A Brief History of Star War Games, Part 1

Atari’s 1983 Star Wars arcade game featured simple vector graphics, but at the time the experience was mind blowing.

In the Star Wars arcade game, players pilot Luke Skywalker's X-Wing in the Battle of Yavin and must destroy the Death Star.

In the Star Wars arcade game, players pilot Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing in the Battle of Yavin and must destroy the Death Star.

Part of the challenge of the Star Wars arcade game was piloting the X-Wing through the Death Star's trenches.

Part of the challenge of the Star Wars arcade game was piloting the X-Wing through the Death Star’s trenches.

Several versions of Atari's arcade game were created for platforms such as the Atari ST. The game begins with players selecting a difficulty level.

Several versions of Atari’s arcade game were created for platforms such as the Atari ST. The game begins with players selecting a difficulty level.

The Star Wars DOS version was pretty much the same as the arcade game but the graphics didn't have the same pop.

The Star Wars DOS version was pretty much the same as the arcade game but the graphics didn’t have the same pop.

The Atari 5200 version of the Star Wars arcade game was a suitable port but nothing compared to actually sitting in the cockpit cabinet of the arcade version.

The Atari 5200 version of the Star Wars arcade game was a suitable port but nothing compared to actually sitting in the cockpit cabinet of the arcade version.

The startup screen for the Intellivision and Atari 2600 game Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Ah, the good ole days...

The startup screen for the Intellivision and Atari 2600 game Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back. Ah, the good ole days...

With The Empire Strikes Back, what you see is basically what you get; the game focuses soley on the Battle of Hoth where players pilot a Snowspeeder and must defend the Rebel base against the advancing Imperial AT-ATs.

With The Empire Strikes Back, what you see is basically what you get ; the game focuses soley on the Battle of Hoth where players pilot a Snowspeeder and must defend the Rebel base against the advancing Imperial AT-ATs.

It took many years for the long overdue NES version of Star Wars to come out, but don't blame C-3PO.

It took many years for the long overdue NES version of Star Wars to come out, but don’t blame C-3PO.

Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi in a cave. The NES Star Wars game didn't exactly follow the story of "Episode IV: A New Hope."

Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi in a cave. The NES Star Wars game didn’t exactly follow the story of "Episode IV : A New Hope."

The NES Star Wars title mixed different types of gameplay, including side-scrolling action and top-down vehicle racing as shown here with the landspeeder on Tatooine.

The NES Star Wars title mixed different types of gameplay, including side-scrolling action and top-down vehicle racing as shown here with the landspeeder on Tatooine.