Star Wars Games

The First Star Wars Games

The Atari 2600 hosted the very first Star Wars video game way back in 1982. The Empire Strikes Back put you in control of a snow speeder in the Battle of Hoth to destroy AT-AT walkers. Though simplistic (most games at the time were), the game was remarkably atmospheric.

The same year brought a second Star Wars game, Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle. Players controlled the Millennium Falcon to destroy the second Death Star.

In 1983 Jedi Arena was released and simulated lightsabre battles in an homage to the A New Hope scene where Luke Skywalker trains with a seeker. The very same year, Star Wars the arcade game was released by Atari. It featured remarkably clear and colorful vector graphics for the time and the first instance of digitized speech in a video game. Players entered the seat of Luke's X-Wing fighter and battled TIE fighters on the way to destroying the Death Star in the famous trench scene.

Star Wars Returns

The few years after 1983 were not a good time for home video games. Due to the market slump, another Star Wars game was not released until 1991 with a platformer game for the NES and Game Boy. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back followed soon after with similar game play and plot from Episode 5.

Nintendo's new and very popular console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) hosted one Star Wars game for each movie. The Super Star Wars series were platform games similar to the games for the NES in 1991.

Star Wars Games Expand

Every Star Wars game traditionally used the plot lines from the movie and attempted to put gamers inside the films. X-Wing and Star Wars Chess and Rebel Assault, all published or licensed by LucasArts, broke this trend and started new franchises based on the Star Wars universe.

A flood of games only loosely based on the Star Wars universe were released around the time Episode 1 was coming to theaters. Edutainment, racing games, real time strategy titles, and even a Monopoly board game all hit the shelves as fans saw the first new Star Wars movie in years.

More advanced technology gave developers the chance to enhance control and graphics in their games. This gave way to more realistic and engaging lightsabre battles found in Jedi Outcast. Games that combined two unlikely subjects -- Legos and Star Wars characters -- have also been released in the past few years. The Lego Star Wars games have fared surprisingly well in the crowded Star Wars games market.

High-quality titles based on the Star Wars series were released in the years surrounding the final Star Wars films. The Jedi Knight series continues through 2005, while the Xbox RPG Knights of the Old Republic won "Game of the Year" from the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2004. A massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), Star Wars Galaxies, was released in 2003 and allowed players to connect with other Star Wars fanatics all over the globe.

Future of Star Wars Games

Gamers have been excited by the prospect of realistic lightsabre battles using the recently unveiled controller for Nintendo's 2006 console "Revolution". The controller, which resembles a DVD remote control, is held much like a lightsabre hilt and is sensitive to motion, speed, direction and distance. Players could swing the controller while an on-screen avatar mirrors their movements to battle foes in real-time. The controller's rumble feature would alert players a hit has been achieved. Will this Star Wars incarnation see the light of day? With the series' strong history and a continued success of the name in video games, the outlook is quite good.