Summary
Excellent updated versions of the old classics with some technical issues and a lack of most of the original music.
The Good
The implementation of the XvT engine to X-Wing and TIE Fighter is flawless. The graphics is the only thing changed, so the starfighters will still handle the same way they did in the originals, and not the way they did in XvT. The missions will be the same difficulty and play the same way you remember them. The game also uses the same rousing soundtrack as XvT for both X-Wing and TIE Fighter, which is a mixed blessing. No one can deny the power of John Williams' score, but it would have been nice to have had an option to listen to the original game soundtracks as well.
Thankfully, they have also removed that annoying "feature" in the original X-Wing that forced you to restore your pilot every time he died or was captured by the Empire, taking away all your points as a consequence.
The Bad
First of all, the game has some issues running in newer Windows versions, such as XP and 2000. The only way I could get it to run in XP was to disable the 3D hardware support. This made the game look less nice, of course, but it's still a step up from the graphics of the original games. It doesn't look like LucasArts is about to release a patch to fix this problem either.
While TIE Fighter was left untouched aside from the new engine and music, X-Wing received a few more changes than that, and many are for the worse in my opinion. All the rooms you could move around in, such as the Independence's concourse, the briefing room and so on, have been "updated" with SVGA versions. I'm not sure if these came from the Mac version of the game, but somehow they manage to feel a lot colder and sterile than the original locales, and that certainly isn't helped by the inexplicable removal of ALL music from those same areas, leaving music only in-flight and in all the cutscenes. This is annoying and takes away some of that wonderful atmosphere the original enjoyed, though it doesn't have any affect on the gameplay itself.
The Bottom Line
Well worth the money, there's no question about that. X-Wing and TIE Fighter, along with all their addons that naturally come included in this package, must have upwards to 200 missions combined. X-Wing Trilogy, which was released two years after the Collector Series, also includes X-Wing Alliance, so unless you already have the latter, that would be the bundle to get. Either way, these games should be in the collection of every self-respecting space sim and/or Star Wars fan.
