How Lucasfilm Games kept Star Wars alive

A long time ago, before I started blogging, I wrote video game reviews for a Mac gaming site in the early noughties, starting with Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

The circle is now complete.

Star Wars: Gaming's Søren Kamper approached me with an idea for an article about how Lucasfilm Games kept Star Wars alive following Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. How could I resist? Søren, you have the conn.

Guest post by Søren Kamper

When Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in 1983, it gave the original trilogy a triumphant ending, complete with Ewoks, fireworks, and Darth Vader making the correct career move. But for a generation of fans, it also raised a strange question: what happens when the story seems over?

There were no new Star Wars films on the immediate horizon. Star Wars survived in toys, novels, comics, VHS tapes, and playground arguments about whether Boba Fett was truly gone. But one of the most important forces keeping the galaxy alive was quietly humming away on home computers and consoles: Lucasfilm Games.

As covered in Welcome to Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm Games carries a deep sense of nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the 8-bit Atari and Commodore 64 era. That nostalgia matters because these early games were not just merchandise. They were a way of travelling back to the galaxy when the cinema doors had seemingly closed.

The Galaxy Needed Somewhere to Go

Lucasfilm Games was established in 1982, just before Star Wars: Return of the Jedi completed George Lucas’ original trilogy. Its first titles, including Rescue on Fractalus! and Ballblazer, were not Star Wars games, but they showed the studio’s early DNA: technical curiosity, science-fiction atmosphere, and a willingness to treat games as more than branded distractions.

That distinction is important. Lucasfilm Games did not initially keep Star Wars alive by simply pumping out film adaptations. It helped keep the spirit of Lucasfilm alive by experimenting. The same company that had made audiences believe in X-wings, lightsabers, and trench runs was now asking what else could be done with a screen, a joystick, and a little imagination.

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the original trilogy had become a home-video fixture, the Expanded Universe (EU) was gathering strength, and players wanted more than simplified recreations of famous scenes. They wanted to live in the galaxy. Lucasfilm Games, later LucasArts, understood that better than almost anyone.

X-Wing Made Star Wars Feel Serious Again

If one game truly announced that Star Wars could be reborn through interactive storytelling, it was Star Wars: X-Wing in 1993. This was not just “remember the trench run?” with better packaging. It was a proper PC space combat simulator that asked players to manage power systems, follow mission briefings, and survive as Rebel pilots in a campaign that treated the Galactic Civil War as a living conflict.

That mattered enormously. In the long gap between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, X-Wing made Star Wars feel operational again. The Rebellion had missions. The Empire had patrols. Convoys needed protecting. Capital ships loomed. Suddenly, Star Wars was not a trilogy you rewatched; it was a place you reported for duty.

For a fuller historical breakdown, the Complete List of All Star Wars Games Ever Made at Star Wars: Gamers shows just how central the 1990s became to the franchise’s gaming identity. The decade did not merely fill the dead air between film releases. It built an entire interactive wing of Star Wars fandom.

TIE Fighter Gave the Empire a Cockpit

Star Wars: TIE Fighter arrived in 1994 and remains one of the bravest ideas in the franchise’s gaming history. Instead of putting players back in the Rebel Alliance, it placed them inside the Imperial Navy. You were not Luke Skywalker. You were following orders, defending Imperial interests, and realising that Star Wars could become more interesting when games were allowed to shift perspective.

That is where LucasArts separated itself from ordinary licensed game development. The studio was not just adapting Star Wars. It was finding playable angles that the films could not easily explore. The Star Wars Games of the 1990s archive captures this period well: flight sims, shooters, and console adventures turned the decade into a genuine expansion era.

TIE Fighter also proved that games could complicate Star Wars without breaking it. The Empire was still the Empire. Darth Vader was not suddenly running a charity. But from inside the cockpit, the conflict felt different.

Dark Forces Opened Another Door

Then came Star Wars: Dark Forces in 1995, and suddenly the galaxy had boots on the ground. Kyle Katarn was not a Skywalker, not a Jedi, and not a movie character waiting for his close-up. He was a former Imperial turned mercenary, and his world felt grubbier, moodier, and more dangerous than the polished heroics of the films.

