The Star Wars Retrospective: Episode II
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Mar 30th 2008 at 12:00PM }
If you've got 23 minutes to kill and a hankering for some Star Wars video game adaptation history this Sunday morning, we highly suggest securely fastening your lookin' balls onto the second installment in GameTrailers' Star Wars Retrospective. After the first episode's focus on the primitive origins of the franchise, it's nice to see some games that we've actually played -- including JVC's punishing SNES adaptations of the original trilogy, a LEGO title, and the legendary Star Wars Trilogy Arcade from Sega. It's also nice to see a little more Lando -- considering the next episode's progression to the games based on the newer films, it'll probably be the last we see of him for a while.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian Fantana @ Mar 30th 2008 12:35PM
The super Star Wars ames are still better than any Star Wars game I've played.
wootman @ Mar 30th 2008 3:17PM
apparently you have never played rouge squadron.
Nicholas Sulikowski @ Mar 30th 2008 3:39PM
Or Rogue Leader.
Carrie @ Mar 30th 2008 12:33PM
Hey, where's Rogue Squadron? :O
AirIntake @ Mar 30th 2008 12:58PM
Yeah, where's Rogue Squadron, Shadows of the Empire, Episode I: Racer, etc etc?? Not to mention all the PC games like Dark Force/Jedi Knight I/II, XWing, Tie Fighter. This video series is sure missing a lot of great SW games especially considering how long it is.
Dr. Stabbingworth @ Mar 30th 2008 1:04PM
It's the second episode in the series and they were focusing only on games based on the original trilogy.
Comprehension ftl
AirIntake @ Mar 30th 2008 2:12PM
I'd say that Rogue Squadron, Dark Forces, X-Wing and Tie Fighter WERE from the original trilogy, especially considering how loosely some of the games in this retrospective have followed the trilogy anyways. They're already at 2002 and they've missed these great games. Plus, why would they arbitrarily limit themselves to only games featuring the original trilogy, when that forces them to miss out on some of the best Star Wars games available.
Plus, with your exceptional comprehension skills, would you like to point me to where it says that they'd only be covering games based on the original trilogy? Considering Joystiq itself said "Based on the trailer above, we assume it will follow the same format as their first retrospective, chronologically detailing the history of all ninety-some video games that take place in the Star Wars universe" and then provided a link to the Wikipedia page 'List of Star Wars video games', I was lead to believe they'd be covering a bit of all games.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 30th 2008 2:20PM
But you're currently on Retrospective 2 of 9. I think they confirmed it as nine. First retrospective was covering the very early games and more notable, the games which only covered a portion of the story. This time was focused more towards games that attempted to tell the complete story of a chapter or the entire trilogy.
Meanwhile, all the games you mentioned either focused on the expanded universe, side stories between episodes, or having no focus on the story at all (Jedi Knight, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter). There are more chapters coming... this episode had a theme that they stuck to. Most games people have listed in their "why nots" don't fit the theme. Patience Padawan, we have a long bit to go before the debut of Force Unleashed, which is when this series is supposed to wrap up.
Kyera @ Mar 30th 2008 2:24PM
I'm pretty sure the first video mentioned that they were starting with games based on the original trilogy, and then the prequels, and then games not based on either. I can tell you TIE Fighter is definitely not based on the original trilogy - I don't remember inspecting cargo freighters, helping one side in a civil war, or TIE Defenders, do you? ;)
SoPissed @ Mar 30th 2008 1:07PM
Where the fuck is Dark Forces??!??!??!?!?!
I hate Gametrailers now.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 30th 2008 1:24PM
ZOMG! They missed my favorite Star Wars game so far in episode two of a huge multipart system! I am outraged and pissed to the point of stupidity! I will now mention some Star Wars game I liked despite it being noticable absent on any of the systems covered so far because my nerd rage boils the very seas!
Seriously, this is part 2 of... wasn't this gonna be 9 parts? If you game isn't listed, it's coming. So shut the **** up.
On a side note, should I mention I have Star Wars Aracde for 32X?
DangerMouse @ Mar 30th 2008 1:41PM
"On a side note, should I mention I have Star Wars Aracde for 32X?"
Sure, why not?
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 30th 2008 2:12PM
Well then, I have Star Wars Arcade on the 32X....
sankyu, sankyu
TeamAwesome @ Mar 30th 2008 1:39PM
At exactly 1:00 into the video, they show the swimming level from the 1st Namco Star Wars game (the one that shows the developers obviously hadn't watched the movie).
