In honor of the high-holy day for Star Wars fans across the globe, commenter Deakor gives us his top five gaming moments in a galaxy far, far away in today's Speak Up on Kotaku.
In honor of Star Wars Day...
So after reading an article here discussing possibly the worst Star Wars game ever I thought to myself, what's the best? If you asked 25 people, you'd probably get 25 different answers.
Then I thought of a more interesting question (to me, anyway). What are the best moments from Star Wars games? They may come from the best games, they may not (I find that mine come from both). So here, in no particular order, are my top 5 Star Wars gaming moments:
1. The first level of Shadows of the Empire on N64:
The overall game was "meh" at best, but the opening level on Hoth simply blew me away. I played and replayed that level more times than I can remember. I recall sitting at home on winter break from college and just passing the controller back and forth with one of my old high school buddies.
2. Starting out on Tatooine in Star Wars Galaxies:
SWG was my first MMO. I'll never forget the feeling of unlimited possibilities that I had when I created my first character and took my first step into a larger world. Ultimately, I don't think anyone ended up pleased with where the game ended up, but in those first moments, I was blown away.
3. The demo for The Force Unleashed:
Another example of a game that was ok at best, but had some sequences/experiences that really stood out. The first time I used the Force to go stormtrooper bowling was quite memorable. The rest of the game didn't really live up to the promise of the demo, but for a little while at least, you really felt like a badass Jedi.
4. Saving Admiral Ackbar in the original X-Wing:
X-Wing is one of my favorite games of all time and I can still remember the mission where I had to disable the shuttle carrying Admiral Ackbar and then defend it long enough from wave after wave of TiE bombers for a Rebel ship to come and rescue him.
5. The big reveal in Knights of the Old Republic:
For someone raised on the original trilogy and subsequently disappointed by the storytelling and writing in the new trilogy (with the possible exception of Episode III, that is), KOTOR felt like a breath of fresh air. Granted there are legitimate issues/complaints about the game, but the "twist" in KOTOR really struck me. Overall this game felt like what the new films SHOULD have been like in terms of tone and story.
So, those are my top 5 moments in Star Wars gaming. What are yours?
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.