Generation Star Wars has already highlighted Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, and it is easy to see why the game still has a hold on players. Dark Forces expanded the galaxy without making it feel less like Star Wars. Imperial bases, secret weapons, sabotage missions, and the Dark Trooper project gave players a story that felt adjacent to the films rather than trapped beneath them.

The 1990s Became the Second Life of Star Wars

By the middle of the 1990s, LucasArts had helped turn Star Wars into a living archive of playable experiences. Rebel Assault used CD-ROM spectacle to make Star Wars feel cinematic on home computers. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire became part of a multimedia experiment that treated a story between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi like a major event, even without a film. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II pushed Kyle Katarn into Force mythology with live-action cutscenes and branching choices.

Not every game was perfect. Some have aged like blue milk left too close to a binary sunset. But collectively, they did something vital. They kept the galaxy moving. For fans who discovered Star Wars on VHS, these games were often the main course. They let players fly, sneak, shoot, race, and explore during an era when Star Wars could easily have become a museum piece.

From LucasArts to Lucasfilm Games Again

That is why the closure of LucasArts in 2013 hit so hard. The Generation Star Wars article LucasArts closed and game over for Star Wars 1313 captured the feeling at the time: it was the end of an era, and not just because a studio name had disappeared. For many fans, LucasArts was where Star Wars had gone during the quiet years.

The name has since returned through Lucasfilm Games, now coordinating Star Wars projects with studios across the industry. That modern model is different from the old in-house LucasArts era, but the mission is familiar.

As the Star Wars: Galactic Racer gameplay trailer coverage shows, Lucasfilm Games still understands the power of reaching back into gaming memory and finding something worth reviving.

That may be the real legacy of Lucasfilm Games after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It did not merely keep Star Wars commercially visible. It kept the galaxy playable. It gave fans agency at a time when the films had gone quiet. It transformed nostalgia into missions, cockpits, corridors, lightsaber duels, and loading screens.

Following Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Lucasfilm Games helped prove that Star Wars did not need to be on cinema screens to feel alive. Sometimes, all it needed was a keyboard, a joystick, a mission briefing, and the sound of a TIE fighter screaming past.

What are your favourite Lucasfilm Games or LucasArts memories? Let me know in the comments below.

Søren Ahrensborg Kamper has written about Star Wars games, their history and the communities around them since 2009. He is the editor of Star Wars: Gaming, where he covers new releases, game history and the strange decisions that become much more reasonable once somebody adds a hyperdrive.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

Christmas 1995, my first Mac, a Performa 5200, introduced me to the rich video game tapestries weaved by LucasArts at the peak of its powers. Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire and Star Wars: Dark Forces were the first CD-ROM-based games I owned for Apple's personal computer platform.

Star Wars: Dark Forces, the first Star Wars first-person shooter (FPS) video game, follows the adventures of Kyle Katarn as he steals the Death Star plans decades before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Nightdive Studios and Lucasfilm Games are bringing Dark Forces to a new generation of gamers.



“Kyle Katarn really can do just about everything,” Nightdive Studios’ Max Waine tells StarWars.com, “and while he's doing everything, he manages to generally stay very cool and calm. Stealing the plans for the Death Star? Yep. Defeating Boba Fett? Yep. Punching out kell dragons? Yep. He can do that. And that's just in Dark Forces.”

The game's titular Dark Troopers have appeared in live-action in The Mandalorian on Disney+.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is available now for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5) and PC.

Are you playing Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster? Let me know in the comments below.

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection

On Wednesday, Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games announced the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection during a Nintendo Direct.



Featuring restored online play for up to 64 players, the classic bundle includes Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront II, originally developed by LucasArts, and will be available for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5) and PC on 14th March.

Electronic Arts (EA) revived the Star Wars Battlefront franchise in 2015. However, it was marred by microtransaction controversy. Thanks to Aspyr, who recently released the excellent Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, gamers (myself included) can play these classic Star Wars video games unadulterated.

Will you be playing the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection? Let me know in the comments below.

Return to Monkey Island

Lucasfilm Games has so much nostalgia for generations of video gamers (myself included).

Rescue on Fractalus!, Ballblazer, Koronis Rift and The Eidolon are amongst my all-time favourite video games from the 8-bit era on Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. And I vividly remember playing Labyrinth: The Computer Game whilst listening to David Bowie and Trevor Jones' soundtrack on cassette (remember those?).

