"I have you now!"

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a very good game for the Nintendo 64. It is suprisingly very fun, has good graphics and controls and it has a variety of STAR WARS missions that don't go off the story line. Just in case you are wondering, Shadows of the Empire takes place in the time period between Episode 5 the Empire Strikes Back and Episode 6 Return of the Jedi. In case you are wondering I do own a Nintendo 64 and own Shadows of the Empire so I know the game quite well. I also have an old computer (that plays X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter- Balance of Power) and a super old Sega Genesis. I highly recommend you reading my review of Balance of Power. I will again go throught the important apsects of this game.

Graphics: I think the graphics are really good. They are not as good as a computer, but they are good for a Nintendo 64. When flying in space, the graphics are at there best. They are still good when doing ground missions, but not as good when flying in space. However, sometimes the game can be very glitchy. A good example of this is when you turn right at a wall, you can see the next room or the camera will go all choppy.

Sound: I love the soundtracks! Most of them are right from the movies! John Williams' beautifully composed music comes alive on your N64 when you play a level like the Asteroid Field. You can hear the song and it is not like Rogue Squadron (a Nintendo 64 game) where they just keep repeating parts of a song. They actually play the whole song! Sound effects such as laser blasts, Outrider laser blasts ( Dash Rendars ship) and Stormtroopers saying things! I find when the stormtroopers say things it's really funny. Like sometimes they will say '' Stop-Freeze!'' or '' There he is!''

Control: The controls are average... they are not as well as I expected when I first purchased the game. They could be much more improved. I hate the controls for the last level (The 10th level- I forget its name) because the controls are so light you move the analog stick up slightly and your ship goes literally into lightspeed. The controls for when you are on the ground are not as good as I thought because you move the control stick up lightly and then your guy (Dash Rendar) barely moves! I think using the jetpack is too confusing because you don't have a very good angle and flying with the jetpack feels rather heavy.

Storyline: I mark every STAR WARS game on this category. I think every STAR WARS game should have an accurate story line not going right off the movies and creating a whole new adventure. Games that stay on the storyline tend to be better. This game has an excellent storyline. First you fight for the Rebels on Hoth and defend the base, then you escape in an Asteroid Field and then you go looking for Boba Fett because he has Han Solo in Carbonite and then you deal with the evil Xizor. Xizor is really different because he wants to kill Luke Skywalker and hope the Emperor kills Darth Vader so he can become the right hand man of the Emperor. In the game, you also protect Luke. The storyline is excellent because it is interesting and different and does stay between the movies.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/01, Updated 11/13/01