Generally regarded by most people as the weakest movie in the original trilogy (which is not to say it is bad, just that the others are better), Return of the Jedi usually produces the weakest video game adaptation, and Super Return of the Jedi is no exception. Perhaps it is simply that the game play so similar to the first two games that a feeling of ‘been there, done that’ is creeping in. In any case, unlike the first two videogames, Super Star Wars and Super Empire Strikes Back, Nintendo Power did not think Super Return of the Jedi worthy of the front cover of their December ’94 magazine. However, they did devote 8 pages to detailing the game play of this last videogame in the original trilogy.
Monthly Archives: September 2013
Nintendo Power – Super Empire Strikes Back
The September 1993 issue of Nintendo Power featured an article on the Making of Super Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment videogame System. (It also featured an article on Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade for NES, wihich I included here also, because if you’re a Star Wars fan, chances are you also like Indiana Jones…)
The making of a Masterpiece
From LucasArts/Sculptured Software/JVC: Super Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
Photo: The HothHog is one of the denizens of the ice planet Hoth which Luke must defeat. Many of the creatures seen in the game never appeared in the movie.
Nintendo Power – Super Star Wars
The force is with you. Super Star Wars
The screen fills with stars, then the world famous theme music bursts out and the adventure begins all over again. Lucasarts Entertainment and JVC, along with innovative developer. Sculptured Software, have recreated the cinematic experience for the Super NES, only this time the fate of the galaxy lies in your hands. Super Star Wars truly uses the force of the Super NES, with digitized frames and sound effects from the movie, dazzling Mode 7 effects, never ending challenge and a wide variety of action sequences. It’s so hot, you can almost hear it I sizzle.
The history of Star Wars video games (Episode II)
Today we explore the Star Wars videogames available for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo. Back in the day, I had an NES and both the JVC Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back games. Both are extremely challenging, but Star Wars is the better of the two. I never completed either game, though I did get to the final Death Star Trench run on Star Wars, but only once, burning through my few remaining lives so quickly I never made the effort to get back there again.
The game had some extremely challenging levels and offered very few clues on how best to complete them. For example, if you don’t pick up any shields for the Millenium Falcon while you blunder around on Tatooine, then getting through the debris from Alderaan is almost impossible, but this is something have to figure out on your own (No internet back then, no quick cheat codes!). By the time you get to the Death Star, there are some insanely pixel perfect blind jumps you have to learn, particularly after those express up drafts from which you often have to time your exit just right to avoid hitting all the spikes. You can burn through a ton of your limited lives and continues very quickly as you reach every new level, until you learn the way through, and the further you get in the game, the less you want to go back and start again at the beginning when you run out of lives.
The history of Star Wars video games (Episode I)
Episode I – The Atarian Assault
The two Star Wars prequels may have dipped below our expectations, but the upcoming prospect of Episode III has us stupidly excited… so excited that we asked Star Wars uber-geek Dan Whitehead to chart the history of games based on the sci-fi saga. In the first of a three part series leading up to the release of the new movie, Dan looks at Atari’s original arcade trilogy and the early computer and console licenses.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…
Well, OK, technically it was 28 years ago at Mann’s Chinese Theater, Los Angeles. That was where, on May 25th 1977, a little sci-fi flick simply called Star Wars first revealed itself to mankind. Fledgling director George Lucas was so convinced that his “space opera” – which had cost the princely sum of ten million dollars – would be such a disaster that he went on holiday with pal Steven Spielberg to talk about making a movie about an adventurous archaeologist rather than face the inevitable bad news from the box office.
Star Wars Magazine Espana Issue 05
The fifth issue of Star Wars Magazine Espana is dated January/February 2002 and with the release of Episode II: El Ataque De Los Clones only a few months away it is no surprise that Attack of the Clones is the main focus of this edition. There is also a nice recap of Episode I: The Phantom Menace to refresh your memory before you see the next movie, and an interview with Sound man, Ben Burtt. The supplement this month was about Kevin Smith, and this time we do have it.
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Star Wars Magazine Espana Issue 04
This fourth issue of Star Wars Magazine Espana is dated November/December 2001 and focuses primarily on Episode II. It looks like it also came with a Raiders of the Lost Ark 20th anniversary supplement, but sadly I don’t seem to have that. If it turns up I will post it.
Star Wars Magazine Espana Issue 03
This third issue of Star Wars Magazine Espana is dated September/October 2001 and focuses primarily on the casting of Episode II, but also features an article on the Mos Eisley Cantina and the passing of Sir Alec Guinness (Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi).
Star Wars Magazine Espana Issue 02
This is the second issue of a Spanish Star Wars Magazine from the year 2000 (the first issue is also available). This edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and like the first one it has some unique artwork at the back.
