Star Wars Arcade

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away… These are words that will never be forgotten as they are the words that introduced many of us to a remarkable space fantasy saga called Star Wars. Several arcade games were created inspired by these movies, including a quite famous vector version by Atari released in 1983. Ten years later, Sega created their own arcade version of Star Wars (based on A New Hope) which was ported to the 32X a year later.

This port has two versions of the game for the player to select – arcade and 32X modes. Arcade mode is a direct port of the original, while the 32X mode adds four new levels. The game can be played in Training or Rebel Attack modes and one or two players can enjoy the game. In two player mode, both players work together with one acting as pilot and the other as gunner; however, both players have the ability to fire weapons. The missions you must complete mostly involve destroying TIE fighters in open space, though there will be Star Destroyers shooting at you as well. In 32X mode you’ll be in two dogfights with TIE fighters, skimming the Death Star surface, attacking a Super Star Destroyer, battling in the Death Star trenches, completing a search and destroy mission, and working to destroy the Death Star itself. Game graphics are very nicely done and the music and sound effects really add to the quality of the game. Game control, however, take some getting used to and it is definitely best to use the 6-Button controller. Overall, though, a very good game.