Star Wars is an iconic franchise and has never been a stranger to video games. Sega released Star Wars Arcade in 1993 to good reviews and followed that in 1998 with Star Wars Trilogy Arcade for the Model 3 arcade board. A 3D rail shooter, the game was a massive hit from the moment it hit the arcade scene and delighted fans to no end. The game has two main parts, with three missions reenacting scenes from the original trilogy, a final unlockable mission, as well as boss battles against Darth Vader and Boba Fett.
For a 3D rail shooter, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade managed to do some things to set itself apart. It only relied on a single joystick and crosshair with a firing button but did have what was called a special event button that would light up at certain points and trigger events to happen when pressed. The main draw though was getting to revisit many of the best scenes from the movies, with each of the three main missions taking inspiration from one of the films.
Gameplay
To give an example of the gameplay, A New Hope’s section of course brought us the Death Star Battle, but this time it felt more intense and more fulfilling than ever to complete. You actually felt there were really stakes here, and each section of the mission escalated itself until the final rush to fire on the exhaust port. Confronting Dark Vader’s TIE Fighter was a treat for fans, and in many ways, this is the definitive version of the Battle of Yavin in video game form. The game stepped things up with The Empire Strikes Back, where you started out by shooting the AT-ST walkers and taking down the AT-AT walkers, but the second part of the mission changed things up with an escape through the corridors of the rebel base. This had you shooting storm troopers and wampas, and was a very satisfying divergence, and played far more like Sega’s light gun games, but with a modified control scheme, and amped up the fun factor.
Return of the Jed started with the speeder bike sequence on Endor in a section feels more akin to a Space Harrier style of gameplay that was modified for Star Wars, and it fits surprisingly well. The second part of the level was the re-enactment of the assault on the Empire’s base on Endor, once again going into a shootout against enemies. shooting any enemies on the way, but The third section was the most unique. You needed to quickly fire a blaster at an AT-ST walker before it reached you, giving a nice sense of tension. Once all the levels were complete. you unlocked the last mission, playing as Wedge Antilles and destroying the second Death Star in a culmination of everything you have gone through till now.
Availability
Star Wars Trilogy Arcade was never released on a home console. but it is no longer outside the realm of possibility. Many classic Star Wars games have been getting re-released as of late, and if Disney has recently resurrected Lucasfilm Games and has branched out from the exclusivity deal with EA. Perhaps Lucasfilm Games and Sega could work together and bring this back on multiple home systems for everyone to enjoy. M2 could work to redo the game as they did with the Sega Ages series and add in even more content/ Perhaps they could bring us a more refined control scheme or other extras like some additional content, cut content, or remixed stages. We fans could once again experience the joy that was Star Wars Trilogy Arcade this way.
Would it be worth it for Sega is the question, as they would need to split profits with Disney. That said, they should at least explore the option of talking to Disney and Lucasfilm about a way to re-release the classic title again. We as gamers have been left without a means to legally play the game outside of arcades, and emulation for the title is not perfect. A properly negotiated re-release would sell well and manage to give new players a chance to experience the amazing game.