INTRODUCTION
It is a dark time for the Rebellion as the Imperial forces have invaded the secret base on Hoth, Boba Fett has taken Han Solo captive, and our favorite farm boy-turned-Jedi used up all his Sponge Bob Band-aids. That’s when Nintendo jumped into the 64-bit world of the 90’s with this showstopper, Shadows of the Empire! The first Expanded Universe game console action with new characters and new plots awaits you on the Nintendo N-64! So get into mercenary mode to join Sand Snipe and I as we give Shadows of the Empire a thorough inspection.

DIFFICULTY
WedgeWannaBe: As I had been playing only Sega Genesis up until I first laid eyes on SOTE, the controls took quite a while to get used to. Eventually, I learned to appreciate the awkward controller and funky camera. After a while, they both grew on me and I settled in for those long Friday nights with a pizza.

The game itself was a challenge as well in that you never really knew what was going to happen next. An ice gorge appearing underneath you inside Echo Base or a hovertrain suddenly sinking into the toxic waste are examples of how you had to stay on your toes and keep your eyes peeled. I found that the toughest aspect of the game was dealing with Boba Fett as the boss at the end of the Gall Spaceport level. He was by far the hardest boss to conquer, which was a breath of fresh air after easily knocking out IG-88 and the AT-ST from previous levels. To take down Boba Fett was an accomplishment that took true concentration when firing and maneuvering with your jet pack. You have to adopt a “shoot & scoot” strategy to pull this one off. One small slip though and you either got fried or ended up falling to your death. Neither earned you any bonus points in the game.

The overall difficulty of the game can be selected when setting up your profile. Various levels of difficulty are offered with Jedi being the most difficult. After beating the game at any other level, you need to just jump up to Jedi for a true challenge, as a majority of the game’s difficulty is not skilled based, but rather quick reactions to spontaneous events. Once you know what is going to happen next, you’ve figured out the majority of the game.

Sand Snipe: The only hard part in the game was one of the bosses. I had no trouble at all with the Stormtroopers and Wampas. The controls can be a little sensitive, but you will get used to it. The obstacles aren’t hard but one puzzle in the game is challenging. In the puzzle you have to slide the security toggle switches over to make doors correctly open and close. The cards are hard to find and it gets tougher after that. After awhile you have to position them until all the doors you want open are open, it all depends on luck and I didn’t have it. Boba Fett was definitely the only hard boss, especially when I was shooting him at point blank range and his hit points weren’t dropping. As for IG-88, he wasn’t that hard, though he intimidates you at first. IG-88 starts out having the edge by being strong and having rapid firepower, but if you use strategy and constantly use the hit-and-run technique you can overcome him easily. However, if you set the game difficulty higher than Medium, it really gets tough. Everything you face becomes that much more intelligent and deadly.

GAME PLAY
WedgeWannaBe: The game follows a plot set in the Expanded Universe where your character is a mercenary working for the Rebel Alliance. You have several objectives to pursue as you try to track down the captive Han Solo and keep the other heroes of the Rebellion out of harms way. Along for the ride is your trusty droid co-pilot Leebo who offers suggestions and guidance throughout your quest. New villains are introduced as the Black Sun criminal organization slides on to the stage. You also have the chance to try out some new vehicles and visit some interesting spots that definitely aren’t catering to the tourism industry. The swoop chase and flying Dash’s ship, the Outrider, offer Star Wars fans a chance to partake in some high adrenalin flying. While the Outrider is a sweet ship to fly, the swoop chase only leaves you as irritated as a bad case of poison ivy and with several less lives then when you started the level. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy trying something new, but I definitely preferred one to the other.

In addition to the missions that involved some flying by the seat of your pants, you also have several levels that require you to strap on your Nike’s and hunt down the bad guys the old fashioned way. It is here that you can switch the camera setting to choose between stationary first person, third-person, or birds-eye view. I found the third-person perspective to be the best when tackling these levels. While on foot, you do have the luxury of selecting different weapon modes for your blaster. I really enjoyed the Seeker mode, but found the others to be less than useful. Overall, the plot is a solid one that keeps you interested throughout the entire game.

Sand Snipe: WedgeWannaBe covered just about everything. You play the role of Dash Rendar, a mercenary working with the Alliance to find Han Solo and protect the Rebellion. Leebo sort of helps you a lot along the way. Too bad he never picks up a Blastech E-11 and joins you in battle! Ever hear of an assault droid? Dash’s ship is the Outrider. While it looks downright pimp, the missions with it suck big time. There are only two missions in which you grab the controls of the Outrider. In the first mission, your droid takes the cockpit controls as you man the gun turret to shoot down the attacking TIE’s like annoying seagulls. If I’m looking for a turkey shoot, I can go and rent Jedi Starfighter. In the other mission, you start off doing the same type of space combat, but against Prince Xizor’s fleet. The last part of that level, you take the reins of the Outrider to blow up the core of the Black Sun Skyhook space station. It’s not just the Outrider’s flying missions though that bothered me. I’ve just never been a fan of Snowspeeder flying in any Star Wars game. In the opening level, you find yourself in a Snowspeeder defending Echo Base against the Imperial invasion. This mission sucks even more than the two Outrider missions in that. In this mission you go through three stages. You start off by taking out Imperial Probe Droids floating across the frozen tundra. The second wave gives you a little variety by adding in the AT-ST walkers. Do not attack these things head on or you’ll end up as a crispy critter. The final two stages incorporate the fierce AT-AT walkers into the fray. The best way to take these behemoths out is to take out the supporting AT-ST’s and then go for the legs. Overall, the stages are pretty boring and trying to aim accurately is like trying to keep Randy Moss quiet. Beating these missions is worth the plot information though as the storyline wouldn’t make sense without them. Maybe I’m young and harder to entertain, but much of this game just didn’t impress me.

