Category: Star Wars Musings

Sunday, June 12, 2005 was the day that Extreme Championship Wrestling rose from the ashes in the form of a reunion show dubbed ECW One Night Stand. It was a show that I had been looking forward to watching since it was first announced. Now, I don’t consider myself an ECW hardcore – we didn’t get ECW anything in Canada until late-99 when Viewer’s Choice Canada started airing their PPVs – but I eventually picked up a couple old VHS Best Of tapes as well as the more recent DVD compilations and I enjoyed some of this stuff they put out.

So I was really looking forward to getting this PPV show – not only for the novelty of the ECW reunion special, but also for the novelty of seeing whether WWE (who owns all the copyrights) would actually

Unfortunately, a couple issues came up.

First, there was a roadtrip to Niagara that I was going on with a few folks this past weekend. I don’t recall whether this was planned ahead of time and I forgot about it or whether it was a last-minute spur. Either way, I was upset that I wasn’t going to see the PPV. I had post reflect my displeasure, but it was eventually taken down.

By the way, the roadtrip was great. Left for Niagara on Friday, came back home on Saturday night, and Sunday was spent in Ottawa for a quick run before making it back home. Which meant that I was going to catch the ECW show after all.

Alas, that wasn’t to be.

Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to catch the ECW One Night Stand PPV, which sucks ass because it was the one show that I was looking forward to. Said technical difficulties was due to the satellite receiver having stopped working. Unable to receive channels for some reason. Tried to do basic maintenance, but nothing. Funny thing was that a couple other receivers were working fine and one might wonder why we didn’t pick up the PPV from there (no available phone connection or long-ass wires to hook up – please don’t ask).

So while the issue was eventually resolved, I missed my chance to watch ECW One Night Stand. That made me sad because from the various internet recaps of the show, it seemed to have gone over well. So I guess I’ll be waiting for the DVD to hit shelves… since nighttime classes won’t allow me to catch the replay.

So the time that would have been spent watching Sandman come down to generic music (oh wait, I’m sorry – that was the 2006 version) was spent playing the then-new Revenge of the Sith video game for Xbox, which I didn’t actually touch until after having seen the movie

In all honesty, the game is nothing more than a glorified Final Fight 3D with lightsabers and Force powers. Some people will like this, others will despise it. I’m just fine with it. Sure, it’s mostly a button masher, but that’s all I expected from the game to begin with, so I’m not entirely disappointed whatsoever.

Graphically speaking, it looks fine. Some people say there’s less detail than the usual crop of X-Box games, but graphics were always dressing in my eyes and as long as everything looked like what they should, I have no problem. Sounds are just about right, but my biggest qualm is the apparent lack of a Sith soundtrack. Most of the music tends to be from the original trilogy and the two prequel movies; which weren’t too bad either, but the Sith soundtrack was much suited for this.

As far as extras goes, you have two sets of bonus missions (either single player or co-op missions that have to be unlocked) that are independent of the main game. You have a few minutes of Sith footage which is blended with game footage to fit the altered storyline of the game. You have a Versus mode; a one-on-one mini-game pitting two Jedi against each other. Heck, you even get to relive the “climatic” Death Star duel between Darth Vader and Old Ben Kenobi in Episode IV: A New Hope… although both Vader and Ben seem much more agile than in the movie, but it’s still a nice inclusion. Now you get to play as Vader and beat the shit out of all the stale prequel Jedi as well as two additional ones made for the game (including one who looks like Nick Gillard, the stunt co-ordinator for the prequels or something).

More comments later…

Here’s a list of my top 6 Star Wars games that doesn’t include the incredular X-Wing or TIE Fighter games, because those are beyond reproach… well, mostly TIE Fighter is beyond reproach; the X-Wing stuff, I can take or leave… but there’s plenty of other Star Wars games worth playing. Here’s six of them… because there’s six movies in this saga. Maybe if they make a sequel trilogy, we’ll adjust this to nine or something, I don’t know…

Listed in no particular order…

Game #1 – Dark Forces
Here’s a brilliant idea. Doom was a popular thing, so let’s make a Star Wars version. And it was awesome. Great weapons, great atmosphere. … And then they’d make the Jedi Knight games, which I heard were also good, but I haven’t played those yet. Hope to change that soon.

Game #2 – Empire Strikes Back (2600)
It’s simple stuff; you fly a snowspeeder, you pick off AT-ATs with your guns until they blow up, lather, rinse, repeat. It’s a daring campaign to pit one snowspeeder against an infinite fleet of walkers, but it’s easy to pick up and play. And there’s a whole bunch of variations for you to try out if you want to spice things up a bit.

Game #3 – Super Star Wars Trilogy
I’m cheating a bit here because I’m including three games under the list, but Factor 5’s Super Star Wars trilogy of SNES action games have always been top-tier stuff. Yes, it might rough and tough in some places and liberties are taken with the source material, but damn if they don’t make good action games. If I had to pick one, Super Jedi takes the cake; multiple characters with different playstyles, some solid action bits, and some of the vehicle bits aren’t too shabby, either. Play them all, though. They’re great.

Game #4 – Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (1998 Arcade Game)
A rail shooter that has you partaking in major battle sequences of each of the three Star Wars films (we only had three, boys and girls) and with bonus stages featuring duels against Boba Fett and Darth Vader. When the newest Capcom fighter was indisposed, this was usually the other go-to arcade game for my money. Incredibly fun yet challenging fare.

Game #5 – Star Wars Racer Arcade (2000 Arcade Game)
Not one to be left out of the whole Prequel hype, Sega followed up Trilogy Arcade with their own version of the Podracer game. Not sure if this is the same thing you play on the consoles, but I’d say this arcade game is tremendous; featuring a control layout similar to a podracer, bringing that extra bit of detail and authenticity. Whatever you want to say about The Phantom Menace, at the very least, its racing games are top notch.

Game #6 – Star Wars (NES)
Another Star Wars platformer on NES that takes liberties with the source material; hell, the first chunk of the game where you’re on Tatooine is practically non-linear stuff where you can theoretically leave the planet without recruiting any of the usual suspects, thus turning it into a true adventure of Luke Skywalker and no one else. Yes, it can be difficult as hell with falling damage and some spotty moments, but if you can put up with the rough spots, there’s a damned fine game to be found here. And how many NES games based on movies or TV shows can you count that aren’t total garbage?

Oh, and on a sidenote, there’s also a Famicom version from Namco that’s not the same game as this. I’ve not played that one, but I’ve seen some of that in action. The less said, the better.

And that’s it. That’s my list.