Star Fighters — a fox, a spaceship, and Future BASIC Runs here
1999 · Laurie Murphy / Foxchange Productions · Mac OS 8 · SheepShaver (Power Macintosh 9500) · 800×600 at 8-bit colour
Guide updated September 2026
A colour arcade shooter from the very end of the classic Mac OS era, by the same small team behind BOB vs The Aliens. The title screen credits all four of them by name and tells you it was programmed in Future BASIC — which is the interesting part.
Future BASIC was a Macintosh BASIC compiler from STAZ Software that a surprising amount of late Mac shareware was built in. Star Fighters is a decent demonstration that you could make a real, good-looking arcade game in it.
Boots Mac OS 8.6 and opens Star Fighters on its title screen. Click Continue.
Controls
| Arrow keys | Fly |
| Space | Fire |
| Menus | Configure controls, options and difficulty |
| Cmd-Q | Quit to the Finder |
Shareware, distributed freely by its author. This copy is unregistered and unmodified.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Tucows Macintosh archive copy this was built from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Power Macintosh 9500, 800×600 in colour |
|---|---|
| System | Mac OS 8.6, shared with every other title of this era |
| Emulator | SheepShaver, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Version | 1.7 |
| Saves | High scores persist inside the emulated Mac |
The Configure menu is worth opening before you start — the control scheme is adjustable and the defaults are not everyone's.
Star Fighters does not carry its own operating system; Mac OS 8.6 comes from the shared image, so it starts faster if you have opened another Mac OS 8 title here.
Why it is remembered
1999 was very late for classic Mac OS shareware. Mac OS X was two years away and the scene was thinning out. Games from this window are the last of a distinct era and there are not many of them.
Future BASIC deserves the credit line. STAZ Software's compiler let people who were not C programmers ship real Macintosh applications, and a meaningful slice of the shareware catalogue exists because of it.
Small teams, credited properly. Four names on the title screen for a shareware shooter — programmer, adviser, ideas, artwork — is a nice artefact of how these things were actually made.
Getting started
Click Continue past the title screen, then check the Configure menu before your first run.
Stay near the bottom of the screen. The extra reaction time is worth more than the extra reach, which is true of almost every game in this shape.
Its stablemate BOB vs The Aliens, by the same people, is also on this site if you get on with it.
Questions people ask
Is it free?
It is shareware — freely distributed and playable, with the author's registration notice intact.
Can I change the controls?
Yes, from the Configure menu.
What is Future BASIC?
A Macintosh BASIC compiler from STAZ Software, credited on the title screen, used to build a good deal of late Mac shareware.
Do high scores persist?
Yes, inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
Is there another game by the same people?
BOB vs The Aliens, from 1997, also on this site.
Why does it take a while to start?
It boots Mac OS 8.6 first, from the image shared with the other Mac OS 8 titles here.
