Star Wars (Namco) (NES, 1987)
Graphics-6.5 Sound-7.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-8 Story-4
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Plays very similarly to Alex Kidd in Miracle World (block punching, how certain force powers work, the vehicle parts, dungeons, etc.) but with somewhat better variety (moving and crumbling platforms, doors leading to detours, different enemy types, new bosses, etc.)
Some cool force powers (smart bomb, flight, shield, teleport backwards in a level, etc.)
Decent rail shooter/space fps segments
Decent length (13 levels)
Difficulty options (normal/novice or hard)
Adjustable jump height
Rescued characters sometimes give you hints about what to do in a certain situation (game's not translated though and you don't know when they'll give you a hint)
Some nice cutscenes (anything involving vehicles)
+/-
All force powers available from the get go provided you have collected enough crystals (lessens the sense of progression but lets you learn what everything does right away)
Can't move while crouching or while attacking
Die in one hit even in the falcon (odd since it looks like you have a health bar here) and in novice mode
Linear structure
A couple of maze levels
Strays further from the source material
Unforgiving hit detection when swinging the sword (need to be swinging it at the enemy for a hit to cause any damage; swinging and then landing a hit doesn't do anything - similar to Alex Kidd or Ninja Gaiden but in AK it only affected breakable blocks, the saber also doesn't reach quite as far as it looks)
-
Some control and interface issues (can't see stats without pausing, can't see when a force power is about to run out, floaty movement (you'll immediately stop by crouching though), can't jump off of ladders to the side, sometimes sloppy hit detection (somewhat unforgiving around enemy sprites, forgiving around spikes), can't skip cutscenes or speed up text, can't somersault with the light saber, can't switch between the light saber and gun)
Trial & error (cheap deaths in some of the pits in the death star and ice stages, the final segment, like in Kid Icarus pits are created below you as you move upwards in vertical segments, some sudden points of no return, interactive parts in the background, boss patterns, learning what the force powers do (and how the shield doesn't always work), etc.)
During one of the detours early on you have to pause the screen to make a turret enemy vulnerable when going back to the main route (bug?) - otherwise you have to teleport
No continues and no save or password feature
Can't play as any of the characters you rescue
Uneven art direction (generally looks worse than the western game)
Inconsistent respawning (the game sometimes acts as if you came into a room from the other way)
No health bars for bosses (you actually need to talk to obi wan to be able to damage Darth Vader at one point which can be hard to figure out when you can't tell if you're damaging him)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Plays very similarly to Alex Kidd in Miracle World (block punching, how certain force powers work, the vehicle parts, dungeons, etc.) but with somewhat better variety (moving and crumbling platforms, doors leading to detours, different enemy types, new bosses, etc.)
Some cool force powers (smart bomb, flight, shield, teleport backwards in a level, etc.)
Decent rail shooter/space fps segments
Decent length (13 levels)
Difficulty options (normal/novice or hard)
Adjustable jump height
Rescued characters sometimes give you hints about what to do in a certain situation (game's not translated though and you don't know when they'll give you a hint)
Some nice cutscenes (anything involving vehicles)
+/-
All force powers available from the get go provided you have collected enough crystals (lessens the sense of progression but lets you learn what everything does right away)
Can't move while crouching or while attacking
Die in one hit even in the falcon (odd since it looks like you have a health bar here) and in novice mode
Linear structure
A couple of maze levels
Strays further from the source material
Unforgiving hit detection when swinging the sword (need to be swinging it at the enemy for a hit to cause any damage; swinging and then landing a hit doesn't do anything - similar to Alex Kidd or Ninja Gaiden but in AK it only affected breakable blocks, the saber also doesn't reach quite as far as it looks)
-
Some control and interface issues (can't see stats without pausing, can't see when a force power is about to run out, floaty movement (you'll immediately stop by crouching though), can't jump off of ladders to the side, sometimes sloppy hit detection (somewhat unforgiving around enemy sprites, forgiving around spikes), can't skip cutscenes or speed up text, can't somersault with the light saber, can't switch between the light saber and gun)
Trial & error (cheap deaths in some of the pits in the death star and ice stages, the final segment, like in Kid Icarus pits are created below you as you move upwards in vertical segments, some sudden points of no return, interactive parts in the background, boss patterns, learning what the force powers do (and how the shield doesn't always work), etc.)
During one of the detours early on you have to pause the screen to make a turret enemy vulnerable when going back to the main route (bug?) - otherwise you have to teleport
No continues and no save or password feature
Can't play as any of the characters you rescue
Uneven art direction (generally looks worse than the western game)
Inconsistent respawning (the game sometimes acts as if you came into a room from the other way)
No health bars for bosses (you actually need to talk to obi wan to be able to damage Darth Vader at one point which can be hard to figure out when you can't tell if you're damaging him)