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Mattel's entry in the Star Raiders clone craze. Or... Space Battle 1.5.

Graphics: 3 Sound: 3 Replay Value: 3 Notes: 1-player game; requires Intellivoice Screen Shots

Space Spartans is a decent game. The voices are actually quite good, with the sexy female computer voice somewhat reminiscent of the original Star Trek TV series, the mechanical status report, and the sinister voice you hear at the end of the game. "The battle is over." Is it just me, or does that guy sound a bit like Yul Brynner?

Gameplay is much like any of the other Star Raiders clones out there, but perhaps it's a bit easier to control the ship's systems than the various third-party VCS clones (e.g. Activision's Starmaster and Imagic's Star Voyager). This game's overlay content is clearly much like the Atari VCS's Video Touch Pad controller overlay included with the Atari 2600 version of Star Raiders. You have full control over your ship's resources - Impulse Drive, Hyperdrive, Shields, Battle Computer, Tracking Computer, and Repair assignments. And, true to their word, Mattel made the voices essential to gameplay - don't bother trying to play without the Intellivoice unit.

The game is broken into two main screens - the star map strategy mode and the combat screen. The starmap is nicely done, but the combat screen is really not much more than a scrolling Space Battle screen with a fixed cursor and different aliens. They tried to have a 3-D look to the aliens, with them appearing small and growing larger - charging toward you, for example. The effect falls flat, mainly because you don't have a starfield effect, i.e. the stars are 'flat' and you don't seem to advance through them. The sound is adequate, the voices well-done. It's worth a good rousing play once in awhile, but it's definitely a middle-of-the-pack game in terms of long-term replay value.

A total of four Space Spartans box variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0910	1982	U.S.A.	Trayless pocket; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; does NOT have the Mattel Running Man logo and 'authenticity' comment
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0910-G1	1982	U.S.A.	Trayless pocket; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; DOES have the Mattel Running Man logo and 'authenticity' comment
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0910-G1	1982	Hong Kong	Plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; DOES have the Mattel Running Man logo and 'authenticity' comment
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0810	1982	Hong Kong	French-Canadian; plastic tray; English copyright data on top flap; French copyright data on bottom flap; © Mattel Canada Inc., Toronto, Canada; English game name on spine, French on opposite end

There are at least three versions of the Space Spartans box. Two of these are subtly different, and I have a theory as to the origin of the differences. First, you'll see the images of the back side of the box. Can you spot the differences between the two on the right? Special credit to humblejack for reporting about those two variants, and for donating the original box.

The difference is the appearance of the Mattel 'Running Men' logo on the G1 revision. In my experience, the G1 version is much more common. The working theory is that Space Spartans was originally coming on the scene around the same time that Imagic (and others) started producing Intellivision games, in 1982. After that time, I suspect that the Mattel 'Running Men' logo, which intones that only Mattel's cartridges offered the best performance and by implication, compatibility and games for the system. In other words:

"Don't get those games from those non-Mattel companies!"

Finally, the French-Canadian version put information on the top and bottom flaps (not pictured) as well as the game title on the 'open' side of the box.

A total of four Space Spartans manual variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0920	1982	U.S.A.
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0920	1982	Hong Kong
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0720	1982	Hong Kong	French-Canadian; flip over for English
	Mattel Electronics	3416-0920	1982	Italy	Black and white Italian release, reported by Spadafermo51 and generously donated by intellivotion; Italian translations of the English voice phrases printed on the back

On a humorous note, it seems that perhaps the game was too easy when they first documented it. After all, the instructions referred to the Space Spartan cartridge. Guess perhaps they added more aliens to make the game harder. ;-)

A total of three Space Spartans overlay variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	3416-4289	1981	U.S.A.
	Intellivision Productions	N/A	None		Part of the standard 10 overlay set from the 2014 Intellivision Flashback; copyright information has been removed
	Blue Sky Rangers	N/A	2019		Reprint from Blue Sky Rangers in 2019

A total of three Space Spartans label variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	1982	U.S.A.	Origin lower center-right; © M.I. 1982 lower right; ™ upper right; smaller label, rounded corners
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	1981	U.S.A.	Origin lower center-right; © M.I. 1981 lower right; ™ upper right; larger label, rounded corners, larger font for game name; font for ™ is smaller
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	1981	Hong Kong	Origin lower center-right; © M.I. 1981 lower right; ™ upper right; larger label, rounded corners, larger font for game name; font for ™ is smaller

	Title screen for Space Spartans.
	This is where you first get to hear one of the most recognizable soundbites of the classic era: Hello Commander. Computer reporting. Also, you do your long-range planning here.
	Fight the good fight! Starfield scrolls as you guide your ship to destroy enemy fighters.

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