''Star Wars'' is an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...

based on the film ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''. It was released by Victor Musical Industries for the Family Computer in Japan on November 15, 1991 and by JVC Musical Industries for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

in North America in November 1991 and in Europe on March 26, 1992. An official

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

"Hint Book" was available for the game upon its release. Two versions for

handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the con ...

s were released. The

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

port was developed by NMS Software and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

and released shortly less than a year later in 1992. The

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily ...

port was developed by

Tiertex Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms. It developed o ...

and published by U.S. Gold and released in 1993. A

Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...

version was also released. The game was followed by a sequel with '' Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' in 1992. An NES game adaptation of ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

'' never came into fruition. A counterpart of the game for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

titled '' Super Star Wars'' was developed and released. On June 28, 2019, the NES and Game Boy versions were re-released as part of both standard and "Collector's Edition" sets in limited quantities on unlicensed replica game cartridges by Limited Run Games.

Gameplay

The game follows a sequence of events loosely based on the plot of ''

'', where

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the original film trilogy as the main protagonist and also appears in the sequel trilogy. Raised as a poor moisture farmer on the desert planet Tat ...

is required to pilot 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 model ...

around

Tatooine Tatooine ( ) is a fictional desert planet that appears in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was fi ...

, collect

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, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

from the Sandcrawler,

Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...

from a cave, and

Han Solo Han Solo () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', and later appeared in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''Star Wars: The F ...

from the Mos Eisley bar, all while fighting stormtroopers, Tusken Raiders, and many other different enemy characters from the movies. After assembling all the game's characters, the player must navigate the Millennium Falcon in a first-person perspective through an asteroid field to reach the

Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of obliterating entire planets, and serves to enforce ...

(shields for the Millennium Falcon to withstand the asteroid field must also be collected in the Tatooine levels). Once arriving at the Death Star, the player is required to destroy the tractor beam generator, rescue

Princess Leia Princess Leia Organa ( or ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is a princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Galactic Empire (Star Wars ...

from the detention block, then proceed to destroy the Death Star with the rebel fighters. Each character has their own attributes. Han Solo and Leia can also be used to replace Luke in gameplay, but unlike Luke who has numerous lives, Han and Leia only have one life each. Obi-Wan Kenobi can resurrect Han Solo or Princess Leia five times (in the Game Gear and Master System versions, the player is even required to kill and resurrect them in order to earn the last 10% completion points and see the ending),

can display a map of the Death Star hallways, and

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...

can provide information on the current part of the game.

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

makes his only appearance on the Game Over screen. Chewbacca appears at the end of the Game Boy version, and is mentioned in passing several times in the NES version. It is implied in the game's instruction manual that Chewie flies the Millennium Falcon if Han Solo dies. The Game Gear version has several exclusive levels, including a level that sees Leia delivering the stolen plans to R2-D2. Additionally, the Tatooine hub world does not appear in this version, and is replaced with three side-scrolling levels through the desert that Luke is required to travel on foot.

Reception

Victor Lucas of '' The Electric Playground'' gave the Game Gear version a 7 out of 10 and wrote, "''Star Wars'' does feature some impressive artistic design and a few technical surprises. It's still one of the sharpest looking games available for Sega's 8-bit portable". Power Unlimited gave the Game Boy version a score of 65% summarizing: "Although this Star Wars game is incredibly versatile, it is hardly manageable. The graphics are too complicated for the Game Boy, the image is too dark and the controls are not precise enough. However, it can be played for a very long time." The Game Gear version was a runner-up for ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

''s 1993 Hand-Held Game of the Year award.

References

External links

*
Star Wars (Game Gear) at the Internet Archive
{{Star Wars Trilogy 1991 video games Beam Software games Capcom games Game Boy games Game Gear games LucasArts games Master System games Nintendo Entertainment System games NMS Software games Platformers Single-player video games Star Wars (film) video games Tiertex Design Studios games Victor Entertainment games Video games featuring female protagonists Video games developed in Australia U.S. Gold games Ubisoft games