Shadows Of The Empire | The Star Wars Game Based On The Movie They NEVER Made!
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Shadows of the Empire was a whole commercial movie campaign, just without the movie. With novels, comics, action figures and more, it briefly took over the nerd world. But the one piece of the puzzle that people remember today was the video game. We take a look a the N64 release to unearth secrets about the game based on the Star Wars film that was never made.
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UDS (Upside Down Shark) is the home of alternative pop culture. Focusing on video games, movies, TV shows and more, expect reviews, features, video essays and more on this channel, hosted by Tom, Craig, Dobbie, Neale and Drew.
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Transcript
Back in the mid-90s, Star Wars was in a period of transition. A decade after Return of the Jedi and a few years before the Prequel Trilogy, Lucasfilm needed something to reinvigorate interest in the franchise, which led to a multimedia project the likes of which had never been tried before, and has been largely lost to time.
This is the story of Shadows of the Empire - the game based on the Star Wars movie that was never made.
Hey how’s it going guys, this is Tom from UDS and welcome to The Best Star Wars Games Ever, our series where we look at the cream of the crop from a galaxy far, far away. If you're new to the channel we review new games but also dig deep into gaming history to find the forgotten gems of yesteryear. So if that sounds like your thing then please subscribe. We're only a few away from 1,000 subs and we want to get on the community post gravy train before YouTube nerfs it. Anyway, on with the show.
The story of Shadows of the Empire goes much further than just a game for the N64, and it’s worth starting with a little look at the wider picture before we get into the nitty gritty. Originally thought up in 1994 and released in 1996, not only did it look to bridge the real world gap between the Original and Prequel Trilogies, but also the timeline between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
While there had been material set between A New Hope and Empire…, the chasm between Episodes 5 and 6 was much less explored, making it ripe for adaptation. The story focuses on the heroes of the Rebel Alliance tracking down a carbon-frozen Han Solo, while Darth Vader uses the might of the Empire to locate his baby boy Luke.
It also introduced new characters and factions such as the roguish Han Solo… I mean Kyle Katarn… of course I mean Dash Rendar! As well as Prince Xizor, leader of the criminal Black Sun group. We’ll see much more of both of these when we get to the game in a second.
But what made Shadows of the Empire so unusual was that it was everything you’d expect from a commercial movie campaign, without the movie. What I mean is that it included novels, comic books, a soundtrack (which of course I have on vinyl), trading cards, role-playing games, posters, model kits, Micro Machines, statuettes, and action figures. Heck, they even gave it a cinematic trailer, comprised of a new narration over repurposed shots from the films.
But among this Krayt Dragon-sized mountain of content, the one piece of the tapestry that’s continued to skirt around the zeitgeist is Shadows of the Empire the video game.
Designed to be a launch title for the Nintendo 64, it was developed before the console had even been made. This meant work on the game had to be done on computers that vaguely mimicked the N64’s hardware. Would this ‘make do’ style reflect on the final product? Well, let’s find out.
The game focuses on new protagonist Dash Rendar, a rugged smuggler who has a heart of gold that compels him to help the Rebellion. Sound familiar? Ok, so he’s an obvious stand in for the frozen Mr Solo, but he’s still a charmer and has enough personality to carry a story.
Speaking of the game’s story, it’s split into 4 chapters, each of which has its own classic title crawl:
Part 1, entitled ‘Escape from Echo Base’, serves as a prequel, actually taking place during Empire’s Battle of Hoth. Here we’re introduced to Dash and his droid companion Leebo as they drop off supplies at Echo Base in their ship The Outrider, which definitely doesn’t look exactly the same as the Millennium Falcon… promise...