Blast from the Past
I remember modifying firing up my 386DX/33 CPU with a double speed CD-rom and sound blaster 1.0. and modifying my Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files like crazy to get the first Rebel Assualt to work on my system. I remember seeing the looping demo(no playable levels) for it at a friends house which I went home and with paper route money, ordered it though the LucasArts catalog. Three impatient shipping weeks later, I finally had my game!
I used a CH Flightstick, which was pretty good for X-Wing series/F117A Flight Sims and such. I loaded up the game, awesome title intro, loved the sound and onto the first level where i am informed that beggars canyon is a simple run. Then I took control.....right into the canyon wall, then the next wall and over and over into death explosion....awesome. This game kicked my butt and after multiple tries, I went into the options menu to see if I had inadvertently turned on the "Your Ship is a Rubber Band" option. Nope, none to be found. This game is hard. Overtime I learned to not steer so hard, still it was a tough game. Today I tried it again for the first time in decades, still Holy krap is this game hard, especially Rebel Assault 1. The first Rebel Assault game was something ahead of its time when it came out and showed just WHY it was important to own a CD-ROM. The game did so well as to spawn a sequel (Rebel Assault II) in which i also enjoyed years later on my upgraded Pentium 90mhz machine.
Are these games for you? If you are looking for a sim that is something just like X-Wing/Tie Fighter series then this isn't it. But if you like Star Wars and can forgive the pixel heavy/rubberband bouncing pre-rendered levels. Then you will have fun with this. A Joystick is a must, as the mouse can be tough to control. As for me, Nostalgia has been satisfied, and I now have the opportunity to pass it to my sons, so they can cuss in anger as they smack against the canyon wall time and time again, just as i did all those years ago.
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