FEATURE
RETRO REMAKES COMPETITION 2008
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Developer MinionSoft Platform PC Download N/A Genre Shoot-’em-up Category Retro Remakes
O
nce again, the fate of the Rebels lies in the capable hands of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo as they fly across the frozen wastes of the planet Hoth to bring the evil Empire to its knees. Many of you will have seen the film and played the games which followed. Having produced a remake of the first Star Wars arcade game, MinionSoft decided to continue with the great franchise and bring us a remake of the classic Atari arcade game from 1985. The game sees you playing as Luke fighting off the onslaught of imperial probe droids homing in on the rebel base’s location. It’s your mission to destroy them before they discover the power generator. Taking control of a snow speeder, you then have to battle against the advancing AT-AT and AT-ST walkers. These beasts are
virtually indestructible, but fortunately have a couple of weak spots. With a Tie Attack and Asteroid Belt sections later, the game is a faithful remake of the original. The ultimate aim is to help Luke gain full Jedi status and to do this you have to destroy a number of targets. Each time the targets are
destroyed you will earn a letter from the word JEDI. Controls are very flexible and the game can be played with the mouse, joystick, gamepad, or keyboard. Options are numerous with plenty of configurations available. The graphics are a huge leap from the original’s wire frame
blocky efforts, but show some rough edges-probably due to the hurriedness of the development. Sound is also impressive with some sampled voices and effects from the film itself. My only concern is that the fun is over rather quickly.
Stage one and the probes are causing a few problems
Fighting against four star destroyers, are you insane?
I had one of these—the toy model that is—and the missus called it a dog. Ha-ha, etc.
But don’t laugh at them for too long as they pack a mean punch. Ouch, I felt that whiz by my ear
RETROACTION ISSUE ONE
SPRING 2009
The famous opening scroll—where you can’t read it until half way through—recreated in all its glory
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