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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

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Now transform your Star Wars games into a new adventure. The action is intensified in this conversion kit for your original Star Wars cabinet from Atari. Take the battle to the frozen planet of Hoth as Luke and his rebel squadron takes down the Empire's ambush assault! Star Wars: The Empire St...

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Developer
Atari Games

Released on
1985

Size
1 Player

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Now transform your Star Wars games into a new adventure. The action is intensified in this conversion kit for your original Star Wars cabinet from Atari. Take the battle to the frozen planet of Hoth as Luke and his rebel squadron takes down the Empire’s ambush assault!

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a color vector game with four different scenarios per level 1 Probots, 2 Imperial Walkers, 3 Tie fighters, 4 Asteroid field. The game uses several music and dialogue samples from the movie of the same name.

The player flys a either a Snowspeeder or the Millenium Falcon through four stages to complete each level. During each stage, the player can earn a letter to spell “JEDI” which for a limited time will destroy all enemy shots the moment they are fired which you receive points for, plus a set of stripes next to your name if you make the high score list.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Overview & History

Released in 1985 by Atari, Inc., Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a classic arcade rail shooter that serves as a spiritual successor to the massively popular 1983 vector-graphics *Star Wars* game. Eschewing the first-person cockpit perspective of its predecessor, this iteration transitions players into a vibrant, raster-based third-person perspective. Utilizing a custom sit-down or upright cabinet equipped with a flight yoke, the game plunges players directly into the iconic events of Episode V. Designed by a team at Atari Ireland, the game faithfully recreates the harrowing atmospheric battle on the frozen wastes of Hoth and the treacherous escape through the Asteroid Field, all while utilizing digitized character sprites and scaling background graphics that pushed 1985 arcade hardware to its visual limits.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The game is divided into distinct, escalating stages that capture the tension of the Rebel Alliance's desperate flight from the Galactic Empire. Players begin immediately in the cockpit of a T-47 Snowspeeder, skimming low across the snow-covered plains of Hoth. The primary objective is surviving waves of Imperial AT-ST scout walkers and towering AT-AT armored transport behemoths. Unlike standard shoot-'em-ups, destroying an AT-AT requires a tactical approach: players must repeatedly blast the walker's vulnerable neck area until its shields drop, prompting the onboard computer to signal the deployment of the iconic tow cable. Circling the lumbering beast's legs successfully trips the mechanical giant, sending it crashing into the ice. Following the Hoth sequence, the gameplay shifts seamlessly into a perilous 3D forward-scrolling tunnel level. Piloting the Millennium Falcon, players must actively dodge spinning space rocks, execute evasive barrel rolls, and blast incoming TIE Fighters while navigating the dense interiors of a colossal asteroid belt. The game ends in a dramatic confrontation with Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, testing the player's reflexes and shield management to the absolute limit.