This game was so rare in the UK, it was almost legendary. I went to school with a lad from Hastings and he would regale us with tales of this fabled machine in 1986 (Hastings is a seaside resort with a lot of arcades) . We heard him and thought it was BS but sure enough I went to Hastings in 1989 and played on one of the very few UK machines ever converted. It was a thrill and a privilege.
Thanks for the review! I never even saw the ESB version of this game back in the day, just SW and then Jedi. Having seen the gameplay loop, I can see why operators would have been hesitant to upgrade their moneymakers to this game!
Loved cockpit games so much; Tail Gunner and Red Baron were a lot of fun. I actually preferred playing those to Battlezone. Yet, Battlezone's the only one that anyone actually remembers. Le sigh. :(
Note that in the game, if you spell the word "JEDI" by completing the objectives, you will gain Force Energy which will nullify all of the enemy shots. This energy only lasts a limited amount of time, and it starts immediately after you complete the word. One strategy is to hold off on completing the word until the end of the AT-AT stage. That way, you can carry over some of the Force Energy into the TIE Fighter stage, where the enemies have a very rapid rate of fire. As for the game itself, I agree that this is not as good as the original Star Wars vector game. But I personally loved ESB because of the AT-AT stage alone, which had impressive visuals and controls for its time. The background music and other little graphical details helped add to the mood of the battle, which was that of a losing effort by the Rebels you are fighting for.
I always thought the asteroids were made too hard to dodge. A lot of the time, it seemed no matter how I maneuvered, I could *not* help but hit at least one. So, no matter how good you are, you're guaranteed to loose at least one shield per level. And since most machines did *not* give you a shield regeneration at the completion of a level (*unlike* Star Wars, which did give you one...and on *some* machines, *two*!), that meant you usually couldn't get more levels than the number of shields you started with. And as a aside, many machine's thumb buttons were so sensitive, they'd shoot off your tow cables when you didn't want them to and hadn't pressed the thumb buttons at all!...and if you *did* actually press the thumb buttons, no matter how lightly, then *all* your tow cables went! Grrr! P.S.: Thanks for posting this video! :)
THANKS John In Australia I spent hours in the 80s playing the original Star Wars Arcade but NEVER saw this Empire Game so THANKS for the upload!!! Fantastic!!!!
I first found out about it in an Electronic Arts gaming magazine back in the mid '80's and didn't run across a copy of the actual game until I ran across it at the arcade at Six Flags Over Texas (theme park) when I went with some of my co-workers on our day off.
That would've been so cool during the Death Star attack with the hundreds of TIE Fighters streaming towards you... then maneuvering through the insides of the space station. :)
I had access to both SW and ESB as a kid and liked ESB so much more. I agree that the asteroid field was anti-climatic and just something to suffer through but the rest of the game was so twitchy compared to the original, in a good way. The probes and walkers built up to the TIE stage, which was a real test of reflexes. The mechanics of this game are deeper than what's represented in this overview. Jedi was the worst. Cheap gameplay and didn't have the magic of vectorized games.
Huh, I never knew this existed. I would have had a gasm playing this back then. I always loved 3d and Empire Strikes Back completely blew me away as a movie.
??? ??? He's hyped up and words are bouncing around making different pronunciation I heard kitten too. I actually was waiting for the kitten then forgot about it until i read your comment very funny.
Playing this on the Arcade 1Up version I have to say I enjoy it more than Star Wars. Yes it’s missing the climax of blowing up the Death Star but I find the difficulty ramps up more gradually and it’s a deeper game overall.
Waaaaay back in the day I played a cabinet that had both games. It started with Star Wars and after the death star attack it went to Empire Strikes Back.
Back in the day we didn't even know this game existed. Only came across is when Domark released the Star Wars Trilogy, the Amstrad conversion of this game was excellent.
Being from the US my popular go to arcade center had star wars .. and I absolutely loved it. The sit down version in 1983 was its own private little world. The standup ones were also fine I can assure you no self respecting Arcade owner ever provided a chair or stool (I have a chair for my Arcade 1up). Then one day the star wars machine was gone and this wretched thing was all that remained. I liked certain aspects of it the AT-AT walkers were very cool .. but honestly the tie fighter battles and that idiotic asteroid sequence simply didn't do it for me. Basically I wanted my star wars machine back .. the one where you could play for an hour or more with one quarter (well when you were hot). This ESB monstrosity did not have anything like that. I think Atari learned its lesson with Star Wars when players could come in and tie up a machine for 1 - 3 hours for a quarter .. man that must have pissed off the owners. I had my game turned off via a "blown fuse once", the owner gave me back my quarter.