When Lucasfilm Games was rebranded as LucasArts in 1990, it cemented its reputation for point-and-click adventure games and arguably created one of its finest ever examples in the wake of the success of Maniac Mansion in 1987.

The Secret of Monkey Island is one of gaming’s greatest franchises and greatest games full stop. You play as Guybrush Threepwood (an homage to Star Wars' C-3PO), who’s on the quest to become a mighty pirate. Funny, atmospheric and heavily based on Disney’s own Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Now, Return to Monkey Island has been announced for release in 2022. The long-awaited sequel is by Ron Gilbert's Terrible Toybox in collaboration with Devolver Digital and Lucasfilm Games.



I first discovered the point-and-click genre playing LucasArts' Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis on a friend's Amiga A500 in the early nineties - Indy remains lost in a frozen tundra. Years later, I belatedly played Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, The Secret of Monkey Island, Full Throttle and The Dig on an iMac G4.

Are you excited about Return to Monkey Island? What are your favourite LucasArts games? Let me know in the comments below.

The 8-Bit Wonder Years

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum 8-bit home computers - sparking one of gaming's greatest school playground rivalries.

Christmas 1982, I unwrapped a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K and saw Disney's Tron. From then on I was hooked on computers, thanks to Sir Clive Sinclair and the generosity of my parents.

When Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore International, began an aggressive home computer price war in the early eighties, the fabled Commodore 64 'bread bin' would take pride of place alongside an Atari VCS and Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the summer of 1984. The first game I remember playing on the machine was Sega's Up'n Down following an especially gruelling physiotherapy session.

Com-Com 64, as I affectionately nicknamed it, became a gateway into Lucasfilm Games.

From Rescue On Fractalus! to The Eidolon, I was enthralled by early titles from George Lucas' video games division founded during the production of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It was rebranded as LucasArts before Disney purchased Lucasfilm and shuttered the studio. Disney's decided to bring back the Lucasfilm Games brand for all future licensed games.

It's only apt that Nick Smith, our very own 'Commodore kid', reflects on the 8-bit home computer and console revolution that influenced a generation of geeks (myself included).

Guest post by Nick Smith

They bleeped. They were blocky. They were simple and they took a long time to load up, if they loaded up at all. They were Commodore 64 games.

Released in 1982, the C64 amazed us with the games it offered, available on cartridge, cassette and diskette to play, rewind and repeat. But we wanted more.

In its heyday, the console provided movie tie-ins, revamps of popular arcade games, versions of Nintendo or ZX Spectrum games, or generic knock-offs from car boot sales.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 64, here are just a few of the memorable games we played back in those 8-bit heydays.

Manic Miner

Take Mario, give him a pick, stick him in tunnels and what have you got? Manic Miner, that’s what! Instead of jumping on plums or whatever Mario does, Mr. Willy dug tunnels and it was so much fun that my sister and I were hooked like gold-diggers at a millionaire’s fishing tournament.

Willy explored different caverns, collecting flashing objects before he suffocated. As if that wasn’t enough, he also faced toxic flora and slime, spiders, robots and deadly drops off his precarious platforms. So addictive were the adventures of this chip off the old plumber that Manic Miner was the most popular game of 1984, spawning the sequel Jet Set Willy.

Paperboy

Delivering papers can be an arduous, thankless task. Just ask the players of Atari and Midway’s Paperboy, released by Elite Systems for the 64 in 1986. As you cycled through blocky, green-hued streets, you delivered papers to subscribers, picked up more news en route, and smashed up the homes of neighbours who didn’t have a subscription. Encouraging vandalism was lucrative for the game makers; a sequel came out on various platforms, including the Commodore Amiga, in 1991.

Frogger

Part of the draw of this game was its splitty subject matter. As you tried to traverse busy digital streets, you risked getting run over by a car and your little froggy life just got harder as you progressed.

Legend has it that Konami game designer Akira Hashimoto was inspired by a frog trying to cross a road with heavy traffic. He got out of his car and ushered the frog to the other side of the street. Since Chickener would be a terrible name for a video game, Hashimoto stuck with frog for his protagonist and a web-footed star was born.

