Video series: Star Wars games retrospective

[Cantaloup]

GameTrailers has posted part 1 of their 10 part retrospective covering Star Wars video games:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31944.html

This episode includes the games of the early 80's, from the 2600 and the arcades.

[kainemaxwell]

Pretty good retrospective so far. Nice that they mentioned Ewok Adventure also.

[Greg2600]

Very cool. Hope they cover the non-Trilogy PC games of the 90's, those were my favorites.

[Tron 2.0]

Watch it finally part 1 did a good job covering the early starwars games.

I've also all ways like the old star wars game by,Atari that used the vector graphics.

Playing the old sit down in it's day was a treat to me.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Star Wars Arcade is one of my all-time favorites arcade games, though I wish they would have spent some more time detailing the surprisingly decent home versions for the 2600, 5200, Colecovision and various home computers

(and without getting TOO side-tracked it was always a HUGE mystery why that never wound up on the one system that could not only handle the vector graphics, but also the audio samples - the Vectrex! Has there ever been a question to the systems developers/primary software developers why that never came to pass?)

Oh well, in any case, it was a very nice retrospective, and it covered the first half of the golden age of Star Wars games rather nicely ... they stay relatively strong through the 16 bit and PC machines of that decade, and then get extremely spotty and varying in quality in the 32 bit years.

Thankfully they're usually not totally awful these days.

[Cantaloup]

Episode II is now up:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/32413.html

It features the Super Star Wars trilogy, SEGA's Star Wars arcade games, LEGO Star Wars, and more.

[thetoxicone]

Why do I always see the posts about videos that I'm interested in seeing while I'm at work I don't have the time to watch them and then I forget about then when I get home.

[DragonmasterAlex]

Most of the Star Wars games are pretty good... I can't recall many SW games that sucked (masters of teras kasi, ok)

[Cantaloup]

Episode III (games based on the "prequel" trilogy):

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/32823.html

[Poofta!]

Most of the Star Wars games are pretty good... I can't recall many SW games that sucked (masters of teras kasi, ok)

oh man ... ha ha... consider yourself lucky. pretty much everything released in the 32 bit days (even on the pc of the time) was total trash. and there were a LOT of releases. it was when episodes I-II came out, and before lucasarts really established itself as a quality developer/publisher and was still outsourcing its games to 3rd tier developers to cash in on the hype...

the n64 games are a huge exception. all of them were top notch, mainly cause of factor 5 and rare (i believe it was them responsible for shadows of the empire?)

[Greg2600]

oh man ... ha ha... consider yourself lucky. pretty much everything released in the 32 bit days (even on the pc of the time) was total trash. and there were a LOT of releases. it was when episodes I-II came out, and before lucasarts really established itself as a quality developer/publisher and was still outsourcing its games to 3rd tier developers to cash in on the hype...

the n64 games are a huge exception. all of them were top notch, mainly cause of factor 5 and rare (i believe it was them responsible for shadows of the empire?)

You're saying the X-Wing/Tie Fighter space flight sim series and the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight FPS series are no good? I would grant you that the FMV Rebel Assault games were pretty bad. X-Wing and Dark Forces were monumental and shockingly good when they came out. They were the most realistic and faithful representation of a movie/TV concept at the time.

[p_b]

I would grant you that the FMV Rebel Assault games were pretty bad.

But then again, this was when CD-Roms were some new magical toy and graphics such as in Rebel Assault unheard of! (At least on PCs....) Thus, we tried to have so much fun with it...and we tried, and we tried....nanananana

[DarthKur]

I am really impressed with the presentation of all three of those videos. From the application of musical selections from the original soundtracks of the movies to the wealth of SW knowledge.
A question I'd like to pose is to what is this "What if" scenario that they refer to in part three, pertaining to a game based upon Revenge of the Sith? Since I can't play these new games I'll never be able to find out on my own.

