Your LucasArts memories

WIth the passing on of LucasArts announced on Wednesday, I immediately thought about the great memories I have playing LucasArts games, from Dark Forces to Rebellion to Battlefront.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. I remember one Christmas I got BOTH Dark Forces and Rebel Assault II. Talk about insanely thrilled! I focused on Dark Forces for awhile, but the amazing cover art of Rebel Assault II forced me to have my dad load it on the computer. I was so ready to take on a Super Star Destroyer (as teased on the back), that when the cutscene for Level 3 came up I immediately called my aunt (a huge Star Wars fan) and told her I was about to face a SSD. Turns out I had to wait about 15 more levels...

2. I used to play Rebellion for hours, and would use my Star Wars Dictionary to come up with unique names for Rebel and Imperial ships as I built them. I had whole spiral notebook pages full of imposing names for Imperial Star Destroyers. My younger bro and I took turns with the space and land battles, leading to hours of fun.

3. When Battlefront came out, my two younger brothers and myself immediately started playing together in Versus matchups. With my bedroom in the basement away from my parents' room, we could play til 2-3 in the morning without them hearing us. Popcorn, pop and Battlefront....

4. I had a heckuva time beating the Anoat level on Dark Forces, to the point that I had to buy the strategy guide to figure it out. It was a great game that I even played on Playstation when it was released on that, but I know for a fact I would never have beaten it all without the strategy guide.

Who else has some LucasArts memories?

 

Grim Fandango... Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis...

Star Wars games have had their ups and downs, but these are the titles for which I pour some out.

 

1. Playing Star Wars Battlefront. The original Battlefront blew me away; I can remember playing for hours on the Rhen Var maps. I absolutely loved the ice caves in the Rhen Var level, and flying around in a Republic gunship on the Geonosis: Spire map. I also loved flying around in that city in the clouds in Bespin: Platforms, and was totally shocked when the enemy hero Darth Vader chopped me down from behind (twice) in the span of a couple minutes.

2. Playing Battlefront II on the PC. I loved the new maps, the heroes, and would obsessively play the Kamino and Death Star levels over and over. My love for the game amplified by an order of 10,000 with the release of the Battlefront Conversion Pack and the phenomenal Dark Times II: Rising Son modifications, among a ton of other community-made maps. (What's not to love about playing as Mara Jade, Starkiller, Maris Brood, Ventress, Fisto, Revan, Malak, and Republic Commandos in a Battlefront game?)

3. Knights of the Old Republic. Loved them both. The score was film-quality, the Bioware gameplay was unbeatable, and the voice-acting was jaw-dropping (in Malak's case I mean this quite literally).

4. I loved Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, and the original Dark Forces. That main theme to Dark Forces remains classic to this day. But Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight was truly something else entirely. The corny live action scenes made for an endlessly entertaining gaming experience. I can still hear Jerec: "I was the one who murdered your father!!"


No matter what the future holds, memories of the great games developed and co-developed by LucasArts will forever live on in the hearts and minds of Star Wars fans everywhere.

 

The uncountable hours I used to play the Battlefront series with my pals, never ending fun right there. As well as plenty of other games, even if they weren't always the best, I played them to death.

Jedi Outcast and Acadamy were great, as well as Republic Commander, KOTOR, Jedi Starfighter, Bounty Hunter, plenty of others.

 

Oh, my, Ahto on KOTOR 1. I could just stand in the city and look out at the ocean listening to the ambient music for hours on end, it was that serene.

Although one of my favourite Lucasarts moments is still sitting and listening to ambient music on Afterlife. The opening sequence was hilarious.

 

Besides all the lovely SW titles through the years, I would say the western themed FPS Outlaws from '97 is a true classic for me, actually planning to buy it again!

"Don't be a fool marshall!"

 

One of my earliest fond memory of Lucasarts was Shadow of the Empire. I loved that game so much. The 90s-early 2000s had so many great games; but my favorite is probably the Battlefront series. I was hoping for an HD re-release of 1 and 2.

