My Played Video Games Review: Star Wars for the Family Computer (Famicom)
Star Wars is a Family Computer (Famicom) side-scrolling platform video game released in 1987 by Namco of Japan. It is based on the first Star Wars film, but some levels are based on the later two sequel films. It was released exclusively in Japan.
I got to play this during the late 1980s on the Famicom. I think this is better in terms of graphics than the 1991 Star Wars NES version released in the US by JVC.
The Story
This game is a differently loose take on the movie. Help Luke Skywalker in his adventure to save his friends and join the Rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire.
The Graphics and Sound
As an 8-bit game it has “simple” graphics. The graphics will not confuse or put you off as you play, but they will not impress you either. Characters don't look much like the movie characters they portray. Luke has black hair while Han Solo is blond! Overall, it is just average but could be better.
The sound and music are just average, and border on simply annoying at times. This game has got the worst interpretation of film composer John Williams's work ever. It might be nice to play the Star Wars soundtrack in your music player while playing this game.
The Gameplay
The game is hard. The damn Force is not so strong with Luke. Only one hit from any enemy can kill him. You start with only 3 lives and a cheat code can help you continue twice.
Most of the difficulty comes from some stupid little details. Fighting off Storm Troopers armed with laser blasters when you got a light saber with short range is a chore. Even hitting small, slow-moving enemies is screwy due to the range of your weapon and bad hit detection. Combat is difficult but you will probably die more from trying to jump across some pits with the slightly loose controls.
The occasional space battles while flying do not offer much variety, and only continue to add to the flaws of the game.
The gems you collect in the game fill up your force powers but the most likely you will use is the flying one. The others are Force destroy everything in the screen or Force speed.
My Verdict
It is a great game to show to people as an alternate reality/expanded universe Star Wars game. It is not a bad Star Wars game if practiced enough to be beaten. Do check out this game.
Play this Japan Star Wars version on the Famicom or on NES emulators. An English rom hack translation is available on the 'Net for English purists.
Is the game really that damn difficult for you? Bitchy, whiny casual gamers need not apply.
Upvoted by HGC!