Star Keeper

Star Keeper is a 2D side-scrolling shooter in which you control Dylan, the Star Keeper, as he gathers scattered stars and fights the monsters that get in his way. His goal is to defeat the evil witch Blue Moon, recover the fragments of the Lucky Star and restore it to its original form.

Story

In the Starry Kingdom, the sky is always a colorful night filled with stars and clouds, and there is no daytime or change of seasons. Dylan lives on an island beneath the Lucky Star, a giant white-shining star that serves as the kingdom’s mascot and symbolizes peace. Blue Moon attacks Dylan, breaks the Lucky Star into hundreds of small stars and scatters them throughout the kingdom. Dylan sets out after Blue Moon in Guardian One, his house, which can fly as an aircraft.

Collect the stars

At the start of each level, Guardian One descends from the sky and Dylan comes out of its door. You explore a horizontally scrolling, cycling map, collecting stars in two waves per level. Touch a large, shiny yellow star in the sky to collect it, then fly over Guardian One’s chimney to have Dylan automatically throw the collected stars inside, one by one. Once both groups of stars are gathered, the level is complete; after the music changes, land near the house to move on to the next level.

Monsters try to stop you as you collect stars. You can dodge them or shoot them, and destroying them may leave behind power-ups that you collect by touching their icons. Dylan begins with three lives, each with three hearts; heart items can raise the hearts per life to five. After losing all three lives, you can start again from the current stage.

Weapons and items

The weapons you can obtain include the ordinary AB Gun, the Bidirectional AB Gun, the High-Pressure Water Gun, the Alpha-Ray Gun and the Protection Ring. Their attacks differ: the Bidirectional AB Gun fires in two directions, the water gun shoots forward in three directions, the Alpha-Ray Gun fires two spiral energy rays, and the Protection Ring provides short-range defense from four angles while also firing AB bullets forward for long-range attacks.

Items include hearts, which add a heart; acceleration, which increases both attack and flight speed; and an Invincible Star, which temporarily makes Dylan invincible and destroys enemies he touches. A Bomb clears all enemies from the screen, while a 1UP grants an extra life. The High-Pressure Water Gun, Alpha-Ray Gun, Bidirectional AB Gun and Protection Ring items let Dylan switch to their corresponding weapons.

PC version additions

The PC version is based on the NES source code and includes an emulator that simulates NES and cartridge hardware. It adds a redesigned first level, shortened and with star positions adjusted to help players get started, as well as two Easter eggs, including a Christmas Easter egg in the first level. A bonus stage challenges you to collect as many stars as possible in 115 seconds; when time runs out, you receive an extra life for every 35 stars collected.

The NES music engine has been fixed to address playback issues and make its effects closer to the original FTM sound. Original level music is generated with FamiTracker and played as PCM, while music in the bonus levels and Easter eggs uses 8-bit sound effects that mimic the NES. The music in level 4 has been extended from 28 seconds to 54 seconds.

You can hold Select during gameplay to restart the current level, resetting Dylan’s lives and weapons to their initial state. Passwords appear after levels 4 and 6, allowing you to continue from those levels later. The title screen also offers options to start the game, enter a level password or configure a controller.