Check out these great articles cataloging the history of Star Wars Games. Especially check out where they started (I never played ‘Empire’, but I remember going crazy in the vector graphics Death Star game at Disneyland), where they went wrong, and where they’re at now.
Devin – Can I get a “Wooha!” for X-Wing? I think you and I (and Stackpole) are the only ones who remember that game. Booyor secret: I loaded that game and TIE fighter on the Learning Center computers at our high school and played them after school.
Also check out the extensive coverage at GameTrailers.
This will make you cry. Tom, I remember celebrating Jedi Knight Release Day in college.
Semi-related posts:
KOTOR Online and Battlefront 3 all the way.
Hoping for JK3 sometime down the road, but that may be just wishful thinking.
Wow, I’d forgotten about some of those games. Probably for the better in a few cases. I loved the Star Wars arcade game. They had it at an indoor mini-golf course in Denver, and it was the first game I saw in an arcade that I didn’t already have for our Atari at home. TIE Fighter and Dark Forces were the first games I ever bought for myself- I remember both my sister and I got good enough at recognizing which ship names were used for the verification at the start of TIE Fighter that we only needed the book half the time.
I’m looking forward to Battlefronts 3, though it may require a console upgrade, and the idea of a MMORPG from Bioware is intriguing…
The list is a bit incomplete, though- I liked the Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back games on the NES.
That is to say “The list is a bit incomplete, though- they left out some of the arcade games. I liked the Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back games on the NES.” Left out the middle part.
When I read Rogue Squadron books I pictured the HUD as the game, complete with registration signs (like ISD and Tau, etc…)
They forgot the crazy lightsaber game that was in the arcades/movie theaters (I haven’t seen all of the 180 minutes worth of footage on GameTrailers).
With Super Star Wars, I kept trying to reconcile it to the storyline. Shooting Jawas never gelled in my mind. Maybe Luke got cranky on the farm. When I was waiting for the first Battlefront, I kept playing Super Return of the Jedi over and over again.