Predator

Part of the fun of being a Commodore 64 user was seeing the progress of the graphics over the years, as designers pushed the little machine to handle more complex pixelation. While Manic Miner et al were fun, 1987’s Predator amazed us with its visuals that did their best to capture the feel of the blockbuster movie.

Predator emphasised the survival aspects of the film. No machine gun? No problem, you can use your Schwarzenegger-sized fists. Camouflaged alien lying in wait? Lay some mines to take him out. Sure, you couldn’t see the drool dripping from the predator’s mandibles. But he was still satisfyingly ugly.

Rambo

Another movie tie-in, this one turned unlikely subject matter – an alienated Vietnam veteran turned invulnerable one-man army – into a kids’ game.

Rambo was released in 1985 to tie in with Carolco’s blockbuster First Blood Part II. As Rambo, the player had to locate equipment, rescue POWs and escape while being hounded by a remorseless enemy horde.

Maybe it was the cinematic cover or the hunting-and-savaging gameplay but the Bowie knife-toting Rambo was a cut above his peers, gaining a whopping 96% score from Zzap!64 magazine.

Star Wars

Once you got used to the vector graphics, Star Wars was a blast. Not only could you play the Atari arcade game in your home, on your TV, but you also took the role of Luke Skywalker and fly an X-wing through the Death Star trenches.

Parker Brothers brought the game to the 64 around the time of Return of the Jedi’s release. By then it already felt like a classic, spawning dozens of follow-up games that continue to this day. However, few gaming experiences compare to flying through space as Red Five, blasting TIE fighters, dogging the Empire from the comfort of your settee.

Attack of the Mutant Camels

Sci-fi games were so popular in the early ‘80s that even sheep in space stood a chance at success. Dropout physician Jeff ‘Yak’ Minter added camels to his shoot-‘em-ups and the rest is dromedary history. I spent many happy hours playing Attack of the Mutant Camels, which reminded me of the AT-AT attack in The Empire Strikes Back. Piloting a jet plane, I was tasked with zapping giant yellow camels before they got to my base, the option to trip them not included.

Minter liked llamas so much that he named a software company after them and incorporated the ungainly creatures into some of his games. The surreal backgrounds and colours enhanced the fun.

Live and Let Die

One of the simplest games on this list was also one of the most difficult. Domark had already digitised James Bond with enjoyable results with A View to a Kill in 1985. 3 years later they retooled a game in development called Aquablast and gave it the more recognisable title of Live and Let Die. Tying a game to a 15-year-old movie reflects the enduring popularity of Bond in general and the film’s lengthy speedboat chase in particular.

However, piloting a boat wasn’t easy because it was vulnerable to mines, rocks, defensive cannons and random pieces of wood. We’d have to wait several years before Tiger Electronics brought us the addictive third-person shooter Goldeneye and by then, the 64 felt like a distant memory.

Elite

Elite was a highly influential trading game using vector graphics, giving it a similar look to Star Wars. This intergalactic strategy model was open-ended, giving players plenty of time to explore, mine asteroids, work as a merc or earn booty as a pirate, building up a stash while tackling Thargoid antagonists. The real joy of the game, however, came from simply flying through hyperspace and getting immersed in the daddy of all open-world games.

Moonfall

Not to be confused with the recent disaster movie, Moonfall was a trading game like Elite with humbler aspirations. This time Frontier Alfa was the setting and goods were limited as you travelled from one lunar settlement to another. While landing and piloting your ship was no picnic, the ultimate goal was a lofty one: buying all the bases and factories from aliens to free their human slaves. Never has capitalism looked so good.

Games Gone By

There were many more games and many more long summer days to play through. There have been many other game systems. The graphics have vastly improved. The load times certainly have. But back then when video games were new, we were pixel pioneers, bit-sized pathfinders, joystick journeymen pushing those platform games to their bleeping limits. The C64 was our vessel and shop-bought cassettes were our fuel and the highway promised to go on forever.

What are your memories from the 8-bit home computer and console era? Let me know in the comments below.

Star Wars: Squadrons a new Rogue Leader?

When Star Wars: Squadrons was announced from EA Motive, I didn't know what to expect!

Microtransactions blighted Star Wars Battlefront II at launch, before a 180-degree u-turn under pressure from Lucasfilm's parent company Disney, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order triumphantly emerged from the dark side to top many Game of the Year (GotY) lists for 2019. Fans (myself included) are hoping for a sequel from Respawn Entertainment.

