Star Wars

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Short description: 1993 video game
Star Wars: Rebel Assault
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Developer(s)LucasArts
Publisher(s)LucasArts
Director(s)Tony Van (original concept)
Vince Lee
Designer(s)Vince Lee
Programmer(s)Vince Lee
Artist(s)Ron Lussier
Aaron Muszalski
Composer(s)Michael Land
Peter McConnell
SeriesStar Wars
Platform(s)DOS, Sega CD, Macintosh, 3DO
ReleaseNovember 25, 1993[1]
Genre(s)Rail shooter, interactive movie
Mode(s)Single player

Star Wars: Rebel Assault is a 1993 rail shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts for DOS, Macintosh, Sega CD and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer systems, set in the Star Wars universe. It is the first CD-ROM-only game to be published by LucasArts.[2] The game's story focuses on a young pilot called Rookie One as they are trained by, and subsequently fights for, the Rebel Alliance in the Galactic Civil War.

The game features digitized footage and music from the original movies (although most of the original footage is replaced by CGI rendered sequences), and full speech. Star Wars: Rebel Assault is one of the oldest titles to make use of extensive full-motion video (FMV) on the PC. Video was used to display pre-rendered 3D graphics of various environments and battles that were far ahead of what a contemporary PC could render in real-time.

It was followed by a sequel, titled Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.

Gameplay

Star Wars: Rebel Assault consists of four mission types: three spaceflight types, and one on foot. The three spaceflight mission types are third person (levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 11), overhead view (levels 1 and 13), and first person (levels 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 15). In all three types, the ship generally follows the same cursor which aims its gunfire. If the player moves the targeting cursor after firing, the shots that were already fired will follow the cursor. 9 of the 15 levels are first person, which has movement more restricted than in other modes. As such, enemy fire cannot be dodged in this mode; instead, the player must shoot the enemy within a set time frame in order to avoid taking damage, much like in a light gun game. Only level 9 falls into the on foot mission type. This level puts the player in a series of three stationary settings, though the player character can be maneuvered horizontally in order to avoid enemy fire. In a few stages, there are branching points, much like those in Panzer Dragoon II. Bonus points are awarded for accuracy and whether secondary objectives are accomplished.

In some cases, original footage was filmed for the game with actors, and a Star Destroyer model was digitized (a mini camera 'flew' around it) for a certain mission. Most of the graphics were prerendered in 3D.

Story

Star Wars: Rebel Assault follows the adventures of a young Rebel pilot known as Rookie One. The game largely takes place during the events of Episode IV: A New Hope; however, the sequences on Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back are included.

The story begins with Rookie One's training, followed by an attack on the Star Destroyer Devastator, after its capture of the Tantive IV in the events of the film. The rebel squad then defends the Rebel base on Hoth from the attack shown in the Empire Strikes Back, and finally launches an assault on the Death Star, with the player taking the place of Luke Skywalker in destroying the battle station. Each of the 15 chapters features its own brief "alternate ending" clip which plays if the player runs out of lives and therefore fails the mission.

All of the original characters are replaced by new characters and voices, and in some cases, new situations. For example, Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon are replaced by Rebel Commander Jake Farrell in an A-wing who saves Rookie One just before he has to take the final shot on the Death Star.

The game was followed by Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.

Version differences

The Sega CD version is missing Chapter 7 (Imperial Probe Droids) and skips straight to Chapter 8 (Imperial Walkers), renumbering all subsequent chapters accordingly. The Sega CD version's graphics are also considerably less sharp and detailed than those of the PC and 3DO versions, and it also lacks the possibility to play as a female Rookie One.

Reception and sales

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarHalf star (Sega CD)[9]
Edge5/10 (PC)[3]
Hyper90%[5]
Next GenerationStarStar (3DO, MAC)[6][7]
MacUserStarStarStar[8]

Star Wars: Rebel Assault was a commercial hit. LucasArts shipped 110,000 units to retailers in the game's first day,[10] and global sales reached 400,000 units by mid-1994.[11] By summer 1994, this number rose to 500,000 units.[12] The game sold 1 million copies.[13]

For Jeff Lundrigan of Game Players, the Sega CD version was a "decent-enough" product that was a great showcase of the console's capabilities, but also one of the most disappointing games of 1994.[4]

Computer Gaming World in February 1994 said of the DOS version that "In some ways, Rebel Assault is a breathtaking game, yet it comes up a few light sabers short in some key areas". While praising the graphics as "the best yet delivered in a PC action game", the reviewer complained that the story "essentially replays several scenes from the movie" even though the plot "required a knowledge of the movies to make sense of it". Gameplay was "an odd mix of challenging and mindless levels", with enemies attacking in the same easily memorizable patterns. The magazine concluded that "Rebel Assault is a gorgeous, fast-paced shooter that is a lot of fun to play. The problem is, the fun is too short lived" and without replay value.[14] In April 1994 the magazine said that Rebel Assault "seems to have split gamers into two camps—those that absolutely love it, and those that absolutely don't", with some criticizing the "very limited and very repetitive" game play despite "incredible" graphics. The magazine concluded "Come to this one expecting a good show, but be sure your trigger finger knows what your eyes and ears are getting it into".[15]