[Cantaloup]

Episode IV, featuring X-Wing and TIE Fighter:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33339.html

[ghostangelofcky]

Why do I always see the posts about videos that I'm interested in seeing while I'm at work I don't have the time to watch them and then I forget about then when I get home.

was just thinking the same thing

But I do hope they go over the early PC games the are my favs by far, X-wing & Galactic Battlegrounds!

[Aussie2B]

I guess somebody at GameTrailers has been reading Video Game Collector.

[Ed Oscuro]

Rebel Assault II bad?? I loved that game. Should pick it up again sometime because it's cheap. Well, maybe. Not a whole lot of replay value, that's a problem...

[ice1605]

Rebel Assault II bad?? I loved that game. Should pick it up again sometime because it's cheap. Well, maybe. Not a whole lot of replay value, that's a problem...

I liked RAII as well. Anyways, I love Star Wars games. They are the only movie-based games (and ones spun off from the series) that are good. Some are bad, but some are excellent!

[Greg2600]

Another great review. Lawrence Holland was definitely one of my heroes in PC gaming. Wish it wasn't so difficult to fire up X-Wing or Tie Fighter (both used EMS memory that was abolished with the Windows 98 era. X-Wing Alliance was the culmination of those games, and probably the best PC game I had ever played.

PS: I loved Rebel Assault II, but the first one stunk. I guess episode VI will be Dark Forces?

[FrakAttack]

The Vader Jawa Kabuki Scorpion is now my favorite VG character ever.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9731/vaderjawakabukiscorpionio5.jpg

[The 1 2 P]

Rebel Assault II bad?? I loved that game. Should pick it up again sometime because it's cheap. Well, maybe. Not a whole lot of replay value, that's a problem...

I actually liked this game alot too. I got it at the same time I got Dark Forces, both for my Playstation. I actually enjoyed Dark Forces more but Rebel Assault 2 has some pretty cool moments in it. Now Rebel Assault 1? That was horrible. Don't even ask me why I have two versions of it(3DO and Sega CD). I beat the Sega CD version and was wondering why I had to suffer thru all that grainey gameplay footage. Oh well.

[ghostangelofcky]

Just watched all 4, those are awsome, can't wait for V to debut

[Cantaloup]

Part 5:

Rebellion, Force Commander, Galactic Battlegrounds, Empire at War, and Battlefront.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35435.html

[thetoxicone]

A little disappointed especially since it took a month and half as opposed to the usually 2 weeks between episodes.

[The 1 2 P]

A little disappointed especially since it took a month and half as opposed to the usually 2 weeks between episodes.

I've noticed this too. I thought they had abandoned it all together. I can't wait until they get to the Kotor episode:)

[Greg2600]

I simply can't bear to play RTS games, and imagine it was more difficult to come up with a review out of such boredom. I've played Battleground, and while it may be the top selling SW games, I still don't think it holds a candle to the experience of the X-Wing and Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. Obviously I look forward to episode VI, about Dark Forces/Jedi Knight.

PS: Didn't they cover Knights of the Old Republic in episode 4? I think the next one is the last one.

[Mason P.]

I've noticed this too. I thought they had abandoned it all together. I can't wait until they get to the Kotor episode:)

I figured they were just trying to get on the Metal Gear hype and release those instead. I figured when they ran out of Metal Gear, they would go back to it.

[The 1 2 P]

PS: Didn't they cover Knights of the Old Republic in episode 4? I think the next one is the last one.

Although they might have made a small reference to it(which I don't remember seeing), they definitely did not cover it yet.

[guitargary75]

I liked it.

[Cantaloup]

Part VI:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35912.html

[The 1 2 P]

Part VI:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35912.html

It's about damn time.

[tom]

no mention of Kenner Star Wars table top though

[The 1 2 P]

Now that I've had a chance to watch the new episode, I can say that episode 6 is the best movie they've showed so far. Although I never got to play Dark Forces 2, I love all 3 of the other games in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. And although it originated on the pc, I still think that Dark Forces is one of the most underrated games on the PS1. Jedi Acamedy was way better than what critics may make you believe, especially it's xbox live multiplayer component.

