Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Shadows of the Empire; best time you could have by yourself

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2010

What an amazing game. Anyone who is a fan of the Star Wars series will surely love this title. And if you haven't read the novel, by all means go out and get it before playing the game.
This is by far the best Star Wars game next to ST: The Force Unleashed. Way ahead of its time when it comes to fluid graphics, amazing story line, and a cast of truly original Star Wars characters. This game really ties up some loose ends and answers questions all fan boys have been asking for years.
Best part about it; its a cartriage! No load times. That's always a plus for me.
I purchased this game when it was first released, and will still play it any chance I get. I couldn't even tell you how many times I've played it all the way through. It's that much fun.
Highly recommended. Try to shop around if your looking for a good copy. Amazon has some of the best for a really low price. But be prepared to spend more if you want the the original box and manual. They don't come cheap!
Happy gaming.

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Mary J.

This is perhaps the best Star Wars game ever made on the Nintendo 64!

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

As with all video games, they made good & bad ones. This is by far a very good one on N64. With what would seem to be endless levels of excitement, this game will occupy your free time & keep you interested. Un-like idiots who have never seen Star Wars & try to make jokes to the effect, only the serious Star Wars players need purchase this game. If you haven't seen Star Wars, put yourself in a case that says ¨break glass only in the event of obtaining prehistoric knowledge¨. I mean.... really who is that far gone that they have little or no knowledge of who Han Solo is. Or the rest of them: Chewbacca, Jabba the Hut, The Princess, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Darth Vader, Bobba-fett, & all them lovable little Ewoks. Others too but too many to mention. This game runs very close to the hit movie The Empire Strikes Back. Scene for scene, it brings back memories of the awesome hit movie that is cherished by endless fans even in our time. A must-have game for Star Wars lovers! Thanks.

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tjanimalsteel

shadows of the empire 64

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2012

Verified Purchase

I blew the dust of my N64 as I cleaned out my closet. I hooked up this bad boy with my only dog chewed and quite functional controller and was happy to see every thing in working order. I thought of the games I used to play on the N64 and my mind instantly started reliving shadows of the empire 64. I ordered this game and finally talked my young son into playing it with me. It is so fun! The first level where you have to defend Hoth in a snow speeder against imperial machines is the best level on any game. The rest of the game is pretty tough, but well worth it when you receive your jet pack. Even as old as this game is, running down the narrow edges over the deep canyons still makes my stomach flip. It is pretty tough looking around, and you cant compare it to modern games, but for a game that is this old, its pretty bad ass. This game is way before its time. I picked it up used for 7 dollars, but would have probably spent the 50 bucks on it like i did in the 90s.

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Robert Stone

One of the best...

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2011

Verified Purchase

There are very few games which are more than a decade old which I would bother to replace if broken - and this is one of them! My son and daughter and I have enjoyed playing this on the Nintendo 64 and for some reason the cartridge died. Luckily, the cost of replacement was low!

This is simply one of the best, most immersive games for the N64. The music is great and the storyline is well thought out. IMHO the first person shooter segments are the most enjoyable though the flying segments are also well done. It is nice to have the option of fighting fewer or more bad guys - especially if you have kids playing.

All in all, this is one of the best games on what really is a terrific game system - we play this and Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the N64 more than we play on the Wii!

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Adam C.

Holds up well.

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

Bought this out of pure '90s nostalgia. Popped the cartridge in and, as soon as the Hoth level started, I was right back into it. Despite dated graphics and a forgettable protagonist, this game remains fun to this day. The ship missions, in particular, have withstood the test of time. It should be noted that, by today's standards, the lack of checkpoints on the longer levels can be frustrating. Definitely recommended though!

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William Gage

A Decent Original Star Wars Game...with a few issues.

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

Shadows of the Empire is a very interesting game.

Story-wise it's excellent, taking its source from some book that I've never read and probably will never look at.

You play as Kurt Russel look-alike Dash Rendar, a Bounty Hunter and friend of Han Solo's.

Right off the bat the game gets points for that. You start off the game right in the middle of the battle of Hoth and...holy crap...it was amazing in 1996. The game uses the John Williams Score and not some crappy midi version of it. It's the real deal...it looks, feels, and plays just like the movies from start to finish. Though its only 10 stages, each have multiple sections and some are quite big. On top of that, the later ones are extremely challenging, even on medium difficulty, so you'll be at if for a while.

