Star Wars (Atari)

Upright Version

This was of course one of the most popular arcade games of the 1980's, and my absolute favourite. It was my childhood dream to buy one, so when a local arcade was selling it, my brother and I went for it and paid half each. We borrowed a van to transport it the 40 miles home, only to find that it was too big to fit up the stairs into the bedroom. We cut off the bannister and it still wouldn't fit, so we dismantled the machine and re-assembled it in place. We had to do that again when we moved house. Never again, I hope!

If you've been on another planet and don't know what it's about, I'll explain. Start by flying your x-wing fighter through imperial space, shooting tie-fighters and their laser fire. Then you fly onto the surface of the Death-star, and shoot laser turrets and towers, then along the trench around the 'equator' of the Death-star, again shooting turrets and laser-fire, and avoiding walkways across the trench. When you come to the end of the trench, you have to shoot the exhaust port to destroy the Death-star, just like in the film. Totally excellent game.