2008 Competition Results (1:Retro Remakes) Part 2

[And so, without further ado, it's onto the winner of category one. A close run call for first place given the calibre of the top 5 overall but nonetheless a well deserved win for Minion who takes home a speedboat, a Bendy Bully and definitely no Dusty Din.]

1. The Empire Strikes Back Total: 339

Oogy:

From the moment I started the game, I could sense a strong presence of (the force?) determination. Throughout the game I could sense that the author meant business, and that he seriously made a shot at being number one. So here we go. A long time ago in a competition far far away (if only he could’ve used that tag-line as a splash-screen).

I’ll just come out and say it to begin with. This game is good. It has good graphics and excellent use of sound effects. Difficulty levels are well balanced, and it’s presentation is top-notch. It’s not perfect, but it’s very enjoyable.

This game is played in three separate stages. On the first stage you’re piloting a snow-speeder and must stop the imperial droids from detecting the rebel base. Now flying in this game doesn’t really give me a sense of speed. It’s more like you’re gliding along the landscape. For that reason, this stage is usually cut short for me, as I can hear droids sending signals back to the imperial fleet, but I can’t seem to fly fast enough to stop them.

On the second stage it’s you in a snow-speeder again, this time against Imperial troops in the form of At-At’s and At-St’s (if I recall correctly). You have a second weapon at your disposal this time, in the form of the tow-cable to bring down those massive armoured vehicles. However, shooting and actually hitting your target is a bit of a hit-n-miss for me. It’s very hard to aim at the right spot and more often than not I just concentrate on the smaller enemies until my base is destroyed and the third stage begins.

Now piloting the Millennium Falcon is much more of a challenge. At first you’re flying towards the enemy fleet and must shoot tie-fighters, much like the original game. After a while, a Star destroyer unleashes its fire-power on you and you find yourself de-activating laserblasts all over the place. Then you enter the Asteroid belt. And this is where the game gets a bit frustrating. It doesn’t seem like you can actually steer through the flying rocks, but you can rotate your ship counter- and clock wise. It’s very hard to miss asteroids this way though, and if I find myself with just a few shields left, it’s pretty much game-over.

Taking those few criticisms into acount though, this game is solid from start to finish, and I will probably return to the asteroid-belt-of-death on a regular basis.

86%

Ian:

“You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor!” so said a tall asthmatic dude in a black suit in a film that I have seen only several hundred times from a Galaxy far, far away.

This game is based on the second part of the original, good trilogy of the Star Wars saga – Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back. Which also happens to be my fave of the whole bunch. And this remake, based on the Atari arcade game, happens to play very closely to the good bits in the film. Which in my book is a good thing. A very good thing. Indeed.

Taking key-scenes from the movie and expanding on them, the game has taking on the might of the Empire and it’s hordes of death dealing machines including Probe Droids, AT-ATs, AT-STs and TIE fighters in a battle to restore peace to the galaxy. And then successfully navigating through an asteroid field, where the odds of survival are approximately 3,720:1!

This remake has been enhanced in every possible way from control to graphics, through to sound. The game no longer uses the wire-frame vectors of old, but instead uses full 3D imagery to represent all the on-screen action and never has the game looked so good. But better than the graphics is the sound. The arcade games uses a few samples from the movie; this uses whole chunks and is all the better for it. The music ices this wonderful cake with chocolate flavoured frosting and real chocolate sprinkles. The original arcade game has been gutted with a lightsaber, blown apart with a thermal detonator and then put back together by a Wookie with a hydro-spanner and polished by a bunch of R2 units, until the shine can be seen from the farthest part of the universe.

Be warned though, this remake, like the original arcade game is pretty tough on anything but EASY mode and to master it on HARD mode will take Jedi like reactions and lots of practice.

The only downside to the whole game is that, like the original arcade version, there are only four different stages, which repeat when completed, meaning that the replay value of the game is quite low once you’ve seen everything. Of course, wanting to beat your own high score may bring you back…

An excellent remake and probably better than we had a right to expect in such a short space of time. Excellent stuffage. The Force is strong in this one.

86%

Geekay:

Lord Minion with his iron grip use of the Dark Side of Basic returns with his sequel to his take on the Star Wars vector classic. Is this the remake I’m looking for?

As good as his remake of Star Wars was, it wasn’t without criticism, mainly from myself. It felt far too railroad orientated, therefore, I didn’t feel I was in much control of my X-Wing. Another gripe was the annoying midi accompaniment that featured heavily.

Gone are these from his new remake, he has taken the criticism on the chin and has provided the fan base with a more free form and musically delightful game.

Nintendo have already given us the Hoth scene a good number of times. Shadows of the Empire and Rogue Leader has shown us well polished and professional takes on this famous section of the movie. It’s unfair to compare Minion’s version to these as he is one man and the other games were produced with 100’s of staff, but I will as it holds its own extremely well. Fighting the ATAT’s and ATST’s is fantastic. It still retains the feel of the old Atari classic but within a new looking environment. The sounds and samples, which are audio quality, just go perfectly. The only bit I don’t like is the shooting of the tow cable. I like how he has decided to keep it the same as the arcade rather than swirling around the legs, as seen on later games, but the projectile looks like a blob. I would have preferred it to look like the tribal bola of the original. Cruising about the level couldn’t be much easer, if you miss the target you can easily turn round for a second attack.

The successive levels are just as good, after all, you are in the Millennium Falcon shooting Tie Fighters. What more could anyone ask for? The only issue I have is with the blind spots that the cockpit of the Falcon causes – you fail to see enemy fire hurling towards you. I suppose that is a feature and not design flaw.
The asteroids are massive, so they don’t get masked by the cockpit struts. This level is fantastic and is much improved upon over the original. The dodging and swooping that must be done in order to avoid collisions is better than I had hoped for. It relies on dexterity rather than quick reflexes. There is also light at the end of the tunnel, you do get to see the end on the asteroid belt as CP30 states the obvious.

The cut scenes between the levels are cinematic and add to the overall completeness of the package. I don’t know why, but I have always liked the scene in the movie where you see the Falcon leaving Hoth. Seeing it in wireframe was a bit pants, but this one is excellent. The best part though, is where Vader is addressing the bounty hunters. It feels like a bit of completion before you have to go and do it all over again.

I can’t wait to see his take on Return of the Jedi and give the world the game that should have been rather than the isometric tosh that was utterly disappointing.

88%

Spray:

One of the surprise announcements of this year’s compo was Minion’s entry. Not because of the game of choice, an excellent title and one worthy of the remake treatment, not because it was announced just days before the end date, it’s in there and in more than good time. No, the surprise here is that the game actually got finished at all.

Min’s ever expanding pile of WIPs had already been added to during the lifespan of this competition by at least 3 (that I knew of) and I thought the likelihood of him entering anything that even half worked was almost as plausible as Caff getting off his arse and entering…..

And I DO like Star Wars games, I really do. The Empire Strikes Back was a masterpiece of gaming gold back in the day and it’s good to see it resurrected here.
I really am finding little to fault with the game, which disappoints me greatly because I enjoy slagging off my fellow Mods and Managers, but I’ll leave you with one complaint.

There was NO Leia… I mean COME ON!….

79%

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6