Star Wars (1983 video game)

Star Wars is a rail shooter video game. It was both published and developed by Atari, Inc. Sega, S.A. SONIC did the publishing in Spain, with publishing of the ports being done by Parker Brothers, Domark, and Broderbund.[1]

Star Wars
Developer(s)Atari, Inc.
Publisher(s)Atari Games
Designer(s)Mike Hally
Programmer(s)Greg Rivera
Norm Avellar
Composer(s)Earl Vickers
Platform(s)Arcade
Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Atari 8-bit
ColecoVision
Commodore 64
Amiga
Atari ST
Amstrad CPC
Acorn Electron
BBC Micro
ZX Spectrum
MS-DOS
Macintosh
ReleaseMay 5, 1983 (North America)
May 1983 (Japan)
September 1983 (United Kingdom)
1983 (Spain)
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)One-player

It was released in arcades on May 5, 1983 in North America, May 1983 in Japan, September 1983 in the United Kingdom, and sometime in 1983 in Spain.[2] This was during a time in the gaming industry known as the golden age of arcade video games. Outside of arcades, Star Wars would also be released for many consoles including the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and ColecoVision. It would also be released for the Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, and Macintosh computers.

In the game, the player controls Luke Skywalker. The player pilots a x-wing fighter and shoots down enemy TIE fighters. The end goal is to get to the Death Star and blow up.[3]

Reception

When the game was released, it was very well liked by game critics and was very popular. Critics said they liked the animations, 3D graphics, sound, and gameplay.[4][5]

It has often been placed on Top Games lists.[6][7]

The game was also very popular. When it was released, it sold 12,695 arcade cabinets and was the best selling arcade released in 1983 for Atari.[8]

References

  1. "Star Wars: The Arcade Game". IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  2. "Star Wars (Registration Number PA0000428109)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  3. "Star Wars Game Retrospective". IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  4. "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  5. "Top 50 Games of All Time". Next Generation. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  6. "Top 100 Video Games". Flux. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  7. "The 9 Greatest Star Wars Video Games of All Time". IGN. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  8. "Production Numbers" (PDF). Atari, Inc. Retrieved April 1, 2024.