2003 video game
Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon
is a
3D
first-person shooter
video game developed by British company Pocket Studios and published by
THQ
for the
Game Boy Advance
in 2003. Based on the events of the original
Star Wars
trilogy of films, the game allows the player to pilot various space ships in the battles against the antagonistic
Galactic Empire
. The story follows the pilots of the space ship
Millennium Falcon
,
Han Solo
and his
Wookiee
co-pilot
Chewbacca
, as they help save
the galaxy
from the Empire's forces.
Flight of the Falcon
is a
3D
shooter game
and was developed by Pocket Studios. The game was first announced on June 23, 2003, by THQ. It was originally scheduled to be released that summer, but the date was pushed back to November 21, 2003.
Flight of the Falcon
has received mostly negative reviews. It has been criticized for its lagging graphics and gameplay, and for its excessively long levels, which made the game repetitive. Praise focused on the sounds and music in the game, and the detailed backgrounds in the levels.
Gameplay and plot
[
edit
]
Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon
is a 3D aerial shooter game.
[3]
It is set in the same time as the original
Star Wars
film trilogy,
[4]
when the antagonistic Galactic Empire has taken control of the galaxy.
[2]
[5]
The story follows the pilots of the space ship
Millennium Falcon
, smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. While they struggle to pay off a debt to
Jabba the Hutt
, soldiers of the Galactic Empire board their ship. Han Solo and Chewbacca fight them off and, after an encounter with
Obi-Wan Kenobi
and
Luke Skywalker
, flies off to help save the galaxy from the Empire.
[6]
In the game, the player is able to pilot various space craft, including the Millennium Falcon, to help the
Rebel Alliance
defeat the Galactic Empire's forces.
[2]
[6]
Other space ships that can be piloted in the game include a
speeder bike
from the film
Return of the Jedi
, an
X-wing
, and a
landspeeder
.
[3]
They are used in either close range battles or high-speed flying action.
[5]
The fast landspeeder, for example, is used in a level in which the player has to finish a race before the time runs out.
[4]
The weapons and protective shields on the space ships can be upgraded.
Flight of the Falcon
features 14 missions that are based on the storylines from the
Star Wars
films. The plot of the game, however, does feature twists not seen before, such as various new battles with enemy forces.
[2]
The locations of the battles include asteroid fields, canyons, and the skies of places such as the planet
Yavin
and the moon
Endor
.
[7]
The player has to face enemy ships such as
TIE fighters
,
Star Destroyers
, and
Boba Fett
's
Slave 1
ship.
[3]
The
Death Stars
from
Star Wars: A New Hope
and
Return of the Jedi
are also attacked by the player.
[3]
Flight of the Falcon
does not come with a save function. Instead, players are rewarded with passwords in the game that can be entered if the console is restarted so that they can resume where they previously left off.
[4]
Development
[
edit
]
In 2000, the two video game publishers
LucasArts
and THQ announced that they had reached an agreement that allows THQ to turn LucasArts licenses into games for the
Game Boy
consoles.
[8]
Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon
, a Game Boy Advance game, was first announced on June 23, 2003, by THQ.
[5]
The press release described it as a game in which players get to pilot "the most popular vehicle from the classic Star Wars universe," the Millennium Falcon, "in 14 combat-filled missions interweaving the movie storylines with all new plot twists."
[9]
In their announcement, THQ said the game was scheduled for release in the summer of 2003.
[5]
In July, the company announced that the release date had been pushed back to September 2003.
[10]
The game was, however, not released until November 21, 2003.
[7]
[11]
Tiffany Ternan, senior vice president of North American sales and distribution at THQ, said they were "extremely pleased to be publishing the latest
Star Wars
videogame for Game Boy Advance. The broad appeal of the
Star Wars
franchise makes it a great addition to our leading portfolio of handheld games."
[5]
Liz Allen, director of marketing for LucasArts, added that
Flight of the Falcon
"will once again offer Game Boy Advance players an opportunity to experience all the drama and exhilaration of the Star Wars universe. LucasArts is happy to work with THQ to bring this compelling new title to
Star Wars
game fans everywhere."
[5]
Flight of the Falcon
was developed by Pocket Studios.
[2]
The first screenshots from the game were published by the video-gaming website
IGN
on August 28, 2003.
