Ludography
Star Paws cover

1987 · Action · Platformer

Star Paws

The game's plot involved captain Rover Pawstrong (a dog in a space suit) in his adventures on a planet, attempting to eat 20 Space Griffiths (essentially chickens). Gameplay involves the player's character running back and forth on a side-scrolling planet surface, attempting to catch the griffith. 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 the 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 may have to enter some abandoned mines, where the griffith may be hiding.

Released
1987
Platforms
Amstrad CPCCommodore 64Commodore C64/128/MAXZX Spectrum
Genres
ActionPlatformer
Developers
—
Publishers
Software Projects
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Country
United Kingdom
Composers
Rob Hubbard

About

Star Paws is an action video game released by Software Projects for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum in 1987.

Media

Star Paws screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

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 (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.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Commodore C64/128/MAX31 December 1987Europe
ZX Spectrum31 December 1988Europe

Editions and related releases

Included in
THEC64 Mini

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Collections2 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.