It totally reminded me of Episode I. See, Namco's game wasn't crappy, it was just way ahead of it's time.
Limezor @ Mar 30th 2008 1:40PM
What happened to:
Battlefront?
Tie Fighter?
Rogue Squadron?
StarWars Demolition?
Jedi Power Battles?
Anything not on Nintendo or Atari?
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 30th 2008 1:51PM
Refer directly to my previous comment. Obviously they cannot cover every game in 23 minutes, which is why it is a multipart series. If it wasn't covered in the first two episodes, it will be.
AirIntake @ Mar 30th 2008 2:14PM
Well, so far they've gone chronologically, so perhaps people were expecting them to actually go through all games chronologically.
Steve @ Mar 30th 2008 6:01PM
Not people who watched the first episode. At the end of the first installment, they very clearly stated that the next chapter would cover only games directly based off the plot of the original trilogy.
I guess they should have made it clearer for people starting in the middle.
They're going to cover EVERY Star Wars game made people (well, at least official ones), so don't get your panties in a bunch.
hvnlysoldr @ Mar 30th 2008 1:45PM
I love Trilogy Arcade. Also shows how many Star Wars versus Mario games there are.
Mr Khan @ Mar 30th 2008 2:50PM
That first game they showed actually looked like a pretty good game standing on its own, even if an eye-gougingly unfaithful and inaccurate adaptation
Carrie @ Mar 30th 2008 3:35PM
NINE parts? Good grief.
But yeah, that means it'll be like the Final Fantasy retrospective and have the "main" games first then all the spin-offs and oddballs last.
Go go Episode I Racer!! Woooo!
Mr.ESC @ Mar 30th 2008 5:28PM
I still remember Super Star wars,yeah it was a hard game.
I need an emu now.
Marshmallow713 @ Mar 30th 2008 5:49PM
The NES games were so freaking hard. I've never gotten past the deathstar after rescuing Leah. It's funny how kids today complain about games being too hard or something and we just took it so much for granted. I don't think I ever even thought about it. It was just how the game was.
And I still have vivid memories of my dad getting me an SNES, and how he showed me was having my eyes closed and switching it on, and all I hear is the Star Wars theme blasting at me in 16 bit glory. Amazing gaming/geek moment...
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 30th 2008 9:25PM
Come to think of it, those games look amazing.
JohnMazz @ Mar 30th 2008 10:45PM
These are pretty cool, cant wait for the next one.
Griffen (or whoever) be sure to link to the next one when it comes out or I'll definitely miss it.
kevinski @ Mar 31st 2008 12:54AM
Hahahaha...Darth Vader turning into a scorpion? Very nice. Anyway, the SNES installments were great for the time, although Super The Empire Strikes Back was just freakishly difficult. I mean, there's something seriously wrong when I can't even get off of Hoth in that game, yet I can beat Super Return of the Jedi without much effort.
The audio in the SNES installments was absolutely amazing. It actually made the games more enjoyable than they really were, in my opinion. While I love the games for what they are, I can't help by cringe at how bad the collision detection is. Really, running and slashing at stuff with your lightsaber really just doesn't cut it. You pretty much have to jump around like mad while spinning around with the lightsaber. Somehow, I don't remember any such thing in the movies...
LordMinogue @ Mar 31st 2008 12:57AM
Gotta love the Star Wars Trilogy Arcade - I played it a scant two years ago and it didn't show its age one bit!
kevinski @ Mar 31st 2008 1:20AM
I remember watching Starcade a long time ago. Usually, the in-game graphics in the games played on the show were pretty basic. Then, out of the blue, there's this freaking jet game that looked absolutely amazing.
ck @ Mar 31st 2008 10:29AM
I just wish they would have gone chronologically. This whole "Original Trilogy" and "Prequel" grouping is a very illogical way to look at the Star Wars video games. I would rather have them do it by developer rather than what they're doing now. It would have been nice to see an evolution of the games instead of this mess of groupings they did.
And what's up with it coming out every two weeks? Can't they just have stalled the retrospective a month (or two) later to coincide with Force Unleashed and release one every week? They give me a taste and I can't have more until a fortnight from now! I am mad.
SonofSeth @ Apr 1st 2008 3:24AM
IMPOTENT RAGE!!!!