Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Shadows of the Empire was originally a PC game.But when Nintendo 64 appeared, Lucasarts launched this game in the new Nintendo console. The game does not have good graphics or a good gameplay, but is a Fun-Factor game, is very cool. You play as Dash Rendar, an old friend of Han Solo(He is a smuggler, too) and his loyal droid LE-BO729, or just Leebo.In this game you have to stop Prince Xizor's evil plans. For this, you can count with Dash's multifunctional Blaster, a Snowspeeder, a Speederbike and his starship, the Outrider, a ship that is strangely similar to the Millennium Falcon. Shadows of the Empire was the first Star Wars game in N64.And it is a very good game. My score for Star Wars Shadows of the Empire is 9/10

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is probably the most ambitious and overly-stretched game of the franchise in terms of gameplay styles, but it actually adds to the sense of gaming variety; at least its non-conventionality worked in favor of it as opposed to something like Superman 64 did (which was the opposite of innovative or well-done), and Nintendo was still testing the waters of 3D video-gaming in general. So historically speaking, Shadows of the Empire was probably too far ahead of its time and not meant for the right system technically speaking (the N64 cartridges could only manage mere 12MBs) but kudos to Lucasfilm for pushing the boundaries of a young technology and medium in 1996.

Shadows gets 4/5 stars.

This comment is for the N64 version of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire!

When Nintendo launched its 64 bit system in 1996, the world at the time seen some of the greatest graphics ever on a video game console and even though Sony's Playstation and Sega's Saturn were competing, this new competitor in the gaming arena quickly became a superstar! With it's unique analog controllers, unbelievable games, and it's Nintendo Expansion Pak, Nintendo clearly had a system that would remain champion in the console stadium for years!

My Take: As a huge Star Wars fan and big gamer this was a must to play! The graphics are excellent and the ships look like they do the films and even the ones that wasn't still look very real! It has great characters, incredible action, game play, and music! Read below for more!

The Story: In between Episodes V & VI, It is yet still a dark time in the galaxy, Prince Xizor has a terrible plan. The green skinned leader of Black Sun is at his most powerful state. While Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and being taken by the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett, Solo's good friend Dash Rendar comes on to the scene to not to only rescue him but also must achieve many other deadly obstacles such as the deadly android bounty hunter IG-88, the Swoop Gang, meat eating Wampas, the Empire's Tie-Fighters and Star Destroyers. Will Dash succeed and defeat the odds or will the universe be covered by a very dark shadow?

Game Play: The game play is hard at first but give it a bit of time and it becomes natural. It has many camera angles including first person. The controls are smooth. There are several types of modes being Dash in action, flying his Outrider, driving an extremely fast swoop bike, and more!

Graphics: The graphics, while not flawless is excellent and is some of the greatest ever put in a game. The AT-AT and the AT-ST Walkers look nearly identical like their counter parts. The Snowspeeders, Probe Droids, Boba Fett's Slave I, Tie-Fighters, Ties Bombers, and Star Destroyers look very real as well! The Storm Troopers and Snow Troopers look good also! The cut scenes really look awesome with the pictures of the characters! Very cool art! The whole graphics category is tremendous!

Difficulty: The game has many difficult stages and has many options for the novice players to the experts!

Music: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire has one of the most explosive scores ever! Its all performed by an orchestra and underrated composer Joel McNeely takes this to new heights! Some of John Williams composing is here from the original films but most of it is new music. In My opinion some of McNeely's score sounds similar like the music James Horner has composed in the past but that doesn't mean anything bad by a long shot and that means its that great! In the last level the music even has a choir! There are only a handful of games that can compete with this epic monster when it comes to music in a video game! Its simply amazing!

Sound: The sound is great and clear! Very realistic Tie-Fighter, Probe Droid, AT-AT and AT-ST Walker sounds! The game really has dynamic sound!

Overall: In My opinion this one of the greatest Star Wars games ever and with its plot, characters, and musical score it could have easily been a motion picture! Its a great fun game and even if you have beaten it on all difficult modes its still worth playing simply because of the marvelous score! If you are a Star Wars fan and have an N64 get this game now! I strongly recommend it!

To purchase Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire for the Nintendo 64 stop by Amazon.com!

This game was a childhood favorite of mine as both a gamer and a hardcore Star Wars fan. What makes it so revolutionary is not only that it's the very first fully 3D Star Wars game, but also one of the first fully 3D third person shooters ever created.

The music was amazing, from John Williams legendary soundtrack from the original trilogy to the new music by Joel McNeely. In fact, this was one of the few N64 games with a fully orchestrated soundtrack. The sound effects were superb, with classic sounds from the movies like blaster fire and creature sounds that sounded clear and intimidating.

Admittingly, though, the game hasn't aged too well. As typical for early 3D platformers, the controls for Dash were clumsy and frustrating with his floaty jumping. Many of the levels required well timed jumps over bottomless pits that made them tough to beat, especially when collecting certain challenge points. The levels look empty, have few details, and are as coarsely textured as the enemy models. But the combat still holds up fairly well as you fight enemies like Stormtroopers and probe droids with your blaster, seeker missiles, pulse rifle, and other weapons.

The vehicle-based missions, like the asteroid field and the final battle against Prince Xizors Skyhook were way more fun and less cumbersome. My favorite was the first level in which you pilot a Snowspeeder and toppled over AT-ATs during the Battle of Hoth, which was like a dream come true for me as a kid. It even set the stage for the Rouge Squadron series. The bosses were challenging, ranging from original Star Wars figures, such as Boba Fett and IG-88 to more original ones like Xizor's Gladiator droid and the terrifying Giant Dianoga that undoubtedly gave many gamers nightmares.

Flaws, aging, and difficulty aside, this game is still worth playing today if you're a Warsie who enjoys classic games. You can try it on the PC on Steam and experience the game that marked the Star Wars franchise successful leap into the realm of 3D games.

An original effort from Lucasarts to build a game with no defined genre, which combines the best of many situations. An arcade excitement, which benefits from a very special asset. It's like this: I would have given it a 7, but one point goes for the Joel McNeely score, which is by far the best music written for a videogame, and is a great match to John Williams' classic score. Fantastic gameplay and graphics are aided by these fantastical musical pieces, which would fit in a Hollywood epic. Good fun, and many hours of gaming.