Star Soldier

Star Soldier (スターソルジャー) is a series of scrolling shooters mainly developed by Hudson Soft. Konami has owned the rights to the series since their absorption of Hudson Soft in 2012. The first game, named Star Soldier, appeared on the MSX and NES in 1986, and the series has continued on various gaming systems. Star Soldier itself has received enhanced remakes for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in 2003, and a different remake for the PlayStation Portable in 2005, while the latest installment of the series was released on the Wii as a WiiWare game in 2008. In addition, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Soldier Blade and Star Parodier have been re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console and on the Japanese PC Engine's Best Collection lineup for the PSP. The Star Soldier games are best known for their distinctive music, unique weapon power-ups, and a special time attack high score mode called "Caravan Mode".

Caravan gaming tournaments
Star Soldier was developed as a spiritual successor to Tecmo's Star Force, from which it borrows most of its gameplay elements. The Star Force series, along with Hudson's Star Soldier, was often featured in the popular Japanese gaming tournament known as "Hudson All-Japan Caravan Festival". Home ports of Star Soldier games would sometimes feature "Caravan" modes in which the player would race through timed stages while trying to accumulate a high score.

Common elements
Being an arcade-style game, Star Soldier's objective is primarily based on achieving a high score. The series often makes use of hidden destructible tiles that offer bonus points when shot, but may occasionally power-up the player's ship instead. Bonus points will also be awarded for defeating sequences of enemy formations while they are within a certain proximity to the player's ship, or defeating mini bosses before they have a chance to attack.

Games

 * 1986: Star Soldier - MSX, Famicom/NES, Game Boy Advance, iOS, Wii VC, 3DS VC, Nintendo Online (Switch).
 * Star Soldier Special+ - Mobile Phone
 * Star Soldier SP Arcade - Mobile Phone
 * Star Soldier Fukkoku-Ban - Mobile Phone
 * 1990: Super Star Soldier - PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, Wii VC, Windows Store, Wii U VC
 * 1991: Final Soldier - PC Engine, Wii VC, Wii U VC
 * 1992: Soldier Blade - PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, Wii VC, Wii U VC
 * 1992: Star Parodier - PC Engine CD ROM, Wii VC
 * 1998: Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth - Nintendo 64
 * 2008: Star Soldier R - Wii (WiiWare)
 * 2010: Star Soldier Mission Mode - Mobile Phone
 * 2013: Star Soldier for GREE - iOS

During the Konami Action & Shooting Contest hosted by the Shueisha Game Creator’s Camp and Tokyo Game Show 2022, Beep won the rights from Konami to develop the game through the competition, a game titled Star Soldier RE:VIVE Multiverse is in development.

Crossover

 * 2006: Star Soldier vs DoDonPachi DaiOuJou CARAVAN'06 - Mobile Phone
 * 2018: Super Bomberman R - Nintendo Switch
 * 2018: Pixel Puzzle Collection - iOS, Android

Compilations and remakes

 * 1995: Caravan Shooting Collection - SNES
 * Compilation of Star Force, Star Soldier and Starship Hector
 * 2003: Star Soldier - GameCube, PS2
 * 3D remake with arranged stages
 * 2005: Star Soldier - PSP
 * Enhanced port of the 2003 remake
 * 2006: Hudson Best Collection Vol. 5: Shooting Collection - GBA
 * Compilation of Star Force, Star Soldier and Starship Hector
 * 2008: PC Engine Best Collection: Soldier Collection - PSP
 * Compilation of Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Star Parodier and Soldier Blade

Canceled games

 * 1995: Kuma Soldier - PC-FX

Other media

 * 1985–1987: Famicom Rocky - manga: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga.
 * 1986-1987: Famicom Cap - manga: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga.
 * 1986–1987: Nekketsu! Famicom Shounendan: Star Soldier is one of the videogames based on the manga.
 * 1991–1993: Cyber Boy - manga: Soldier Blade and Star Parodier, two of the video games based on the manga.
 * 1986: Running Boy Star Soldier no Himitsu - anime film