Super Stardust HD Two-Year Anniversary

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Super Stardust HD 2

Hello, all PS.blog readers. I’m fortunate to get to work on a lot of PSN titles, such as Wipeout HD, Crash Commando, and Savage Moon. But I’m back on the blog today to talk about one of my titles from way back, Super Stardust HD. It’s one of the most popular games on PSN, and the big news today is that it’s celebrating its 2 year anniversary this week. It was developed by the fine gents and gals at Housemarque, located in Finland. As you may have noticed, my name isn’t too typical for an American name — yes, I’m from England, so it’s great to be working on all of these strong titles coming from great developers across the pond.

To commemorate the 2nd anniversary this week, here’s a message from one of the developers at Housemarque, Petteri Putkonen.

Hello everybody, my name is Petteri Putkonen and I am part of the Housemarque team.

Super Stardust HD was launched in June 2007, and we continue to be surprised by how many people around the world keep coming back for more to fight in an ongoing interstellar battle against massive planet killing meteors and evil alien forces. How did we do it?

The pre-history of Super Stardust HD adds its flavour even if the game mechanics, controls and design might not appear to have that much in common with the earlier shoot-‘em-up titles we’ve done in the past. The game has its origins deeply rooted in the very early history of Housemarque, as the company’s co-founder and original mastermind behind the game, Harri Tikkanen, led a small team of young game developers that created the very first Stardust game for the Amiga 500 computer way back in 1993.

Simply titled Stardust, the game had an evil mutant penguin Professor Schaumund trying to conquer the whole galaxy with his fleet of agents disguised as meteors, alien creatures and spaceships, but his nearly perfect plan was unlikely but ultimately foiled by a lone rebel pilot in a measly little spaceship. A few years later the most evil and twisted mutant penguin genius in the universe returned and wreaked havoc across the galaxy again in Super Stardust for the PC, the first game Housemarque got published in 1996. Throughout the years, several interpretations of Stardust saw the light of day on platforms like Atari ST, Amiga 1200 and Amiga CD32.

Jump to the present, and Professor Schaumund’s forces are back and we can’t help but be amazed when we see the kind of high scores players from all around the world have contributed to the global high score ranking lists on PSN. Just as an example, we originally estimated that the all time top high score in Arcade mode might reach a 500 million point mark, but as time has shown, players keep exceeding your expectations. Today, the top Arcade mode high score is over 1.7 BILLION points! We can only wonder whether it can be pushed any further, is it possible to go beyond 2 BILLION?? We’ll just have to wait and see…

Super Stardust HD Co-op 3 Super Stardust HD 1


Looking back, throughout the whole experience of developing Super Stardust HD, even with its success and critical acclaim the most important thing for us has been the personal feedback we’ve received from fans of the game from all corners of this planet. We’d like to thank you for all your kind words, emails and support. Although we’ve recently been busy with our current PlayStation 3 project, we still keep thinking of doing some updates for Super Stardust HD in the future. There is at least one specific idea that would certainly add a new dimension to the game… If you have any thoughts, you can let us know what you’d like to see added to the Super Stardust HD experience; just leave a comment on this blog or email ssd@housemarque.com

Right from the beginning, working on Super Stardust HD felt special for us. It was one of those rare projects where everything just clicked into place, where every design and technical decision felt like it was the right thing to do. We started working on the game in August 2006, and it was subsequently released as the first globally launched PSN game on 28th of June, 2007. We believe strongly that what we came up with is our best game yet, and if you haven’t tried it for yourself yet there’s never been a better time to do so.

As we rapidly approach 300,000 pilots listed in the global Arcade mode high score list, more and more players keep enlisting every week. A third of these have also played their way onto the Solo Game Pack’s high score lists, with an increasing amount of gamers also playing the game with friends in either the included split screen co-op mode or the Team Game Pack’s multiplayer party mode.
We’re currently busy trying to outdo ourselves with our next PSN exclusive game that’s in development at the moment. We’d love to tell you more about it but will have to wait a little bit longer before we can reveal any details. At the moment, all we can say is we’re confident it’ll be worth your wait.
Keep blastin!

-Housemarque Team

If you haven’t played Super Stardust HD, where have you been the last two years? Seriously, though, it’s a blast to play and can be had for only $9.99 on the PSN store. We have two add-on packs for it, adding various single-player and multiplayer/co-op modes, and there’s even a demo so you can try it out before you buy it. And if you have a PSP, definitely check out Super Stardust Portable, which lets you take the experience with you on your PSP. We’ve done plenty of posts on the blog about the game, including a video with tips for racking up major points from one of the top players in the world. If you haven’t tried the game yet, now’s the perfect time. And if you already have, now’s the time to fire it up again try for a new high score.

