| Protector | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
| Publisher(s) | Songbird Productions |
| Producer(s) | Christopher Weaver Todd Howard |
| Designer(s) | Jørgen Bech |
| Platform(s) | Atari Jaguar |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Protector is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Bethesda Softworks for the Atari Jaguar. The game was released in 1999, followed by the Special Edition in 2002 and the expansion pack Resurgence in 2014. The game takes place during a futuristic alien invasion of Earth, where the player pilots the Starblade to defend the planetoid Haven-7.
Protector was designed by Danish developer Jørgen Bech. Produced by Christopher Weaver and Todd Howard, the project came about after Bech had time to understand the Jaguar's capabilities. Bech developed a game similar to Defender (1981), but Atari refused to publish it due to their work on Defender 2000, with Bethesda cancelling the project due to the Jaguar's decline. After Atari dropped support for the Jaguar, a programmer named Carl Forhan revived the project by reaching out to Bech on a Usenet forum and licensing the game from Bethesda. Hasbro Interactive later made the Jaguar an open platform, allowing Forhan to finish and publish the game under his studio Songbird Productions.
Protector and the special edition earned critical acclaim; Praise was given to the audiovisual presentation, controls, and gameplay, but some were divided regarding the difficulty curve. The game sold 100 copies in the first year, with the special edition selling 500 copies by 2002, making it Songbird's best-selling Jaguar title. In retrospect, game critics have ranked it as one of the best games for the Jaguar.