Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

aka: Star Wars: Teikoku no Kage
Moby ID: 3105
Nintendo 64 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire tells the story of Prince Xizor's quest to replace Darth Vader as the leader of the Sith, and wipe out the Rebels' chances of victory. The only man that can stop him is the interstellar bounty hunter Dash Rendar. The game is based on the novel of the same name, with locations including ice planet Hoth, Mos Eisley and the sewers of Imperial City, all in full 3D.

Levels each have very different objectives, ranging from piloting snowspeeders on Hoth and racing speeder bikes on Tatooine to shooting stormtroopers and droids on foot throughout the galaxy. Dash primarily uses a blaster with unlimited ammo, but can also find more powerful weapons with limited ammunition. Each level has optional "challenge points" that are hidden throughout the level, and finding all of them will unlock a cheat dependent on which difficulty setting the save file is on.

Spellings

  • スター・ウォーズ 帝国の影 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Nintendo 64 version)

139 People (88 developers, 51 thanks) · View all

Game Designer
Lead Artist
Lead Animator
Project Leader
Senior Programmer
Technical Lead/Programmer
Programmer/Lycanthrope
Aesthetic Technology/Robin's Dad
Level Designers
3D Artists
3D Animator
Texture Artist
3D/Background Artist
Storyboard Artist
Music Editor/Sound Quality Control
Sound Designers
Composers
Lead Tester
Production Manager
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 51 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 76 ratings with 11 reviews)

A Classic Star Wars Adventure

The Good
-

  • Immersive Star Wars experience: deserves praise for its ability to transport players into the Star Wars universe, with its captivating narrative and familiar locations.

  • Varied gameplay: The game successfully blends different gameplay mechanics, allowing players to engage in thrilling third-person shooting, intense space battles, and even vehicle segments, providing a diverse and enjoyable experience.

  • Authentic atmosphere: Captures the essence of the Star Wars universe, thanks to its iconic characters, memorable soundtrack, and impressive attention to detail.

  • Engaging storyline: Shadows of the Empire expands the Star Wars saga, introducing new characters and filling gaps in the narrative, which keeps players invested in the game's events.

  • Nostalgic charm: Players who grew up with the game on the N64 will fondly remember Shadows of the Empire for its nostalgic appeal, making it a beloved classic among Star Wars and retro gaming enthusiasts.

    The Bad

  • Dated visuals: The game's graphics have not aged well. With polygonal character models and low-resolution textures that can be jarring by today's standards, it isn't looking its best.

  • Controls can be challenging: The controls can feel clunky or unresponsive at times, which can hinder gameplay enjoyment. Camera controls also are missing/lacking.

  • Limited replayability: Despite its strong narrative and engaging gameplay, Shadows of the Empire offers limited replay value once the main story is completed, as there are few additional incentives or alternative paths to explore.

  • Inconsistent Difficulty: While the game generally offers a fair challenge, some sections can become overly difficult or require repetitive attempts, potentially frustrating less experienced players.

  • Limited Character Development: While the game features familiar Star Wars characters, the depth of character development is limited, leaving little room for emotional investment in their stories.

    The Bottom Line
    Shadows of the Empire is a classic Star Wars adventure that still holds up today. It provides an immersive and authentic Star Wars experience, featuring varied gameplay and an engaging storyline. While the graphics may show their age and there are occasional control challenges, the game's nostalgic charm and overall enjoyable gameplay make it a must-play for fans of the franchise and those seeking a taste of retro gaming magic.

Nintendo 64 · by WONDERなパン (16196) · 2023

Great game that follows the novel

The Good
I remember the first time I played this game and I was reading the novel at the same time. I'd play for a while and then I'd read and try to stop at the point I was at in the video game. This video game takes place at the beginning of Star Wars Episode 5: The Emperor Strikes Back and in between episode 5 and episode 6. You play as Dash Rendar, a Han Solo smuggler type of guy, and battle through 10 levels of increasing difficulty. You get to use different kinds of guns, sometimes you get to use a jetpack, and you get to pilot a Snowspeeder, a Swoop Bike and Dash's ship, the Outrider. There are bosses at the end of each level, except the ones where you're in a vehicle. The bosses are tough and the levels can be challenging and tricky. The music is good, some of it's straight from the movie.

The Bad
Compared to the other games from 1996 - Super Mario 64, Mario Kart, ect. this game has fairly poor graphic's, but I can live with that. Also, after you beat it it's not that much fun anymore - sure you can go back and collect all the Challenge Point's, but that's not that fun.

The Bottom Line
A good game than any gamer should get.

