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The PC version of this well-known Super Nintendo game was being ported to the PC and had some really nice improvements, but it never hit the shelves due to management changes inside LucasArts. The game followed the plot of the first Star Wars movie (that is Episode IV) very closely. It's a standard side-scrolling shooter that set new standards in graphics and sound. Most of the action is restricted to side-scrolling but there are a few chances to enter a "3D" environment, such as the surface of the Death Star. There are Stormtroopers, Sand people, Jawas, Cantina aliens, hundreds of Tie Fighters, interrogation droids, and loads of mechanized killers to fight off. To help, players get to choose between taking Chewbacca, Luke, or Han Solo through each level. (This option doesn’t become available until Luke meets up with them.) They don't differ much in ability, although Luke can use a lightsaber and Chewbacca can take more damage. Practically anything that can be destroyed holds something useful, such as a heart, shields, a blaster power-up, thermal detonators, or a health sword. Some sections are incredibly difficult, with an obscene amount of jumping puzzles. For example, the third level tasks Luke with scaling the outside of a Jawa sandcrawler. There are lots of moving platforms and projectiles to dodge. All graphics were redone for the PC, as the SNES was very limited regarding colors. For the very last level (The Trench) it was created a very nice fake 3D effect. The Death Star explosion was a huge new but well compressed SGI animation. All music was redone to use AdLib, MIDI and WAV's. When the game was close to final, with only a few possible bugs left, LucasArts pulled the plug and the game was never released. A leaked version though did turn up on the internet. |
