Force Friday

[vib_ribbon]

so today is supposed to be force friday, like sonic twosday but with star wars toys.

there's been loads of star wars arcade and pinball games out over the years... lets talk about them here and which ones are your faves etc.

that'll be your homework for today.

i'll come back later after i've had a think myself.

 

[Mr20to5]

Here's my 10p, and it will be fairly brief for reasons I shall explain.

You see even though I was born in 1975 and am a bloke, the 2 essential criteria for loving Star Wars, I seemed to grow up, completely swerving the entire franchise. Not sure how this happened really, but happen it did. So without my interest peaked by the movies and aside from the spoiled kid at school, having all the toys, I never had any exposure to the brand and for this probable reason, I ignored the arcade cabs too, finding my ten pence lured from me by the many other cabs on offer.

But then,........... The Arcade Club opened it's doors and I found myself sat in the cockpit, fully enclosed and enveloped by all that it Star Wars, the sounds, the controller, hell I could even smell Star Wars. The screen fired it best vectors at me and I loved it, smiling from ear to ear, as I credited up and had another go, and another, until a child looked at me pleadingly and I got out!!

At NERG 2015, I played one of the later sequels, can't remember which, but it was one of the isometric scrolling ones, where you fly through the woods on the first level. Hmm, hated it, binned it after a few goes, never to return.

And that's me. Told you it would be brief.

Neil

 

[DanP]

I think I've pretty much owned every Star Wars game ever produced. Unlike Neil I was sucked into the Star Wars universe in 1977 and never looked back. Of the arcade games, the original vector Star Wars is still the best, but that's probably because it was of "my" time. I can still remember seeing it for the first time and being blown away by it (a cockpit in an arcade on Margate sea front). I vowed to my mum at the time that I WOULD OWN ONE one day. Happily before she died I did manage to fulfil my vow and in a strange way I think she was proud of me for that!

I think I'm pretty rare insofar as I actually like Return of the Jedi. It just needs to be taken outside the context of the original Star Wars game. They are just totally different but Jedi is a lot of fun (and blummin hard). I even like the ESB game add on for Star Wars but only as an occasional change from the original.

I did own a Star Wars Trilogy for a couple of years. Graphics and sound were superb and the game was OK for a while but after a couple of run throughs it lost it's appeal. I think it (and I assume the new Star Wars Pod game) would be better if they weren't on rails and you could go where ever you liked.

Dan

P.S I still own a Star Wars UR and Cockpit and an UR ROTJ

 

[Arch]

I have vague memories of my first Star Wars cockpit experience. I think it might have been when I visited London Trocadero with my family in 1984 or 85. I remember feeling intimidated by all the English speaking kids waiting behind me and looking into the cockpit, giving me advice in a strange language that I did not fully understand. I didn't make it very far, but I remember the experience as very immersive and cool and otherworldly.

Then, in 2012, I finally had the chance to relive the experience at the Retrogame club in Karlsruhe, Germany. I sat down, prepared for battle, played a couple of credits - and then I left for the Pole Position cockpit.
Arch2015-09-04 20:37:52

 

[Fuzzy]

Of the arcade games, the original vector Star Wars is still the best

This.

 

[vib_ribbon]

This.

This will not do, young man.

Lets us know what your experiences were with this game if you like it anywhere near as much as DanP.

 

[vib_ribbon]

....bugger, I'm turning into a forum Nazi.

 

[Alpha1]

The first time I saw Atari Star Wars was at Marwell Zoo. They had an upright in a tent next to an Outrun Dlx.

I later owned that very cab! But because it was literally outside it's condition wasn't the best, and I sold it off for someone to restore.

Crazy what you remember as a child.

I had a load of Star Wars toys as a young child, I think people bought them for all kids whether you were into it or not! Or old enough to know what it was!

I later traded nearly all of them for Garbage Pail Kids stickers.

 

[rcantor77]

I have always loved the Star Wars franchise and used to have an enormous collection of figures of crafts... from the mighty AT-AT and Transporter, to the Ewok Village, Cantina band and the Wampa.. at one time or another I had alot of it. Stupidly many years ago I sold it all at a boot fair for a good price and the next year they announced the Remastered Theatrical versions that woudl be released from 1997.. then the prices rocketed up.

Anyway as for arcade games, I have never been fortunate to own any and although I do love the original vector game now, I never saw it in the wild bitd. But I did used to play alot on the Amiga and also the hacked version with Obi-Wan swearing at Luke.

I do also remember playing the Original Trilogy game quite alot in our local Sega World in Harlow.. so I don't mind playing that either. And I have never played Empire Strikes back and Return of Jedi only a few times on holiday in Swanage, and never again.

Now fast forward to today and I am quite lucky to have a Namco arcade at my local Bowling Alley in Stevenage... so they have had the Pod racer a few years back which is an ok game. And they now have the Battle Pod which is an epicly beautiful game.. absolutely love it, but the one level for a credit thing is frustrating... especially if you have nailed the level it doesn't grab you to come back for more.

 

[LAZORIAN]

Even though I'm old enough to have gone to see the original SW in 1977, I didn't collect any of the figures or anything. I thought they were really cool though, my mate's younger brother at the time had loads of them, he was only just old enough to pronounce "Admiral Ackbar" correctly.
I did get into the collectable cards for a while - they were made by Panini or something and has blue and red outside borders, I think the red ones were rarer?

