Tag: shadows of the empire

The Empire Strikes Back is 30 Years Old, and That Means a Lot of Hoth Levels

If you ask anyone with a brain cell what their favorite Star Wars movie is, chances are it will be The Empire Strikes Back. This movie has all the right ingredients to make a great film, and it’s surprisingly dark to boot. This is the first Star Wars film to show us just what the series is capable of out of the grubby hands of George Lucas, and I’m forever thankful to director Irvin Kershner for giving us this cinematic masterpiece.

My personal fawning aside, The Empire Strikes Back is also known for it’s cinematic Battle of Hoth which pits the Rebels against the titular Empire on the snowy wasteland planet. Naturally, such a big exciting fight is perfect fodder for video game recreations, and since 1982, we’ve had almost a dozen interpretations of the Battle of Hoth. Kotaku put up a nice post collecting all of them, but I’m going to share my favorites after the jump.
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Cross-Contaminated Media: Star Wars

Star WarsWelcome back to Cross-Contaminated Media, a series in which I explore successful franchises that have made the transition to video games from other media, and vice versa. I know that in my previous article I promised that I would look at Blizzard’s franchises, but I felt that it would be appropriate, given the recent release of the Ultimate Sith Edition of The Force Unleashed, to take a look at George Lucas’ eminent sci-fi empire.

When the original Star Wars movie was released back in 1977, few predicted that it would become the massive entertainment juggernaut that it is today. For good or ill, George Lucas had the foresight to retain international merchandising rights, and once video games were beginning to enter prominence as an accepted form of entertainment media, LucasArts was founded to capitalize upon this new venture.

LucasArts didn’t find its early success with Star Wars titles, though; in its beginning days it was well known for its clever and inventive adventure games ranging from Maniac Mansion to Monkey Island. The first Star Wars title produced in house was X-Wing in 1993, a fairly deep space-combat simulator made for the DOS operating systems. Though the graphics and game-play appear dated now, the game is still highly regarded in fan circles with the TIE Fighter game being declared the favorite of the series.
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