Jedi Arena
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''Star Wars: Jedi Arena'' is a
lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...
battle video game written by Rex Bradford for the
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
and published by
Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
in 1983. It is the first ''Star Wars'' video game to feature lightsabers. The goal of the game, based on one scene in the original ''Star Wars'' film, is to take out the opponent with the Seeker ball while defending oneself from incoming laser blasts using one's lightsaber. Following the adequate sales of their first ''Star Wars'' game'', Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'', Parker Brothers went on to continue developing ''Star Wars'' titles, one of which is ''Star Wars: Jedi Arena'', programmed by Rex Bradford. Although the game's reception was mixed at the time of release, with sound effects being praised and primarily the abstract combat being criticized, its legacy is largely negative, with several modern critics referring to the game as one of the worst ''Star Wars'' games of all time.


Gameplay

In ''Star Wars: Jedi Arena'', two Jedi Knights, one blue and one red, who are depicted from a top-down perspective, face each other during
lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...
training. Player one is blue; the red Jedi is either a human- or computer-controlled opponent. Players control their lightsabers with the
paddle controller A paddle is a game controller with a round ''wheel'' and one or more ''fire buttons'', where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. A paddle controller rotates through a fixed arc ( ...
to defend themselves from the laser blasts coming from the Seeker ball, fired by the opponent. The Seeker will regularly turn wild and fire laser blasts randomly. The objective of the game is to fire laser blasts from the Seeker at the opponent's shield and finally directly at the opponent by aiming in the direction that the lightsaber is pointing. The game has four difficulty levels, changing the Seeker's speed; on the highest level, the Seeker is invisible. The game ends when one player has received three direct hits, and the winner becomes a Jedi Master.


Development and release

Although '' Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' was not a huge success, it sold well enough to encourage
Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
to develop more ''Star Wars'' titles. In the December 11, 1982, issue of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', it was reported that Parker Brothers was developing its second game cartridge. Titled ''Star Wars: Jedi Arena'', the game was set for release the following month. During ''Jedi Arena''s production, Parker Brothers relied upon an abstract approach to combat that took advantage of "the unique technologies and situations of the ''Star Wars'' universe". The game was programmed by Rex Bradford and inspired by one scene in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' in which Luke Skywalker defends himself from the Seeker ball's incoming laser bolts with his lightsaber on board the ''
Millennium Falcon The ''Millennium Falcon'' is a fictional starship in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the movie ''Star Wars'' (1977), it has subsequently appeared in '' The Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), ''The Empire Strikes Back ...
''. The game was released for the
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
as scheduled, in January 1983.


Reception

''Star Wars: Jedi Arena'' received mixed reviews from critics in the 1980s. Adam Thompson of ''Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games'' likened the mechanism of damaging the opponent's shield to smashing bricks in '' Breakout'' and praised the game's glowing multi-colored laser blasts and the sound effects, the latter of which he felt added realism to the game. According to Peter Brown of ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'', however, the main criticisms of the game were the stationary Jedi and abstract combat, for the opposite of which action fans were expecting. Benj Edwards, writing for
PCMag.com ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
, claimed that ''Jedi Arena'' "may secretly be the best Star Wars video game ever made."


Legacy

The legacy of ''Jedi Arena'' among modern critics is extremely negative. Ian Dransfield of ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' ranked it as one of the 5 worst ''Star Wars'' games ever, noting that the game has not aged well. Lewis Packwood of ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'' ranked the game second-to-worst, believing that the game should not have been based on one particular scene in ''Star Wars'' involving Luke Skywalker defending himself from a "floaty beach ball". In the book ''Classic Home Video Games, 1972–1984: A Complete Reference Guide'', Brett Weiss criticized the game's controls, its overall "misguided" concept (given that the Jedi never actually engage in a duel), and the gameplay for " elyingtoo much on luck". Several other sources described ''Jedi Arena'' to be either lamentable or one of the worst ''Star Wars'' games. Matt Dorville of ''
Blastr Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...
'' ranked the game No. 31 on the website's list of 50 ''Star Wars'' games ranked from worst to best, admitting that ''Jedi Arena'' was not bad at the time of release and that the game did offer an entertaining gameplay. In the book '' Guinness World Records 2017 Gamer’s Edition'', ''Jedi Arena'' is credited for being the first ''Star Wars'' video game to feature lightsaber action.


References


External links

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''Star Wars: Jedi Arena''
at AtariAge * {{Star Wars games 1983 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Action games Parker Brothers video games Star Wars video games Video games developed in the United States Multiplayer and single-player video games