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Star Wars - The Arcade Game

Game Mechanics

Star Wars is one shoot 'em up type rail shooter in which space fights take place in a view to the first person. The game, displayed as three-dimensional vector graphics with eight colors, simulates the view from the ship's cockpit. Vector graphics are composed of a set of lines, drawing models and decorations in three dimensions of wire type of iron.

The terminal is equipped with a dual handle that can rotate on the right and left, but also on the front or back, and each handle is equipped with two buttons. Thanks to this game controller, the player moves a target reticule on the screen to target his enemies and destroy them. The controller has no effect on the movements of the X-wing, which moves alone and advances on a predefined and unmodifiable course. However, the last game phase requires the player to manage the flight height, as well as the placement on the left or right. The enemies only arrive from the front and none appear in the player's back or on the sides. The enemies shoot fireballs that grow as they approach, which makes it easier to touch them. However, the player can destroy these enemy shots in order to protect themselves, shooting them and blowing them. This allows the vessel to cross the level without interference if it is not touched. The ship has six shields, and loses one every time it wipes an enemy shot. The player is not obliged to destroy all enemy ships or guns. The game allows the player to choose between three levels of difficulty (easy, medium or difficult). On the other hand, the arcade operator can adjust, via the dipswitch, the level of difficulty between easy, medium, difficult or very difficult.

At the top of the screen, the interface shows to the left the score as well as the number of points earned at each enemy destruction, in the middle the state of the shields as well as various messages and to the right the wave of enemies in progress as well as the number of towers remaining as appropriate. When the ship is hit, a white flash lights the screen very briefly. The four laser guns of the hunter X-wing, actionable thanks to the four buttons, are visible on the sides of the screen, two below and two in the middle.

Inscriptions are visible on the Black Star, including May the force be with you ("May strength be with you").

The game takes place in three sequences, in order to reach the final objective, the destruction of the Black Star. The duration of each sequence is determined by time and not by number of enemies. The speed of the game accelerates as it approaches the trench. The first phase takes place in space, close to the Black Star, where the player faces a series of TIE fighters. Among the fleet of the Empire is Dark Vador and his special TIE fighter, which can be touched but can not be destroyed. When the player managed to pass the stage, the ship approached the Black Star and flew over its surface. The second phase of the game thus takes place on the surface of the space fortress, the player faces a series of battle turrets. Some tops of these towers can be destroyed. If the player manages to pass this phase, his hunter goes into the trench. It must then destroy canons or walls, while it must pass above or below horizontal or vertical gateways. The ship can't hit the side walls. This sequence ends with the attempt to launch a torpedo in the aeration input mouth that leads to the heart of the space station. The ship goes away in space if the player gets his shot, and the Black Star explodes, then the game starts again. Otherwise, the ship ends its course against the wall, then the trench sequence restarts with a shield in less.

If the player completes a cycle of these three phases, he wins an additional shield, within the limit of the initial number. The operator can adjust the number of shields available from the game, from one to nine, via the dipswitch (six is the factory setting). From the second cycle, the level of difficulty increases, the gameplay gets small differences in each turn. TIE fighters are more aggressive, more numerous, pull more and engage in different attack strategies. New small-scale anti-aircraft batteries appear on the surface of the space station from the second phase. In the trench, the bridges are more numerous and leave only a small passage for the ship, forcing the player to slalom. In the third cycle, TIE hunters tend to shoot continuously, then approach and only shoot. In the following sequences, vertical bridges appear in the trench. Each new cycle sees its level of difficulty increasing.

The player gets 1,000 points for each TIE fighter destroyed, and 2,000 for each shot on that of Dark Vador. The enemy shots are worth 33 points. Each top part of a tower during Phase Two reports 200 points. If the player destroys the twenty high parts of the towers, he gets 50,000 points. A ground battery during the two phase reports 250 points, in the trench the green walls report 50 points and the red 100 points.

At each shot in the well, the player gets 25,000 points. The player gets a bonus for the destruction of the space station, from the third cycle in medium difficulty (400,000) or difficult (800,000), but no bonus in easy mode. It also gets an additional shield. The player gets 5,000 points for each shield remaining during the destruction of the Black Star.