Super Star Wars
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''Super Star Wars'' is an
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as ...
and
Sculptured Software Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game publisher from Long Island, active from 1987 until filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 1, 2004. Through a series of acquisitions between 1990 and 2002, Acclaim built itself a large portfol ...
for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
. It is based on the 1977 film '' Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope''. It was released by JVC Musical Industries in Japan in 1992 and
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
in North America in 1992 and Europe in 1993. The game was followed by two sequels based on the subsequent ''Star Wars'' films, '' Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' (1993) and '' Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'' (1994). The game was re-released in November 1996 as part of Nintendo's Player's Choice series. It was released on the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
’s
Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
by LucasArts in 2009. In 2015,
Disney Interactive Studios Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactiv ...
re-released the game for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
, with Code Mystics developing the ports. The port features enhanced options for saving, including cross-save, leaderboards and trophies, and modern displays and controllers. The game was also made a part of a bundle with the purchase of '' Star Wars Battlefront'' for the PlayStation 4, which included '' Star Wars: Racer Revenge'', '' Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter'' and ''
Star Wars Bounty Hunter ''Star Wars: Bounty Hunter'' is a 2002 action-adventure video game developed and published by LucasArts for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Limited Run Games re-released a limited supply of the game physically for the PlayStation 4 on June 28, 201 ...
''. ''Super Star Wars'' features side-scrolling run and gun gameplay, although it has stages which feature other challenges, such as driving a
landspeeder Landspeeders are fictional anti-gravity craft used through the ''Star Wars'' movies and ''Star Wars'' expanded universe. They are depicted both in civilian and military capacities, and several versions have been merchandised as toys and models ...
or piloting an
X-wing The X-wing starfighter is a name applied to a family of fictional spacecraft manufactured by the Incom Corporation from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (wings) are in attack position, the X-win ...
. It also features multiple playable characters with different abilities.


Gameplay

''Super Star Wars'' generally follows the plot of ''Star Wars'', although some allowances were made to adapt the story to suit an action game. For example, instead of simply buying
C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to as ...
and
R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...
from the Jawas,
Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...
must fight his way to the top of a Jawa sandcrawler while leaping from a series of moving conveyor belts. Brief
cutscenes A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
between levels tell an abbreviated version of the film's story through written text. Later stages allow the player to control smuggler and pilot
Han Solo Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...
or
Chewbacca Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and firs ...
the
Wookiee Wookiees () are fictional humanoid aliens in the ''Star Wars'' universe, native to the forest planet Kashyyyk. They are distinguished from humans by their gigantism, hirsutism, and physical strength. The most prominent Wookiee is Chewbacca, c ...
. The game also features several vehicle-based levels in which the player takes control of an X-Wing or a landspeeder. Most of the stages consist of run and gun and platforming gameplay, with several different upgrades available to the standard blaster weapon. Luke can also wield 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 ...
after acquiring it from
Obi Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Within the original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinness. In the later-released prequel trilogy, ...
. The end of the game has players reenacting Luke's Death Star trench run to destroy the
Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and Weapon of mass destruction, superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' Space opera, space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire, the Death Star ...
, with Darth Vader confronting the player in his TIE Advanced x1.


Development

Artist Jon Knoles did the visual designs for the characters, while Harrison Fong drew the backgrounds. Fong recounted that he did very little concept drawing before rendering the characters on the computer "because everybody knew what the ''Star Wars'' characters looked like." Originally, the game design was planned to give the characters a dark black outline around their bodies. However, this idea was abandoned, as it was thought to make the characters too cartoonish-looking. The "Kalhar Boss Monster" is based on one of the chess pieces R2D2 plays with on the Millennium Falcon in the film. There was a trash compactor level that was deleted from the game due to lack of cartridge space. An image was published in an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly around the time of the game's release. The game's audio contains scores from the movie, which were all arranged by Sculptured Software's in-house musician Paul Webb. According to Webb, he was given the original handwritten scores that
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
had created. Paul then used the company's in-house music software to convert the scores onto the Super NES's 8-channel sound chip. The game's instrument samples were taken from the
Ensoniq EPS The EPS (Ensoniq Performance Sampler) was one of the first few affordable samplers on the market. It was manufactured from 1988 to 1991 by Ensoniq in Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA. The EPS is a 13-bit sampler and replaced the Mirage - widely re ...
and EPS16 keyboards. A PC
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
of ''Super Star Wars'' was in the works since 1994, by Danish game company Brain Bug and produced by Softgold. The game was almost completed, and was well into the
playtesting A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
phase, but in 1995 LucasArts decided to halt the development and cancel the release. An unfinished version of this port was leaked onto the internet. A
Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...
version was in the works by Sega Interactive from late 1992 to some point in 1993, when it was cancelled for unknown reasons. An early prototype's ROM was dumped in 2020.


Reception

''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' wrote that "If you've ever fantasized about piloting an X-wing fighter into the heart of the Death Star, now you can do it—in simulated 3-D as well as reenact the movie's key plot developments." In 2009, ''
Official Nintendo Magazine ''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo. Originally published by EMAP as ''N ...
'' placed the game 68th on a list of the greatest Nintendo games.


Accolades

''Super Star Wars'' was awarded Best Action/Adventure Game of 1992 by
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...
, as well as Best Movie-to-Game. Super Star Wars was rated 4th in Nintendo Power's top ten Super NES games of 1992.
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 ...
ranked Super Star Wars 83rd on their "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time". In 2018,
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
listed the game 38th in its "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time." In 1995,
Total! ''Total!'' was a video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc. It was published monthly for 58 issues, beginning in December 1991 (cover-dated January 1992), with the last issue bearing the cover-date October 1996. A "1993 A ...
ranked the game 60th on their Top 100 SNES Games summarizing: "The sequels left a little to be desired but this is a great interpretation of the original and best film." In the same year,
Flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...
magazine rated ''Super Star Wars'' 25th on its Top 100 Video Games. They lauded the game writing: "The second greatest SNES platform game after ''
Super Mario World ''Super Mario World,'' known in Japan as is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America in 1991 and Europe and A ...
''." They also praised the game's graphics and felt the game was easy.


See also

*''
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 ...
'', the NES game from previous year


Notes


References


External links

* {{Star Wars Trilogy 1992 video games Cancelled DOS games Cancelled Sega CD games Cancelled Sega Genesis games Code Mystics games LucasArts games Platform games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games PlayStation Vita games Run and gun games Single-player video games Star Wars video games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United States Virtual Console games