Seafoam Islands

There’s something about exploring the Star Wars expanded universe that is incredibly satisfying in the nerdiest way imaginable, especially when it’s in video game format which is exactly what Shadows of the Empire is. I remember borrowing this game from Max a long time ago but I don’t actually remember playing it so this was a pretty fresh experience for me.

I stole this picture from Google. shhhhh

After revisiting many N64 games I’ve noticed a recurring theme among them…unruly controls. It seems there was no agreed upon way of controlling your character in a 3D space so like most N64 games Shadows of the Empire takes some getting used to. I can’t tell you how many cliffs (which apparently there are a lot of in Echo Base) I fell off because of control issues.

Once you finally feel comfortable with the controls you’ll discover the uninspired game play of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t stand out incredibly well on the N64. You play as Dash Rendar in either 1st or 3rd person and occasionally in a vehicle. It’s a pretty standard run and gun action game with the Star Wars licensing being the only thing that makes you want to keep playing.

3.5/5 GRUs