It is July 1982. There’s still a year left for it to be released. return of the jedi and the cliffhanger of The Empire Strikes Back still overwhelms a whole audience and fans of science fiction. Between one thing and another, a pleasant surprise: Parker Brothers developed and published for the Atari 2600 the first video game based on Star Wars: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. By the way, it was not the first adaptation of a film to the video game format by the minimum: that honor went to Indiana Jones. However, countless Star Wars fans never knew of the existence of that cartridge. And things haven’t changed much today.so that we are going to deceive ourselves.
That extremely simplified version of the Empire Strikes Back will be the beginning of an extensive romance between the galactic franchise and video games that, four decades and more than 200 games afterwards, it continues to fascinate entire generations. Then the official Star Wars video games will arrive (watch out for that brand new Atari arcade game) and the Return of the Jedi. By the time the Phantom Menace was released, not only were there an awful lot of video games, but LucasArts went all out. Who better than George Lucas’ own division?
video games of Star Wars began to arrive first through third parties and, little by little, under the supervision or through LucasFilm Games, LucasArts and Electronic Arts, who not only adapted the films, but took the acronym much further with completely original stories and plots that expanded the known universe.
Sometimes for the better, and other times not so much. And yet, some like that Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back from Parker Brothers, were consigned to oblivion.
Nowadays it is very difficult for a Star Wars fan not to have a favorite Star Wars video game. Possibly, having to choose between two or three is a process in itself, and the reason is simple: practically everything has been done. From family adventure to racing games and RPGs, through shooters or space combat. Precisely for this reason, in iGamesNews
Because before the Star Wars chronology became fragmented between the Disney canon and the Legends (the old Expanded Universe), the Star Wars video games helped establish the saga in the same way that the novels or the comics. What’s more, at Lucasfilm a unified file was created so that events between different media would not be contradicted.
Which, as we’ll see, doesn’t make any game featuring Darth Vader canon. by art of the Force.
Without further ado: eleven Star Wars games you probably didn’t know about. All sorted by system and year of release. Some may surprise you and others not so much, but in the second case they will be a pleasant reunion.
Star Wars: Jedi Arena
Parker opened the door by adapting The Empire Strikes Back to the Atari 2600, but we will have to wait until the following year for the first lightsaber in video games to appear. Of course, no acrobatic combats or spectacular cuts: Star Wars: Jedi Arena It is inspired by the most basic training, intending to block the rays of a sphere in play and deflect those of the adversary. You have to start somewhere, right?
Star Wars: Masters of Steel Hand
The first Star Wars fighting game and the franchise’s debut on PlayStation consoles. And yet, a total nonsense: despite the amazing selection of personalities, including Mara Jade from the Expanded Universe, the gameplay of Masters of Teräs Käsi is crude and the mechanics indefensible. Interestingly, the Teräs Käsi fighting style does exist in the current Disney canon.
Star Wars: Yoda Stories
The year 1997 was very prolific for Star Wars, and it is not for less: the original trilogy was re-released expanded and remastered in theaters as a prelude to the first three episodes of the saga. And among all video games, a little gem: Star Wars: Yoda Stories.
The idea is simple: it is about very short adventures in the key of puzzles and object exchanges that are generated randomly from a windows window. The idea is to offer a small break to the office worker and the student. Or, at least, a different and very original alternative to minesweeper. And beware, a couple of years later it appeared for the Game Boy Color.
Star Wars: Rebellion
Also know as Star Wars: Supremacyif it doesn’t sound like much to you, it’s normal: Lucas’s galactic saga’s foray into the increasingly competitive arena of real-time strategy was a disappointment in all and every one of its aspects and a resounding blow to LucasArts when it comes to seeing how and in what way he managed the license of Star Wars.
Star Wars: Force Comm ander
Raise the bar above Star Wars: Rebellion it was not a challenge and LucasFilm wanted to turn the page quickly. The double solution: Star Wars: Force Commandera strategy game with 3D environments and units whose story mode shows us the other side of the classic trilogy through the transition of Brenn Tantor, a young officer of the Empire, to the rebel alliance in the interval of Star Wars y return of the jedi.
Star Wars: Demolition
Luxoflux teamed up with LucasArts and brought the engine from Vigilante 8 to the table to bring the madness of vehicular combat to a galaxy far, far away. An alternative to Destruction Derby for the original PlayStation and Dreamcast in which the little variety took its toll: 13 characters, eight tracks and four modes give for what they give.
Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing
It had only been a year since the release of Star Wars: Demolition, but LucasArts wanted to continue betting heavily on vehicular combat. How to differentiate from the previous game?
input, with Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing the door was opened to the contents of The Phantom Menace as a claim. But the most striking of all is that from the artistic style he redraws the characters as chibi-style big-headed pilots.
Fase de bonus: Star Wars Monopoly
How many thematic versions of Monopoly have you seen on the shelves? Surely you still need to see one: in 1997 both Hasbro and Star Wars created a digital version of the board game in which there were not only the pieces and locations of the original trilogy, but also digitized scenes, dialogues and sounds. Of course, unlike the galactic saga, fear is not what leads you to the dark side: it is greed.
Star Wars: Racer Revenge
Who else and who least remembers how transgressive Star Wars: Episode I Racer was. Not that it was a particularly novel idea, since we had games like F-Zero or WipeOut floating around, but it was so well put together on the Nintendo 64 and later DreamCast and PC that it ended up making its own mark.
Enough, so that in 2022 the play was repeated with a sequel that perhaps was in the shadow of the original, but that it can still be played on current PlayStations.
Star Wars: The One
The first and only game to star Obi Wan Kenobi exclusively, it was a very special prequel to the Phantom Menace created specifically for the Original Xbox.
And despite the fact that Star Wars: Obi Wan has not aged as well as other games in the saga (the effect of the turn of the millennium does not grant distinctions) it is still quite a rarity.
Star Wars: The New Droid Army
Star Wars: The New Droid Army it is a curiosity in itself. It could be considered something of an alternative sequel to Nintendo’s handheld version of Jedi Power Battles, given its isometric gameplay, but it really works as an appetizer to Revenge of the Sith leaving a less curious scenario: Anakin Skywalker defeats Doku in his plans to destroy the files of the Jedi Temple, remaining faithful to the order.
Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon
Since LucasArts was fully invested in the creation of new original video games or directly based on the Star Wars film saga, it delegated to different companies the creation of mobile and portable titles, as well as educational experiences of all kinds. In case of Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon It was the most painful of all.
Released for Game Boy Advance through THQ and with the signature of Pocket Studios, it is an action game in spaceships that is very difficult to recommend: visually it was several steps back from what had already been seen, and the levels were long and terrifyingly repetitive. Possibly the cause of the Millennium Falcon being left behind on Jakku.
Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force
If THQ missed the opportunity to launch a good game inspired by the original trilogy, Ubisoft and Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force It has divided opinions: as an adaptation and – said wrongly and soon – reboot of the three installments of Super Star Wars with elements of the Prince of Persia saga it complied, but little else. The good news is that a multiplayer was included with different extras and experiences.
Bola Extra: Star Wars: Battle Pod
George Lucas said that the stories of Star Wars they should rhyme between each other, so it makes a lot of sense that we finish our selection by returning to that Atari arcade experience that fascinated us, but conveniently updated: of all the Star Wars games born for arcades, the most recent is Star Wars: Battle Pod, developed by Bandai Namco and released in the middle of 2014. And despite the fact that, perhaps, it has little to do against Star Wars Squadrons, it is a rarity in itself. Did you know her?
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