Star Wars: TIE Fighter

The Good
I got this game in Christmas '96 when I was a whole lot younger, and it's something I'll always remember. I'd wanted this game for 2 years, having obtained the demo version from a magazine. It was worth the wait (although I wish I hadn't had to), and I ended up ruining that Christmas by playing it the entire day! Didn't get far, of course. It betters X-Wing in a fair few aspects (I got this before X-Wing), and it is very appealing to take the side of the ''bad guys'', so to speak. You get a far wider range of craft selection in this game, from the standard TIE Fighter to the futuristic Missile Boat. The new speech effects in-game are enjoyable and provide yet another sense of "realism" to this fantasy universe.

The Bad
I feel the game tagged off a bit when you begin to fight traitors in every mission. It gets fairly confusing fighting craft that appear to be one of yours, yet you end up getting a laser going straight through your engine.

The sound effects in this game are relatively poor, apart from the voices. I have to say I much preferred X-Wings 'classic Star Wars' sound effects. The game can also crash, and the sound gets stuck, resulting in a required reboot.

The Bottom Line
There are bad things, as with many games, but this game is brilliant. I recommend the Collectors Edition for people who have not yet obtained this game. The 'more realistic' version that comes with X-Wing/TIE FIghter and X-Wing VS Tie Fighter Limited Edition is not worth the hassle. It requires a fairly fast pc with at least Win95 to run properly, which is a very unlikely combination in this day and age, so I strongly advise getting the original editions.

This game defined Star Wars for me, and it's not too late for it to do that to you.

The Good
More laser blasting, high speed chasing, dog fightin' than you could ever ask for. Wonderful graphics, amazing sound track, and a whole lotta fun.

The Bad
Only that you aren't fighting for the Rebels.

The Bottom Line
Another space shooter well worth your money from Lucas Arts.

The Good
What happens when you combine LucasArts' art talent, music staff, programmers and producers? This happens. You get another classic. A classic with a movie license. Normally an irony beyond compare, it's proven completely wrong here.

TIE Fighter put Star Wars on the space sim map. Heck I think it was the first good Star Wars game made. X-Wing was far too hard for most people, TIE Fighter fixed that. TIE Fighter's graphics engine was fast, detailed, and 3D (unlike Wing Commander back then.) The characters were pulled from the best series of Star Wars books ever (Tim Zahn's.)

I need to put some emphasis on the soundtrack. It has to be some of the most creatively engineered MIDI ever. Michael Land said in an interview that TIE Fighter was one of his most difficult challenges. He, Peter McConnel and Clint Bajakian wanted to give the Star Wars soundtrack a little spice, a 'rock'n'roll' attitude. In my opinion they pulled it off marvelously. The IMuse music system also got a workout, giving the player music which changed style according to the action. I think the only issue with the music is that you need a high end DOS MIDI card to hear it properly. If they had been able to make it streaming digital music instead of MIDI I think this soundtrack would be on CD.

The Bad
I always thought it kinda portrayed you as the invulnerable TIE pilot. A single TIE Fighter placed in the right spot could destroy a Star Destroyer. That's pretty unrealistic. But, it's fun! The gameplay may come off as too easy to some but remember, you ARE having FUN!

The Bottom Line
The classic of classic space sims. It's Star Wars. It's the good 'ol LucasArts from when they were an unbeatable development house. It's FUN!