Producer: JVC
System: SNES
Year: 1992
Overview: The Star Wars saga makes its way to 16 bits. How does it stack up to its 8-bit counterpart?
Story: This game is also based loosely off A New Hope, but it’s laid out differently from the 8-bit version, and in my opinion, its for the better.
Graphics: Great attention was paid to detail; sprites and backgrounds are top notch.
Sound: The music sounds almost like it might as well have been ripped right from the movie; it’s that good. Sound effects are great as well, from swinging lightsabers to jawa cries, it sounds like you’ve been dropped right into the movie.
Gameplay: This one is mostly a platformer, with a few flying levels tossed in as well. You start the game as Luke, but you will eventually get the opportunity to play as Han Solo or Chewbacca later on. Each character has his own set of strengths and weaknesses.
Challenge: While the game has its difficult spots, it’s nowhere near as hard as its 8-bit predecessors. There’s still no save feature, though, so you do have to complete the whole game in one sitting. But at least it won’t be as hair-pulling as before.
Final Rating: 8.5/10 A vast improvement over the NES/GameBoy games, SSW would be a game that belongs in any Star Wars fan’s SNES library. Unfortunately, the SNES has been long dead at the time of this writing. We can always hope for a GBA port, but that seems unlikely, especially with the recent release of Apprentice of the Force.
