
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform PC Genre Flight Combat Sim Publisher LucasArts Developer Totally Games ESRB E (Everyone) Released Q1 2001

- Get three great games X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and X-Wing Alliance - Sound is still amazing after all these years, greatest gaming music ever! - Classic games stabilized to run in Windows 95/98/ME platform

- Nothing new for previous owners of series (other than windows stability) - Really dated game play in X-Wing and Tie Fighter - Doesn't faithfully follow the books or movies

Review: Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (Playstation 2) Review: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (XBox) Review: Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (XBox)
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X-Wing Trilogy

Score: 9.0 / 10

In 1993, LucasArts released what was arguably the most revolutionary flight simulator for the PC situated in the Star Wars universe. That game was X-Wing, and it is a miracle that I got through my high school chemistry class that year considering how much time I spent playing that classic. The premise of the game is that you are a pilot for the Rebellion against the Empire - as a rookie, you are given easier but important missions to help bring along your flight skills until you are thrown headlong into the front lines of combat. The learning curve on this game is a tad on the steep side - if you don't learn to dispatch the enemy efficiently and protect your escorts, you'll be flying that mission again really soon. To deaden the effects of some of the more trying levels (see alcoholism, headache-migraine, infuriation) the updated version has an alternative setting which includes alternative versions of the most difficult levels in the game. For the Star Wars fanatics, the time frame is roughly leading up to the and after the destruction of the first Death Star. With the large number of campaigns, you will see the conflict from all sides - the direct engagement of enemy forces, the collection of data, the subterfuge necessary to defeat a superior enemy and so on and so forth.

After X-Wing, it was generally believed that LucasArts was going to have a difficult act to follow but they did something for which I will be eternally grateful, they created a game that just blew past the original. 1995 saw the release of Tie Fighter, and the following drop in my studies, where for once you get to be the bad guy. The game takes place where its' predecessor left off, after the rebellion defeat at Hoth. You start out the game as a lowly perimeter flight officer at a nearby space station and quickly you are placed on the front line of the war and evacuation of Hoth. By flying well, you are moved into a combat rotation and eventually become an important part of the comings and goings of the internal politicking in the Empire. Unlike X-Wing, Tie Fighter emphasizes the internal struggles of a super power expending energy on internal fighting - one campaign involves the destruction of a defecting Admiral, the next on putting down a Civil War between the Emperor and a failed coup d'etat; so in effect you spend as much time fighting the rebellion as you do opportunistic rivals. The true stars of this title are the game play and the interweaving story lines which just draw you in and don't let you go.

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Recovering from the failed multiplayer experiment of that was X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, LucasArts released X-Wing Alliance by returning to basics and keeping the keys which made X-Wing and Tie Fighter popular, great game play paired with a good story line. You play as Ace Azzameen, a young pilot and a member of an important trading family/business - as your family is convicted of conspiring with the enemy, the Empire forfeits on all

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your properties and your family is forced to flee into the Alliance. With your skills as a pilot, you are sent into the combat ranks while keeping your connection to your family. The game play breaks down into two distinct levels: missions for the rebellion and family mission. Rebellion missions involve the build-up to the destruction of the second Death Star, where you do get to fly the Millenium Falcon into the super structure. The family missions are ones either protecting family interests, family members, or earning revenge on your sworn enemies, the filthy Viraxo family.

All the games share three things in common: the in-flight music is spectacular, the game play is amazing, and each game was revolutionary for its release time. The games are stabilized in the Windows operating system - a true bonus so that you don't have to keep your old 486 on life support to play these great games. The detractions are cosmetic, purists are annoyed at the deviation from novels (go back and play Magic the Gathering on your computer jackass) and the games look exactly like the collectors edition CD's that were released (all add-on packs are there). Although I would have liked a revamping of the two original games with the engine used in X-Wing Alliance, it probably wouldn't be profitable or as fun to replay the originals (like I have been). For those who loved the original games or missed out on one or more of these great games go to your local software retailer and pick up a copy.

- Tazman