But as great as this episode was, I feel it may be beaten. For the next episode is the one I've been waiting for all along: the one that covers the Kotor games. It's definitely going to be good:)

[Greg2600]

Ah, Dark Forces, the memories! Unfortunately they skipped the fact that Jedi Knight not only had fantastic albeit hokey multiplayer mode, it also had several mp levels directly out of the movies, such as the Cloud City level. And you could play as Han, Luke, 3PO, Vadar, etc., which had never been done before. Frankly, I stopped playing Star Wars games several years ago, because of the absence of in depth stories. That's why I am so fond of the X-Wing, DF/JK, and Shadows of the Empire games. Kyle Katarn and Dash Rendar, great characters.

[The 1 2 P]

If you are a fan of in depth Star Wars stories, you should definitely check out Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 on the Xbox. Both stories were way better than those of the last 3 movies. Trust me.

[Chuplayer]

Ah, Dark Forces, the memories! Unfortunately they skipped the fact that Jedi Knight not only had fantastic albeit hokey multiplayer mode, it also had several mp levels directly out of the movies, such as the Cloud City level. And you could play as Han, Luke, 3PO, Vadar, etc., which had never been done before. Frankly, I stopped playing Star Wars games several years ago, because of the absence of in depth stories. That's why I am so fond of the X-Wing, DF/JK, and Shadows of the Empire games. Kyle Katarn and Dash Rendar, great characters.

You should check out the two Starfighter games, too. They've got some memorable characters and interesting stories. The gameplay isn't too shabby, either.

Dark Horse also released a three issue Starfighter comic book spinoff. It's a self contained miniseries, so it doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything.

[Greg2600]

I have both Starfighters for Xbox, they were okay, neither as good as X-Wing Alliance. The stories were boring. KOTR I have always heard good things about, but I just can't get into RPG's. Unless the game has multiplayer and is of the dog-fight, FPS, or Racing Sim genre, I get bored with them. I'm very old school, I stopped playing the Jedi Knight series because everything on multiplayer was involving force powers, and I can't take games that use 35 buttons or weapon combinations. In the quest to add more and more features to modern games, they've lost an old-schooler like me.

[The 1 2 P]

I can completely relate to you not liking rpg's. I hate them...but I'm a Star Wars fan so I endured thru Kotor 1. And it was one of the best gaming decisions I've ever made. Of course, that first 10-15 hours was very boring, but I look at it as a sacrifice for a huge reward. I still don't play rpg's, although I think I might give Mass Effect a try when I get a 360(Bioware are one of the best game makers in the world). But Kotor 1 and 2 are two of my favorite video game series of all time.

For you I'd recomment playing Kotor 2 first. Playing thru the first one isn't required and the action picks up alot faster than the first game. If you want a good Star Wars game with a great story--you can't do much better than this.

[Cantaloup]

Part VII:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/37296.html

[tcv]

Something that astonishes me: I've had over two hours of entertainment from this piece. Whether or not I agree with all the points therein, this has been a pretty good retrospective over all. Good work!!

[The 1 2 P]

Cool, I've been waiting to check this episode out.

[parallaxscroll]

edit: oh nevermind!

[The 1 2 P]

Part VII:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/37296.html

I liked it but I think I might have liked the last one better. They left alot of stuff out from the Kotor games.

[Greg2600]

I fell asleep during this episode it was so boring, but again, RPG not my cup of tea. I had actually forgotten why I never bought Shadows on N64....the PC version was much better (I have it but haven't used it since the 90's).

[The 1 2 P]

I have the N64 version of Shadows of The Empire and have also yet to play it(it's still factory sealed).

