Where have I played this before?
Written: Dec 20 '08 (Updated Dec 20 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: initially challenging and interesting
Cons: quickly grows tedious; difficult gameplay; slippery controls; bad graphics and sound
The Bottom Line: This game is just a rip-off of "Defender" and a poor one at that. Stick with the original.
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| Chad9976's Full Review: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back for Atari 2600 |
Back in the early days of video games there seemed to be a lot of pillaging of ideas and it’s not really surprising since the technology didn’t allow for a lot of possibilities. This is why so many games of the first generation were so similar. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back is such a game. It’s a side-scrolling, fast-action shooter that has no distinctiveness whatsoever.
PRESS FIRE TO START
The game is based on the first act of the film of the same name in which the heroic rebels must fend off an attack of Imperial AT-ATs. The game is a two-dimensional sidescroller wherein you play as a Rebel Speeder who flies to the left to stop the AT-ATs who move slowly to the right.
Unlike the movie, you can blast away at the AT-ATs and actually destroy them (although it takes upwards of 40 shots to do so). Or, you can save yourself a lot of time if you can land a precise shot at a weak spot which appears randomly,
There are no stages to the game and not surprisingly there is no ending or goal, so there’s very little sense of progression being made.
PLAYER 1 – READY!
Before I even turned the power on I felt as if this game would seem familiar since it’s very closely modeled after the arcade (and subsequent Atari 2600) classic “Defender.”. But this game is not nearly as fun to play since there is so little to do.
Games with repetitious tasks are not necessarily bad as long as the task is challenging and fun to accomplish. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for The Empire Strike Back. The biggest flaw is apparent immediately: you move way too fast to set yourself up for battle. It is possible to bring yourself to a complete stop by simply flying in the opposite direction, but trying to finesse the controls is difficult – especially considering that you’re being fired upon constantly.
Even the gameplay itself is underwhelming: Simply holding down the fire button and letting rip on the walkers offers no challenge. Trying to bull’s-eye the “weak spot” is extremely difficult even in the easiest modes of play. And this wouldn’t be so bad if you could actually utilize any kind of strategy, but you can’t since half the gameplay involves dodging enemy fire and then repositioning yourself. This game requires far too much precision for such a simple task, and that’s why it’s not very fun to play.
JOYSTICKING
I’m not sure what hinders this game more: the tedious, difficult gameplay or the slippery controls. Precision gameplay is fine, but if you cannot even prepare yourself for battle, then what’s the point? Just the slightest cranking of the joystick sends your speeder flying, and although it’s possible to reverse directions and get yourself set in a general area or at a general speed, coming to a complete stop or simply moving slightly is next to impossible.
SPRITES & PIXELS
This has to be one of the ugliest games made for the Atari 2600 by a third party. The graphics are primitive and blocky, even by the standards of its time. The color palate consists of pink, gray and black – how eye-appeasing. The game does make good use of parallax scrolling, but that’s about the only compliment I can give it.
CHIPPED TUNES
Not surprisingly, the sound scheme here is as dull and grating as the graphics and gameplay. This cart has the standard “robotronic” soundtrack of most games of the era, and in a way it gives it a cool sci-fi atmosphere. It also plays the “Star Wars” theme pretty well, but otherwise the audio is unremarkable.
INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE
The Empire Strikes Back is a game which grows boring and repetitive quickly, and since there are no stages there is no feeling of accomplishment. Why the game even keeps a running score since it doesn’t award 1-ups I do not understand. Therefore, the replay value is extremely minimal.
GAME OVER
There is so much more that could have been done to make The Empire Strikes back for the Atari 2600 a more fun and challenging game. It comes across as a half-baked attempt at an action game made to cash in on a pop culture craze of the time. A tired premise, awkward gameplay and bad controls (in addition to lame visuals and sounds) make this a forgettable cart.
SEE ALSO:
Star Wars: Death Star Battle (3)
Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1)
Star Wars: The Arcade Game (3)
Recommended:
No
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Chad9976
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Member: Chad Polenz
Location: Albany, New York
Reviews written: 686
Trusted by: 153 members
About Me:
Hi, I'm Chad and I like beer.
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