Like probably many of you, I grew up with the Star Wars license at my side, to the point of having assimilated the main codes for a long time. And as the cinematic genius of Georges Lucas has also very quickly turned into a stroke of marketing genius, I quickly succumbed to god merchandising (I know, I'm weak ...), including buying figurines with the effigy different characters from the movies. I remember in particular a Christmas where the big bearded man (not Lucas ... Santa!) Had deposited the replica of the Millennium Falcon at the foot of my tree. The ideal complement for my little plastic heroes!
n short, since a lease, the saga is adulated in the cinema, it brings back pépètes in the rays of toys, and it was also invited on our game consoles. While this is particularly true for episodes I, II and III released in the 2000s, it was less true for the first three films, and as a result, the arrival of Super Star Wars on Super NES made quite a lot of noise. . This game was an exclusive Nintendo, and in addition, it was only the first in a series of three, since The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi were also going to experience a declination in video games. It was enough, in 1992, to make me crack and buy the cartridge in import (at high price!) During a small trip to Paris ...
Super Star Wars Nintendo Super Screenshot 02Super Star Wars is the more or less faithful adaptation of episode IV (the first movie released in 1977). It comes fifteen years after the feature film and there is a lot of action (mostly run'n gun), a little platform and a few levels aboard the two machines that are the Landspeeder and the X-Wing. "More or less faithful" because for technical reasons (especially) and gameplay (a bit), it was almost impossible for Sculptured Software to follow the film's plot to the letter and to transpose it as it is in the game. developer has had to make concessions: some anecdotal footage of the film have become whole levels in the game, the meeting between Luke and C-3PO does not run quite like in the feature film ...
Super Star Wars Nintendo Super screenshot 03Bref, "details" that will make fans tick, but not the majority of players. The link with the film is also well put forward via cutscenes between certain levels and an intro that could not have been presented otherwise (big yellow Star Wars logo and scrolling text, all on a background of martial music ... that you remember something?). During the action levels, the young Luke Skywalker (but also, later in the adventure, Han Solo and the very hairy Chewbacca), is directed in well-known places of the film, in the company of enemies who appear so keep on going. The title is punchy, and we understand very quickly that it is better not to dwell too much in the levels: it is useless if not to inflate the score, and in addition, it is bad for the health of the person!
The same enemies are generous in items: mainly hearts (present in abundance, they give back energy), but also heads of Darth Vader (an item that temporarily doubles the points obtained, ideal to obtain additional lives boosting the score), "time bonuses" (additional seconds added to the timer), "shields" (shields that temporarily protect the hero), "health swords" (lightsabers that increase the size of his gauge) of energy) or improvements for the "blaster" ("small name" given to the main weapon). The main weapon of each character has an automatic fire and can be improved up to four times, with the key, increased efficiency. Star Wars requires, further in the game, Luke can also get his hands on a lightsaber.
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 05Activable and deactivated at will, the weapon will prove especially useful during close combat and particularly nasty (for enemies ...) during jumps. The sword only applies to Luke: Han Solo and Chewbacca can not be equipped with the Jedi weapon. In compensation, their main weapons have automatically an "upgrade" (which makes them, at the base, a little more powerful), and their life gauges are larger. Playing with one or the other person is not particularly determining or penalizing: Han Solo offers about the same feeling as Luke, while Chewbacca is undoubtedly the strongest character (powerful weapon, great gauge of life ... but his jumps are more difficult to negotiate).
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 06This is not the find of the century, but Super Star Wars offers some platform passages not stung by chafer. In these, precision and caution will not be too much to reach the end of the course. A little euphoric after some levels not very complicated to unbridled action, we then discover the dark side of the soft: its platform levels painful, made difficult because of a rather imprecise handling, in which we must move on platforms barely wider than the character, while "vaporizing" enemies whose contact or shooting can make us fall from these platforms. In fact, to confess everything, from the beginning of the game, we feel that there is a certain approximation in the actions of the character, but for phases of action where we just shoot, it still passes. We close more or less eyes as it is not too embarrassing ... But for the platform pure, otherwise more demanding, it is a different story ... and a hell of a thorn in the foot of the player!
