From Dark Forces to Battlefront, Retro Gamer charts the history of Star Wars video games

Retro Gamer
(Image credit: Retro Gamer)

The latest issue of Retro Gamer celebrates the narrative-based video games that were responsible for continuing the Star Wars saga between each big trilogy. Numerous developers including Greg Zeschuk, Chris Foster, Phillipe Baude and Peter Dellekamp Siefert explain why titles like Dark Forces, Battlefront, Knights Of The Old Republic and Lethal Alliance were so important for filling in the gaps between films.

“Our team wanted the lightsaber combat to not just be a guy waving a stick around that one-shotted enemies,” Chris Foster told us about why they focused on lightsabers for Dark Forces’ sequel. “Previous games had shown us that it could almost be a living extension of the player – we wanted
it to be the ultimate combination of a weapon and an extension of the player’s will.” 

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Retro Gamer

(Image credit: Retro Gamer)

Phillipe Baude was involved with Star Wars: Lethal Alliance, the first game in the series to feature a non-human lead who teamed up with a helper droid. He wanted to prove the usefulness of droids in general, telling us, “When you look at the whole saga, the real hero might be R2-D2.” For Phillipe, Lethal Alliance was a way to prove that there was more to droids than simply hacking security.

In addition to our fantastic Star Wars coverage, issue 223 of Retro Gamer also has an in-depth look at The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past and we also celebrate Jet Set Radio Future, Smilebit’s gorgeous follow-up to its quirky Dreamcast gem. Other highlights include behind-the-scenes looks at the strategy hit Warhammer: Shadow Of The Horned Rat and Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2, which remain some of the best adventures you can have in the Forgotten Realms.

If that’s not enough for you, then how about articles on Benny Bunny, Pyjamarama, Skull & Crossbones, Madden NFL 96, Bloodshot, Batman and Magic: The Gathering?

Issue 222 of Retro Gamer is on sale now. Don’t miss it!

Darran Jones

Darran is so old that he used to play retro games when they were simply called games. A relic from the Seventies, he’s been professionally writing about retro gaming since 2003 and has been helming Retro Gamer since its resurrection in 2005, making him one of the UK’s longest-running editors of a games magazine. A keen board gamer, nature photographer and lover of movies, Darran’s writing credits include GamesTM, Play, SciFi-Now, Official Xbox Magazine, SFX, XBM, Cube, Total DVD, World Of Animals and numerous others. You’ll find him online discussing everything from bird photography to the latest 4K Arrow releases, as well as the ever-increasing prices of retro games.

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