Thread by @LucasfilmGames

[Thread] A brief history of starfighters piloting in #StarWars video games.

On the occasion of the unveiling of #StarWarsSquadrons , the next game from @EAStarWars and @MotiveMontreal , we will quickly return to its predecessors. (not an exhaustive list 😅)

Stay on target! 🚀

1982
It all starts with the very first (official) Star Wars game: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari 2600) by Parker Brothers.

It's simply the Battle of Hoth, with a pixelated T-47 airspeeder (aka Snowspeeder).

Enjoy:

1983
The famous arcade machine Star Wars, by Mike Hally and Atari. This legendary game, with vector graphics, will then be converted on all kinds of consoles.

Here they come!

1983
Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle (Atari 2600, Atari 5200) by Parker Brothers.

37 years ago:

1984
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: The Arcade game by Atari.

It's a trap!

1985
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: The Arcade game by Atari.
Back to Hoth.

I love the Asteroids Field.

1991
Star Wars: Attack on the Death Star (PC-98, Sharp X68000) by M.N.M Software.

Yeah, chances are that you don't know about this game.

1991
Star Wars (NES) by Beam Software/Lucasfilm Games/JVC.

My first 🥰

29 years ago, when you were 11, it was so great.

1992
Super Star Wars (SNES) by Sculptured Software/LucasArts/JVC.

Another legendary game.

You can play it on PlayStation 4 right now.

1993
X-Wing (PC) by Totally Games/LucasArts.

Another legendary game <3 You were immersed in the Star Wars universe. A real flight simulator.

So many good memories.

1993
Star Wars: Rebel Assault (LucasArts) helped launch the CD-Rom drive. Really. Because it was magnificent at the time. But it was a rail shooter.

Asteroids! Asteroids everywhere...

1993
Star Wars Arcade (Arcade, then Sega 32X), by Sega.

1994
TIE Fighter, the "sequel" to X-wing. The only game where you embody an imperial pilot throughout the story.

The best.

Wonderful game.

1994
Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (SNES) by Sculptured Software/LucasArts/JVC.

(sorry, I got the wrong cover art for Super SW above in the thread 😭)

Inevitably, after 3D games, sprites are getting old. But charming.

1995
Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (PC) by LucasArts.

It too ages quickly, because the rail shooter is quickly out of date. But Rebel Assault 2 will remain the first Star Wars game with FMV footage!

Rookie One, is that you?

I'm taking a break because even the best pilots have to take care of their children. 😌

1996
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (PC/N64) by LucasArts, our dear multimedia project (game, book, comics, etc) with the shoulder pads guy. 😍

Ok, you fly airspeeders & freighters, but who cares.

1997
Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (PC) by Totally Games/LucasArts.

So far ahead of its time with its multiplayer mode that they then released a campaign.

But it was so fun!

1998
Star Wars: Rebellion (PC) by Coolhand Interactive/LucasArts.

A great but dense strategy game, I still play it. And there was a (bad) Tactical interface.

You don't "fly" a starfighter but you direct them, Admiral Ackbar.

It was a horrible mode, but the game is great.

1998
Star Wars: rogue Squadron (PC/N64) by Factor 5/LucasArts.

You waited for it! I hear you, you howl its name every night. Great action game.

Another legenday game. 🖖

I'm taking a break to discover Star Wars Squadrons :)

Back in 1999. Prequels time!

However, it's still the original trilogy with X-Wing Alliance, the last installment in the X-Wing series from Totally Games / LucasArts (I'm not crying, you're crying).

Azzameen family, I miss you.

It depresses me to think that the last real SW flight sim is 21 years old. 🙃

2000
Two years after Rogue Squadron, the Factor 5/LucasArts team is back with Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo (PC, N64).

A sadly forgotten SW space game.

Still waiting for the game on @GOGcom and Steam! Wake up, please 🙏

2011
LucasArts flies to the Prequels alone with Star Wars: Starfighter (PC/PlayStation 2/Xbox, and later PS3).

Played it again two years ago, it was fun.

Available on Steam and Gog!

2001
Factor 5 is back with the GREAT Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GameCube only). Frankly, it hasn't aged. Find it, buy it and get your Wii out.

An other masterpiece. Again 🚀

I'm waiting for a port. Come on, people, this game can't stay in the past.

2002
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (Xbox/PS2): another cool game. But also the last starfighters-only game developed internally at LucasArts. A chapter ends.

I take a PC port any day. 😌

2003
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GameCube): This is the end my friends. Factor 5 says goodbye. The last LucasArts-published space-only game (with on-foot missions but they were not very good so let me cheat) too.

But you can play Rogue Leader missions in coop! 😍

WE NEED A PORT.
Ok?

2004
Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed (PC): An expansion for the first Star Wars MMO.

It was like you were in the galaxy far away.

2005
Star Wars: Battlefront (PC/Xbox/PS2) by Pandemic/LucasArts: An all-time classic. Not my kind of game but it was a great success.

Enjoy:

2005
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (PC, Xbox, PS2, GameCube, etc) by @TTGames
At last, a studio that survived until 2020.

Great game, these Lego SW are so fun.

2006
Star Wars: Empire at War (PC) by @petroglyphgames /LucasArts. A very nice RTS. Still play it.

With tiny starfighters! 😂

2006
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. You know the story.

Lego games are always very successful.

2007
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP) by @Rebellion
Very impressive for a PlayStation Portable.

You wanted the B-Wing, here is the B-wing.

2007
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

Space battle!

2009
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (PSP/DS) by Rebellion.

Standing by.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (2010) by LucasArts.

Just because...that's a starfighter, and you're flying on it (as the Mandalorian), ok?

2011
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.
I've already said Lego SW games are nice.

Play it with you children!

2011
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC) by Bioware/LucasArts/EA. Ships were back in a Star Wars MMO. Still are.

SWTOR is still the last ongoing SW Legends (aka expanded universe, before 2014) product.

2012
Kinect Star Wars (Xbox 360) by Terminal Reality/LucasArts.

More fun than you think.

Move your body.

2015
LucasArts doesn't exist anymore.
Time jump! A new era with Star Wars Battlefront by @EA_DICE
A feast for the eyes. But incomplete. Some space levels added in 2016.

Not as good than the movie's battle of Scarif, but fun nonetheless.

The better part was the X-Wing VR Mission ( @CriterionGames , PSVR, 2016). Unmisseable. A daydream.

Then we waited until 2020...

2016
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, still by @TTGames

The space levels were so good. Seriously.

2017
Criterion did it again with Starfighter Assault in Battlefront II (DICE).

I'm not an online player but I had a lot of fun.

2020
Star Wars Squadrons by @MotiveMontreal
For the first time since 2003, a Star Wars game will be entirely devoted to space battles. It was time. With a single-player campaign, 5v5 online matches, PS4 / Xbox One / PC crossplay and VR. In theory, everything is good. 🥳

See you in October.

2020
Shortly after, we are promised Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga by @TTGames

It will be good, for sure.

We are told of beautiful space battles in bricks.

Impossible to see, the future is.

But I hope to play a real SW flight sim someday.

And that's the end. I'm so tired 😂

Oh, if you have time to kill waiting #StarWarsSquadrons , don't forget my old thread about X-wing cockpits 😌

Cheers!

https://twitter.com/LucasfilmGames/status/1136054236859572224

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview.
It is in fact the draft of an article that I should motivate myself to finish. 🧐

And if you want to know how they created most of these games, just wait for my book. One day.

Mistake: 2005, Battlefront TWO.