As WedgeWannaBe said most of the missions you have to strap on your Nike’s. I liked the ground missions a lot better than the flying ones. Your arsenal on hand for these missions is pretty good and rivals that of a small army’s. Your start off weapon, a blaster much like Han Solo’s favorite sidearm, is decent in that at least it never runs out of ammo. The seeker missiles power-ups are more powerful, but don’t help too much unless you have a good quantity of them. The flamethrower power-up isn’t any good at all. It isn’t my style to shoot enemies point blank and with flamethrower you have to get up close and personal. While it is strong, you never really have a chance to get close enough to use it. The pulse cannon is another story all together. I really love this weapon! It is as strong as hell and can easily take down any boss with this beauty. The disrupter is no push over either. With a little accurate shooting, this is can be the best weapon in your bag of tricks. One hit and it could take out a quarter of a boss’ strength. Last but definitely least is the stunner power-up. Even though its energy beam looks cool, it is pretty much useless. Also included in your bag of tricks is a jetpack. It’s only used in some missions and operates much like the jetpack in the video game Star Wars Bounty Hunter. With the jetpack you can hover or blast skyward. However, watch your indicators as it runs out of fuel after awhile. The upside to that issue is that it naturally replenishes after a short time. Its best feature though is that you can go underwater water with it! Low on air, just blast to the surface and take in a big gulp. Besides all of this, there are also bonus lives to be found and challenge points, collect enough challenge points and you earn extra lives at the end of the mission.

AUDIO
WedgeWannaBe: Definitely nothing earth shattering here as this was back in the days when MTV actually played music videos and video games had written text versus animation to tell the story line. Of course, some of you may be too young to remember the release of this game or the MTV gone bad issue. The special effects are pretty comparable to the old X-wing series of flight simulators on the PC. Reflecting on days long past, these were pretty good for the day and definitely beat the pants off of the music from Sega Genesis’ Sonic the Hedgehog. Once again, while not mind-blowing, the sound effects were cool and brought the scenes to life. To say that it was a drastic improvement over previous Star Wars games would be a serious understatement.

Sand Snipe: This was very annoying and a definite negative aspect to the game. I didn’t really like the music and the blaster sounds were mediocre at best. After awhile, I actually found myself putting on my headphones and listening to my own selection of music. Rock and roll really does the trick when you are killing Stormtroopers, as just the sound of their groaning kind of makes you laugh.

VIDEO
WedgeWannaBe: If you were to compare the AT-AT walkers from SOTE against those in Battlefront, you would drop your jaw in shock. It is like night and day with the improvements that have been made in 3-D graphics. However, when this gaming system launched, it was the hot item on the street and raising some eyebrows with the new 64-bit graphics. I distinctly remember being left in awe as I flew above the frozen plains of Hoth and nearly forgot to start shooting. I can speak from experience in stating that spectators don’t last long when General Veers’ boys are gunning for you. Overall, this game’s graphics offered the same eye-catching effects and 3-D objects as those that only the PC gamers had been able to enjoy up to that point. This was one of the games that started to level the playing field between gaming consoles and PC-based games.

Sand Snipe: While the graphics aren’t anything special by today’s standards, for the time they were great. I remember playing this when it first came out and loving the Outrider’s sleek look. It was great for its time but I was never in left in awe by it. I felt that Hoth was one of the weaker environments, while I liked the space combat settings better. I didn’t have too much time to look at the stars with Miss Cleo though as I was too busy shooting either TIE’s or the Black Sun StarViper starfighters.

MULTIPLAYER GAME PLAY
WedgeWannaBe: While this SOTE doesn’t offer you a multiplayer mode due to when it was released, you don’t really need it to enjoy this game. Sit back and pop some Snowtroopers or do the hula dance on the hovertrain. Either way you’ll be as entertained as watching Snipe go to Driver’s Training!

Sand Snipe: Multiplayer would have been fun but I don’t know where they could of done with it anyway. They would have to make a whole new game mode to make a multiplayer. The game is still fun without multiplayer.

REPLAY VALUE
WedgeWannaBe: The replay value of this game goes through the freaking roof. Even now when the Xbox and PS2 rule the roost, I still take this game out to play and relive the college years. The Gall Spaceport and the two Hoth levels are amongst my favorites. Wrapping up the AT-AT’s while trying to beat my previous level completion time is always a blast. The awesome camera work and unique storyline always draw me back in as well. Overall, I’d say that few games retain as much replay value as Shadows of The Empire.

Sand Snipe: I totally disagree. I found only one thing to do after I beat it and it was to beat it on medium to see an extra ending scene. After that, I went on to playing the next hot game on my list. It also says you can get a game hint if you get all the challenge points but by this time I can go on any cheat website and find codes. Overall, I’d say a lot of games retain more replay value than this.

FINAL THOUGHTS
WedgeWannaBe: I’m not sure what Snipe has been sniffing, but I can safely say that this is by far my favorite Star Wars gaming console release ever. This beauty is the only reason to keep your old N-64 around and hooked up to your entertainment system. If you foolishly got rid of either your system or this game, get your butt on down to Gamestop and pick them up. For just a few bucks, you can give yourself hours and hours of entertainment. I give Shadows of the Empire five stars!

Sand Snipe: For me, this game is no match for Republic Commando or KOTOR, but it might beat Battlefront if you can’t play on the Internet. The game play is fun but I feel it is too short. I beat it in three days with little playing time and effort. Still, it’s worth paying five bucks for a used one eBay.

GRADING SCALE

SCREENSHOTS
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