Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Between Episodes V and VI of the Star Wars saga there is a gap of time the films stay silent about, and it is exactly into this gap that Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire throws us, an ambitious action title that was one of the first big draws for the launch console Nintendo 64. For many players it was even the reason to buy an N64 at all.

The game does not try to be just one genre. You step into the shoes of the smuggler Dash Rendar and go through a series of varied missions, whether third-person run-and-gun action or sections behind the wheel of vehicles and starfighters. This variety, alternating between infantry combat and hurtling through space, was quite ambitious for its time and tried to offer as large a slice of galactic adventure as possible in a single package.

Legendary is the opening Battle of Hoth, where you wrap your tow cable around the legs of the attacking walking colossi, the AT-AT, a scene pulled straight from the films that you can here play for the first time yourself. It was moments like these that made the game a powerful experience for fans who longed to step into their favorite world and see it in what was then stunning 3D.

Shadows of the Empire was part of a sprawling multimedia project by Lucasfilm that built books, comics, and other materials around the story, so the game fit into a much larger whole than just itself. That gave it the feeling that you had truly become part of the expanded universe canon.

Not all sections have aged equally well, but as one of the first big N64 titles and as a bold attempt to cram an entire galaxy into a single game, it remains an unforgettable piece for anyone who grew up with Star Wars.

Why play: For an ambitious genre mix and the chance to relive iconic Star Wars moments as one of the first big experiences on the Nintendo 64.