[Cantaloup]

Part VIII:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38466.html

[Rob2600]

I had actually forgotten why I never bought Shadows on N64....the PC version was much better

They're the same game. The computer version of Shadows of the Empire had FMV, but the N64 version had better graphics (filtered textures, etc.) and no loading time. It depends which you prefer.

[The 1 2 P]

Part VIII:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38466.html

So I take it not that many people liked Galaxies.

[Borman]

Tons of people liked Star Wars Galaxies, it was unlike any MMO on the market, and still would be. But SOE kept changing, instead of refining what they had, and it kept going downhill. After the Combat Upgrade, tons left, the NGE finished the rest. It was a real solid experience, that just needed refinement (as the engine didnt perform well, and there were plenty of glitches), but SOE butchered it instead.

And I must say, they did a great job on the video for SWG, I was expecting worse, and was pleasantly surprised.

[SegaAges]

Tons of people liked Star Wars Galaxies, it was unlike any MMO on the market, and still would be. But SOE kept changing, instead of refining what they had, and it kept going downhill. After the Combat Upgrade, tons left, the NGE finished the rest. It was a real solid experience, that just needed refinement (as the engine didnt perform well, and there were plenty of glitches), but SOE butchered it instead.

And I must say, they did a great job on the video for SWG, I was expecting worse, and was pleasantly surprised.

I have been playing SWG for over 3 years now, and still enjoy it.

/information from a vet SWG player
I also played the game before CU/NGE (which had alot of people leave). Now many of the people did not leave because of the changes, they left because they lost all their work. There used to be 32 professions, and a player could pick between 2 (with pilot being the free 3rd one for everybody). There were very diverse characters out there. I had seen Master Chef Commandos and the likes of that. Maybe a Teras Kasi Weaponsmith. In order to be a Jedi, you had to go through incredibly rigorous stuff in order to get the slot for jedi. The jedi also had perma-death, which means you die, you lose your character, so even seeing a jedi was incredible back then. You would be grinding on some Grauls, see a Jedi force running by, slay everything in its path, and force run away again and that was all you saw of the jedi.

NGE introduced more modular programming. This meant that all updates could be done much easier and faster. They also found out that they had a good fan base, but it wasn't enough. They needed to simplify it so that more people would play (the game was way too complicated). They took the 32 professions down to 9, with one of the professions branching off to 4 professions (the artisan), bringing the total separation of professions coming to 13 counting pilot (which still remains a free profession), and now introducing being able to select jedi from the beginning.

Some more of the frusteration came from the players who had to work to get a slot for jedi (you were able to get a 3rd character slot for a server when everybody else was only allowed 2) and everybody was able to pick a jedi from the beginning.

Now some of the people that did not jump in before NGE were pulled away from conversation with people that got their stuff taken away. The ones that were used to 32 proffessions, doing 2 professions at a time, ability for a 3rd character slot on a server, were taken down to 12 proffesions (not counting pilot), 1 proffession at a time, and you could only have a 3rd character slot if you had gotten one unlocked from pre-NGE. I know this because I would talk to people even here in Omaha who had never played the game, never given it a try, and they were roasting out the game as if they lost all their stuff.

Here is what people do NOT know about SWG. All people from before NGE that stuck around became elders. Jedi got a special Elder Robe that is still uber powerful. Any proffession you had you could still continue to play, but if you wanted to switch proffessions, you were stuck with the 12 that everybody else had to pick from. So what did the pre-NGE people really lose? The jedi grind, and the ability to switch to way too many other proffessions. That's it. The combat system was greatly improved from some attacks having delays of 5+ seconds, to now, most attacks are 1-2 seconds (of course there is cool down for special attacks). Game updates can be pushed out much easier and faster. Game content can be added much easier. So if an elder wanted to switch their proffession after NGE, why would they complain? Obviously they picked a proffession that was not attuned to them in the first place when they transitioned over. I see elder Teras Kasi people running around all the time.

