Star Wars: X Wing - LucasArts/US Gold œ45.99
                  (Arcade game for PC)

               An IBM PC review by Roy Sims.

I don't often play arcade games and when I do, it's usually not
for very long. However, 'X Wing' is the exception to that rule,
for reasons that will become clear.

The ultimate 'Star Wars' experience for me was sitting in a
darkened cinema as a 10 year old back in '78 and watching the
film for the first time on the big screen. The next best thing is
the wonderful 'Star Tours' simulator in the Disney/MGM theme
park, Florida. If you ever want to know what it really feels like
to jump to hyperspace or fly over the Death Star then this is the
way to do it!

'Star Wars' has been on computer and console formats before. In
the very early 1980s Parker Brothers released the awful 'Empire
Strikes Back', 'Death Star Attack' and 'Jedi Arena' for the Atari
console. Domark managed to convert the three arcade coin-op
machines to floppy quite well, but now we finally have the
definitive 'Star Wars' game from the only people who can really
be trusted to do it properly - Lucasarts.

Firstly, let's get the PC requirements out of the way. You'll need
a 386 running at a minimum of 20 mhz. A sound card is recommended
and a joystick is a must! (You could try playing it from keyboard
but there are so many keys to use it would be a nightmare).
Actually, I'd say a Soundblaster is also a must, but more on the
reasons why later!

'X Wing' comes on 5 high density 3.5" disks and as with most
installation programs it is a simple and painless process. The
game occupies a little under 12,700,000 bytes once installed.

The game opens with an impressive graphic intro sequence
depicting a major space battle between the Empire and the
Rebellion. If you have a Soundblaster then you should get music,
speech and digitised sound effects. The latter add so much to the
experience that the game wouldn't be the same without the sampled
roar of the TIE fighters as they scream past. The 'Star Wars'
march and other music from the three films are played throughout
the intro thanks to the IMUSE system (used previously in
Lucasarts graphic adventures like 'Monkey Island 2' and 'Indiana
Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'). This system is also employed
throughout the game itself. For example, when you are in the
middle of a space battle with the Empire you might get a snatch
of 'The Imperial March' (from 'The Empire Strikes Back') followed
by '...The Fighter Attack' (from 'Star Wars') when the ships get
closer!

There are so many features to be found in the game it's a little
hard to know where to start. You begin the game by registering
yourself as a pilot. A droid will welcome you onboard the rebel
flagship Independence and once you've registered you can walk
through the doors and choose what to do next. There are three
main choices to make once onboard, and they all affect the type
of missions you will fly.

A beginner should choose to enter the 'Pilot Proving Ground'
first. You will board a shuttle which will launch from the rebel
ship and jump to hyperspace. It will then arrive at another rebel
ship where you will be briefed on your mission. This is all shown
in 256 colour animated VGA graphics and it is very impressive.
Once onboard you will see and hear the familiar beeps of an R2
unit that looks suspiciously like R2-D2. From here you can choose
to fly an X Wing, Y Wing or A Wing ship. (Although the game is
called 'X Wing' you will find that you have to learn to fly all
three fighters if you are to succeed). The 'Pilot Proving Ground'
is really a race against time flying through a maze of gates
floating in space. The idea is to fly through each gate and
destroy any targets along the way, all within the allocated time.
The purpose is to allow you to get familiar with the way each
fighter handles without you having to worry about scanners,
shields etc. It gets a little repetitive after a while but you
can always give up once you feel confident enough.

Once you've mastered the basics of flying a fighter you should
return to the rebel flagship and try your hand at the 'Historical
Combat'. These simulated missions are as close to the real thing
as you can get. There are six different missions for each fighter
type (18 in total) and they vary from shooting still targets,
clearing a space mine field, acting as wing man in a battle
against aggressive Imperial forces and many more besides. I tried
completing most of the X Wing historical battles but found them
very hard unless I had infinite weapons and invulnerability
turned on!

