''Star Wars: Yoda Stories'' is a 1997 adventure video game based on the ''

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 ...

'' franchise developed by LucasArts. The game is the second and last title in LucasArts' ''Desktop Adventures'' series, preceded by ''

Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures ''Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures'' is a 1996 Adventure game, adventure video game. ''Desktop Adventures'' was made to run in a windowed form on the desktop to limit memory use and allow the player to perform other tasks. This game was th ...

''. The game was released in March 1997 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and ported to

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

Torus Games Torus Games is an Australian video game developer founded in 1994 by Bill McIntosh. The company is located in Bayswater, Victoria. Its managing director is Bill McIntosh. The company being a family business. History They'd begin developing ...

in December 1999.

Gameplay

''Yoda Stories'' is a short, procedurally generated point-and-click adventure game designed for players to finish in an hour. The game has no central plot or ultimate goal. Each time a new game is started, the player is tasked to complete a random mission. This may include rescuing another ''Star Wars'' character, obtaining an object, warning the Rebels of an attack, or destroying an Imperial facility. The player controls Luke Skywalker from a bird's eye perspective. Players move Luke across a 2D grid, equip and use weapons to defeat enemies; push and pull certain objects; and collect items into their inventory to be used later on. Each mission takes place on a new procedurally generated planet, and requires the player to complete a series of item-based puzzles, either by pushing or pulling obstacles to reveal items, using items acquired elsewhere to unlock a new item, or defeating enemies in an area. Once the final puzzle is solved and the mission is accomplished, the player is given a score based on their performance, and may choose to replay the mission or start a new game. Due to the limitations of

hardware, its port of ''Yoda Stories'' is reduced to fifteen fixed missions, with simplified graphics.

Reception

The PC version of ''Yoda Stories'' was received poorly. Robert Coffey of

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

derided the game as "really bad" and "graphically dated, featuring cookie-cutter worlds filled with big-headed, cutesified characters and silly monsters that are (almost) flat-out embarrassing". GameSpot provided similar criticisms of the game as a "half-hearted product", stating "combat is awkward and in no way satisfying" and "the backgrounds are as flat and lifeless as the gameplay". Gareth Jones of PC PowerPlay provided some praise for the game as "cute (and) fun, with plenty of lastability", praising its addictive nature. The Game Boy version of ''Yoda Stories'' received more negative reviews. Craig Harris of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

stated the game was "one of the technically lamest and structurally annoying ''Game Boy'' games ever developed", singling out the poor graphics, animations, sound, and controls. ''Yoda Stories'' remains

's lowest-rated Game Boy Color title. Retrospective assessments of the game have been mixed.

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writer Brian Vanhooker supported the game as "easygoing and accessible", and interviewed lead designer Hal Barwood, who considered that the game was "ahead of its time and (that) its rough reception was unwarranted", as reviewers misinterpreted its purpose as a casual game. Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer noted that the ''Desktop Adventures'' series "(had) a fair amount of promise", although the game suffers from "a lack of assets and a lack of content".

References

External links

*
''Yoda Stories'' for Game Boy Color review
on GameSpot * {{Star Wars games Yoda Stories LucasArts games Windows games Game Boy Color games 1997 video games The Empire Strikes Back video games Return of the Jedi video games Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games Torus Games games THQ games