| INFO | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Sculptured Software, LucasArts |
| Genre | Run and gun |
| Platform(s) |  |
| Release date | 1992-11-01 |
Star Wars, one of the most exploited sagas in existence. When adaptations of the first trilogy were released for the NES and Game Boy in the early 90s, it was just a matter of time before they appeared on the SNES, with (sadly) questionable results.
I don't want to get grumpy, as this is only like my third game review so far, but I'm about to complain about the difficulty again. Come to think of it, almost half of my texts are going to mention that one way or another. Perhaps I should just accept that I'm not that good of a player. Right? No! It's funnier to protest, sorry. And THIS time, I've got good reasons.
This game is just too hard sometimes, crossing the line where it ceases to be entertaining and begins acting as a punishment. There are too many enemies that inflict too much damage and pester you non-stop along the levels. There are annoying platforming sections which are made worse by the (at best) finicky controls. Just how many times do I have to punch the "jump" button only for my character to fall miserably into an abyss? And to top it off, there are final bosses that span half the screen, and send attacks that sweep the other half, where the poor player (you) will try real hard to survive. Sounds good? Wait until I tell you that there are no saves, or password system: if you die or turn off the console, you'll have to do it all again next time, from the beginning.
The campaign follows the overall plot of the movie, but not very closely. Remember that one time on Tatooine where Luke Skywalker kept being harassed by diving eagles and scorpions? And that other scene where Chewbacca gunned down a hundred aliens inside a cantina half a mile long? Well, me neither. But I suppose brainstorming sessions for game level design get boring fast.
In some missions you can choose which character you play, but it makes little difference in gameplay terms, and none whatsoever in plot. The rest is just shooting everything in sight, harvesting every single health item and power-up (which you will lose if you die, making further attempts next to impossible), and praying to your gods. Upon reading other reviews on the internet, I felt better when I confirmed that other kids were traumatized as much as me.
Oh, sure, and the ships. These sequences should feel fresh, but they don't. It's just another tedious moment of annoyance. Steering your ride sends your shots to infinity and beyond. The biggest sinner here is the final trench run; sometimes I still get nightmares where I have to play that crap once again (plus I'm also naked in front of my classroom, which isn't as bad as that). Playing this on emulator felt infuriating enough, wouldn't want to find out how it feels to do it without savestates.
The game doesn't take much advantage of the console's power. If we don't take into account vehicular phases, and a few effects here and there, it might as well be running on an overclocked NES. The melodies I find generic and repetitive, and sometimes I couldn't even tell whether something was playing or not, concentrated as I was on the action. There is a handful of bland cutscenes, but no digitized voices.
God, I feel exhausted right now. Just getting the screenshots and thinking of nasty things to say about this game depleted my energy. I'll wrap this up with a final thought: the sequel is worse. Yes, you read that right. But that will have to wait, there's a limited amount of torture a man can take in such a short time.
Playing
Don't. Just don't.