The game was pretty much a huge running beta just like most MMOs, and when SOE decided they were going to cater the game to more people than just absolute <insert your own term here>, those said people got all huffy and left. The ones that didn't still complain, but if it is that big of an issue, why are you paying for it?

People can hate on SWG all they want, but it is truly a great game. I played pre-NGE and honestly, I left because SWG really did suck back then. Let's see, I am in the Star Wars universe, I think I will be a chef! No! You want to shoot stuff or be a jedi who kills stuff with a saber, duh! Now you can do both without having to do some retarded insane uber grind to do it. Awesome

I appologize about some of the rants, but I play SWG, and I play it alot. I hated pre-NGE but everybody talks about it being the best thing since individually sliced cheese or something, and it really was not all that great.

Do not listen to those people hating on SWG, you don't have to listen to me if you want, but do not decide to not sign up because some person who payed a MMO 4 years ago said it sucked. If there is an MMO out there, as I am sure there is, that has not changed in 4 years, then I am sure I would not want to play it. In 4 years, I would expect some very nice and good upgrades.

You can get a 10 day trail for free. Anybody that has not played SWG, get your 10 day trial, hop on the server Chilastra, and I will show you exactly why SWG is so fun. I am serious, I will give you a post-NGE tour of SWG how it is now, and then you can rant about pre-NGE.

I am also appologising because I am also part of the SWG boards, so I have to hear people QQ about pre-NGE all the time, and frankly, I love the game and will completely defend it.

Anybody that thinks the game is truly that bad, come back to SWG for the 10 day trial (it is free), and I will show you why it is a very good MMO. It truly is very very fun.

In fact, the next update they are adding a Hoth battle instance. No, not the whole planet, but seriously, that would be boring, "Her her her, I want to fly my swoop bike around barron snow grounds and do nothing". No, you want to be in the battle of Hoth, which is why it is an instance. Dude, Hoth.

They also openned up a new section specifically for master pilots, so that pilots have more end game. They have heroic instances, giving lvl 90 players more end game stuff (90 is the max level).

I played pre-NGE/CU and also play now actively, and honestly, this SWG seems much better, funner, cleaner (code-wise, update wise, uptime wise) than pre-NGE/CU.

As an active player, old school, seriously, last time I offer, get a 10 day trial, hop onto the server Chilastra, and I will show you the awesome stuff SWG has to offer now. I run a guild there too, so anybody that listened to me about it being a good game is more then welcome to join the server I am on and I will make you a member of my guild.

Swg ROX!!!
(Sniderman, I am counting, that means I get 1 more exclamation for the rest of the year, I need to save it)

[Borman]

Just to throw this out there, I was a casual SWG player throughout, and leading up to NGE. I understand exactly where you are coming from Sega, at the same time, I feel that part of the charm of the game was the complexity that it brought with it.

[SegaAges]

hahaha, I hit what they said minus the professions. I messed up, there were 34, not 32.

I do like how they did not use a biased approach to SWG, but simply stated the facts, which is very hard to do.

Of course you know my stance, biased, yes, but also educated. I am sure the other side is educated as well though, so going at giving SWG a retrospective without being biased is pretty amazing.

[Greg2600]

Just not into RPG's, and yet I was a huge Sim racer online, which is kind of the same thing, only you race a car all night long. Ep. IX is more to my liking, Rebel Assault and Rogue Squadron.

[The 1 2 P]

Ep. IX is more to my liking, Rebel Assault and Rogue Squadron.

I actually liked Rebel Assault 2: The Hidden Empire. The first one sucked ass but this one had enough quirky moments to win my appeal.

[Greg2600]

I actually liked Rebel Assault 2: The Hidden Empire. The first one sucked ass but this one had enough quirky moments to win my appeal.RA II was groundbreaking, at least to me, real full motion video of Star Wars, I was enthralled. I actually got it on the The LucasArts Archives Vol. II: The Star Wars Collection, which had both Rebel Assault games, Tie Fighter, and "Making Magic" (CD which had the first images/video of Star Wars special edition). I played Rebel Assault II with much delight, and then Tie Fighter, still happy, then eventually tried Rebel Assault, and was very very sad. ^^; Horrible.