Nintendo 64 · by darthsith19 (62) · 2006

A guilty pleasure

The Good

  • Successfully conveys the Star Wars feel
  • Nostalgically reminds me of the (far superior) Dark Forces series
  • Nice variety in level types
  • Cool story and cut-scenes


**The Bad**
  • Limited control over the camera
  • Some very bland and empty levels
  • Badly thought out level bosses


**The Bottom Line**
At the time of this game's release my PC did not live up to the minimum requirements. So even though I was quite a Star Wars fan I had to let this title slip by. I did have the chance to play the first level at a friend, but it stayed at that. Until 2010 when I finally got around playing this game. Interestingly for an early Windows 95 game it installed without any problems whatsoever on my Windows XP machine. I could just jump straight into the action. Unfortunately I was staying at my parents where I did not have a gamepad at my disposal, so I was forced to play the game with mouse and keyboard. I must say that I preferred playing it with just the keyboard. Except for the boss fights where quick circle strafing seemed to be the dominant strategy. More on this later. The game sucks you in immediately with splendid Star Wars music and sound effects. The menu interface is obviously designed for consoles, but hey we're kind of used to that in 2010. Might have been a shock at the time. The first mission is immediately one of the best. It's a re-imagining of the Battle of Hoth from Star Wars Episode V. The player controls a Snow Speeder and has to take out Probe Droids, ATSTs and ATATs (2 legged and 4 legged walking tanks). The controls are very easy and very arcade like. And even with the keyboard it's quite easy to aim at your targets even with the lack of a cross-hair. The Snow Speeder scene is the only level in which you get to fly on land. There are some other missions where you fight in space, but most of the missions are third person shooter levels. Although the camera is configurable. It is also possible to play in first person, top-down or with a stationary camera. But even though I'm a big fan of first person perspectives I found that 3rd person works best for this game. Mainly because you can't look up and down. Dark Forces and its sequel Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight count themselves as some of my favourite games of all time. And I think that in the end those games are the reason I started liking this game. Because in reality it is far inferior to those two games. Continuously throughout the game I was welcomed by warm nostalgia. Textures and 3D models that were reused in Jedi Knight, rooms which had a very similar layout to rooms in Dark Forces and other similarities forced my mouth into a smiley at a regular interval. But while there was a lot of recognition and the art was quite good for the time, there's not much positive to be said about the actual level design. Most levels are very straight forward and plain to look at. There are some interesting levels that try to do something completely different. For example a train level in which you need to jump onto passing cargo trains. And some levels feature slightly more elaborate switch puzzles. But nothing to tease the mind. The controls for the third person sequences work, but pale in comparison to Quake, which was released some months earlier. The fact that you can't look up can be annoying, because often levels can be quite vertical. The vertical aspect is further explored in some of the levels where you have a jet pack to your disposal. This jet pack seems like a lot of fun at first, but soon turns out to be a chore. The reason for this is again that you can't look down or up. So you can't really see where you are going. The story of the game is pretty cool. It follows the story of the book and graphic novel of the same name and ties in nicely with the films. In-game the story is told in high quality rendered full motion videos which are quite a reward for finishing a level. The worst part of the game is arguably the level bosses. There's quite a few of them, but most battles don't seem very well thought out. Take the ATST for example. This mini-boss has to be defeated several time. The ATST has 1000 hit points and hitting it with the laser pistol does 1 damage. When circle strafing around the ATST it's impossible for it to hit the player. But it takes a couple minutes before your damage adds up to a thousand. The game usually assumes you still have some missiles left which do more damage, but that's not always the case. Often I missed a few of my missiles and got the ATST to 500 hit points. leaving me to circle strafe for two minutes before it would collapse. Many of the other bosses can be killed in the same way. They will never be able to hit you. Others can fly and you need to use your jet pack to get to the same height first. Which is again annoying due to the poor camera system. The final boss can be killed in three hits because at that time you find some really powerful weapon. The game sees re-playability through its different difficulty levels and the challenge points which can be found in each level. Frankly I didn't bother with them. The game is great for a single run-through, but doesn't really invite for a second play-through. The game is remarkably short. I finished it in roughly four hours. By no means is this a really good game. And quite frankly I think that people with no relationship with Star Wars will not find any satisfaction in this game. The main elements that make this game fun is how it reminds of Star Wars and Dark Forces similarly to the way Outlaws reminds of Dark Forces (compare the sewer levels for example). Hence the guilty pleasure. I had a lot of fun this weekend with this game even though there are so many better games around.

Windows · by vedder (70685) · 2010

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Trivia

Dash Rendar

Dash Rendar is the only character developed from the Star Wars franchise that actually made it "back" to the movies. You can see his modified starship, the Outrider YT-2400 lifting up and taking off from Mos Eisley as Luke and his gang enter the city in the new revised sequence featured on the Star Wars: Special Edition. Also, Dash Rendar in the Nintendo 64 cutscenes looked more like a brown-haired, younger and rougher George Lucas with a rough shave instead of a beard. In the PC edition, he looks more like the original concept art for the character.

Rogue Squadron inspiration

In the first level of the game, where you fly a snowspeeder in the Battle of Hoth, was the inspiration for Rogue Squadron.

Version differences

The PC version is a revised edition of the N64 version (the major difference between the two versions being 3D cutscenes for the PC).

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • March 1997 (Issue 92) - N64 Game of the Year runner-up + Best Music runner-up + Action Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) + Best Music (Readers' Choice)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kartanym.

Additional contributors: Apogee IV, chirinea, Joshua J. Slone, Alaka, LepricahnsGold, vedder.

Game added January 21, 2001. Last modified March 9, 2024.