Star Paws
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|1987 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Star Paws
|image = Star Paws Cover.jpg
|caption = Cover art
|developer = John Darnell{{Cite web | url=https://issuu.com/futurepublishing/docs/ret180.issuu | title = Retro Gamer 180 (Sampler) | date=9 April 2018}}
|publisher = Software Projects
|designer =
|artist =
|composer = Rob Hubbard{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-071/page/n29/mode/2up?view=theater|title=CVG Magazine Issue 071|date=September 1987}}
|released = July 1987
|genre = Action
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
}}
Star Paws is an action video game released by Software Projects for the Commodore 64,{{Cite web | url=http://www.giantbomb.com/star-paws/61-3971/ | title = Star Paws (Game)}} Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum in 1987.{{Cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/c64/action/starpaws/index.html | title=Star Paws}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/c64/home/571824.html | title = Star Paws for Commodore 64 - GameFAQs}}
Gameplay
The game's plot involved captain Rover Pawstrong (a dog in a space suit) in his adventures on a planet, attempting to capture 20 Space Griffins{{Cite news |archive-date=Mar 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325174549/https://www.pressreader.com/uk/retro-gamer/20171102/281590945823527 |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/retro-gamer/20171102/281590945823527 |title=The Making Of: Star Paws |date=2 Nov 2017 |publisher=Retro Gamer |language=en |access-date=13 July 2023 |via=PressReader |url-status=live}} (essentially large, fast chickens). Gameplay involves the player's character running back and forth on a side-scrolling planet surface, attempting to catch the Griffins. The player finds crates which contain items that the player can use to help catch the bird - or the player can simply try and run and jump on top of the bird, thus catching it. During playtime, there is a time limit by which a bird must be caught (indicated by a roast chicken slowly turning into chicken bones), or else the game ends. At later stages in the game, the player must navigate abandoned mines, where the Griffins may be hiding, and even use a mortar to shell Griffins as they move across a landscape.
Development
The game is subject to an urban myth that the unreleased game Attack of the Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens From Mars, written by Matthew Smith, was adapted to become Star Paws. The only thing that the games have in common is that they were independently developed as games based on the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner franchise. When Software Projects failed to get the official license, John Darnell's game was adapted to become Star Paws, while Smith's game wasn't developed any further. The developer Software Projects went out of business one year later.
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Video games about dogs
Category:Video games scored by Rob Hubbard
Category:Video games scored by Tim Follin
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Category:Video games set on fictional planets
Category:Software Projects games
Category:Single-player video games
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