Play Stargunner Online

Stargunner is a side scrolling shooter released for MS DOS in 1996 by Apogee Software. The game is set in a science fiction future where the player takes the role of a pilot in an elite Amdaran squadron known as the StarGunners. Their mission is to strike at the homeworld of the hostile Barak race in a final effort to turn the tide of a long standing war.

The player controls a spacecraft that moves continuously to the right across a two dimensional plane. The primary objective is to survive each stage by destroying waves of enemy ships and ground based defenses, culminating in a confrontation with a larger boss vessel. Progression is structured across a series of distinct missions, with the player earning money from defeated enemies. This currency can be spent between missions at a shop to purchase permanent upgrades for the ship's weapons and defensive systems. The game features three selectable difficulty levels and its missions are divided into different environmental themes, including space, land, and underwater settings.

Stargunner utilizes pre rendered three dimensional graphics for its sprites and backgrounds, a technical approach that was notable for the genre at the time of its release. The game employs a credit system where the player has a limited number of attempts to complete the entire game, placing an emphasis on strategic resource management over collecting temporary power ups during flight. The overall structure allows players to experience segments from its various environmental themes in the initial episode, with the full game expanding on these settings across its registered episodes.