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A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, hordes of people who should have known better flocked down to their local arcades to experience the latest in coin-ops... Star Wars! A sit-in cabinet, vector graphics and even speech. What could be more up-to-date?
Well, the years have passed and even though Gauntlet and Marble Madness have been and gone, the hordes keep filling the battered old Star Wars machines with ten pees, determined once more to destroy the Deathstar and save the galaxy from the evil empire. Leap into the cockpit of Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter and battle your way to the Deathstar knocking down TIE fighters left, right and centre. Then skim over the surface of the planet dodging between towers and zapping their tops for a few extra points. Finally it's down into the trench, where you must avoid barriers and enemy fire to plant a laser bolt in the exhaust port and blow up the Deathstar. Gripping stuff, but how does it play? Fans of the coin-op will be pleased to hear that all the fast and furious action they relish has been retained, though perhaps a bit more jerkily than they may remember. All that's missing really is the sound. Them isn't any! (Apart from a moving rendition of the Star Wars theme tune at the beginning, that is.) The programmers use the old slows-it-down-too-much excuse, but in these days of AY-3-8912 sound chips I'm afraid it seems more like laziness! Apart from that, this is a near-perfect conversion from the original, and in this sense it has been well worth the wait. The question is, of course, is it worth buying ? Addicts of the arcade machine will love it, but I'd have thought they'd already have a copy of Realtime's Starstrike, which is very similar and has been out for ages. As a game in its own right it stands up well against the millions of other vector graphics shoot'em ups knocking around at the moment. The only problem is that wiping out the Deathstar is a bit of a doddle, so you'll find yourself looping round the levels several times per game. Other than that, what can I say? Go get a copy, and may the force be with you - unless you prefer Weetaflakes!
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