Playable Vectrex game
About Star Hawk
Fly a trench-style vector attack run in the Vectrex conversion of Tim Skelly’s 1979 Cinematronics arcade game Starhawk.
- Collection
- Games
- Classification
- Official library
- Catalog year
- 1982
- Design reference
- Tim Skelly (arcade original)
- Publisher / context
- GCE / Milton Bradley under license from Cinematronics
- Genre
- Rail shooter, Arcade conversion
- Players
- 1–2 players, alternating
- Research confidence
- partial
- ROM editions
- 1
- Browser controls
- Keyboard, joystick, or gamepad
Development and history
Starhawk was designed and programmed by Tim Skelly for Cinematronics arcades in 1979, using pseudo-3D vector graphics and a trench-run concept. A Vectrex conversion followed in 1982.
The Vectrex Game Database does not identify the console-port programmer. Rather than attributing the conversion without evidence, this page separates the documented arcade design credit from the unknown Vectrex implementation credit.
This page uses one stable canonical URL for the title and loads its embedded ROM directly into the emulator after the Vectrex BIOS is ready.
Gameplay and background
Aim at incoming fighters and trench defenses as the view advances forward. The game is a rail shooter: movement is focused on targeting and avoiding threats within the forward perspective rather than free flight around an open field.
How to play in Vectrexia
- Move with the Arrow keys or WASD. Compatible controllers can use the left analog stick or D-pad.
- Vectrex buttons 1–4 map to Z, X, C, and V, and to the standard face buttons on most gamepads.
- Press a controller button after connecting it so the browser can expose the gamepad to the page.
Audio may begin after the first click, key press, or controller input because browsers can restrict autoplay.
Research sources
Available editions
Alternate dumps and revisions share this canonical page to avoid duplicate search pages. Choose a specific edition from the in-app Library.