exactly what I was expecting, and I think that due to the genre of game that it is, it should be expected. This is a hardcore arcade style game where you have to get through all in one go, theres no autosaves or any saftey net other than three lives- and if you lose a life you start that level over again, every time. Its pretty brutal like that. In Hard mode, there's not even barriers to the play area; if you stray too far away accidentally you'll die.
Apart from the style differences between this and Space Tripper, there is one change that I've noticed that does make a big difference. In Astro Tripper, you can switch between two weapons- the blue one which fires a shot straight forward, and the red that shoots left and right of the direction you're facing. In the original, that red weapon also shot straight ahead as well, but at a weaker power (so that it would take two hits from the red gun to kill a standard enemy, but only one from the blue). The upshot of this is that at the frantic pace you have to play the game, not being able to accuratly fire ahead of you with the red weapon will cost you dearly, so you might not ever want to use anything other than the blue; the weapon switching becomes useless. This might just be me, but I think it's a valid point.
Due to my experience playing the original demo for Space Tripper, I feel that's the only real criticism I can make in comparison (I should mention that I've not had any technical problems with it thus far), and also overall. Some people have mentioned inertia to be a problem stopping them from moving accuratly around the levels, but all I can say to that is that I have had that difficulty playing any Mario or Sonic games; it's nothing you shouldn't be able to get used to as a playstyle. Every level proceeds in a pattern, with important audio cues that let you know about changes in enemy spawns or imminent dangers. Once you've failed enough times to learn the levels, you'll progress and develop your skill and I find it a process that rewards your frustration in a cathartic manner. As far as I can see it's a perfectly decent arcade shoot-em-up that rewards perseverance.

Summary: If you're someone with skill and experience who wants to beat a real challenge, this is a great game. People who aren't willing to give 100% effort to and endure a lot of trial-and-error, look elsewhere.

I've played in previous version of this game - SpaceTripper. And i have to say that visually it was more stylish less color-mess then this one. I like old one a lot. Not this one =(

I bought the original Space Tripper back in 2001 and it's still holds up well today. Astro Tripper updates and extends it to take advantage of better graphics and higher resolution screens without losing the core look & feel and is well worth the money. It's quick to get into and is one of those games that when you get killed, you say "that was my fault, I'll do better next time!".

If you like classics such as "Uridium" and "Defender" this is probably right up your street and I fully recommend it.

There's also a free demo so that you can try it before committing. This is always a good sign from a developer and I wish more would do it.

The game locks up when my controller is plugged in. That aside, it's quite a fun game, wish the developers would support it. Difficult to reccomend.

Love this to pieces, it really satisfies. If you grew up with R-Type and attacking mutant camels, you should be able to appreciate this one!

Event on 'normal' difficulty incredibly hard.
And if that was not enough they put a harsh time limit on top of that.
I keep dying on the second Traing-level !!!
...Astro Tripper is a "URiDiUM" remake... but even the original was easier!

After playing this game for only a short amount of time, I immediately found out that it was absolute rubbish. 2/10 stars.

Sort of Uridium C64 revisited. Old school side-scrolling shooter, with a graphics flourish and fairly unforgiving gameplay.

Horizontal shoot-em-up with about a dozen platform levels spanning four stages plus unlockable difficulties and challenges. You have a single-target beam and a multi-target arc beam at your disposal, can choose which to power up with drops and switch between them, and the direction you're facing, with the press of a button.

The only problem with the game is that the maneuverability and inertia are quite poor and really affect your performance. A decent game otherwise, with learning to use both beam types at the right time being essential to progress and survive. Leaderboards for pretty much everything and the game looks great. Doubt I would buy it again if given the chance though due to the terrible piloting.

A complete waste
Even at $5.00.

The game is merciless, the first level - the easiest difficulty.
I have died so often that I am dying more than I'm playing.
I understand some challenge, a game that teases you.
This game takes that to unrealistic levels.
It's based on "perfection", one wrong move, accidently standing on a random spawn, and you've lost - you get no checkpoint, you have to restart the whole level.

I haven't even survived 1:00 minute.
I don't even want to play it anymore, the game had amazing potential, but with the difficulty level, its not possible to enjoy.

Screw this buggy crap, save you money.