Derived from an action scene in the second of a trilogy of little-known films about a budding Jedi Knight named Luke Skywalker, The Empire Strikes Back puts you in the cockpit of Luke's snowspeeder in a desperate bid to beat back huge Imperial Walkers - also known as AT-ATs - from destroying the Rebel back on the ice planet of Hoth. The AT-ATs' heavy artillery can seriously deplete your snowspeeder's shielding with a single hit, though you must score numerous direct hits before you can even begin to have the same effect on the onslaught of Imperial Walkers, let alone destroy one. Occasionally, a weakness will be exposed in the "neck" region of the huge mechanical monsters, and you'll have a few seconds in which you may take advantage of that and blow the machine away. And even less frequently, the triumphant strains of John Williams' Star Wars theme - as squeaked out by the Atari 2600's limited sound facility - will signal that the Force is with you, rendering you invincible for a short period of time.

You're going to need it. (Parker Brothers, 1982)

The Empire Strikes Back is just one in a series of excellent Star Wars-themed game cartridges released around this time by Parker Brothers (other titles included Star Wars: The Arcade Game, an excellent adaptation of the Atari vector arcade game, and the intriguing Return of the Jedi: Death Star Attack). Relentless, fun, and faithful to the movies to which they paid homage, Parker's games were also excellent, even on the Atari 2600. I heartily recommend cranking up the soundtrack to The Empire Strikes Back while playing this one - especially, naturally, the Battle in the Snow cue!

Rating:  Four quarters - a couple of minor irritants, but mostly a compelling and addictive game.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster