Did you grow up with the originalStar Warsfilms? It must’ve been pretty exciting to see those in the theaters and get blown away by the creation of a new universe. That’s therealStar Wars! Did you grow up with the Star Wars prequels? It must’ve been pretty exciting to grow up alongside Anakin Skywalker. That’s therealStar Wars! In 15 years, we’re going to get newly hatched adults saying that the sequel series is therealStar Wars, for real this time.
The thing is, Star Wars has changed with each generation of movies. There is no ‘real’ Star Wars because, like anything in this world, the version you enjoyed when you were 13 is going to be the best one. It turns out music and movies didn’t reach their apex when you were starting high school; you just felt like they did because your brain was small and your emotions were big. But here we are and here Star Wars is. Depending on when you grew up - or got into it, really - your ideal Star Wars is going to be different.
And that’s why I’m pumped that Nightdive Studios hasremastered Dark Forces. Because Dark Forces ismychildhood Star Wars. Literally: I actually played Star Wars video games long before I watched the movies. I have no idea why. But games like Dark Forces, Rebel Assault, and Shadows of the Empire did more to introduce me to the series than any film did. Theyweremy ideal Star Wars and they still are. I also saw Spaceballs before I saw Star Wars, which brings its own bag of issues.
What I love about games like Dark Forces is that they come from a brief time in the ‘90safterpeople were done caring about Star Wars butbeforethey started caring again. Half of my childhood memories about the movies come from episodes of Muppet Babies that threw around footage of TIE Fighters like it was B-roll. The IP was simply floating in the ether. Here’s how different times were: everyone was excited for Star Wars Monopoly because it felt like abig new thing! And there was just one Star Wars Monopoly. It was a huge deal. People got excited. Star Wars fans were gasping for air.
Of course, Star Wars was still a well-known franchise, but there weren’t any new movies on the horizon. At all. It seemed like it would never happen. Star Wars novels - now not canon - basically pounded the crazy button as hard as possible just to see what would happen. And when it came to games, LucasArts basically threw every piece of spaghetti it had at the wall.
There was a chess game that was pretty cool outside of the pieces moving at a rate of two frames an hour. There was a bad game that randomized bite-sized roguelite adventures for Yoda and an even worse GameBoy port of the same. And - oh my God, the best thing - was Star Wars: The Masters of Teräs Käsi,a fighting game that was gloriously, hilariously bad. But you could play a Tusken Raider!
Dark Forces - and its direct sequel Jedi Knight - fall squarely into the wonderfully weird Star Wars mold. The original three movies had set up a lot of interesting ideas, but there was also a whole lot of - no pun intended, but here goes - empty space to explore. And, buddy, now most of that space is occupied. Old stories have already been stripped for parts. Part of the Dark Forces story is you’re trying to steal the plans for the Death Star. Obviously, that’s now been changed to the story of Rogue One, which is one of my favorite films in the series. So the game might not be canon, but the fact that it isn’t makes its goofiness all the more fun.
It also comes from a time when Star Wars, in my opinion, was more mysterious. We had seen, what, five or six people who could use the Force in the original three movies? It was so rare that the original version of Star Wars Galaxies made becoming a Jedi crazy hard. Using the Force or having a lightsaber felt almost special in a lot of these games. And because we hadn’t faced an army of Sith Lords and Sith Lord Assistants with titles like Third Brother To The Fifth Son Of The Cousin Of Evil, we were still mostly facing the technocratic side of the Empire.
In fact, playing Dark Forces now is almost refreshing (plus, Nightdive did a good job here). For a time, your main enemies are Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers. It’s all closer to the ground. You may be a rebel super spy, but you don’t have super powers (cough, until the next game, cough). Having a thermal detonatorfeels dangerous. While I wouldn’t compare a boomer shooter from the first term of the Clinton Administration to Andor, the two at least embrace the rougher, less mystical side of the Star Wars universe. You’re not secret galactic royalty and neither are the grunts trying to shoot you. And even when the next game in the series makes you a Jedi, it still makes you treat other Force users like they’re covered in C4.
Playing an older Star Wars game is fascinating because ofhow littlethere is of space magic. If you stripped it of its trappings, Dark Forces would still be a fantastic ‘90s shooter. But honestly, evenwithits trappings it feels completely unlike Star Wars now. That’s not a bad thing, just different. It’s a flavor of Star Wars they stopped carrying at the supermarket. It’s a Star Wars that’s dirtier and a bit spookier, weirder and more confusing. It’s the Star Wars I grew up with.