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 07Who, after watching the movie, has never dreamed of flying a Landspeeder in the desert of Tatooine or flying over the Black Star flying an X-Wing? IM asking you ! Well, Super Star Wars is doing a small part of that dream. Two levels take the player on a ride aboard the Landspeeder. The goal is the same each time: destroy a number of aggressive Jawas and then move to a certain point to complete the level. Enzymed enemies give energy hearts and the destruction of small turrets ensures refueling. The precious liquid is essential, since the consumption of the machine is taken into account, every kick on the accelerator bringing the player of the dry failure.
The piloting of the craft is quite easy, but it does not remain less technical, with some subtleties to quickly master (turns to the left or to the right, momentary takeoff to avoid attacks of the Jawas ...) . As a final bouquet, the last level of the game puts us, meanwhile, at the controls of an X-Wing. At first, we just fly over the surface of the Black Star destroying a number of Tie Fighters and turrets (same principle as for Landspeeder levels). Then, just like in the film, direction the trench leading to the central reactor: in cockpit view this time, we must spray the many Tie who try to block the road and most importantly, neutralize their shots. If the X-Wing is touched too often, it crashes lamentably and we lose a life ...
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 09These four not-so-easy levels are the bravery of Super Star Wars. Made in mode 7, without any additional chip, we can also see in them the reason for being excluded Super NES. The rest of the soft, that is to say a dozen levels, offers a nice 2D to the eye and not especially fine. But all is credible: the tones chosen are fair and we easily recognize the various highlights of the feature, such as the desert of Tatooine, the Cantina or the streets of Mos Eisley. The cutscenes, in still pictures, are not especially beautiful, and newer games will do better than the LucasArts title.
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 10In chapter animations, the enemies and the few bosses move well enough to make the parts alive. Of the three characters available, only Chewbacca inherited a broomstick in the back, compared to his two "colleagues" who have a good stride and movements well decomposed. Finally, if the film owed its success to its unique universe, it also relied, in large part, on masterful music imagined by the composer John Williams. To remain credible, Super Star Wars had to restore, at least in part, this particular point. And finally, it does well: the songs are certainly few, but the most significant are present and well reproduced by the 16 bits. Already on the title screen, the game announces the color, with the archi-known theme of the film. And thereafter, throughout the game, we enjoy a soundtrack of very good quality.
Super Star Wars Super Nintendo screenshot 11The debut of Star Wars on Super NES is promising: we find the footprint of the saga and the console is already well exploited, with some highlights that coincide with the levels in mode 7. The rest of the app is much more classic and hesitates between the run'n gun and the platform, without actually slicing, but without really convincing either. Maneuverability is not one of the highlights of this Super Star Wars, the "platform" levels are also proving quite painful for the nerves. Once the game is over, we are therefore divided between the excitement of having relived some great moments of the film, frankly successful in the soft, and the frustration caused by the few difficult passages ...
Super Star Wars is relatively beautiful, without making tons. His 2D is nice and above all, consistent with the universe imagined by Lucas. The levels in mode 7 are a tour de force that only the Super NES could achieve.
The pieces are not super many, but we recognize them without difficulty. Above all, the sound quality is well and truly at the rendezvous, as are the convincing explosions and some digitized voices.
If Super Star Wars was content to play in the run'n gun category, we could have closed our eyes on its rough handling. But since he is also eyeing the side of the platform, this lack of rigor bursts into the open and may annoy more than one ...
The difficulty is adjustable in the options, and the menu offered by Sculptured Software is sufficiently rich (more than a dozen levels) to occupy the player for a few hours.
The big dilemma of adaptations of movies in video games: to stand out while remaining faithful to the original work. Super Star Wars achieves it in an honorable way, playing on different boards (action, platform, piloting).
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