Welcome to another edition of Retro Corner as the holiday season is almost over and the newest Star Wars film unfortunately is out. If you don't know I have been very critical of the brand since Disney bought Lucas Films and all its properties. The new Episode VIII as Disney's canon is awful to such a degree that it comes off as a terribly written fan fiction. The new canon is filled with so many plot holes that it's on the same level of crap as the Kingdom Hearts series. However, this is the wrong blog for that and I will touch on the subject eventually. Before the Mouse Empire got its hands on the infamous space opera, during the 90s, Star Wars expanded its lore outside the Original Trilogy. These stories were usually told through books such as the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn and a handful of games like Dark Forces. The canon up until Disney's purchase is known as the original Extended Universe. Shadows got ported from PC to the N64 and released during the launch window along with Super Mario 64 in 1996. The story is about Dash Rendar, a mercenary that helps the Rebels during the war with the Empire. However, shadows in the Empire start to stir as an alien prince called Xizor who plans a conspiracy against Luke Skywalker. Dash goes through the Snow Battle of Hoth and then to other worlds across the galaxy to stop this threat against both Luke and the Rebellion. Gameplay The gameplay is a mix of action adventure and third-person shooter. The player goes through each level getting from one point to the next fending off enemies. The game even has a first-person view mode that could be activated at any time. The level design is your typical activate platforms and switches, find key cards, and pick up items such as health and weapon upgrades. The player starts out with a normal laser pistol but along the way they can pick up stronger blasters. I found it interesting that LucasArts added these weapon types straight from the Super Star Wars Trilogy on Super NES. They even act the same way in causing damage which is funny to see in 3D. At the end of a stage is a boss battle in the traditional sense as percentages show their health. The bosses did feel rigorous if the right powerup for the blasters is not used during the fight. At some point, the game will be in flight sim stages where the player takes control of a space vehicle and must shoot down a range of enemies to progress. At the time, this was stunning to see an actual scene from Empire get played in 3D gameplay. Of course, these flight sim stages were a prelude to Factor Five's Rogue Squadron that took these controls and level design and redefined the concept. It's unfortunate that Shadows was in development before Mario 64 came out and it's riddled with outdated features. The controls whether in first or third person view are very clunky and are a chore to do. In comparison to Mario 64 which its controls were much redefined and set a standard of how action adventure games should play. The level design suffers because of these controls since the player will need to do certain actions to avoid damages from the enemies. The boss battles are another issue as they came off very repetitive where I forced myself to stay close to them in order to avoid projectiles. Unless you have the powerups at the ready is the only thing that makes it less tedious. Even then these powerups can still make the challenges feel redundant. I would like to bring up the level design as most of the stages have enemies that can drain health quickly. It's a big problem in the corridors and closed areas that you won't know they are there unless you completed this game more than once. The 3D design for action adventure still had a way to go until Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time set the standard. Rating: 7.3/10 Graphics/Presentation I remember how excited many gamers were at the time for the Nintendo 64 as now they would get to play in a new way. During the mid 90's, 3D games were quite expensive and unless you got a high-end PC was really the only way to get the real experience. Of course, that is when the PS1 and N64 hit the market and now gamers didn't have to buy something really expensive to experience 3D gaming. The environments truly felt like I was venturing through the worlds of Star Wars facing off against the Empire and the other threats. From Hoth to the Skyhook orbiting Coruscant, these levels are the kinds of places we would expect to see in the movies. The game uses some aspects of the Jedi Engine (a program used to create Dark Forces) to design these 3D environments. The polygon models got developed further from the polygonic and digitized 3D characters. They apparently were very accurate to most creatures in this series lore between the storm troopers, battle droids and aliens. The flight sim stages are probably the best thing about the game especially the familiar Battle of Hoth. It's like they have taken from the Original Trilogy and emulated these in a believable manner. The presentation was another thing they designed well as still moving images added to the right mood for the story. It would've been great if Nintendo used CDs as the CGI cutscenes got removed. The PC version had these originally but due to the N64's cartridges having a limited space of 32 MB was the reason it's not in this port. The soundtrack is obviously used from the Original Trilogy, but I'm not complaining. Each song gotten used at the right moments and within the stages to capture the emotions of these events. It was also great to finally get a Star Wars soundtrack that wasn't recreated using a 16-bit sound chip. As in most games from the Fifth Gen, Shadows (at least on N64) did not age too well. Of course, we all know launch games are never an indication of a console's power. I mean just look at Perfect Dark or Zelda: Majora's mask, these titles came out four years later when developers had a full grasp of the system. It might be LucasArts who didn't have time to make the graphics stand the test of time. I learned that the studio cut nine levels during development because Lucas Films wanted the game out by December 1996. It's just another case of corporate figureheads not using common sense as usual. Shadows certainly may have suffered because of corporate executives' lack of common sense. Nevertheless, for its time the game demonstrated a good reason for the N64's potential. Rating: 8.0/10 Story The story is from a book called Shadows