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133 Comments

  • This was the first PSN game that I bought that I thought was worth every penny. I played this like crazy and would love a sequal or some additional planets/weapons as DLC.

  • amazing game. first PSN game i bought and still one of my top three so far.

  • Cool. But why no price drop?

    SCEA fails yet again. At least you’re putting PSX games that people want and will sell (FF7 in two weeks news) up.

    It seems like Europe gets a bunch of PSN game price drops for good deals but SCEA will NEVER drop the price of games for a week unless it’s for crappy Home spaces. :/

  • So no new conent in the game? That’s a shame.

  • I bought Stardust and Super Star dust for my Amiga 500+ and Amiga 1200 back in the day. Can you believe SSDHD was what pushed me to purchase the PS3 in 2007? Upmost respect for you guys! Sony, keep supporting excellent talent like Housemarque! Big-ups to Team17.

  • Fantastic game! Quality drips from every aspect, every pixel, every sound, song, and reflex of this game.

  • Love the game! Just please let me get that late boomer trophy somehow. It is ridiculous. Maybe for ‘the bombing mode’ (i forget what it’s called) have things play out in a set pattern instead of random crap every time. Lol, this probably wont happen, but a tip ‘o the hat to the people that managed to get that one.

  • I love this game even to this day. It was the first PSN title I purchased and still don’t regret it. I recently got an HDTV and was amazed at how much an SDTV doesn’t do this game justice. Happy 2nd anniversary and here’s to more as well as the same success for your current project.

    Unlike most here, the 10x trophy was one of my easiest gains. The Bomber trophy is what’s killing me. I can only get 14 bombs before I’m rushed. One day I’ll get my 100%…

  • This game is my crack, i’m addicted to it. Some new DLC would be sweet XD

  • Awesome game, I got to 75% of the trophies, the “Late Boomer” and “Brothers in Arms” trophies are impossible! :)

  • Ah yes, congratulations developers and SSHD!

    Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first game to have trophies!

  • Great game, with superb controls, made even better by terrific GUI design choices. Menus are lightning quick to navigate, with basically no loading, so dying and restarting is always an extremely quick affair, which really adds to the overall arcade-style feel.

    It’s hard as hell though, and I’d kill for an online co-op mode, but I understand it came out early on in the PSN’s life cycle.

    Let’s hope whatever this new project is, it includes an online co-op option as well, without having to charge me extra for it down the road as some sort of add-on.

    Looking forward to hearing more about the new game when it can be officially announced.

  • Wow 2 years already. I remember grabing the demo for the game the first day the demo was availible and purchasing the full game after playing the demo a bit. It was one of my first game purchases on the Playstation Store. I forgot about the game for a while until I got PS3 2.40 and the trophy update. I beat the solo campaign that night and realised how awesome the game rly was. Happy birthday Super Stardust HD! Looking forward to seeing that update you mentioned.

  • Still haven’t tried this game. Maybe it’s time

  • “Super Stardust HD was launched in June 2007, and we continue to be surprised by how many people around the world keep coming back for more to fight in an ongoing interstellar battle against massive planet killing meteors and evil alien forces. How did we do it?”

    By giving it the trophy update first. :P

  • I still play this game regularly.

    I got the solo expansion pack, but I am not paying 5 dollars for a gold trophy.

  • No price drop? It would certainly get new players into the game!

  • make a sequel

  • Bought this game, the same week it was released. NO regrets!

    Keep up the good work Sony, and give Jack Tretton a raise! He rocked at E3 (both years).

  • U$ 9.99?!!?

    In Europe Store it’s £1.59 (U$2.59)!! Come on, why no price drop for US Store?

  • I think this was the first game I bought for the PS3. I got Resistance for free. Awesome game. I still bust it out every now and then. When I got my new TV, (42″ Vizio) first game I played with the HDMI hookup was Super Stardust and I promptly died twice noticing how amazing it looked.

    It would be cool for more add ons, but that boat has likely left the dock. Great game though.

  • Why don’t you release it on DISC to celebrate the anniversary?

  • I’ve had this title for as long as I can remember and I still play it a few times each month or if I’m waiting for something to download. Fun title and I’m really looking forward to any future titles by the developer on the PSN :)

  • wow super stardust and i hav the same birthday cool :)

  • I would like to see online multiplayer (challenge and Co-op) for this game…and some more trophies :).

  • I remember everyone went crazy over this one being the first game with trophies.

  • I would buy the game at $4.99 to celebrate the anniversary. Otherwise the demo works just fine for me, just to play for a few minutes.

  • Seems like the perfect time for an anniversary sale but I guess Sony nixed that…I’m just saying, sales aren’t going to explode just because someone hears the game is two years old, BUT if there was a half off sale or some mega bundle with the expansions at a lowered price, I think you guys could do some major business. Think of all the new ps3 owners since the game came out!