I was always fond of the Lucasarts symbol at the beginning of the games, he always did different things.

 

Republic Commando. That game had such awesome vibe and action.
The Jedi Knight games. I cannot count how many hours I spent playing those.
KOTOR I&II. The games that make 5 hours feel like 1.

 

I got Battlefront for my 11 year old birthday, when i was on vacation at my cousin.. he kept telling me to get GTA San Andreas instead but i chose Battlefront!! We had fun
I was so excited when BF2 was announced, and when it was finally released i happened to be going on a trip with my dad to the capital. I kept saying Star Wars Battlefront two all the way t and back again (2 hours). Great annoyance for my dad at the time
Shadows of the Empire was like my first or second game ever!

 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Lego Star Wars 2 where my first PS2 games and they are so much fun both in single player and multiplayer. I'll never get bored of them.

Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith is still one of my favourite Star Wars games. I love the dueling.

I had a really fun time playing Star Wars the Clone Wars Republic Heroes on Wii.

Lego Star Wars 1 and 3 while I prefer Lego Star Wars 2 over them I still find them to be really good games.

Star Wars Jedi Starfighter I got last month and I'm still playing through it.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I wanted for ages and when I finally got it I loved it to death. Unfortunatly though when I was playing through it again for the holocrons my PS2 decided to cut out on me (this was on my first PS2 just before it died on me and I got another one) and corrupted my data.

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron was almost as good as Battlefront 2.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures I got form y birthday in 2008 and loved it.

The only Lucasarts games I have that I can't really get into are Empire at War and Forces of Corruption. Apart from them Lucasarts have made some of my all time favourite games I still play and love to this day.

 

I've played a heap of Lucasarts titles, loved most of them. Battlefront sticks out, just for sheer number of hours spent playing it. But KOTOR I is probably the high point. As someone said above, the characters, story, but most of all the scenery did it all for me. I just remember, prior to actually playing the game, seeing the trailer where you see the starship approach Manaan (I think), and I reckon I almost wet my pants in excitement. I also remember my jaw dropping several times during the storyline.

 

X-Wing and TIE Fighter were really what got me into Star Wars, not the movies. Sure I came to like the OT later, but I remember towards the end of elementary school I was getting into combat flight sims (primarily U.S. Navy Fighters, Aces Over Europe, and Aces of the Pacific) and then having a friend introduce me to those two classics. I got hooked pretty quickly and IMO giving up that genre took out one of the pillars that made LucasArts a great company. Remember guys - for a lot of us the space battles were what made the OT. Who didn't want to hop into an X-wing and vape some TIEs?

The Dark Forces saga was my other early hook, especially since Kyle Katarn could beat down a kell dragon or one of his own punk students with a good right hook.

And KoTOR ... dude, it takes a shot at trumping the "No, I am your father" bombshell. And does it. On top of being just an absolutely epic story with the backdrops taken up to eleven.

Those were the best, and sadly LucasArts abandoned those examples. Those three series were perhaps the Holy Trinity of their Star Wars titles.

 

X-Wing, Rouge Squadron, Battlefront, KotoR, Republic Commandos, Jedi Outcast...WAY too many hours spent playing these games back in the day, but they're still games I recall with extreme fondness and have great memories playing them with friends and siblings (or more often than not memories about arguing over who got to play Dark Forces next, and how many "tries" you had before you had to let the next person on). Whatever the final tally may be for critically acclaimed versus critically panned games, all I can say is kudos to LucasArts for helping create all those awesome memories and experiences.

In memory of LucasArts as it was at its best, might be about time to see if I can't pull out the old SNES and see if I can't finally beat Super Star Wars...

 

I remember playing Aces over Europe and Aces over the Pacific tons as a kid.

One of my favs that was extremely underrated is Pacific Strike.

 

Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2

Star Wars: Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith