I was there when Star Wars first hit the cinemas in the UK, my mum took me and my brother to see it and I have been hooked on the Star Wars universe ever since. When the Star Wars game hit the arcades in my youth I had to play that too, badly but I had to play. Now at a much more advanced age I have a daughter who loves Star Wars (yay) and when she heard we had a Star Wars game on the C64 we had to try it.
So, Star Wars on the Commodore, it is a pretty good port of the arcade version, which lets you shoot those pesky Empire Tie fighters on your way to the ultimate super weapon. Line up your crosshairs with a fighter and fire, fire, fire, and move and shoot some more. While shooting, keep one eye on the screen for the energy bombs which will severely weaken your ship’s shield if they hit you. Take too many hits and your shield is gone and you are so much stardust floating in a galaxy far far away.
If you make it past the Tie fighters and energy bombs with any shield intact then you get to take that iconic run at the Death Star. Swoop in and along that claustrophobic channel to fire at the only weakness in this planet destroying behemoth of devastation. Don’t weave too much or you hit the towers on either side and end your run for glory.
With the same wireframe style graphics of the original Arcade classic the C64 version of Star Wars really hits you in the nostalgia. The rousing theme from the original film on the title screen had my daughter grinning even before she had the chance to shoot down the baddies, and the Death Star in the background as you fire away towards it also got a comment. Unfortunately I still play as badly as ever, and she is of the pay to win generation, so we didn’t get to destroy the destroyer.
To sum up then, this game is a brilliant Star Wars game and well ported from the arcade. Sounds and graphics are as they should be, and difficulty is enough to stop me in my attempts to free the galaxy.
Score 9/10