I love how they've got the kits and all you need to do is just flip a switch and you've got access to another game. I've yet to play a real Empire in an arcade unit, but I played the hell out of it when I first discovered MAME.
Very cool. I've watched this a couple times because I wanted to see if I should pick up the Arcade1up Star Wars cabinet. I must admit, I like what I'm seeing of this game quite a bit. Thanks for the video!
OH MAN... the asteroid level is epic ! That's my favorite part ! I didn't play this in the arcade. I think I remember seeing it... ? ... no couldn't be... I'd have put a few rolls of quarters in it if I did. Now, I do very vividly remember putting those rolls of quarters in the Star Wars, seated cabinet and that was hellacool !
I put many, many quarters into Star Wars back in the day, and still play it when I can find a machine. I've only seen (and played) one ESB machine, ever.
2020 still your synopsis just saved me $200.00. I was about to get a kit because just picked up a SW UR it works great! Needs cabinet work! Art , electronics all super has 6100 but with the avg mods and what not. Picked it up from a guy in West, TX and he tells me it fell over on it's side 7 years ago when a fertilizer plant exploded! But when you was playing ESB I was getting excited with the new music and voices but then looking at the gameplay looked awful and I had forgot how much so. Think I will pass and just leave my baby as is! You summed it up great.
I have never seen this game in my area in the 80's or 90's. We only had the original Star Wars. Your demonstration shows us why the game wasn't nearly as popular or fun as the original, which is a makes it a missed opportunity.
Kool Video, Thanks again for sharing! Whats your best advice to give a newbee.You look like your excellent at fixing these. I've been slowly getting into arcades. My hope is to learn and restore as many as i can. I know someone with a 2 1/2 car garage full of old arcade games. And he is ready to start moving them.So far i only have 2 arcades Mario Bros. which was a labor of love, and my all time favorite game.My other game Namco 20 year reunion.Both games its all been just cosmetic thus far.
Maybe Empire would have been received better, if the last leg was skimming along the side of the Executor; give it a Death Star trench like feel, except maybe it moves.
wait ahhh its a vector game, right? with XY draw cursor controlled directly on the joke. So, how the hell the game does that brightness in the background when GAME OVER?
georgef551 actually explained this in a comment on the Star Wars review. The game effectively draws white lines that are just off the edge of the screen. What physically happens is that the electron beam scatters diffusely off the sides of the CRT and illuminates the whole screen.
John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech or anyone reading, does anybody remember an arcade, space-fighter shooter where you play as the Empire and shoot at x-wings? I'm not old enough to remember those 80s arcade days, though I was a huge arcade kid in the twilight of arcades in the 90s, but I'm just wanting to know this game for personal reasons.
Whilst I admit the game is not as good as Star Wars I think its better than the Return of the Jedi coin-op. Also the fact there isn't a big pay off does keep tonally with the film where the only real victory the Rebels can claim by film's end is that they are still alive to fight another day.
I have never even seen this Empire one, before. And I do agree with you. They kind of mashed up flight scenes with no rhythm. I'd have never guessed that second bit was the Falcoln. And, dodging asteroids? Shooting transmissions??? Outside of fighting AT-AT's & AT-ST's, (in a black landscape...vector can't do atmosphere, but still...) there is nothing memorable, here. Where as the original WAS a truly epic sequence that placed you in the middle of it all.
I went looking for this because someone else's game ended in the asteroid field. Lame ending. They should have done the giant asteroid and ended with the falcon "attacking" the star destroyer and landing on its back.
The original is better but then again it's one of the best arcade games ever made. The comparison isn't fair. ESB is an awesome game... but it's tough to be compared to a legend.
I''ve never seen this before.... How in the world did I miss this? Agreed, not as good as the Original SW game, that was a Religious experience, this one looks cool enough tho...
In the 1980s, at the now defunct Waiwera Hot Pools complex in New Zealand, I played a Star Wars game called "Wild Fire". It was not the Empire Strikes back game, but xessjt some vkboktleg. Has rvoihbdgrdd thiS have?