[3]
Reception
[
edit
]
Flight of the Falcon
has received negative reviews;
GameRankings
gave it a score of 41.43%,
[12]
while
Metacritic
gave it 39 out of 100.
[13]
Craig Harris of IGN criticized the game's graphics and gameplay. He stated that despite its powerful 3D engine, the game could not "handle what the level designers wanted to pull off in the game."
[4]
Harris noted that as the missions became more complex, the engine struggled to "keep up with the action."
[4]
Game Informer
editor Andrew Reiner went as far as saying that "the framerate chugs along to a point where many of the stages should be classified as unplayable."
[14]
The Australian
's Steve Polak added to the critique by saying that "despite a
smorgasbord
of environments and craft to fly, the game's 3D engine is not up to the task and play is made even less pleasant by awkward controls and a lamentable aiming system."
[18]
Harris' criticism of the gameplay include the "frustrating control, chuggy animation, and levels that just go on far too long."
[4]
He felt the levels needed more variety, stating that "the missions are dreadfully too long and feature very little change in gameplay regardless of the settings and craft to control."
[4]
Eduardo Zacarias of GameZone also said the game had poor controls and, like Harris, criticized "the fact that the levels seem to drag on forever". He felt there were "a few things that do keep the game from being a simple shooter in outer space, such as the ability to zoom through the forests of Endor on a speeder bike," but added that "these are just minor distractions that just hide the fact that this game is just way too repetitive."
[6]
Zacarias enjoyed the amount of detail in background of locations such as the forests of Endor, but criticized the vehicle graphics for looking like bad imitations.
[6]
Nintendo Power
gave
Flight of the Falcon
a score of 2.3 out of 5, echoing Harris and Zacarias's criticism of the length of the levels. The magazine stated, however, that the game has "an unmistakable
Star Wars
flair."
[17]
The sounds and the music were the only parts of the game that were praised by Harris, who described them as "actually pretty good" (apart from the rendition of the
main
Star Wars
theme
).
[4]
Zacarias was also positive of the sound, commenting that "
The Imperial March
" sounds "cool and hearing it through the GBA's tiny speakers is surprisingly good. [...] The sounds of Tie Fighters and speeder bikes sound straight out of the film and listening to the explosions and laser fire just puts us there in the Star Wars universe."
[6]
Like Harris, Zacarias also criticized the game's rendition of the main
Star Wars
theme, stating that it sounds nothing like the original.
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon
at
GameFAQs
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon - Game Boy Advance"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Harris, Craig (August 28, 2003).
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon (Preview)"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Harris, Craig (December 8, 2003).
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Harris, Craig (June 23, 2003).
"THQ's Next Star Wars"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Zacarias, Eduardo (December 28, 2003).
"Star Wars Flight of the Falcon - GBA - Review"
. GameZone.
Archived
from the original on September 11, 2009
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Calvert, Justin (November 21, 2003).
"Flight of the Falcon lands in stores"
.
GameSpot
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
"THQ Announces 'Star Wars: Obi-Wan's Adventures' for Game Boy Color; New Publishing Relationship With LucasArts Outlined"
.
Business Wire
. September 13, 2000
. Retrieved
January 29,
2010
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"THQ Announces Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon for Game Boy Advance; Pilot the Millennium Falcon in a Battle Against the Empire"
.
Business Wire
. June 23, 2003
. Retrieved
January 10,
2010
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"Magazine".
The Sunday Mail
. July 13, 2003. p. F02.
- ^
IGN staff (November 21, 2003).
"Falcon Flies to Retail"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon for Game Boy Advance"
.
GameRankings
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-10-12
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon for Game Boy Advance Reviews"
.
Metacritic
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Reiner, Andrew (January 2004).
"Star Wars Flight of the Falcon"
.
Game Informer
. No. 129. p. 160. Archived from
the original
on January 21, 2008
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
Pong Sifu (April 2004).
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon Review for Game Boy Advance on GamePro.com"
.
GamePro
. p. 86. Archived from
the original
on April 4, 2005
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
Wahlgren, Jon (March 7, 2010).
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon (Game Boy Advance) Review"
.
NintendoLife
. Retrieved
August 25,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon".
Nintendo Power
. Vol. 177. February 2004. p. 154.
- ^
Polak, Steve (January 27, 2004). "Steve's Stars".
The Australian
. p. T07.
External links
[
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