The Star Wars saga occupies a special place within our hearts, much like it does for many gamers. It's the ultimate nerd epic: a sci-fi fairy tale that captured our imaginations. You won't find characters more beloved than Star Wars' archetypal Han Solo, Darth Vader, or Luke Skywalker. Its science-fantasy fusion of futuristic technology and otherworldly magic fascinated and entertained us, at least until Lucas saw fit to suck all the magic out of the Force by introducing those ridiculous midi-chlorians in The Phantom Menace. No, we're not bitter, why?
To commemorate Star Wars Day all of us at GameSpy picked out our favorite Star Wars videogames. We (mostly) picked one game each, so some of your personal favorites (we're lookin' at you, LEGO Star Wars) may not have gotten the love they deserve. Set us straight in the comments section!
[Thanks to Mobygames for most of the screenshots.]
B Miggs' Pick: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64/PC)
What and when: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron put players in the role of Luke Skywalker as leader of an elite squadron of X-wing pilots. It was one of the most visually impressive games of its time, thanks largely to the N64 Expansion Pak. According to IGN's own Peer Schneider, "Rogue Squadron in combination with the RAM expansion is visually one of the most impressive titles on the N64. Everything rings true to the Star Wars universe and shows what's possible on the N64 if you get the right developer for the job."
B Miggs says: After being a huge fan of the movies, Rogue Squadron really got me into the gaming side of Star Wars. Had George Lucas seen me play it his insides would have felt the warmth of Tauntaun flesh. For the first time I finally had control over something that "looked like the X-Wing" in environments that "looked like the movie" and I was happier than a pig in shit.
Copy editor fun fact: Rogue Squadron is one of the most commonly misspelled game titles ever.
There were certain parts of the game that really popped my "insane unlockables" cherry, most notably a freaking 1969 Buick Electra 225 in the hangar next to the Millennium Falcon. WTF? I knew I was the one responsible for inputting the code, but I really couldn't believe it the first few times I actually saw it there. I guess someone from Sound Design gave Old Man Lucas the best shoulder ride around the office that day because he actually ended up getting his classic car in the game (true story). They also included the Naboo Starfighter months before its Phantom Menace debut, thus foreshadowing the series' failures to come. It should be no surprise that the ship sucked almost as much as the prequels did.
Anthony's Pick: Star Wars: X-Wing (PC)
What and when: Star Wars: X-Wing was the first LucasArts DOS game set in the Star Wars universe and kicked off a series of space combat simulators for the PC, leading to the development of beloved PC gaming staples like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. It featured a fully 3D engine, as opposed to the bitmaps and sprites of earlier games. Star Wars: X-Wing won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1993.
Anthony says: Star Wars: X-Wing was the first PC game I ever bought for myself. I distinctly remember going out and convincing my parents that getting this game and a crappy K-Mart joystick was all I needed to be happy in life. Hours later, after figuring out how to install the game in DOS (on 3.5" floppy disks, thank you very much), I finally got it up and running.It was breathtaking.
R2, why did my main screen just turn off? R2? R2?!
Awesome MIDI tunes blasted out of my speakers, traditional Star Wars text scrolled on the screen... I was finally living out the fantasies that were originally confined to my brain and my small collection of Star Wars toys. I couldn't have cared less about flying the missions initially; it was enough for me to just fly around in space on random missions that I created myself. Not only did this game allow me to pilot X-Wings, but Y-Wings and A-Wings as well. I got to fly alongside Mon Calamari cruisers, dance between the turbolasers of an Imperial Star Destroyer, and watch Tie Fighters' solar panels break apart as my lasers ripped at their unshielded hulls.
But what I most admired about X-Wing was its replay feature. Long before other games even bothered, X-Wing allowed me to go back and watch my missions over and over again. I loved panning the camera around and seeing the fine details of how I killed an enemy (often vice-versa). Hell, I wish I could go back and watch some of them right now, despite how poorly I'm sure they've aged.
I'd give most anything to be able to launch X-Wing again right this minute, but unfortunately it hasn't been re-released since 1998, and has a ton of compatibility issues with my modern hardware that I'm too lazy to deal with. [DOSbox, let me show you it - ed.] But if you're listening, LucasArts, I'd pay full retail price all over again to suit up in my orange jump suit and lock my s-foils in attack position one more time.
