What and when: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was one of the first games available for the Nintendo 64. It was conceived as part of a multimedia experiment (alongside a novel and comic books) by Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996, with the idea being to commercially exploit a property without actually releasing a film to tie it all together. The game received mediocre reviews, though the Hoth level was highly praised.
Agent B says: Shadow's rogue lumberjack protagonist Dash Rendar wasn't exactly the most inspired Star Wars character to don tights and hop into the cockpit of a snowspeeder, but in 1996 BJJ (Before Jar Jar) he was the last of a dying breed. Shadows of the Empire helped solidify the franchise's penchant to alternate between well-done flight levels and awkwardly puppeteered on-foot stages filmed by a narcoleptic camera man with a fetish for force-choking your hit detection odds.
Use the Force, Luke. Or that bungee in your trunk.
It was also the first time I really felt that a Star Wars game had nailed the feeling of tackling an AT-AT with your tow cables in the Battle of Hoth, to the point where it made me question some of the Empire's design decisions. AT-ATs? Seriously? Who green-lit the construction of these lumbering, four-legged monstrosities, anyway? Slow and clunky with terrible peripheral vision and can be brought to their knees with a single grenade and a jump rope? Bullshit. That's millions of galactic credits down the toilet. [Seriously! This is a recurring theme with the Empire. The Death Star was built with a self-destruct button accessible from the outside! -ed.] Even the Jawas had the sense to throw some Ds on their whip, and they were sand midgets who majored in TV/VCR repair at Mos Eisley Community College.
AJ's Pick (Tie): Super Star Wars (SNES) and Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC/PS1)
What and when: Super Star Wars was the first in a series of action platformers for the Super NES. The games mixed things up by including levels with different gameplay types, like space combat stages followed by platforming. Super Star Wars was awarded Best Action/Adventure Game of 1992 by EGM. Star Wars: Dark Forces was a first person shooter that introduced characters from the Expanded Universe to gamers, and was compared favorably to id Software's amazing shooter Doom.
AJ says: I couldn't decide between Super Star Wars and Dark Forces, so I'm being an indecisive weenie and choosing both (or is it neither?). Behold my cognitive dissonance!Super Star Wars is not the best platformer ever made, nor even a very polished one, but the gameplay is fun enough and the A/V presentation's second-to-none. The SNES sound chip was rarely in finer form, synthesizing both rousing renditions of Williams' nostalgic score and charming digitized sound effects, like that distinctive sound Jawas are always making. And unlike many movie games it's long and challenging, covering the events of the film with plenty of videogame-style elaborations. As a whole it really captures the fun of the original trilogy, which is what makes it my favorite Star Wars game. (Incidentally I like the two SNES sequels much less.)
Okay, so the Sarlacc wasn't exactly to scale. Maybe it was a baby one? Shut up.
So my other favorite, Dark Forces? In many ways this was the first Doom wannabe that actually outdid Doom. The tech was sweet (it's rumored that the devs reverse-engineered Doom's) and the developers put it to great use, creating highly atmospheric levels that really captured that old-school Star Wars aesthetic. Fun weapons and enemies, memorable setpieces and a decent challenge level made for one of the best FPS games you could play in 1995. And Star Wars nerds will enjoy seeing the first appearance of Kyle Katarn, back when he was an interesting Han Solo-ish mercenary type instead of a goodie-goodie Jedi Knight. So, that's why Dark Forces is my favorite Star Wars game. Uh, I mean my other favorite. Yes.
No cheesy Force powers here -- just old-fashioned blasting and chunky pixels.
Starling's Pick: Star Wars (Arcade)
What and when: The Star Wars arcade game is a first-person space combat game produced by Atari and released in 1983, soon becoming a staple in arcades. Its distinctive 3D color vector graphics and digitized voice samples from actors like Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and James Earl Jones firmly entrench it as a Star Wars fan's retro classic.
Sterling says: It's funny how diverse everyone's memories of Star Wars are. Mine are mostly confined to PlayStation-era misfires like Masters of Teras Kasi and the licensed Phantom Menace game. Except for one, Atari's Star Wars arcade game.A few weeks ago I was listening to Robert Ashley's "A Life Well Wasted" podcast, which featured a heavy-duty game collector. The guy talked about how he and his friends used to play the butt-ugly Atari 2600 Raiders of the Lost Ark game and used their imaginations to fill in the aesthetic blanks. It resonated with me, because I did the same thing with the Star Wars arcade game. In the early '80s my local pizza joint had the big booth cabinet set up, and I would beg my father for a few quarters so that I could pull up the stool and play.
It looks primitive now but Star Wars' simple 3D action was a revelation at the time.
In retrospect those vector graphics seem quaint to the point of derision, but for a four year-old boy with a fertile imagination and a love for all things Jedi I felt like Luke Skywalker as he dusted off Tie Fighters to destroy the Death Star. I could play pretend Star Wars with my friends, but I cherished the rare opportunities to squeeze a quarter or two out of my dad to jump into the booth and play (or, if he was feeling like a cheapskate, pretend to play). There's a lot to be said for how much the gaming industry has advanced graphics, but I don't doubt for a second that if you put a four year-old in front of a fairly ugly classic game that child would have a blast playing it.
I'd be lying if I told you that I felt the same amount of wide-eyed innocence the first time I played LEGO Star Wars. My Sith-like hatred of that series is well-documented at this point.
