Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (NES) Playthrough

Описание: A playthrough of JVC's 1992 license-based action game for the NES, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is the direct sequel to JVC's first NES Star Wars game (   • Star Wars (NES) Playthrough  ) that had been released five months prior. It looks and feels very different, however, likely due to the change in developers. LucasArts provided the design documents and maintained close oversight over both productions, but Star Wars was brought to the NES by Beam, while The Empire Strikes Back was built by Sculptured Software. The Empire Strikes Back also served as a springboard for the long-term collaborative effort between Sculptured Software and LucasArts that resulted in the Super Star Wars trilogy for the Super Nintendo.

The Empire Strikes Back is a (very) loose retelling of the film that bounces between action-platforming and shooter segments, similar to Beam's Star Wars. However, this time, instead of switching between multiple characters, you play only as Luke (who can learn Force powers that'll augment his platforming and combat abilities), and the first-person space combat has been replaced by side-scrolling shooter action.

Though it wasn't praised as highly as Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back was generally well-received by critics, and many outlets deemed it one of 1992's stand-out NES releases. Being such a late release on the console, it tends to straddle the line dividing the 8 and 16-bit generations in its design and presentation. The platforming levels are sprawling mazes filled with chokepoints, mini-bosses, and novel navigation gimmicks (like riding a tauntaun, or jumping into a walker to destroy forcefield generators), and the shooter stages are frantic blast-a-thons that control fluidly and show off some incredible visual effects.

The controls are usually good. The platforming is fast and smooth, and the jumps are precise once you get a feel for the timing. Unfortunately, there's one major snag that has a disproportionately large impact on the rest of the game. The lightsaber combat feels terrible. Luke attacks in a downward arc when you hit the B button, and he swings the blade horizontally when you hit left or right with the B-button. The horizontal swing is much stronger, but because the action moves so quickly, holding the d-pad usually causes Luke to run straight into whatever he's attacking. It's way too easy to get caught in a loop where you'll get temporarily stunlocked and the enemy will keep attacking, leaving you to stare helplessly as you get wrecked and sent all the way back to the beginning of the stage. There is more to the combat than wailing on the button and praying for the best, but it's fiddly and frustrating to learn, and it never feels totally consistent. Sometimes, the game just wants you to die, and in those moments, you don't have much of a choice but to grit your teeth and go with the flow. This doesn't outright ruin the game, but it's a shame that what should've been a highlight turns into the game's biggest liability.

On a more positive note, the presentation reminds me a lot of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (   • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (NES) Playth...  ), another Sculptured Software game that was released four months earlier. The graphics are excellent - the backdrops, character portraits, and animations are impressively detailed - and the digitized sound effects and voice samples are some of the best you'll hear from the NES. The music is good, too, though you'll often go long stretches without hearing any.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back does many things well and wrings a lot of juice out of the decrepit NES hardware. I liked the game, but with the lightsaber combat hanging over the rest of the experience like a heavy wet blanket, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't already a die-hard Star Wars nut.

(Please note that the Imperial March theme that plays during the end credits had to be muted for copyright reasons. Sorry about that!)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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