Let The Wookie Win When You Play The Star Wars Arcade Game

It’s an old game, but it still checks out.

by Rich Watson 

Unlike many children of my generation, I had no obsession with the Star Wars movies growing up. I saw Return of the Jedi when it came out, but for reasons that baffle me to this day, it never caught on with me the way it did with others. 

Today, Star Wars is a billion-dollar, multimedia mega-franchise owned by the largest entertainment corporation in the world. Video games inspired by the movies have long been an integral aspect of that franchise. One of the first did grab my attention.

The Music in Rastan Made You Want to Crush Your Enemies and See Them Driven Before You

To this fifteen-year-old at the time, this fantasy game with an exciting score was what was best in life.

by Rich Watson 

The 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian, an adaptation of the series of pulp novels by Robert E. Howard, was a sensation during the eighties. The character appeared in other media and inspired spin-offs and imitations.

Rastan was a video game set in a Conan-like fantasy setting. In addition to its superlative graphics, what set it apart from other games was its sophisticated music.

Gyruss Upped the Awesome Level of Space Invaders By Playing In the Round

This early video arcade game wed the Space Invaders template to the mobility and dimension of Tempest for a more exciting shoot-em-up—set to Bach.

by Rich Watson

I first played video games in the mid-eighties, during junior high school. Enticed by alien adventures in cartoons and comic books, among the first games that attracted me were variations on Space Invaders: Galaxian, Phoenix, Galaga, Gorf. Kill the armada of alien spaceships before they kill you. Simple.

Then in 1983, a new space game provided a greater challenge: it allowed movement in three hundred sixty degrees.