Was Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order a one-off return to form for a franchise with a storied gaming history from Atari coin-ops and 8-bit arcade clones such as 3D Starstrike for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum (you could imagine your Quickshot II Turbo joystick as the yoke of an X-wing fighter) to the founding of Lucasfilm Games in the early eighties? Could Star Wars: Squadrons be a Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for a new generation?

When Star Wars: Squadrons appeared as a 10-hour free trial for EA Play subscribers, I breathlessly donned a flight suit in search of a starfighter simulator worthy of classic LucasArts' X-wing and TIE Fighter. To my unalloyed joy, I discovered a first-person flight simulator that didn't induce motion sickness - always a plus - and managed to evoke cherished memories of playing Star Wars Arcade during student nights at SegaWorld, Bournemouth.

The prologue introduces a single-player (SP) campaign, set, like Star Wars Battlefront II, in the wake of the destruction of the second dreaded Death Star (Return of the Jedi), where you play as the New Republic and scattered Imperial forces. The opening mission is filled with fun Easter eggs and rich characterisation wrapped in spectacular visuals. Especially if you have PlayStation VR (PS VR).

Grahame Alexander Robertson, friend and fellow Star Wars fan, shared his firsthand experiences of PS VR: "By rights, it should be a PS VR system seller. Probably the best VR experience on PS4 by a long stretch. Sitting in the cockpit of iconic Star Wars ships, reading and responding to the controls, and flying them... isn't that the dream? The thrill of dogfighting over the bow of a Star Destroyer is visceral. The fact they've added genuinely fun and story-driven missions just adds to the experience. Best played with headphones to complete the experience of fellow pilots shouting instruction and encouragement..."

Grahame pointed out that The Mandalorian DLC adds new cosmetics including The Child AKA Baby Yoda from today. A timely addition with the second season premiering this Friday, directed by series showrunner Jon Favreau (Iron Man), exclusively on Disney+.

I'll continue to play the campaign once the full game is on EA Play (bundled with Game Pass Ultimate from 10th November). But, it's abundantly clear the single-player Force is strong with this one. In the meantime, as The Sims 4 is included with EA Play, I'm going to get Star Wars Journey to Batuu.

Classic LucasArts titles Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango will be available from Thursday. Following the news of Cyberpunk 2077's latest delay, these, along with Destiny 2: Beyond Light, will keep my busy this November on Game Pass Ultimate.

Are you playing Star Wars: Squadrons? Let me know in the comments below.

Limited Run's Star Wars: Bounty Hunter for PS4

Limited Run Games is re-releasing classic Star Wars video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and more. Now, the company has announced Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, originally released for GameCube and PS2 in 2002, for the PS4.

"The hunt begins. You are Jango Fett, the galaxy's most dangerous bounty hunter, hired to hunt down the elusive leader of a mysterious cult--dead or alive. Through 18 action-packed levels across six diverse worlds, face-off against galactic scum, fearsome beasts, and brutal competition that stand between you and your prey: a deranged dark Jedi. This hunt will lead you to the darkest corners of the Star Wars universe where no one else has dared to go, but you are the fearless, ruthless, and relentless Jango Fett. For the galaxy's most wanted, there is no place to hide."

You can pre-order Bounty Hunter and more here.

What Star Wars titles would you like to see Limited Run Games re-release? Let me know in the comments below.

Classic LucasArts Star Wars games coming to Xbox One

The latest edition of Inside Xbox was streamed live last evening (BST) and a major announcement for original Xbox backwards compatibility titles will excite Star Wars video game fans (myself included):

Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Republic Commando

With the exception of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, I've never played any of the above Star Wars games despite owning every popular console. So, I'll be downloading them ASAP.

These classic LucasArts titles will be available to play from 26th April. Xbox One owners need only download a game from the Microsoft Store or insert their original disc. For further information on this, Jade Empire, Red Dead Redemption enhanced for Xbox One X and the Xbox One Spring Update, watch Inside Xbox: Episode 2.



What are you looking forward to playing? Let me know in the comments below.

Epic Games demos future of gaming with Star Wars

Star Wars has a storied history with gaming technology. From an Atari arcade tie-in for the original trilogy to the founding of Lucasfilm Games, which would become the defunct LucasArts.

