Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (SNES, 1993)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-6/4* Challenge-9 Story-6.5
Level Design-6 Frustration-9.5 Fun-6 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-5.5
*Horizontal shooter-style snow speeder segment
+
Double jump (replaces the high jump, easier to use)
Better sprite work and effects
Move while shooting (need to be moving before shooting for it to work though)
Shoot in 7 directions (still not directly downwards for some reason)
Slide move
Light saber somersault (more useful here)
Gun upgrades (5 levels for Luke's pistol)
Multiple characters that can be switched between in-between most stages or after losing a life (recruited over the course of the game - Chewbacca and Han Solo)
Good art direction
Decent variety overall (gets worse after the swamp stage)
Improved mode 7 stages (get to use the wire on an AT-AT enemy)
Upgradeable life bar (doesn't carry over to the next sub stage though...)
Difficulty options
Password save
Smart bombs (there's a time limit as you pick them up; use before it runs out or the bomb disappears)
Shield power up (very short though and you can't keep it for later use)
Decent cutscenes in-between stages (mostly stills and scrolling text though)
Better bosses overall (more distinct patterns and sometimes multiple phases)
Some large bosses (first one is made up of multiple sprites though it's not that well animated)
Some hidden items
Force powers (saber power up, flight, slow spell, saber throw)
Mixes in a decent space flight sim stage where you fly the falcon (only problem is finding the next batch of tie fighters and where to go at the end)
Bounce enemy shots back at them using the light saber (however it's kind of unreliable at times because it's re-triggered if you jump)
New secondary attacks for Han and Chewie (grenades and spin move, respectively)
More mini-bosses
+/-
No time limit
Limited continues (Normal)
Checkpoints (fairly far between them sometimes)
Random element to power ups (means uneven difficulty)
Almost every enemy drops something (here the small hearts drop to the ground meaning they're sometimes easier to pick up but sometimes harder - sometimes they act like in the first game though)
Can't swing your sword while walking (can do it while jumping)
The life bar reverts to default size after each stage
The script was simplified/reworked (?) and enemies and bosses not seen in the movie were added, constantly respawning enemies in most areas (gets tiresome after a while)
Han Solo doesn't have a better gun than Luke here (so they're pretty much the same except his starts off at a higher level)
More auto-scrolling segments (the rock ride and the first bike segment are decent but the snow speeder segment is horrible)
Advertises its sequel in the ending in a way that reads like an advertisement
More stages where you can't choose a different character
Can't go very far backwards in a stage
Medium size enemies can easily push the player sprite around (Han's stage)
-
Slowdown (more of it here than in the prequel)
Control/interface issues (sloppy hit detection overall (can't shoot a small enemy if standing too close to it, Darth Vader's melee attacks, etc.), the player character auto-crouches if you hold attack while landing from a jump (annoying since you can't move while crouching), need to stand still and release the buttons to be able to switch weapons here (stupid change), can't throw grenades while jumping or crouching, slight delay before jumping, still need to crouch to pick up some items while others just need to be touched, So-so jump height control, the player character keeps jumping after landing if you hold down the jump button (can be a problem in some platforming segments), some containers can only be destroyed from one side (the ones before the falcon stage))
Some unavoidable damage
Heavy trial & error (enemies spawning very close to the player, leaps of faith despite being able to look up and down, unexplained mechanics (snow speeder, grenades don't carry over to the next sub stage), boss patterns, the "maze" in the first stage)
enemy drops can get stuck inside walls, can't manually revert to a previous gun level (such as the homing missiles)
Steep difficulty curve (this one gets pretty tough right away with a long snow level (slippery ground, instant death spike pits, small platforms and flying enemies))
Can't look down while double jumping
Enemy drops can get stuck inside walls
Can't manually revert to a previous gun level (such as the homing missiles)
Some difficulty spikes (the horizontal shooter style snow speeder segment - huge character sprite and cheap enemy patterns, the swamp boss and Han's second boss; difficulty dips in some later stages)
No auto-fire in vehicle segments
Some parts with overly resilient enemies (slows you down)
Weak sfx from hitting a boss
Gun upgrades are fewer
Chewbacca's and Han's maze-like stages (tedious enemies here as well)
Level Design-6 Frustration-9.5 Fun-6 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-5.5
*Horizontal shooter-style snow speeder segment
+
Double jump (replaces the high jump, easier to use)
Better sprite work and effects
Move while shooting (need to be moving before shooting for it to work though)
Shoot in 7 directions (still not directly downwards for some reason)
Slide move
Light saber somersault (more useful here)
Gun upgrades (5 levels for Luke's pistol)
Multiple characters that can be switched between in-between most stages or after losing a life (recruited over the course of the game - Chewbacca and Han Solo)
Good art direction
Decent variety overall (gets worse after the swamp stage)
Improved mode 7 stages (get to use the wire on an AT-AT enemy)
Upgradeable life bar (doesn't carry over to the next sub stage though...)
