Video Game Gazette
Once video game systems had sufficient power, software companies began making games from the first person perspective. One particularly successful game was Battlezone for the Atari 2600. With the exception of racing games, first person games were not particularly popular during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. With the advent of 32-bit game systems, software companies decided to revisit first person games. One such game was Stellar 7 Draxon’s Revenge. It is remarkably similar to Battlezone. The major differences are the updated graphics, and the beautiful 3D introduction.
One thing that Stellar 7 has that Battlezone lacks is a storyline. The Terran Confederation is under attack from the forces of Gir Draxon and his Arcturan Empire. The Terran Fleet has been dispatched to destroy the invaders before they reach the heart of the Confederation. However, Draxon is using warp link technology to transport his invasion force to seven systems within striking distance of the terran home-world. Without the Terran Fleet to defend them, the only hope is an experimental assault vehicle known as RAVEN. Can the RAVEN single-handedly turn back Draxon’s mighty fleet?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Battlezone, it was an arcade tank shoot em up. Although you had the benefit of radar to scan for enemy vehicles, it really did not qualify as a tank sim. You would drive around an endless plane to search out the enemy. There were mountains in the background to provide the illusion of other terrain. Stellar 7 is basically the same. There are some added bells and whistles like a heads up viewfinder, power-ups, and a smattering of small polygon rocks on the ground, but that is basically it. What would have made this game really fun is a two-player mode. As it is, Stellar 7 is the kind of game that is fun to pick up and play a game or two, but don’t expect to get caught up in it and play for days. Given the fact that you can pick up 3DO games for the price of a few plays in an arcade, you may want to give Stellar 7 a spin.