GamePro gave the Sega CD version a negative review. Though they praised the music, they described the graphics as "grainy, soupy, and very pixelated" and said that the controls are poor enough to all but eliminate the fun factor in the game.[16] Electronic Gaming Monthly scored it a 5.75 out of 10, commenting that the music is excellent but that the graphics suffer from an extremely limited color palette, which even interferes with the gameplay, making it difficult to tell when the player's ship is going to crash into something.[17]

For the 3DO version of the game, GamePro gave a somewhat more positive review, praising the audio and the "awesome graphics", but once again concluded that the controls all but completely ruin the game. They remarked that the directional movements are twitchy and that the need to push the cursor to the edge of the screen in order to maneuver the ship in first person is a major problem.[18] A reviewer for Next Generation likewise said that the graphics and music are impressive, and the port is overall "a very close conversion of the PC CD-ROM game", but that "the control is none too solid, and game play is rudimentary." He gave it two out of five stars.[6]

Next Generation's review of the Macintosh version remarked that the game's recreation of vehicles and scenarios from the Star Wars universe would make it very appealing to fans of the franchise, but that the on-rails gameplay would get old quickly for general gamers. The review also commented on the usual long delay between the release of the PC and Macintosh versions, and scored it two out of five stars.[7]

Rebel Assault was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Action Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame. The editors wrote that Rebel Assault "established a new record for CD-ROM game sales as well as a new model for action games based on film properties".[19]

MacUser named Rebel Assault one of the top 50 CD-ROMs of 1995.[8]

Entertainment Weekly gave the game a B and wrote that "You've got to hand it to the folks at LucasArts — they wring every drop of juice from a game platform, whether it's PC CD-ROM (where Rebel Assault has been a best-seller for the past eight months) or Sega CD (which is just releasing the same game). The trouble is, Sega CD doesn't have that much juice to begin with: Thanks to the system's slow disc access and limited color capabilities, this version of the Star Wars fighter ship never quite reaches light speed."[20]

James V. Trunzo reviewed Star Wars: Rebel Assault in White Wolf #42 (April, 1994), giving it a final evaluation of "Very Good" and stated that "If you're looking for a Wing Commander/X-Wing type product, Rebel Assault isn't it. If you're looking for an exciting, quick-playing multimedia experience, you'll love Rebel; Assault."[21]

References

  1. "Just Arrived!". The StarPhoenix: pp. 24. November 25, 1993. https://www.newspapers.com/image/512346389/?terms=%22Rebel%20Assault%22&match=1. 
  2. Michaud, Collette; Muszalski, Aaron (Winter 1994). "3D Will Change the Way You See Games". The Adventurer (LucasArts) (7): pp. 8–9. 
  3. "Rebel Assault". Edge (5): 64–65. February 1994. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Lundrigan, Jeff (August 1994). "Rebel Assault". Game Players 7 (8): 66–67. https://retrocdn.net/images/9/9a/GamePlayers_US_0708.pdf#page=68. Retrieved August 26, 2025. 
  5. Schoffel, Julian (February 1994). "Rebel Assault". Hyper (3): 64–65. https://archive.org/details/hyper-003/page/64/mode/2up?q=%22james+pond+3%22. Retrieved July 2, 2021. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Rebel Assault". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (3): 89. March 1995. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Star Wars Rebel Assault". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (12): 195. December 1995. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Top Spins: 50 New CD-ROMs". MacUser. October 1995. http://www.macuser.com:80/mu_1095/cdrom.html. 
  9. "Star Wars: Rebel Assault (Sega CD) Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1444&tab=review. 
  10. Smith, Rob (November 26, 2008). Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts. Chronicle Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8118-6184-7. 
  11. Cooper, James Paul (June 1994). "Target Your Game: Computer vs. Console". Game Developer (2): 15. http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/GDM_June_1994.pdf. 
  12. Anderson, Diane (December 1994). "MTV Meets CD-ROM!". Game Developer (4): 40. http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/GDM_December_1994.pdf. 
  13. "Lucas Arts Milestones". http://www.lucasarts.com/about/milestones.htm. 
  14. Schuytema, Paul C. (February 1994). "Beggar's Canyon, Anyone". Computer Gaming World: 178, 180. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=115. 
  15. "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World: 20–42. April 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=117. 
  16. "Rebel Assault". GamePro (IDG) (58): 36. May 1994. 
  17. "Review Crew: Rebel Assault". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (60): 38. July 1994. 
  18. "ProReview: Rebel Assault". GamePro (IDG) (68): 96. March 1995. 
  19. "Announcing The New Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World: 51–58. June 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=118. 
  20. Strauss, Bob (July 15, 1994). "Rebel Assault". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/article/1994/07/15/rebel-assault/. Retrieved September 4, 2018. 
  21. Trunzo, James V. (April 1994). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine (42): 54-55. https://imgur.com/a/cov6olr. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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