Why bother moving the game industry on when more people are going backwards ..how do you kill an astroid ? Great so you payed shit loads for a game you don't like very much nice one
![[UA] Team Vitality проти NAVI | IEM Cologne 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wttO1zVRTC0/mqdefault.jpg)
This game was so rare in the UK, it was almost legendary. I went to school with a lad from Hastings and he would regale us with tales of this fabled machine in 1986 (Hastings is a seaside resort with a lot of arcades) . We heard him and thought it was BS but sure enough I went to Hastings in 1989 and played on one of the very few UK machines ever converted. It was a thrill and a privilege.
Brighton pier had one but that was about the only one I remember
Yes you`re right,never saw this in the UK.I remember loving SW and hating ROTJ and always wondered why there was no Empire.
Thanks for the review! I never even saw the ESB version of this game back in the day, just SW and then Jedi. Having seen the gameplay loop, I can see why operators would have been hesitant to upgrade their moneymakers to this game!
I miss the 1980s badly...my local Bowling Alley had the cockpit model that you sat in
Loved cockpit games so much; Tail Gunner and Red Baron were a lot of fun. I actually preferred playing those to Battlezone. Yet, Battlezone's the only one that anyone actually remembers. Le sigh. :(
I remember this laser tag place that had the cockpit one, and that was in like late 2000s if I recall correctly.
Note that in the game, if you spell the word "JEDI" by completing the objectives, you will gain Force Energy which will nullify all of the enemy shots. This energy only lasts a limited amount of time, and it starts immediately after you complete the word.
One strategy is to hold off on completing the word until the end of the AT-AT stage. That way, you can carry over some of the Force Energy into the TIE Fighter stage, where the enemies have a very rapid rate of fire.
As for the game itself, I agree that this is not as good as the original Star Wars vector game. But I personally loved ESB because of the AT-AT stage alone, which had impressive visuals and controls for its time. The background music and other little graphical details helped add to the mood of the battle, which was that of a losing effort by the Rebels you are fighting for.
I always thought the asteroids were made too hard to dodge. A lot of the time, it seemed no matter how I maneuvered, I could *not* help but hit at least one. So, no matter how good you are, you're guaranteed to loose at least one shield per level. And since most machines did *not* give you a shield regeneration at the completion of a level (*unlike* Star Wars, which did give you one...and on *some* machines, *two*!), that meant you usually couldn't get more levels than the number of shields you started with. And as a aside, many machine's thumb buttons were so sensitive, they'd shoot off your tow cables when you didn't want them to and hadn't pressed the thumb buttons at all!...and if you *did* actually press the thumb buttons, no matter how lightly, then *all* your tow cables went! Grrr! P.S.: Thanks for posting this video! :)
THANKS John In Australia I spent hours in the 80s playing the original Star Wars Arcade but NEVER saw this Empire Game so THANKS for the upload!!! Fantastic!!!!
I first found out about it in an Electronic Arts gaming magazine back in the mid '80's and didn't run across a copy of the actual game until I ran across it at the arcade at Six Flags Over Texas (theme park) when I went with some of my co-workers on our day off.
I miss the days when you could shoot a radio wave and destroy it.
And the days where you could kill asteroids... Not blow them up but kill them as stated in the video.. lol
I wish the Return of the Jedi game was the same vector type Star Wars and ESB were.
That would've been so cool during the Death Star attack with the hundreds of TIE Fighters streaming towards you... then maneuvering through the insides of the space station. :)
I didn't know about this conversion, and I see why now. Thanks for the video!
I had access to both SW and ESB as a kid and liked ESB so much more. I agree that the asteroid field was anti-climatic and just something to suffer through but the rest of the game was so twitchy compared to the original, in a good way. The probes and walkers built up to the TIE stage, which was a real test of reflexes. The mechanics of this game are deeper than what's represented in this overview.
Jedi was the worst. Cheap gameplay and didn't have the magic of vectorized games.
Personally, I LOVE this game! So many good memories taking down those AT-ATs.
Just heard about GameStop selling a "3 in 1" unit. Thx for the vid, never heard about this Empire & Jedi conversion
Huh, I never knew this existed. I would have had a gasm playing this back then. I always loved 3d and Empire Strikes Back completely blew me away as a movie.
0:57 "i actually got a kitten here that allows me to..." wait what? xDD
??? ??? He's hyped up and words are bouncing around making different pronunciation I heard kitten too. I actually was waiting for the kitten then forgot about it until i read your comment very funny.
Doot Doot..DOOOOOOO! (Pole Position in background) LOL!
Thought I caught Frogger at one point :)
Playing this on the Arcade 1Up version I have to say I enjoy it more than Star Wars. Yes it’s missing the climax of blowing up the Death Star but I find the difficulty ramps up more gradually and it’s a deeper game overall.