For the recent Game Developers Conference (GDC), Epic Games teamed up with Nvidia and Lucasfilm's ILMxLAB for a fun Star Wars cinematic demo featuring Captain Phasma and First Order Stormtroopers created using an experimental code for Unreal Engine 4.

Tim Sweeney of Epic Games explains:

“Ray tracing is a rendering process typically only associated with high-end offline renderers and hours and hours of computer processing time, film-quality ray tracing in real-time is an Unreal Engine first. This is an exciting new development for the media and entertainment linear content worlds—and any markets that require photo-realistic visualization.”

Social media outrage over Star Wars Battlefront II

As a lifelong Star Wars fan and avid video gamer since the Atari age, I was excited about Star Wars Battlefront II in the lead-up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

2015's franchise reboot was terrific fun and the notion of the sequel's single-player campaign from the perspective of the Empire, set in Return of the Jedi, was compelling.

However, the online controversy surrounding loot boxes and pay-to-win has extinguished that excitement to the point of cancelling a pre-order for Xbox One.

Whilst I own a PS4, I opted for the Xbox One version as it will be enhanced for Xbox One X. Space battles in 4K? Don't mind if I do. Well, actually I do mind if loot boxes and pay-to-win are involved. Star Wars Battlefront II purportedly costs £1,600 to unlock everything. The whole issue has left me yearning for the halcyon days of LucasArts...

Maybe I'll play the game on EA Access if I decide to resubscribe. This has not been a banner year for the publisher. Battlefront only adds salt to the wound in the wake of Mass Effect's hiatus.

Are you getting Star Wars Battlefront II? Let me know in the comments below.

Disney re-releases classic LucasArts Star Wars games!

Disney is re-releasing classic LucasArts games, including Star Wars tie-ins, in association with GoG!

"We're proud to announce a new partnership with Disney that allows for the DRM-free release of about 30 classic titles from [LucasArts]," the company blog post reads. "Today, to start with a bang, we are releasing a selection of 6 acclaimed titles from Lucas' most famous gaming franchises, so that the Disney/Lucasfilm catalog on GOG.com is made impressive from day one."

The following DRM-free titles are available to download now:

• Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition
• Star Wars: TIE Fighter Special Edition
• Sam & Max Hit the Road
• The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

X-Wing and TIE Fighter passed me by back in the day; primarily because I'm a Mac User and was enthralled by Dark Forces and Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.

Which LucasArts games would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

Disney's free-to-play Star Wars: Attack Squadrons

Disney's announced Star Wars: Attack Squadrons a free-to-play online combat game played via web browser.

This new multiplayer title is being developed by Seattle-based independent Area 52 Games and not EA, which has exclusive rights to produce PC and console games for the franchise following the closure of LucasArts earlier this year.



A closed beta test for Attack Squadrons begins in early 2014. You can sign-up here.

LucasArts closed and game over for Star Wars 1313

Rescue on Fractalus!, Ballblazer, Koronis Rift and The Eidolon are amongst my all-time favourite video games from the 8-bit era (I've written about them, previously)! These titles all emerged from the same studio in the 1980s: LucasArts.

LucasArts' (formerly Lucasfilm Games) story began over 30 years ago and, unceremoniously, ended this week. John Rivers takes a retrospective look at the studio synonymous with the point-and-click genre...

Guest post by John Rivers

There are some game studios that have their name unforgettably embedded in my memory: The Bitmap Brothers, Codemasters, Psygnosis, Sierra and, of course LucasArts. This week Disney announced that it has shut LucasArts and ceased all productions including the feted Star Wars 1313.

It was inevitable really, Disney is focusing all its Star Wars efforts on 2015 and the new JJ Abrams movie, but its decision to close LucasArts is the end of an era!

For me there are three or four games that will always remind me of LucasArts and not all of them classics. In fact the one that immediately springs to mind is one of the most fiddly and frustrating.

CD-ROM suddenly allowed you to actually feel like you were playing a movie. The huge capacity of a CD allowed for FMV to become prevalent and games like Myst and The Seventh Guest showcased the increased fidelity. Not so well-received (except perhaps in my house) was Rebel Assault!

