Star Wars Trilogy - Star Wars - http://maxpages.com/starwarshome/Star_Wars

One of the biggest surprises of this year's AMOAhad to be this little game from Sega. Of course, the graphics are on par with if not better than anything Sega currently has on the market. The sound quality is excellent as well, with R2 bleeping whenever you're hit. Unfortunately, the game itself seems to be little more than Sewer Shark or Rebel Assault. You move a cursor with your joystick and hit various Imperials whether they're in TIE fighters, on speeder bikes, or on foot.

Three levels are available for play: Endor, Yavin, and Hoth. Trilogy mimics both the old vector-effects game and the fairly recent Star Wars Arcade games in that you fight through far too many TIE fighters, search out Darth Vader's TIE fighter, and then make a final assault on the Death Star. Just as in the vector classic, you must also take out the tops of cannon towers as you approach them, or you will be fired upon. As you enter the trench, fighters and cannons shoot at you until you reach the exhaust port to fire your torpedoes.

On Endor, you start on a speeder bike. Enemies are on bikes themselves and have hit-point meters above their heads. After this, you walk on foot and try to save Ewoks from the evil stormtroopers. Your final objective in this level is the shield generator.

On Hoth, you take out AT-STs and AT-ATs in your trusty snowspeeder. You blast probe droids, AT-STs, and troopers, then use your tow cables on the bigger AT-ATs. Then it's off to the bunker to shoot troopers and eventually escape in the Falcon.

After you defeat the first three levels, there is a final battle, not yet seen by anyone. According to Sega, this will be a lightsaber battle against Darth Vader. You'll use your joystick as you would the handle of a saber. This sounds like the most strategic part of the whole game.

Star Wars Trilogy looks to be typical Sega fare. The graphics are unparalleled, utilizing everything the newest Model 3 board has to offer. In the Yavin level, the planet is far below your flight path, and many Star Destroyers are blasting alongside their fighters. On Endor, AT-ST walkers can be seen plowing down forests as you race by on your speeder bike. On Hoth, the icescape looks beautiful, with almost no pop-up. Animations for all of these levels are spectacular, and once again Sega proves it can't be surpassed in the graphics department. The problem is, the gameplay suffered with all the attention paid to the graphic detail. It's difficult to position the pointer using the joystick, and you don't have any real control when you're flying a craft. Despite this, Star Wars Trilogy looks to be the best Star Wars game to date.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

obi-wan@starsite.zzn.com

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Page Updated Thu Jul 15, 1999 2:27am EDT