  • As much as i loved Stardust and have clocked in… god only knows how many hours (the hour counter resets itself after every update. >.< lol) into it, i don’t know if you’re really going to get many more sales on it without a price drop. A price drop would get it back on the front page of the Store and get some attention. Hell, even if you just drop it to $7.99, it would get plenty more people to buy it.
    Im just saying. I mean, i already have it and all the expansions, but… you know… more people need to play it. :D
    Probably the best PSN game to date.

  • This was my first PSN love.

  • Their is a price drop…but you have to have a Europe account that’s where the price is dropped.

  • Great game that has many features we all love!

    I recommend this game!

  • yup check the europe blog PRICE drop go make a Europe account and get this game for less than 4 bucks

  • @70 Wow that’s crazy. For $2.59 I’d buy it today, but $9.99 for a two year old game downloadable PSN game without a single price drop (good game or not) is just nuts!!

    You can get many of the earlier big triple-A retail PS3-games for $10-$20 nowadays, but for some reason there are never any price cuts on PSN :( Years after the release of so many games, add-ons, GH/RB tracks etc they’re still the same price as they were way back then.

    Really sad, and one of the main reasons why I DO NOT like all this digital distribution BS.

    Come on, get with the program Sony, you drop the price on older releases, that’s the way it works! After 3 months, 25% off, 6 months 50% off, 1 year 70% off, 2 years it should basically be free for crying out loud ;-) I bet that would get a whole lot more people do BUY stuff on the PSN. I’ve had my PS3 for years, and so far bought NADA, and it will continue that way as long as you insist on keeping prices at current retail levels.

  • Damn, I tough there would be a sale or something (like $9.99 for the game + all the bonus packs). It looks nice but unless it was on sale, I’ll just save my money for Fat Princess…

  • Still the best looking PSN game out there in my opinion.

  • For a change, the UK store has us beat on this one:

    https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2009/06/25/super-stardust-hd-celebrates-its-two-year-anniversary/

    I can’t believe you wouldn’t offer this for at least $4.99, and looking at the UK price of 1.99 Euros (equals $2.789) or 1.59 Pounds ($2.6053), it should even be $2.99.

    Thanks but no thanks.

  • Super Stardust HD is one of the best games on the PSN even after 2 years. I was addicted to it from the beginning and then I relapsed when the trophy patch came out. I pretty much destroyed my analog sticks on one of my controllers because I played the hell out of this game.

    The game just oozes quality. This gaming experience is well worth $10. Brand new games with comparative pricing don’t even match the features or fun factor of this 2 year old game.

    Please eventually make a Super Stardust HD 2! Or an add-on with more planets and different enemies.

  • Love SSHD from day one, but I have a question: Why does Europe get a price drop for a week of 1.99 EUR (read: $2.80) and not the US as well?

    I’m not crying foul, but I was just curious.

  • my first psn purchase. in fact, this is the first item i bought using a credit card.. very good game. i still play it once in a while.

  • There’s a price drop on the EU store. How bout extending the deal across the pond? Pretty ridiculous to offer it there and not here.

  • A really good game and the first to have Trophies added and your own HDD in game music !

    Happy Birthday Super Stardust HD.

  • I still have my Amiga version but then again I still have 2 Amiga 500 and a CD32.

    Happy Anniv. You guys did a great job. Any chance of seeing any more Amiga games upgraded to teh PS3 through PSN?

  • lmao thiw was my first game on the psn store, and i still cant beat the last planet…..Happy anniversary !!!!!

  • Congrats for your 2 years and the ongoing success.

    I’m going to be a bit of a party crasher here, but something bugs me about this game.

    I’ve installed the demo of this game and had a lot of fun with it, but didn’t bought it.

    My problem is that now, I’m stuck with it in my trophies. I have a 0% meter next to the Stardust icon and I can’t remove it.

    Am I the only one annoyed by this?

    Demo shouldn’t install the trophies until you buy the game, right?

    Hopefully, a firmware update will come out that allows us to remove such thing.

    Don’t get me wrong. The game is great. Just not my type to buy.

  • @ #1
    Haha same here..that dang 10X trophy drove me nuts…eventually…after many times of wanting to kill my tv…I got the trophy…There’s still some trophys I was never able to get…maybe I should go back and try to get them again.

  • Hah! 1 Billion?! Dear god.

    I have both the PS3 and PSP version, and I love this game a lot!

  • I love this game. I own both for the PS3 and the PSP. Thanks for such a great game. Happy Anniversary, keep the good work up.

  • @1 getting 10x is not as hard as it sounds yes it does take work but it is not as nearly impossible as the bomber one. i cant get that one but if you play smart and get shields instead of 1 ups it makes it easier.

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