Star Wars Computer Games

There were a number of official (and unofficial) Star Wars Computer Games released on the ZX Spectrum (and other retro computers) over the years.

Some good, some bad, some truly awful - this article is an attempt to round as many of them up as possible.

So, let's start with some unofficial Star Wars Computer Games that made it on to the ZX Spectrum (and also the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST) - with a little selection of Star Wars Spectrum Games.

Sadly only one of these was given the 128 treatment (Return Of The Jedi)- so this is the only one of these games that features any AY Music or sound effects.

A long time ago on some computers far, far away in the memory...

3D Star Wars
3D Star Wars from Custom Cables International.

The software house with the strange name (and strange logo) released an even stranger 'Star Wars' game.

I'm afraid this one goes down as an all time turkey - even for 1983 when it was released.

The instructions added to the hilarity with statements such as 'The graphical effects make it a truly 3 dimensional mind-blowing game. There are meteorite storms which really do appear to be coming at you. Your proton bombs do seem to be travelling off in the distance'....

The inlay even referred to the hero of the game as Luke Clearthinker (honest!) yet within the game he was called Luke Skywalker. Bizarre, just bizarre.

3D Starstrike
Now we're talking!

3D Starstrike from Realtime Software was basically a copy of the ultra famous, ultra popular and extremely Star Wars arcade game.

Back in 1984 you could basically take inspiration from a game and release it under a different title. Well, Realtimes first foray into the ZX Spectrum gaming market was a superb effort.

3D Starstrike was (at the time) an excellent 'conversion' (or clone) of the Star Wars game and is actually reviewed in depth at our brother blog.

One of the better Star Wars computer games on any home computer.

Let's start weak and hopefully finish strongly...

Star Wars Droids

Star Wars droids was released in 1988 by good old Mastertronic.

This game was aimed more at children than the serious games player. Featuring everyones favourite droid double act C3PO and R2D2, the game involved ensuring our hero's escaped from a prison planet. With clunky controls, poor sub-games and repetetive screens, Star Wars Droids really was one to avoid.

Star Wars
Domark grabbed the official license for Star Wars computer games, and started off (unsurprisingly) with Star Wars. Released in 1987, Domark (and Vektor Grafix) managed to create a very good conversion of the Star Wars arcade game on the ZX Spectrum.

The only downside to the game was the fact the Realtime had already created a very similar (and very good) version in 1984 with 3D Starstrike, so by 1987 it came a little late. The game is reviewed in depth at our brother blog

The Empire Strikes Back
Domark (and Vektor Grafix) converted the official Empire Strikes Back arcade game in 1988. Once again it was a pretty impressive and faithful conversion of the wire-frame style arcade game. Fans of Star Wars (and Star Wars computer games) loved it and it did well. The game is reviewed in depth on our brother blog.

Return of the Jedi
Busy Domark got round to the final game in the original trilogy in 1989. In a departure from the vector graphics and 3D, the final game went all isometric on us.

Some gamers missed the traditional wireframe style of gameplay, but the arcade game was popular nonetheless. The game is reviewed at brother blog - ZX Spectrum Games.

Death Star Battle
Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle was released by Parker Software in 1984. Popular on atari machines, the converion to the ZX Spectrum didn't quite work.

The gameplay was pretty basic, as was the sound and graphics.

Have a look at ZX Spectrum Games for more information

It should also be noted that Parker Software worked on a version of the original Star Wars game which was never released. Prototype ROM's for a Spectrum emulator can be obtained at World Of Spectrum.

So that concludes our round-up of Star Wars computer games for the ZX Spectrum. It's funny to think that these humble games led to more recent titles for the PC such as Rebel Assault 1 & 2 and Rogue Squadron.

The excellent Rogue Squadron 2 for the GameCube obviously took inspiration from the original 1983 arcade game and brought it up to date superbly.

With the Dark Forces titles doing well and various Star Wars computer games being released all the time, we'll probably be looking back in another 25 years time at those!