Released in November 1993, Rebel Assault was an incredible looking and, at times, near unplayable journey through Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. It looked and, crucially for a Star Wars game, sounded fantastic. The on-rails nature of the shooting and ‘flying’ sequences betrayed a hapless game engine. Some levels were more fun if you skipped them. I remember if you moved your joystick up, down, left and right on the LucasArts logo then you would hear a whiny voice say “Lu-casArts” and you could skip levels.

Two other Star Wars games were much, much better: X-Wing brought the frankly dizzying prospect of a space fighter simulator to the Star Wars universe. It required great skills and tactical ability knowing whether to divert your power to your shields or weapons. Yes, it was frustratingly difficult and I remember getting stuck on a level where you had to protect a blockade runner. A colleague of my Dad’s had supplied me with a small .BAT program that I could run after successfully completing a mission. It backed up my pilot, so if he died I could fully restore him by simply copying him back in via DOS.

Dark Forces was the LucasArts entry into the First Person Shooter genre and put the terrible shooter memories of Rebel Assault to rest. Riding on the success of Doom, but using its own Jedi game engine, Dark Forces was atmospheric and exciting and showed that LucasArts could compete with the likes of id Software on their own terms.

The genre though that LucasArts defined is Point-and-Click and they arguably created its finest ever example.

The Secret of Monkey Island is one of gaming’s greatest franchises and greatest games full stop.

You play Guybrush Threepwood, who’s on the quest to become a mighty pirate. Funny, atmospheric and heavily based on Disney’s own Pirates of the Caribbean ride, TSOMI had an amazing plot that felt more like a movie than a game. You genuinely believe in the lead character and enjoy playing him as he goes from zero-to-hero. That I have this game on my iPhone and played through it all again, is a testament to how amazing it is. If you want to remember LucasArts then I suggest you download and play this game now.

LucasArts knew they were on to a good thing and what followed – Monkey Island 2, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis and Sam & Max Hit the Road (which I pre-ordered as a kid and waited AGES for them to release it) are all some of the greatest adventure games ever.

So, goodbye, LucasArts. You not only created some good games, but contributed to the overall history of games, too. You will be missed.

This post originally appears here.

Star Wars 1313

Lucasfilm today announced Star Wars 1313. A new internally developed IP in the Star Wars universe. This time aimed at a mature audience.

Described as a "third person cinematic action adventure," players take control of an unnamed bounty hunter as they explore the depths of the Coruscant underworld.

Named for Level 1313, a ruthless criminal underground deep below the surface of the planet of Coruscant, the game puts players in control of a deadly bounty hunter as he uses an arsenal of exotic weaponry to hunt down his marks and uncover the truth surrounding a criminal conspiracy. Star Wars 1313 emphasizes epic set pieces and fast-paced combat with a hero who uses human skills and gadgets, rather than supernatural Force powers, to make his way through this dangerous world.

“We’re excited to share one of the projects LucasArts has been hard at work developing,” said Paul Meegan, President, LucasArts. “Star Wars 1313 dives into a part of the Star Wars mythos that we’ve always known existed, but never had a chance to visit. We are committed to bringing the best gameplay experience and visual fidelity to life and I truly believe the work we are showcasing at E3 will speak for itself.”

Not since Dark Forces blasted its way onto my Macintosh Performa 5200 in the mid 1990s have I been so excited about a Star Wars game! You?

Limited Edition Star Wars Kinect bundle with R2-D2 Xbox 360

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), Lucasarts and Microsoft jointly announced the first custom Xbox 360, based on the Star Wars franchise, for the upcoming holiday season.

Get the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars bundle, with the first ever white Kinect Sensor and custom-designed console and controller based on popular Star Wars characters R2-D2 and C-3PO. Use the Force like a Jedi and immerse yourself in the Star Wars experience you’ve always dreamed of, in ways you never imagined possible.

The Xbox 360 Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars bundle will include:

*Kinect Star Wars game
*Custom R2-D2-themed Xbox 360 Console with custom sounds
*White Kinect Sensor
*Custom C-3PO-themed Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
*320 GB Hard Drive
*Xbox 360 Wired Headset
*Kinect Adventures game
*Exclusive downloadable content

Pre-order the Limited Edition Star Wars Kinect bundle here.

Star Wars 'Returns' in Old Republic trailer at E3!