The real action though is to be found in the 'Tour of Duty'
missions. There are four tours on offer, and each one rewards you
with a different Military Medal on completion. Each tour begins
in time honoured Star Wars fashion with text scrolling away from
you into space describing the events leading up to it. The best
thing about the Tours is that each mission is the next chapter
in a story. For example, let's look at the first tour. Mission 1
requires you to protect an Imperial ship that has announced its
intention to defect to the rebellion (shades of 'Hunt for Red
October'?). You must protect it long enough for the rebel ship to
dock and take the ship into hyperspace and back to the rebel
fleet. A collection of Imperial ships arrive soon after and you
must blast them out of existence. The second mission relates to
the information given to the rebellion by the defectors. You must
jump to a point in space in your A Wing fighter and identify (but
not engage) all of the Imperial ships that arrive. Whilst you
mustn't shoot at them, they will try shooting at you! If you can
survive long enough an Imperial star destroyer will arrive and
once you've identified it, you can jump back to the fleet to
report your findings. Mission 3 involves the mass evacuation of
the rebel fleet before the Imperial fleet you found engages them.
Protect the rebel ships long enough to allow them to make the
jump to hyperspace. Mission 4 involves the ferrying of the
wounded who survived the evacuation, protecting them from the
Empire.

Star Wars aficionados will soon realise that the story begins at
a point in time before the events at the start of the first
movie. However, near the end of the third tour you will be ready
to take on the dreaded Death Star. Suffice to say I am nowhere
near proficient enough to get that far yet!
At its heart, X Wing is a glorified shoot 'em up in the mould of
'Wing Commander 1 & 2'. However, it is miles better than either
of those games. It uses proper 3D modelled ships and it moves
blindingly fast even on a relatively slow machine. The cockpit
interiors of the rebel fighters are as close to those seen in the
film as you could get. They've added and tweaked some of the
controls and displays inside but it doesn't detract one iota from
the 'Star Wars' authenticity. The IMUSE music is great as are the
sound effects.

The linking scenes between the missions are also of a very high
quality. If your ship gets destroyed during a Tour mission you
will either see your burial at space, your rescue or your
capture! If you are rescued you are flown back to a medical
frigate where you are tended to by a medi-droid. If, however, you
are caught by the Empire, then you get to be personally
interrogated by Darth Vader onboard his own Star Destroyer!

There are many other features, including the ability to make
yourself invulnerable and film your mission and replay it later
from any angle! 'Star Wars' fans can marvel over the attention to
detail found in the game. R2 units onboard the X Wing fighters
will try to repair any faults during a battle, TIE fighter debris
will hurtle towards you after its destruction and you have to
shoot at the round shield generators at the top of a Star
Destroyer's main bridge before you can attempt an all out attack!

Even though I am a self confessed 'Star Wars' nut I thought that
the game might become a little repetitive after a week or two,
but nothing could be further from the truth. The continuing
plotlines gathered together during the 'Tours' have kept my
attention for much longer than I expected. There are dozens of
animated sequences throughout the game and they are all up to the
quality (and duration!) of the excellent intro sequence.

In many ways this is a game I've been waiting for since I first
saw the movie and wanted to be Luke Skywalker fifteen years ago.
The only down side is that some people might experience a few
technical problems with DMA clashes when using a Soundblaster.
The readme file recommends turning off the digitised sound
effects if you experience any problems. I've had the game lock up
on me more than once but I seem to have got around most of the
problems by using a boot disk (even though I already had the
required amount of free memory).

This is one of only a select few games that I would gladly pay
the full asking price for (in fact I did!). It is the BEST arcade
game I've ever played and it's also the BEST bit of Star Wars
merchandising I've ever experienced (except for 'Star Tours' but
that doesn't really count). A MUST buy for all PC owning Star
Wars fans!

(Rumours suggest that, like 'Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe', 'X
Wing' is going to be blessed with data disks allowing you to play
the role of the Empire and fly in a TIE fighter amongst other
things. I can't wait!)