Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire (N64)

The Star Wars franchise and videogames are a frustrating combination. While George Lucas’ tale of a Galaxy Far, Far Away has inspired some thoroughly fantastic videogames, for every Knights of the Old Republic there seems to be at least 3 Rebel Assaults. Likewise, what has become known as the ‘expanded universe’ of Star Wars, the many books, comics and side-stories licensed by Lucasfilm but not considered canon is notoriously hit and miss in terms of quality. Shadows Of The Empire is a bit of an oddity, in that while technically an expanded universe property, was actually instigated by Lucas himself. Shadows is actually not 1, but 3 separate projects, all ...  Read the complete review

The N64 game of 'Shadows of the Empire' - a multimedia project where the story takes place between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi' - is a mix of genres, with the player assuming the role of Dash Rendar. The opening snowspeeder level was seen to be a highlight of the game - to be able to trip an AT-AT with a harpoon and tow cable was like a dream come true for the Star Wars fan. To their disappointment, there was only one other stage of similar style, but the makers must have took note of this - two games of the type would be released ('Rogue Squadron' and 'Battle For Naboo'). I hated the stage where Dash had to ride the Swoop ...  Read the complete review

This game is worth renting, once. The only decent part is the second level's battle of Hoth, where you pilot a ship and take out AT-ATs and other flying meanies. The rest of the game gets its genres confused, with the third-person platfrom type levels often horribly irritating, and rarely rewarding. The second level really is worth the bother, though - I played it over and over again, and even rented the game again for the same purposes. A precursor to Rogue Squadrom, it seems, this level is the only one with gameplay to match the excellent presentation of the game. ...  Read the complete review

This is quite possibly the worst game I`ve ever played that makes use of the Star Wars license. The graphics are poor, the sound isn`t much better and the gameplay isn`t too hot either. There are a variety of levels in the game, which vary from having you run round the Hoth base just after the Millenium Falcon escapes to flying through an asteroid belt, and on again to flying a hoverbike through Mos Eisley. There are plenty of other missions where you run round shooting Storm Troopers, which are OK but can get quite annoying. In fact I think they`ve overplayed the running round angle - too many sections have you doing this which gets more than a bit annoying ...  Read the complete review

If you buy this, it'll take a while to completely finish this game. The game itself is a good idea, it's a on-foot shooter and a space shooter. Unfortunatley, the graphics and movement don't exactly sparkle. I laugh at the way Dash jumps! They could've done a little more work on the graphics. The music perfectly suits a star wars game, and the sound effects are realistic. The envirorments were well thought out. You're Dash, one of Han Solo's mercenary buddies, as well as a racing rival. You were hired by the rebelillion to take a position in rouge squardron. After the hoth fight, it centers around Dash, a forgotten character in the sw series. ...  Read the complete review