Protected by the legendary Jedi Order, the Galactic Republic stood as a bastion of peace in the galaxy for a thousand generations. Several centuries ago, the greatest threat the galaxy has ever known emerged in the form of the dark Sith Empire. After a volatile war, the Republic emerged victorious and the Sith were assumed to be extinct. Nonetheless, the Jedi have maintained a constant vigil over the ancient Sith homeworld, to protect the galaxy from the darkness that still resides in the planet’s tombs.



The latest cinematic looks like it was taken from a movie. That is all.

Thanks @richardmackney for the tip off.

The force is strong with Twitter

This post is for Star Wars fans! Last week @londonfilmgeek tweeted that @starwars was, officially, on Twitter! Follow for the latest articles, blog entries, news, weird Star Wars stuff from the Web, trivia and a lot more!

Only a few weeks prior to the inception of @starwars, @lucasarts started following me! Follow for all the latest gaming news and trivia!

It's encouraging to see established brands appearing on Twitter and directly engaging followers! The addition of both Star Wars and LucasArts to Twitter should assuage any disappointment at the removal of George Lucas' Twitter account; as linked to by The Times newspaper in its The 50 most popular celebs on Twitter article! Presumably this was not the creator of Star Wars himself!

You should follow me on twitter here.

The Final Countdown

The year 1996 forms a convenient segue from the last post and ties-in with today's safe return of space shuttle Discovery. Prior to completing my final year at Bournemouth, I graduated from console gaming (only to return a few years later with the purchase of a PlayStation) to PC/Mac.

My Macintosh Performa 5200 introduced me to the rich CD-ROM tapestries weaved by LucasArts at the peak of their powers. Dark Forces (favorite FPS), Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire (completed between sending off an application to Reuters and accepting the position) and The Dig (demo). The latter remained an enigmatic curio (I'm familiar with Alan Dean Foster's soft cover novel) until this morning, when I obtained a copy of the full game (PC) and played it via the venerable ScummVM.

Based on a story by Steven Spielberg, with dialogue written by Orson Scott Card (The Abyss), the apocalyptic narrative presages Hollywood's meteor movies Deep Impact and Armageddon. The Dig's hand-drawn and animated game art looks fresh and inviting in 2005. Surely this was a franchise in the making replete with animated/live action series and merchandise?

Whilst UK television viewers await the debut of Lost (teasers directed by Madonna and JLo photographer David LaChapelle) on Wednesday night. A few films, that are worth watching more than once, are being repeated. Jean-Claude Van Damme (AKA The Muscles from Brussels) is not an 'action hero' I'm particularly fond of. Yet Timecop (1994) is a riveting yarn from Dark Horse Comics scribe Mark Verheiden (whom responded to a letter I wrote Dark Horse in 1994). Even the wooden Mia Sara can't detract from the forgettable fun to be had. The first time I ever saw Timecop was on a NTSC THX-Certified DTS Laser Disc. The image and sound surpassed VHS and analog broadcast transmissions of the day.

A few of my observations concerning Flickr and Firefox were shared during last night's JMUG meeting. Appreciated.

Swan Lake

The sky is clear blue and New Labor has secured an historic third term in power without my support.

I'm in a nostalgic gaming mood and have sourced a copy of LucasArts very rare VGA version of Loom (1990). In a move mirroring Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Loom's ambitious creative cue is derived from Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake". The SCUMM game engine was anything but!

Jennifer Garner cuts coquettish charm in this irresistible picture, and reminds me of a childhood friend.



With Hanson's Penny & Me a serenade. She's a Texan treat at no mistake!

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger has been dispatched from Amazon UK's warehouse. I grabbed an initial retail copy thanks to a hefty discount, but will wait for 10.4.1 before installing!

System 16

An arcade game hobbyist since my teens, I'm following, with great interest, the development of MAME (a modular and portable driver oriented architecture). Programmer Aaron Giles, whose resume takes in the sights and sounds of LucasArts and Microsoft, continues to rewrite the Sega driver for MAME. His recent accomplishments warrant technical comparison with THX! Both projects are directed at the preservation of popular entertainment mediums (albeit MAME is a not-for-profit document).

I for one can't wait to replay Sega's Turbo Out Run, Space Harrier and Super Hang On with 100% accuracy in the near future. For further reading may I suggest System 16.