There's lots of gameplay variety, just like the Super Star Wars games on Super Nintendo. You have 3D 3rd person flying stages, 2D POV flying stages, 3rd person on foot stages, 3rd person speeder bike chases, the list goes on and on.

It's exciting and action packed from start to finish and you won't want to miss a moment of it. I'd even go as far to say that it's one of the better games the N64 has to offer.

The main complaint I have with the game are its controls. While it's "ok" in the 3rd person flying stages, its extremely broken during the on-foot stages. Movement is almost impossible. Dash slides around all over the place like he's constantly on ice (maybe just in the Echo Base level), it's difficult to turn, and jumping has a delay and you can't go very high. Prescision is impossible. The aiming is the worst. Instead of giving you a crosshair, the game autoaims for you. This might have been a good idea, had the autoaim actually worked. All you can do is point Dash in the general direction of you enemies and hope he hits them before your ass gets blasted into wampa meat. You can "manually aim" but it freezes you in place, leaving you in harm's way, and it really only equates to just looking up or down. Oh, and to open door or perform actions, you hit R. Seriously? a shoulder button? Are you kidding me? Why not one of the C-buttons or the friggin' X button.

There are something like 5 different camera angles, but only 2 of them that you'll ever use: The 3rd person camera and the 1st person camera. All others are crap.

What also sucks is the choppy framerate and low quality textures in some areas (though the latter doesn't bother me). I've heard that these issues aren't present in the PC port, but no modern computer is capable of running that version, so I stick with this one. Don't try emulating the N64 version though, because its bugged...I assume as some kind of copy protection.

Bottom line: it's a decent enough game, but the 3rd person controls take some getting used to. The music and story are both excellent and will keep you entertained for hours. Just be forewarned of the extreme difficulty after the first 3 levels. Though
rough around the edges, its still worth a playthrough. A definite buy for any fan of star wars that's into video games and wants to go beyond the movies.

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largespirito

Star wars games from the 90s. awesome

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2010

Verified Purchase

im biased cause i used to spend so much time on this game as a kid. love it and recomend it if you from the generation i grew up in. i dont think it would be that cool to a kid growng up on the xbox 360 gaphics. but to me it was EPIC when i played it. takes place during and between star wars v and iv. you take the place of the hero Dash Rendar and pretty much obliterate any imperial goons that come your way and there are some cool bosses to. the game has many elements of gameplay such as 3rd person shooting to riding vehicles so its a cool action game for anyone whos not to cool to go back to te days of polygonal graphics and reading subtitles when characters are speaking(or not speaking).

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David Horton

False advertising

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

Product description reads "Cartridge and hard plastic collector case with reprint of original case artwork - NO MANUAL - Front label is fully in tact" but I did not receive any sort of case with any sort of artwork reprint, just a lone cartridge in bubble wrap. Game at least works, but I could have gotten it with no case/artwork elsewhere for less. Been waiting to play it so not worth sending it back and reordering over, but very annoying that they are falsely advertising what they are selling.

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Themis Galanos

Still a blast

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

Full disclosure: I am a hopeless Star Wars nerd, so that may play into my high score. The graphics don't hold up very well, but the gameplay mechanics keep this game entertaining. I enjoyed the flying portions of this game as a kid, and they are still a blast to play. The one thing that I do have a hard time letting go is the approach to saving. Your level progression is saved, and you can go back and visit that level all you would like, but if you die during that level you are often taken back a considerable ways. It did become a bit of a frustration for me, especially the harder portions. I guess I am just used to the ability to constantly save in newer games, and it has ruined me. Overall this game is still a fun trip down memory lane. If you enjoyed it as a kid, you will enjoy it now.

One person found this helpful

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Jessica Davis

What can I say?

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

It's Shadows of the Empire. The game play is highly varied and the graphics aren't terrible, even by today's standards. Where else are you going to get to trip up an AT-AT with a cable fired from a snowspeeder and blow up IG-88 in the same game? On easy, I got halfway through the game in one sitting and I enjoyed it. I'll finish it soon and go through it again with the difficulty turned up.

Modern gamers should be wary of the bottomless pits. This game doesn't hold your hand and put glass walls between you and falling to your death like they do these days. Some of the stages play like proper old school platformers, but this game was in the first wave of proper 3D, and it's a strong example.

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