Super Star Wars (retrospective)

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Zack Burner
Posts: 1209
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Super Star Wars (retrospective)

Postby Zack Burner » December 31st, 2020, 4:12 pm

Since New Year's rolling around, how about a retrospective with some fireworks? For that I turn my attention to Super Star Wars. How well does it hold up today? Turns out yes and no at the same time, rough around the edges but fun to play and look at. For a start, the presentation matches that of the movie including the scrolling text, plus the cutscenes, though rough are almost exact replicated scenes. The sound is good too from hearing Chewie's growls, laser sounds, the Tusken Raider grunts, Obi-Wan's "Use the force Luke!", and finally "Stay on target!" Some of the sprites look kind of boxy and stiff animations. The gameplay is a little unpolished today, such as holding up for a high jump, compared to the double jump in the sequels. Every character has his strengths and weaknesses, though you don't get to select until much later starting at the Cantina level, Luke has the strongest weapon, the lightsaber which is only for close range and only when you get it from Obi-Wan, though he can't take too much punishment, Chewie can absorb a lot of damage but is less nimble, and Han Solo is the most nimble of the trio. The vehicle stages are a little stiff to control, though thankfully the final stage which is the X-wing cockpit view feels smooth, though strangely you can't shoot down the TIE fighters, only their shots and Darth's TIE fighter. It's always satisfying when you finally blow up the death star just like what happened in the movie. The difficulty is pretty high, one boss is pretty difficult, the cargo fighter in the escape from Mos Eisley stage. The music is pretty limited with only three stage themes, the Sandcrawler theme, and the Yavin battle theme which is the majority of the stages! There was going to be a garbage stage, but there wasn't space for it. All in all, unpolished by today, and difficult, though not as difficult as the sequel, this is a mixed bag.

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DrLitch
Posts: 938
Joined: July 19th, 2017, 12:57 pm

Re: Super Star Wars (retrospective)

Postby DrLitch » January 1st, 2021, 11:29 am

Pretty much sums it up. I would say this game is very frustrating as I recollect that sand crawler stage. Better than the NES version of the game but not by too much. In 1993 though many of us kids were in awe of the graphics taking out the Death Star. What I thought was funny in the game is Luke in the hanger takes damage from flying Tie Fighters. Would a Tie Fighter travelling at 100's of miles per hour not turn Luke into a pile of roadkill?

Zack Burner
Posts: 1209
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Super Star Wars (retrospective)

Postby Zack Burner » January 1st, 2021, 11:51 am

DrLitch wrote:Pretty much sums it up. I would say this game is very frustrating as I recollect that sand crawler stage. Better than the NES version of the game but not by too much. In 1993 though many of us kids were in awe of the graphics taking out the Death Star. What I thought was funny in the game is Luke in the hanger takes damage from flying Tie Fighters. Would a Tie Fighter travelling at 100's of miles per hour not turn Luke into a pile of roadkill?


Yeah, that sand crawler stage was frustrating to get into and out of at the same time, but perhaps that's humanly possible that a TIE fighter could turn Luke into roadkill


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