A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...you mean to tell me there's someone out there who doesn't know this story?! You're an intrepid X-Wing pilot participating in the last-ditch Rebel attempt to destroy the Death Star - before it destroys the Rebel base on Yavin III. TIE fighters try to intercept you, but you can destroy them (as well as use your own lasers to blast their incoming fire out of the sky). Then you move in to attack the Death Star itself, with its incredibly hazardous system of gunnery towers and bunkers. (Parker Brothers, 1984)

Just think of it as the original X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. In one of the strangest licensing deals in early home video game history, Parker Brothers snagged the rights to adapt Atari's Star Wars arcade game for Atari's own home video game systems. (If you're wondering how this worked, it's because Parkers had the rights to all home video games based on the Star Wars properties - so Atari couldn't do its own cartridge version.)

Though the game does a surprisingly good job of adapting the arcade game for the 2600, it falls victim to the most annoying of 2600 glitches - everything, and I do mean everything, flickers. And something must be said for the arcade game's unique flight controller; the standard 2600 joysticks just really didn't feel right for this game.

Rating:  Three quarters - worth repeat play, but with some annoying features that might alienate less patient arcade veterans.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster