Star Wars

"The force is strong in this game!"

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a high quality handheld Star Wars game. This may have been an original gameboy game, but it blows any GBC or GBA Star Wars game out of the water. Its name Star Wars.

Yes, If your like me your fed up with the complete lack of quality when it comes to GBA Star Wars games. The GBC games weren't too clever and frankly Jedi Power Battles and Episode II were just rubbish. But fear not, if your looking for a good Star Wars game look no further. Infact all three of the Star Wars gameboy games were pretty good but this is defiantly the pick of the litter.

Star Wars is based on the original film 'A New Hope' and follows the plot fairly closely. You make you way as Luke through the various treacherous caves of Tatooine as well as the spaceport of Mos Eisley. After avoiding the asteroid shower you then have to make your through the Death Star before going on to shooting down some Tie fighters with the Millenium Falcons Guns, finally you have to destroy the Death Star with those trusty Proton Torpedoes fired from your X-Wing.

Its the sheer range of gamestyles available that make the game such a joy to play. You can drive round Tatooine in the landspeeder. Get through large platforming areas in the Tatooine caves, Mos Eisley and the Death Star and get into some cool shooting action with the Millenium Falcon and the X-Wing. Thats not too mention the fab topdown shooter bit at the end, where you have to make your way through the Death Star trench with some excellent maze type shooter action. I know multi genre affairs usually suck but in this case it works wonders. The platforming action is certainly the best bit with some absolutely huge sections to explore. It plays so fluidly as well, making your way through Mos Eisley with Luke and his lightsaber is just as fun as any Mario game I've played. The shooting action is fairly simple, you have a target sight and you have to shoot approaching Tie fighters and the shots that they fire, not particularly deep but still a lot of fun. The final Death Star trench bit is awesome! You have to make your way through a maze avoiding Tie fighters but trying to reach the goal of that all important target.

At the start of the game you have to drive around Tatooine in your landspeeder to discover the various mazes. This in itself isn't always easy as there are plenty of hazards such as gun turrets and others. Once you think you've finished head for Mos Eisley so you can get to the Death Star. The Death Star part itself is even harder than the mazes with tons of platforming hazards. Its big as well and should take you some time to get through.

The platforming section is defiantly the main part of the game and in my opinion the most fun. Their's nothing quite like bouncing around Mos Eisley with Luke Skywalker. Theirs a good variety of enemies to face as well. You go up against Jawa's, Stormtroopers, Bounty Hunters and others. Your not restricted to Luke either, later on in the game you can pick up both Han and Leia who have their own skills and can be very useful in certain situations. Each Character has a life bar, this will go down as they take hits. Luke has three lives and nine continues, Han and Leia only have one life bar and thats it! Once they've run out you won't see them for the rest of the game so use them sparingly. If I had to make one complaint about the platforming sections, in the Death Star part itself you are forced to make some leaps of faith, which can be very frustrating.

The shooting sections are fairly simple and are actually quite a nice easy break from the hard as nails platforming sections. You have to destroy Tie Fighters and the bullets they fire at you. Not hard by any means but make sure you've found some shields.

The Death Star trench run at the end is probably the best part of the game. It takes the forn of a horizontally scrolling shooter. You have to avoid Tie fighters, make your way through a maze and finish off the Death Star itself. Your X-Wing is armed with an umimited number of Proton Torpedoes and lasers. It's really difficult, so prepare for a few goes at this.

The game focuses alot on exploration and often you have to have fully explore an area before continuing. Failure to do so can lead to you falling flat on your face later in the game. For example all the flying sections require you to have collected shields, if you haven't collected enough then you could die. Also on the final Death Star trench run, if you didn't pick up R2-D2 then you don't stand a chance. Some people will find this frustrating, but I like it. I like to make sure I've fully completed an area before moving on and this game encourages that strongly. You are warned in the manual about leaving things behind so theirs no excuse.

The graphics are good for a gameboy game. The platform sections certainly look the part with lots of variety in the scenery. The shooting isn't so good graphically, infact its quite bland but still functionable. The final Death Star run looks good though with nice detailed ships and scenery, makes you think your really attacking the Death Star.

Unfortunately Capcom didn't include a battery save so to be totally honest you have your work cut out for you. The game isn't super long (it can be played right through in about three hours) but it is very hard and completing the game is a real challenge. You do have a generous amount of continues which does make it a bit easier. I was originally given the game when I was much younger, to be honest I was a bit too young for the difficulty level and I fell flat on my face. I'm now a much better games player than I was (I've got some patience!) but it took me some real time and effort to complete but completing it was very rewarding. Still, don't expect to complete this in a hurry as it is hard, you have been warned.

In conclusion I'd say this a very good game. There are a nice variety of gaming styles to keep you glued to your gameboy. It's difficult, but not impossible, with practice you should persevere. In the unlikely event that someone from THQ's reading, take note this is what a proper Star Wars game should be like. A great mix of gaming styles wrapped into one very enjoyable game. If your a handheld owning Star Wars fan, I suggest you keep a look out for this game on the second hand market.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/02, Updated 11/08/02