I remember being amazed by these cutscenes back in 1992 - at the time they were awesome. Nearly 30 years ago - wow, I'm not the 22 year old X-Wing pilot I used to be!
Tried playing it again on Steam. Plugged in my USB joystick (real vintage tech) and tried to play like I did a long time ago. Two hours in, I felt like crying. 20 years later, arthritis in my limbs… just wasn’t the same. Still, thanks for the cutscenes.
X-Wing was a brutally hard game - I never really got anywhere with it as a kid... Tie Fighter on the other hand the team acknowledged this and toned the difficulty down (and teenage me was able to get to the top rank of the secret order)
X-Wing sure is woefully more of a "Play/Read the Story, Skip the Game" title nowadays. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance were more like "Play/Read the Story AND the Game" due to the lessons learned. Still, at least it has aged well in gameplay matters compared to the first two Wing Commander games, although their lore is to die for regardless.
What a wonderful game. I loved to adjust the shields, speed, and press "r" to reach the first target. Also loved the missions of protecting a cargo or a shuttle...
So the A team gets the good medal from hot Princess Leia, and we get some Earth Day participation ribbon from a pissed off Mon Mothma. Okay, yeah, I see how it is
Haven't seen these in years... Got to love how they make a point of showing Interdictor cruisers but they never appeared in gameplay until TIE Fighter...
I THINK they first appeared in the old West End RPG, and then Zahn used them in his novels, but this definitely would have been the first on-screen appearance.
Actually, this is an emulated MT-32 using Munt. The emulation wasn't that good back then, but now we have Munt Reloaded, which you can barely distinguish from the real MT-32. I've updated the description to point out the emulation.
There are actually like, 3 different stories in Legends on how the Death Star plans were stolen. This is one, Dark Forces has Kyle Katarn stealing them from an Imperial base on Denuda I think, and some fighting game about the Teras Kasi has them being stolen from somewhere else.
Not exactly three different stories of Operation Skyhook... let's see: - In this game, the existence of the plans was alerted via some reprogrammed Imperial satellites that brought about information to the Tantive IV, the center of the big, no holds barred operation. - In the Han Solo Trilogy's third book "Rebel Dream", the plans (consisting of the Death Star's superlaser, hull, and life support) were acquired from Toprawa by one Bria Tharen and her rogue cell the Red Hand Squadron (with help from a Havet Storm and Vermilion), which then broadcast said plans via temporarily captured comms center to the Tantive IV. - In the Episode IV radio drama, said plans were also given groundside (in disk form, mayhaps) to Leia herself via who seemed to be a wounded member of the RHS. - In Dark Forces, another bit of the plans (this time, consisting of weapons and engineering) were shockingly easy to acquire on Danuta by way of Kyle Katarn's commando prowess and former Imperial training and knowhow; these were later combined with the Toprawa plans. - In the Tales of the New Republic short story collection, it's been stated that Garm bel Iblis also got another section of the plans on the planet Darkknell, although this meant that his fake death ruse was forcefully undone. - In Battlefront II 2005, a Rebel prison breakout ensured other bits of the plans went to Polis Massa, which led to the 501st Legion (who also fought in the brutal breakout) pacifying that Rebel base... although they were once again too late in stopping the plans from getting broadcast to either the Tantive IV or some other Rebel force going to Yavin IV (sidenote: the 501st was spared complete annihilation from the Battle of Yavin because of this charade). Not gonna count Lethal Alliance though. That game contradicts way too much whilst feeling like skippable filler. Also, Empire at War's take muddied up the waters a bit.
I love these cutscenes and it gives a 90’s nostalgic feeling. But it also reminds me of why I’m glad the EU was scrapped. There are many contradictions displayed in this game. The Executor was known not to be completely built till after The Empire Strikes Back, but it is present in these cutscenes before The Battle Of Yavin. There were no A-Wings at The Battle Of Yavin in the movie, so I have no idea why there was an A-Wing present in the cutscene where the first Death Star was destroyed. Tie Interceptors were not produced till after The Empire Strikes Back, but they are present in these cutscenes before The Battle Of Yavin. It’s fun to observe these things, but this game was considered canon before Disney bought Lucasfilm, so it was necessary to rebrand these stories into Legends.
In the EU: The Emperor had his own personal Super Star Destroyer, the Eclipse. Construction began shortly after the Executor, however the Eclipse may have been completed first, seeing as it was the Emperor's personal ship. 2 A-Wings were present at the Battle of Yavin (but not shown on screen in the movie). They were part of Blue Squadron. Both survived the battle. www.myuselessknowledge.com/swfa/Yavin.html The TIE Interceptor was developed and entered service before the Battle of Yavin, although at that time it was available only in very small numbers by Imperial standards. starwars.fandom.com/wiki/TIE/IN_interceptor/Legends#History