Right now I own a ROTJ cab and apart from frustrating me with its toughness I think its a really cool game - I mean come on its got Chewy driving a walker that you control, that's got to be cool right?

I would love the original vector game though... I very nearly bought one a while back but bottled out due to the cost sadly.

I have to say the audio when blowing up the death star remains one of my defining moments of the arcade, its gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you hear the "We're all clear kid..." sample play.

My best memory of playing the original was on holiday in Jersey, probably some time in the 90's - I was hanging out with a lad whose parents got friendly with mine at the hotel we were staying in, he said it was his favourite game (I loved it too of course) but what I found funny is that when he played his mouth would open and close repeatedly like a fish gulping for air. I thought it was hilarious but didn't mention it to him

 

[strykr]

Star Wars bitd for me was one of those old 50p a play ones stuck at the back of Circus Circus in Southend. About the time that Outrun Deluxe and Space Harrier were taking centre stage.

I distinctly remember as the years past despite Outrun and Space Harrier both disappearing Star Wars remained right up into Street Fighter 2 Champ Editions heyday. Even then I remember thinking it looking a bit sad stuck at the back there in a part of the arcade that time forgot. The owner must have had some sentimental value, either that or he just thought that nowone would want to buy this "old game" with the weird non rastery graphics!

I had a cred on it every now and then and loved it as I love the star wars films, as iconic as it is today it really did feel old hat when I was thrashing away at Golden Axe, lobbing a shuriken in Shinobi or smacking someone over the cannister with a chair in WWF Royal Rumble.

It's not a game I would ever want to own at that price as I find the gameplay very limiting, but it is a piece of art, and a quick credit is always fun.

I wonder what ever happened to that one in Southend,

Red 5 Standing by......

strykr2015-09-04 19:12:45

 

[Big Phil]

Ahhhh the Disney cash cow. They're going to flog Star Wars more than George ever did.

 

[Milky]

Loved the wireframe and 1st person perspective of SW and ESRB. Put it in a cockpit version (which all kids gravitate to if that option is available in the arcade) and you had a winner!

Utterly hated ROTJ and that isometric crap. /controversial

Oooh. And today I bought this:

 

[iamjimmi]

it was one of the isometric scrolling ones, where you fly through the woods on the first level.  Hmm, hated it, binned it after a few goes, never to return.

That would be Return of the Jedi... The smaller/younger version of me actually preferred ROTJ to SW... primarily because I could last a lot longer on Jedi! Still rather partial to ROTJ... have a couple of them now... watch out for a restore thread eventually!

I still remember seeing Star Wars for the first time - although it was the sound that made the biggest impression. I couldn't work out how they had voices from the film in the game... I figured there must be an analogue cassette tape playing the sounds in the machine!

 

[giantkeeling]

I was completely obsessed with the Star Wars films as a kid. Atari Star Wars cockpit is my fave Star Wars game ever. On a saturday morning, i used to cycle 8 miles to an arcade in Tamworth just to play it. I'd starve myself all week and save up my dinner money, then blow it all on Star Wars and a Big Mac!

 

[vib_ribbon]

i guess because my older brothers weren't into the films, i didn't get into them neither until later in life. i never had any of the figures (i had he-man and the a team), but my mate did and i vividly recall us going into the newsagents in the village that had a toys section and we would rummage through their box of old discounted star wars toys from behind the counter.

anyway, the games. even though we had a vectrex, we didn't grow up in the heydays of vector graphics in the arcades, so the games didn't appeal to me when there were so many more visually appealing games to go on. i did play them a bit, but never more than a couple of credits at a time.

that continued onto star wars arcade and star wars trilogy. neither held much of my interest. when star wars racer came out, surprisingly i was much more into that than the rest. i guess i quite liked the tank-like control mechanism.

when i see any of these games now, i will go on them straight away... try and catch up on what i've missed. this one was in tenerife a few years ago.

 

[vib_ribbon]

I was completely obsessed with the Star Wars films as a kid. Atari Star Wars cockpit is my fave Star Wars game ever. On a saturday morning, i used to cycle 8 miles to an arcade in Tamworth just to play it. I'd starve myself all week and save up my dinner money, then blow it all on Star Wars and a Big Mac!

that's awesome and mad addiction!

when we were kids we used to cycle everywhere too, i think there would always be an invisible line that you cross when you start to think, "hey up, we've cycled rather too far from home, we need to turn back". 8 miles, that's pretty far!

 

[Alpha1]

That Sega Model 1 Star Wars is probably rarer than Atari Star Wars!

 

[Bensonrad]

I certainly enjoyed the films as a kid and remember going to see rotj at the cinema on release. Had some figures and loved going to my uncles, as he had the death star, ATAT and a falcon. I only had a couple of the smaller figures.

Gamewise I played the Amiga version loads including the Geordie hack, but it was the SNES games that did it for me. They were awesome. Arcade cockpit played a few times, most recently at one of the south coast slams, but just found the trigger shooting too painful, its not a game I would want to own really.

 

[vib_ribbon]

That Sega Model 1 Star Wars is probably rarer than Atari Star Wars!

probably. i guess you always hear about people snapping up those star wars cockpits, but you never hear or see people with this... or at least very rarely. recently, even outrun dlx seems rather common!