Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a Nintendo 64 launch title based on the novel of the same name. The story takes place between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi", and follows bounty hunter Dash Rendar as he works alongside the Rebels. It was one of the first games to use the now too-common Hoth battle scene, snow speeder tow cables and all.

The game played linearly. There are about a dozen levels, which could be replayed over again by selecting it from the mission select screen. You can only unlock the next mission when you beat the latest one. The missions come in a few different flavors. The most common is the on-foot, third-person shooter level. Here, you control Dash directly, using your blaster and other weapons like seeker missiles and disruptors. No lightsabers, though, he's no Jedi.

The other mission type are the space shooter levels. They did not play with the accuracy or control of the future Rogue Squadron games, but they were passable. Aiming was often difficult, but Dash's ship was equipped with heat seeking missiles. There is also one speeder bike mission, different from the rest. In it, you ride the speeder bike through a linear course in Tatooine, racing bad guys on similar bikes to Luke's place. You have to ram your bike sideways into them so that they hit the wall and blow up.

In between missions, the story is conveyed through painted stills. There are also two endings, depending on the outcome of the last mission.