Death Star Battle - Star Wars - http://maxpages.com/dons/Death_Star

Death Star Battle
Released: 1983
Systems: Atari 2600, Atari 5200

The Basics
In Death Star Battle, the first video game based on events from Return of the Jedi,
Both shields are up.
you take control of the Millennium Falcon in an attempt to destroy the under-construction second Death Star before it is completed. Watch out - as Emperor Palpatine said, "I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

The Details

Both shields are open.
When Death Star Battle begins, it is up to you to survive long enough until Han, Leia, and the ewoks can get the deflector shield down. The deflector shield consists of an outer and inner shield. Both must be down for you to proceed. Flying into the outer shield will cause you to lose a life, while the inner shield is harmless.

Heading for the Death Star.
While you're waiting, make yourself useful and shoot down some TIE interceptors. After you destroy a number of them, random openings with appear in the deflector shield. When the outer shield is down and a hole opens up, fly through it and head to the Death Star. If you wait too long, the Death Star's cannon will become active and take aim at your ship. Also keep an eye out for the imperial shuttle, which is difficult to shoot down, but will earn you major bonus points if you do.

Once through the deflector shield, it's your job to blast your way through the Death Star's hull until the core is exposed. Standing in your way is the Death Star's cannon, which will toast you if you stay in one place too long.

Dodge those fireballs!
After shooting the core, the Death Star will explode and fireballs will shoot out in all directions. The longer you dodge these, the higher your score. One will hit you eventually (you won't lose a life, though), and you'll move on to the next round, which is the same as the previous only more difficult.

The Verdict

The destruction of the Death Star.
In 1983, Parker Brothers could have slapped a Return of the Jedi label on an old copy of Combat and still made millions. But it didn't. The developers took the time to create an original game with multiple objectives, colorful graphics, and decent sound. More importantly, they included an infinitely better Death Star explosion than in the 2600 version of Star Wars: The Arcade Game.

What hurts the game, though, is the imprecise control you have over the Falcon. After you stop moving the joystick, the ship glides for about another half second. That may not seem like much, but it's often enough to put you in the path of an extremely unpleasant cannon blast.

That aside, Death Star Battle is a worthwhile addition to the pantheon of Star Wars video games.

don_kenobi@yahoo.com

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Page Updated Tue Sep 14, 1999 10:21pm EDT