The Star Wars franchise has collected a vast library of video games over the past 30 years. Every genre from real time strategy to MMORPG has been covered. How about Star Wars Chess? A lot of these games are just terrible (Rebel Assault anyone?), but there are a number of excellent titles. The space combat simulation games in the X-Wing and Tie Fighter series are the cream of the Star Wars crop.
I just finished playing through Tie Fighter for the first time in at least 8 years. I wore out several joysticks playing X-Wing and Tie Fighter as a kid and I always favored Tie Fighter for the simple reason that you were playing to serve the Emporer. 90% of Star Wars games are presented from the Rebel and Jedi perspective so this changes things up like playing as the Germans in [insert any WWII shooter here]. Also, you actually fly some ships without shields which adds a level of difficulty missing in X-Wing.
The Video Game Journey isn’t about long meandering reviews and I’ll get to the point quickly on each post. Star Wars: Tie Fighter is one of the best games ever. Considering it’s 1994 release, the game is still extremely playable and addicting. The X-Wing Collector Series release is playable right out of the box in Windows XP so if you want to play this classic let me know, I’ll let you borrow my copy and a USB joystick.
Tie Fighter = 9.5
Starfox = 9.6
Star Fox was good for a console game, but it would definitely not rate above Tie Fighter. It was a tough game since you had to play through the whole thing in one go which made you learn and perfect each stage. That sort of game design has fallen off as games got more complicated and immersive.
You do receive 5 Schrute bucks for pulling out an early 90’s video game reference.
Oh! What’s that–what could it be? That, my friend is the sound of Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad blasting your Arwing to pieces from behind. You are dead. I will bury you in the 90’s.
It was all about the FX chip!
Oh wait, no it wasn’t…