Waaaaay back in the day I played a cabinet that had both games. It started with Star Wars and after the death star attack it went to Empire Strikes Back.
BEAUTIFUL 80´S ARCADE CABINET STAR WARS
Back in the day we didn't even know this game existed. Only came across is when Domark released the Star Wars Trilogy, the Amstrad conversion of this game was excellent.
There were no red 'weak spots' in the ZX Spectrum version, and it was a pain in the arse to fire the cables.
Being from the US my popular go to arcade center had star wars .. and I absolutely loved it. The sit down version in 1983 was its own private little world. The standup ones were also fine I can assure you no self respecting Arcade owner ever provided a chair or stool (I have a chair for my Arcade 1up). Then one day the star wars machine was gone and this wretched thing was all that remained. I liked certain aspects of it the AT-AT walkers were very cool .. but honestly the tie fighter battles and that idiotic asteroid sequence simply didn't do it for me. Basically I wanted my star wars machine back .. the one where you could play for an hour or more with one quarter (well when you were hot). This ESB monstrosity did not have anything like that. I think Atari learned its lesson with Star Wars when players could come in and tie up a machine for 1 - 3 hours for a quarter .. man that must have pissed off the owners. I had my game turned off via a "blown fuse once", the owner gave me back my quarter.
I love how they've got the kits and all you need to do is just flip a switch and you've got access to another game. I've yet to play a real Empire in an arcade unit, but I played the hell out of it when I first discovered MAME.
Good stuff, and I agree SW is a better game between the two. Still ESB has some quality graphics and sounds nonetheless. Keep it up.
Very cool. I've watched this a couple times because I wanted to see if I should pick up the Arcade1up Star Wars cabinet. I must admit, I like what I'm seeing of this game quite a bit. Thanks for the video!
OH MAN... the asteroid level is epic ! That's my favorite part ! I didn't play this in the arcade. I think I remember seeing it... ? ... no couldn't be... I'd have put a few rolls of quarters in it if I did. Now, I do very vividly remember putting those rolls of quarters in the Star Wars, seated cabinet and that was hellacool !
one of my earliest memories of the arcade was playing the sit down version of star wars, it was mind blowing to me at the time
Great setup, I have dreamed of having a gameroom like that since I was 4! Enjoy your vids, great work.
I put many, many quarters into Star Wars back in the day, and still play it when I can find a machine. I've only seen (and played) one ESB machine, ever.
Same here, and it was on a trip I took to Six Flags Over Texas back in the mid '80's. Never ran across it, again :(
Glad to see the videos coming fast and furious again. Even when the game sucks they're always fun to watch.
Great video, just embedding on my blog!
Top vid - thanks! ESB is my fav Star Wars game. My high score 356,816
I remember this being the loudest game in the arcade I used to frequent back in the 80's...you could hear it from half-way across the mall!
Great video! Thanks for sharing!
At the opening I actually thought luke was talking
2020 still your synopsis just saved me $200.00. I was about to get a kit because just picked up a SW UR it works great! Needs cabinet work! Art , electronics all super has 6100 but with the avg mods and what not. Picked it up from a guy in West, TX and he tells me it fell over on it's side 7 years ago when a fertilizer plant exploded! But when you was playing ESB I was getting excited with the new music and voices but then looking at the gameplay looked awful and I had forgot how much so. Think I will pass and just leave my baby as is! You summed it up great.
Wow!!! All those game consoles. You must have a HUGE electric bill, but lots of fun to play all those games on the real thing!
Thanks for this. I love the Star Wars Game.
Fond memories of Blackpool pleasure beach circa 1986
I have never seen this game in my area in the 80's or 90's. We only had the original Star Wars. Your demonstration shows us why the game wasn't nearly as popular or fun as the original, which is a makes it a missed opportunity.
2:27
That looks like a resurgence class star destroyer.
Sweet...
I always thought the AT ATs were called Imperial Walkers.
Kool Video, Thanks again for sharing! Whats your best advice to give a newbee.You look like your excellent at fixing these. I've been slowly getting into arcades. My hope is to learn and restore as many as i can. I know someone with a 2 1/2 car garage full of old arcade games. And he is ready to start moving them.So far i only have 2 arcades Mario Bros. which was a labor of love, and my all time favorite game.My other game Namco 20 year reunion.Both games its all been just cosmetic thus far.
