Star Wars had its humble beginnings as a weird space opera few wanted to take a risk on, but it eventually grew into a massive multi-media empire. In addition to the films, TV shows, novels, and comic books, video games are a key part of the Star Wars franchise. These days, fans enjoy elaborate titles like Star Wars Battlefront II and Jedi: Fallen Order, which are part of the same canon as the other mediums and do their part to enrich the lore.
But much like Star Wars itself, its origins in gaming were a little more modest. During the original trilogy’s 1980s heyday, Atari produced an arcade game based on the movies, and now it’s come home. Arcade1UP’s Star Wars home arcade game is a nice blast from the past, though those who grew up with the original will likely get more mileage out of it.
The machine comes with the Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi games built in. In Star Wars, players pilot Luke Skywalker’s X-wing, blasting TIE fighters and then flying through the Death Star trench. The Empire Strikes Back is multi-faceted, starting at the Battle of Hoth (first you blow up Imperial probe droids and then move on to knocking down AT-ATs) before transitioning to the Millennium Falcon’s daring chase through the asteroid field. Return of the Jedi recreates the iconic speeder chase and then players assume control of the Falcon as it destroys the second Death Star. The machine also features a light-up marquee, full color display, and a riser so players can be at eye level with the screen. Thankfully, there’s a volume control as well.
In the moment, these three games are fairly entertaining, and there’s some fun to be had smashing buttons and shooting enemy ships. However, due to nature of this being an arcade machine, younger fans may find that it doesn’t have much replay value after the first couple of times through (unless they’re into retro gaming). The three games are repetitive, and though there is the option to increase the difficulty level and make things more challenging, even that only goes so far. Older Star Wars fans, who grew up playing these games at the arcade, will probably find more enjoyment in the home machine thanks to the blast of nostalgia it provides. That is something to consider before purchasing it, since the machine costs $499.99. Unless one feels they’ll get regular use out of it, that’s a steep price for a game some may consider nothing more than a fleeting time killer.
Another factor to keep in mind is the machine is not assembled out of the box. It comes in several pieces and has to be put together, which is a fairly lengthy process that essentially requires multiple people to complete. The machine is also quite large, measuring 5-feet with the riser, so gamers will have to be sure there’s a space in their house where it can comfortably stand. How patient one is and the size of their living space could influence whether or not they ultimately purchase the machine. If there’s room for it and it’s something that would be used frequently, then the inconvenience of constructing the machine could ultimately be worth it, as the machine will pay for itself with hours of entertainment. If one’s a little cramped or doubts they’d fire the machine up consistently, the machine may not be the wisest investment.
Arcade1UP demonstrated amazing attention to detail when designing this product. The machine is stylish and looks great when fully assembled. But as for the games themselves, that all depends on one’s tastes and sensibilities. Modern gamers who are used to extremely photorealistic graphics, a wide variety of levels, and different gameplay modes will probably lose interest in the arcade games relatively quickly. The target audience for the Arcade1UP Star Wars machine consists of retro gamers and older fans of the franchise who have found memories spending days at the arcade blasting TIE fighters. For those people, this is probably a dream come true.
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Arcade1UP’s Atari Star Wars machine is now available for purchase.
