Star Wars video games have been around almost as long as the Star Wars franchise itself, and one of the earliest titles celebrates its 35th anniversary this year: the 1983 Star Wars arcade title.
The game was the first to be based on A New Hope, though it wasn’t the first Star Wars game overall (that honor goes to the 1982 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back release on the Atari 2600). This game featured colorful vector graphics and, with regards to the cabinets themselves, was available in both standing and sit-down versions, though the game itself was the same. The sitting variant was intended to give the player a more accurate feeling of actually being in the cockpit of an X-Wing.
Star Wars had three phases which the player must successfully complete in order to win. The first phase consists of a dogfight with a number of TIE Fighters and with Darth Vader himself in the area of space near the Death Star. The second phase involves flying down to the surface of the Death Star towards the trench, during which they are attacked by turrets and bunkers. The final phase is the notorious trench run itself, ending with firing on the exhaust port in order to destroy the Death Star. If the player can navigate the trench without shooting anything but the exhaust, they get a bonus for “using the Force.” After destroying the Death Star, the game begins over from the first phase, increasing in difficulty until the player eventually runs out of shields for their fighter and is destroyed themselves.
The game would eventually be ported to a number of home consoles, with the conversion being handled by Parker Brothers; home versions included games for the Atari 2600 and 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, and many other consoles of the day. Most of these home versions were simplified editions of the original arcade game, with watered-down graphics or the removal of music, though the Amiga and Atari ST versions ended up being more similar to the original release.
The Star Wars arcade title was a huge success for Atari and was one of the bestselling cabinets the year it released. It is today considered one of the most influential arcade games of all time.