Difficulty options
Password save
Smart bombs (there's a time limit as you pick them up; use before it runs out or the bomb disappears)
Shield power up (very short though and you can't keep it for later use)
Decent cutscenes in-between stages (mostly stills and scrolling text though)
Better bosses overall (more distinct patterns and sometimes multiple phases)
Some large bosses (first one is made up of multiple sprites though it's not that well animated)
Some hidden items
Force powers (saber power up, flight, slow spell, saber throw)
Mixes in a decent space flight sim stage where you fly the falcon (only problem is finding the next batch of tie fighters and where to go at the end)
Bounce enemy shots back at them using the light saber (however it's kind of unreliable at times because it's re-triggered if you jump)
New secondary attacks for Han and Chewie (grenades and spin move, respectively)
More mini-bosses
+/-
No time limit
Limited continues (Normal)
Checkpoints (fairly far between them sometimes)
Random element to power ups (means uneven difficulty)
Almost every enemy drops something (here the small hearts drop to the ground meaning they're sometimes easier to pick up but sometimes harder - sometimes they act like in the first game though)
Can't swing your sword while walking (can do it while jumping)
The life bar reverts to default size after each stage
The script was simplified/reworked (?) and enemies and bosses not seen in the movie were added, constantly respawning enemies in most areas (gets tiresome after a while)
Han Solo doesn't have a better gun than Luke here (so they're pretty much the same except his starts off at a higher level)
More auto-scrolling segments (the rock ride and the first bike segment are decent but the snow speeder segment is horrible)
Advertises its sequel in the ending in a way that reads like an advertisement
More stages where you can't choose a different character
Can't go very far backwards in a stage
Medium size enemies can easily push the player sprite around (Han's stage)
-
Slowdown (more of it here than in the prequel)
Control/interface issues (sloppy hit detection overall (can't shoot a small enemy if standing too close to it, Darth Vader's melee attacks, etc.), the player character auto-crouches if you hold attack while landing from a jump (annoying since you can't move while crouching), need to stand still and release the buttons to be able to switch weapons here (stupid change), can't throw grenades while jumping or crouching, slight delay before jumping, still need to crouch to pick up some items while others just need to be touched, So-so jump height control, the player character keeps jumping after landing if you hold down the jump button (can be a problem in some platforming segments), some containers can only be destroyed from one side (the ones before the falcon stage))
Some unavoidable damage
Heavy trial & error (enemies spawning very close to the player, leaps of faith despite being able to look up and down, unexplained mechanics (snow speeder, grenades don't carry over to the next sub stage), boss patterns, the "maze" in the first stage)
enemy drops can get stuck inside walls, can't manually revert to a previous gun level (such as the homing missiles)
Steep difficulty curve (this one gets pretty tough right away with a long snow level (slippery ground, instant death spike pits, small platforms and flying enemies))
Can't look down while double jumping
Enemy drops can get stuck inside walls
Can't manually revert to a previous gun level (such as the homing missiles)
Some difficulty spikes (the horizontal shooter style snow speeder segment - huge character sprite and cheap enemy patterns, the swamp boss and Han's second boss; difficulty dips in some later stages)
No auto-fire in vehicle segments
Some parts with overly resilient enemies (slows you down)
Weak sfx from hitting a boss
Gun upgrades are fewer
Chewbacca's and Han's maze-like stages (tedious enemies here as well)