I just wrote a review of this game's inferior younger brother Return of the Jedi. I wrongfully assumed that this classic 3d 1st-person shooter/space flight sim would have had a dozen buckets of reviews for it on Vizzed already, similar to Zelda Ocarina of Time because the game is so flippinly and undeniably awesomeness-packed, but no there were no reviews yet!
NOTE: if you like this game check out the sequel too, the Empire Strikes back! It is basically in the exact same style as this game just taken from scenes from the second movie, so I am not going to bother writing a review for that one too.
Be warned, the game is virtually and yet completely unplayable on keyboard. Yes, you can move the targeting crosshairs up down left right but it is so completely and frustratingly impossible to target anything, it's not worth bothering. I tried the game out and plugged in my xbox (360) controller, problem solved the vizzed plugin recognizes the controller and configures the emulator instantly and automatically.
This is one of those games that is perfect and timeless. Bravo. The player takes control of an X-wing from the 1st person perspective attacking the Death Star, first flying around in space taking out tie fighters, then cruising along the Death Star's surface and finally cruising down the cinematically-legendary trench run. Unlike Return of the Jedi there is a feeling of progression in this title and a feeling that although briefly the game gets harder and harder in each of the 3 areas. In space, all the player has to worry about are the slow moving laser-balls (the player has the choice of dodging or blasting these laser balls, typically I dodged most of them since dodging them does not require precision-aiming). Along the surface, towers grow out of the ground and the player must weave between them, in the trench run (although perhaps not as much on easy mode) the amount of dodging up and down between the barriers creates a frantic, exhilarating experience. Though the death star can be destroyed and the whole game played through in under 5 minutes or so, there is a genuine feeling of accomplishment. Also, since the game starts you over from the beginning with a higher level of difficulty, there is a legitimate sense that the game is played for its own reward, that the game's short length is a strength not a weakness, that blasting tie fighters and dodging lasers and obstacles is so crazy-fun it is worth it on its own.
Graphics 10
Against a black backdrop, all the obstacles are presented in a vector-graphics 3d style that works perfectly, looks great and runs fast and smooth. For its time the smooth fast 3d presentation was amazing and it holds up well. The vector style makes it easier to see the depth than a gray-scale death Star would have been, and it runs smoother too. I'm not a huge fan of starwars on the sega 32x but there is a strong case to be made for simplicity over colorful graphics.
Sound = 9
This game uses the musical tunes from the movie in a very clever way. It alternates between musical bits and silence to both provide an authentic starwars experience and add legitimacy and movie nostalgia to the moments--not to mention exhilaration to dramatic moments such as when you first fly over the surface of the death star--but the moments of silence give a feeling of a space flight simulator, as if you are really in the spaceship with no noise but the sounds of exploding tie-fighters and launched laser blasts. It's similar to the way the use of ambient noise without music in games can enrich the atmosphere, like the sound of rain falling. Though in the case of Star Wars it is the rain of laser-fire.
The game also scores HUGE points for its use of voice-acting. Unlike Return of the Jedi which uses scattered voice acting to bizarre and unintentionally hilarious effect, the voice acting in this star wars is pervasive, contextual and as such it enriches every moment of play. When your ship is hit but you have lots of shield left, Luke says something (I forget so I'm paraphrasing) "I got hit a little but I'm okay", and when the shields are completely gone Luke might say "I lost artoo!" and the haunting ghostly voice of Obi Wan coaching you, telling you to reach out with your feelings or use the force or "the force will be with you... always" or Darth Vader reservedly admiring --SPOILER ALERT-- his son Luke with paternal pride when he says "the force is strong with this one"... The voice acting is used to superb effect here, so much so that the sound design of this arcade game could be used in game-design schools as an example of the right way to do it.
Addictiveness = 9 difficulty = 8 depth = 7
The way the game increases in difficulty directly proportionally to the increase in tension as you approach the seemingly impossible task of navigating the trench run without getting lasered or crashed to death, it creates one of those amazing experiences where you actually WANT to compete for the high score. I dont know about you but I don't give a hoot what freak got the high score in pacman, but this game feels different to me because the experience of piloting the x-wing and blasting tie fighters, that satisfyingly explode into well-animated 3d bits when you laser them, a perfect blend of difficulty and addictiveness.
I should point out that eventually, the tie fighters spit out laserballs like machine guns, so much so that it feels progressively more and more impossible to survive--this is actually a good thing though, I believe. By making the game virtually impossible to play forever, it makes it virtually impossible to cheat the game and get an infinitely high score merely by surviving forever. Thus, when your end inevitably comes, your merit is more-fairly judged, I believe, based on how much damage you inflicted while you were alive. Otherwise the game would unfairly reward people who don't bother shooting anything and try to stay alive an unnatural amount of time. It also adds to the fairness that you can, in theory, get a #1 high score with an investment of time of 15 minutes or less simply by displaying more talent (though memorizing the patterns of the game may reward repeat playthroughs).
Depth wise, there aren't really easter-eggs and no rpg leveling elements or anything like that, the depth score is saved only by the fact that the game's short run is so lovingly crafted that it feels deep, even though it's not really that deep. On the other hand, on easy mode there are certain obstacles that are really fun that you will not see until you play through the game more than once, for example the obstacles in the trench run are mad-fun to dodge yet are not as numerous on easy mode.
Story = 6
No cutscenes really, and only a portion of the movie is represented here (the final battle) though the basic plot is told in classic starwars fashion with the scrolling text flying up into space. The game is given a forgiving 6 score because of the awesome use of voice acting to ground the player in the unfolding story, also the superb graphics recreate the death star assault to great effect.
If you could not tell by reading the rest of my review, I REALLY like this game, I believe it is a true classic destined to stand the test of time. Compared to your typical movie tie-in (in fact, compared to any other arcade game) this title is elite top-tier stuff. The creme de la creme of the upper-crust, so to speak! It is totally worth grabbing a joystick, if you want to give it a try, dont bother trying to play with the keyboard.. There should be a way to play using the mouse but I couldnt figure that out. Thanks Vizzed for hosting arcade games, you make amazing experiences like this possibly in a browser!!!! Enjoy, peeps! |
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| ID: 801166 | 1371 Words
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