Shadows of the Empire is a Star Wars game that was released in 1996 for the Nintendo 64 and later ported to the PC in 1997. It was the first proper 3D Star Wars game that allowed players to fly a snow speeder at the Battle of Hoth, battle guns blazing inside star ships and recognizable locations. Despite its age, the game pushed the boundaries of the new dawn era of 3D gaming and showed a strong sense and feel of that era of Star Wars. The game received mixed reviews at the time due to the difficult control mapping when moving a fully 3D character, but it made a strong mark visually and also in sound and design. The soundtrack, composed by Joel McNeely, was done in 2 weeks but he regrets not spending more time on it. Nevertheless, the developers managed to compress and fit most of it into the N64 version. The PC version, of course, contains the full score as well as some sound and visual changes. Shadows of the Empire was the first multimedia project to be given a film license without ever producing one. The book, comics, toy line-up, and game were all unique in their production compared to today's standards and gave birth to the Rogue Squadron series later in that decade. George Lucas loved the concept of Shadows of the Empire when it was in pre-production at Skywalker Ranch back in 1994, and in the special editions of A New Hope, the Outrider ship makes an appearance in the opening shot for Mos Eisley. For any fan, this game is a must-experience, even if it isn't for the first time. Once you learn how the clanky controls work, nothing will stop you. Shadows of the Empire is a true classic and an Interquel that cleverly places itself between the beginning events of Empire Strikes Back and just at the start of Return of the Jedi. If Han Solo ever had an opposite clone, it would be Dash Rendar.
