I’d seen versions of Mario before, but by delivering me new tech, new gameplay styles, and a whole new, fully-established fictional galaxy to explore, Shadows of the Empire changed my view of everything. To a lad weaned on cartoony platformers and football sims, Shadows of the Empire represented a brave new world, a world that was immediately more appealing than one filled with Technicolor plumbers and animals to jump on. Yes, we got Super Mario 64 that Christmas too, but honestly, it took a while for that to sink in. Shadows was also my introduction to how grand games really could be. This is all Shadows of the Empire’s doing.

I am 31 years old, contemplating buying Star Wars cutlery, and buying drinks bottles with Star Wars characters on them, even if I don’t like the drinks. Suddenly it was time to check these stupid films out. Everything came together, through direct experience and a real sense of presence, pulling Star Wars out of the abstract.

It was a window in a world, a place with a distinct feel and atmosphere, that the then next-gen presentation could finally help me understand, first-hand. I didn’t know why these mad gits were fighting on this ice planet in cool space ships and big walking tanks, but there was something instinctively alluring about it all.

The gameplay and the graphics drew me in, obviously, but more importantly, the presentation, music and atmosphere enraptured me. Everything in Shadows just clicked for me. I knew the characters through the constant media bombardment, but it occupied the same apathetic headspace for me as Star Trek, which I’d never had any real interest in.Īfter playing the game’s opening though, something began to transform in my tiny head. My one previous frisson with the franchise was when my dad recording Return of the Jedi on VHS (I think it was on the same tape as a Peter Ustinov Poirot movie) and we never got round to properly watching it. My knowledge of Star Wars up until that point was – perhaps surprisingly - minimal. You see Hoth meant more to me than just next-gen graphics and gameplay.

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