The “umpire” strikes back? jk, I have an accent as well, albeit one of a different variety. Good video, freakin’ awesome arcade collection.
Maybe Empire would have been received better, if the last leg was skimming along the side of the Executor; give it a Death Star trench like feel, except maybe it moves.
great video john
Thanks, Jon! :)
wait ahhh its a vector game, right? with XY draw cursor controlled directly on the joke. So, how the hell the game does that brightness in the background when GAME OVER?
georgef551 actually explained this in a comment on the Star Wars review. The game effectively draws white lines that are just off the edge of the screen. What physically happens is that the electron beam scatters diffusely off the sides of the CRT and illuminates the whole screen.
*Holds nose* May the horse be wid you. Great stuff.
John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech or anyone reading, does anybody remember an arcade, space-fighter shooter where you play as the Empire and shoot at x-wings? I'm not old enough to remember those 80s arcade days, though I was a huge arcade kid in the twilight of arcades in the 90s, but I'm just wanting to know this game for personal reasons.
It looked like you were still in space (I guess snow wasn't technically possible back then).
You're looking in the thousands of dollars. It's a very sought after game, and even more if it's a cockpit model.
Darth Vader controls looks a lot like Knight Rider steering wheel.
Still I like the millennium falcon much better, since I never see the millennium falcon; do battle against the snow walkers. ❄️
Holy crap he said Matt is an official host now
guy talking really sounds like luke. You need to say you want some power converters
What kit do you think is better? The one by Clay Cowgill or the Vector Labs one?
Whilst I admit the game is not as good as Star Wars I think its better than the Return of the Jedi coin-op. Also the fact there isn't a big pay off does keep tonally with the film where the only real victory the Rebels can claim by film's end is that they are still alive to fight another day.
Let me turn off the lights. Said John
nice work johnny5
I have never even seen this Empire one, before. And I do agree with you. They kind of mashed up flight scenes with no rhythm. I'd have never guessed that second bit was the Falcoln. And, dodging asteroids? Shooting transmissions??? Outside of fighting AT-AT's & AT-ST's, (in a black landscape...vector can't do atmosphere, but still...) there is nothing memorable, here. Where as the original WAS a truly epic sequence that placed you in the middle of it all.
Funny taht tge home version was launched first an 3 years later they made an arcade
i love vectrex graphics
fucking paradise
Are arcade games and repair, More of a hobby for you ,or a job? just curious,,,Spencer
Just a note, but this game was released by Atari Games, not Atari Corp.
I went looking for this because someone else's game ended in the asteroid field. Lame ending. They should have done the giant asteroid and ended with the falcon "attacking" the star destroyer and landing on its back.
THIS IS ATARY THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK GAME, NO MAME!!
cool 3d space graphics
Never knew this existed.
I looking for plan of this joystick or the size of it please , thanks
First time I've seen this game in action. Glad I never put a quarter into one.
CLÁSICO!!
Lo quiero en Android!!
Saludos!
It's even different compared to 'Astron Belt.'
The original is better but then again it's one of the best arcade games ever made. The comparison isn't fair. ESB is an awesome game... but it's tough to be compared to a legend.
Vaguely remember this game.
I enjoyed all three of them, but in all honesty, I really enjoyed the Vector graphic games more than the Raster Scan "Return of the Jedi" one.
I''ve never seen this before.... How in the world did I miss this?
Agreed, not as good as the Original SW game, that was a Religious experience, this one looks cool enough tho...
Sweet!
i agree even if i never played one of these games but the first one seems to be way cooler =)
how do you afford all these machines?
Why didn't they do A return of the jedi one ❤️
In the 1980s, at the now defunct Waiwera Hot Pools complex in New Zealand, I played a Star Wars game called "Wild Fire". It was not the Empire Strikes back game, but xessjt some vkboktleg. Has rvoihbdgrdd thiS have?
Never seen this
you sound like fry from futurama
Sounds like Luke Skywalker
Asteroid fields as last stage of the game, that's kind of sucky
No surprise it didn't sell as well as star wars. It's just not as good.
Lol John it's pronounced ayyy teee ayyy teee not at at lol
Why bother moving the game industry on when more people are going backwards ..how do you kill an astroid ? Great so you payed shit loads for a game you don't like very much nice one
game lag to much and not good like starwars 1
extremely loud game
Men who wear jewelry are suspect. That thumb ring needs to go, dude.
+GozerTheGozerian suspect of what? Liking arcade games? ;)