[The 1 2 P]

I played Rebel Assault 2 on the PS1. I played Rebel Assault on the Sega CD and 3DO. Both versions were pretty similar but neither won me over. However, I did like how the 3DO version let you choose to be a dude or a chic as the main character.

[Cantaloup]

Part IX:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39609.html

[Trumpman]

Rogue Squadron II is my favorite Star Wars game and in my GC top five. It is so fun and getting the medals is hard but rewarding.

[The 1 2 P]

Part IX:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39609.htm

Your link isn't working.

[tcv]

Yah, it's not.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39609.html

[The 1 2 P]

Thats better. I actually liked that episode. I have the first Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo on the N64 but I've never gotten around to playing them.

[Cantaloup]

Your link isn't working.

Whoops, sorry. It's fixed now.

[swlovinist]

I think that I have watched all nine so far. Overall a great job. I had a couple of questions though, they did not mention Racer for the DC, nor mention Star Wars Demolotion for any of the systems. Did I miss that or has those not been mentioned yet?

Also on the obscure note, the Tiger R-zone games have not been mentioned yet(maybe for a good reason lol).

[The 1 2 P]

I think that I have watched all nine so far. Overall a great job. I had a couple of questions though, they did not mention Racer for the DC, nor mention Star Wars Demolotion for any of the systems. Did I miss that or has those not been mentioned yet?

Also on the obscure note, the Tiger R-zone games have not been mentioned yet(maybe for a good reason lol).

The next(and final) episode will cover the obscure and seemingly unpopular games such as Star Wars Demolition and Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi(which I actually liked).

I think they did cover the N64 version of pod racing and the PS2 follow-up. I'm not sure which episodes covered them but I'll rewatch later to give you an update. As for the Tiger R-Zone games, I somehow feel they will skip those. But hopefully I'm wrong.

[swlovinist]

The next(and final) episode will cover the obscure and seemingly unpopular games such as Star Wars Demolition and Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi(which I actually liked).

I think they did cover the N64 version of pod racing and the PS2 follow-up. I'm not sure which episodes covered them but I'll rewatch later to give you an update. As for the Tiger R-Zone games, I somehow feel they will skip those. But hopefully I'm wrong.

Yeah, I think they covered Racer, but they forgot to mention that it was on the DC. I totally forgot about Masters of Teras Kasi, I once owned it but then traded it away for some Nes Games back in the day. Yeah, I dont see them covering the R-zone games either.

[monkeychemist]

How original IGN, I wonder where you get your inspiration....

http://retro.ign.com/articles/909/909071p1.html

[SegaAges]

How original IGN, I wonder where you get your inspiration....

http://retro.ign.com/articles/909/909071p1.html

I read a little on that this morning. I didn't like the IGN one. The gametrailers one goes more in depth with the games I enjoy(ed) (2 quick paragraphs on SWG, not cool IGN).

after that, I stopped looking at it. It could be good, but serisously, SWG fans/ex-fans have split in half, and, I don't know, maybe I like this game more than the others, but SWG just had its 5 year anniversary, so you would think that a game that has been going online for 5 years could get more than 2 paragraphs.

Oh well, back to game trailers

[swlovinist]

IGN looks pretty lame doing a half assed article after the Star Wars Retro Article.

[The 1 2 P]

I'm not too worried about IGN, I just want my last epsisode of the SW saga to come out on Game Trailers so I can see how many obscure games they cover.

[Cantaloup]

10th and final episode:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/40053.html

[The 1 2 P]

I watched the first 13 minutes before it stopped playing but I was surprise to see that they pretty much covered every Star Wars game in existence. That is very impressive.