of the Empire written by Steve Perry. The story is about Prince Xizor an overlord of the Black Sun crime organizations plans to conspirator against Darth Vader. His plan was to take the place of Vader at the Emperor's side and needed Luke Skywalker killed to accomplish it. The plot starts at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back as Dash Rendar meets up with Han Solo before accepting the mission from the Rebels. I always felt Shadows was a nice in-between story since it starts at Empire and ends at the start of Return of the Jedi. I loved how similar Shadows was to Dark Forces as both stars a mercenary type guy, however, at the same time Dash didn't come off like Kyle Katarn ripoff. Dash had that charming personality more so than Han Solo, a character trait that's nothing like Kyle's own. It's also interesting that in the novel/comic, Dash had a minor role as opposed to the game where he's the main character. I did look up that LucasArts used Dash as the main character as opposed to Luke so they could have freedom with the story arc. It made sense because this is a side story which provides enough room to give someone else the spotlight. It's obvious Luke was the main character in the Original Trilogy so giving the role to Dash in Shadows helps add another guy to the lore. As for the antagonists, they are either Prince Xizor or Boba Fett. The reason Fett was present is that he had Han Solo captive and Leia and the Rebels asked Dash to help retrieve him. You even face him as a boss at the Gall Spaceport which made up for Boba Fett not having enough screen time in Empire. It was also nice to face off against another bounty hunter called IG-88 (that tall battle droid from Empire) since he only had one scene. The next one is something I found most interesting of this era aside Thrawn and Kyle Katarn. The main antagonist called Prince Xizor tries to conspirator against Darth Vader, the most feared Imperial official. The guy was very ballsy to attempt to replace a Sith Lord at the Emperor's side. Xizor seemed confident and had enough to persuade Palpatine in letting the Rebels take the Death Star II plans. Unfortunately, none of this is canon at all as according to Disney and George Lucas the games don't count. I understand that this is Lucas' creation and Disney's property but to not consider the games canon is downright ridiculous. Don't get excited because according to them Xizor, Rom Mohc, Kyle Katarn, Dash and any in between arcs never happened. Rogue One writes off Kyle Katarn stealing the Death Star I plans in Dark Forces. Palpatine letting the Rebels steal the Death Star II plans by himself so he can set up a trap at Endor still stands as canon. At least Thrawn was added to the series through the TV show Rebels and in future stories. Of course, there are differences from the novel/comic as Dash is the one that blows up Falleen's Fist (Xizor's Skyhook). Originally, Vader is the one that destroys Skyhook with the Star Destroyer Executioner after warning Xizor who disobeys. Regardless which one makes sense; Dash being the one that destroys it was still enjoyable. I also love the way the ending came with Dash escaping the massive explosion of the Skyhook by making his allies think he died. It turns out the Outrider only went into Hyperspace a moment before the explosion. He leaves it off by claiming to Leebo that it was best to die as a hero while still being alive to know about it. Dash also mentions to the droid that his enemies won't look for him. The story was a great addition to the Star Wars lore as this filled in the gaps between Empire and Return of the Jedi. Rating: 7.7/10 Features/Content For a launch title, Shadows had more than enough for me to replay it again. Along the levels are these Rebellion icons that act as challenges and there's a total of 87 located around the stages. Their challenge was about the same as Mario 64 which the player sometimes needed to explore a level to find them. The player can unlock cheat codes if all 87 icons get collected on the three difficulty modes. Like I said many times, this generation would be the last era of gaming to offer an option for cheat codes. Nothing speaks classic game code then Invincibility with all weapons. Another thing that adds to the replay value is selecting any level once they are completed. Of course, there is also a Debug Mode which becomes available by doing the usual button command sequence. However, I will admit that it was a little ambiguous to unlock because it's done in a specific manner. The player has to name a file Woompa...Stompa then hold the C buttons along with L, R, Z, and Left D-Pad while moving the analog stick halfway right, left, right, and then left. Seriously LucasArts, you think that is enough?! Whoever thought of such a contrived way of button sequence must lack common sense. Couldn't they do something similar to the Konami Code where you just press buttons on the title screen? Rating: 8.2/10 Final Rating Shadows of the Empire was a decent launch game for the N64 and offers a nice addition to the library next to Mario 64 in 1996. The gameplay, despite its dated features, proved that action-adventure still had ways to go in 3D design. Shadows exceeded more in its graphics and presentation that at the time came across cinematic like never before. The replay value was another area that gave the game a boost as not many launch games have this much content. The story itself was changed to more represent Dash Rendar since he starred as the main character. It wasn't as good as the novel/comic version but on it's own, the story can hold itself. The controls felt very clunky and often clumsy to the point this hurt the level design nearly every time. Unless you played this game many times is the only way anyone could beat these levels. The graphics came off dated since most Fifth Gen games suffer from this on many occasions. It wasn't often that these titles from this era properly aged compared to the previous generation. The only thing wrong with the content was activating the Debug Mode. The studio felt it was a brilliant idea to make a button sequence in a ridiculous manner. Overall, Shadows might feel very dated compared to other retro Star Wars games, but it's still a decent title. Gameplay: 7.3/10 Graphics/Presentation: 8.0/10 Story: 7.7/10 Features/Content: 8.2/10 Final Rating: 7.8/10 Good
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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