November 1993
Star Wars: Rebel Assault is a rail shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts for DOS, Apple Macintosh, Sega CD and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer systems; set in the Star Wars universe. Released in November 1993; it is the first CD-ROM-only game to be published by LucasArts. The game's story focuses on a young pilot called Rookie One as they are trained by, and subsequently fights for, the Rebel Alliance in the Galactic Civil War.
The game features digitized footage and music from the original movies (although most of the original footage is replaced by CGI rendered sequences), and full speech. Rebel Assault is one of the oldest titles to make use of extensive full motion video (FMV) on the PC. The video was used to display pre-rendered 3D graphics that were far ahead of what a contemporary PC could render in real-time. Developers pre-rendered various environments and battles and the player flew through these environments.
Skywalker Sound was not credited on the end credits, but, according to the product descriptions, they provided "authentic" and "Stunning Movie-Quality Sound Effects" for the game. It is unknown if they provided Sound Design and Audio Post-Production services for the game, or if Ben Burtt was the Original Sound Designer for the game itself; the two were left uncredited. Clint Bajakian did the sound editing and processing, and Michael Z. Land and Peter McConnell contributed in sound advice. It's possible that the sound overall was done at LucasArts.
Storyline
The game follows the adventures of a young pilot known only as Rookie One, a moisture farmer from Tatooine in the style of Luke Skywalker. The game largely takes place during the events of Episode IV: A New Hope; however, the sequences on Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back are included.
The game begins with Rookie One's training; followed by an attack on the Star Destroyer Devastator, after its capture of the Tantive IV in the events of the film. The rebel squad then defends the Rebel base on Hoth from the attack shown in the Empire Strikes Back, and finally launches an assault on the Death Star, with the player taking the place of Luke Skywalker in destroying the battle station. Each of the 15 chapters features its own brief "alternate ending" clip which plays if the player runs out of lives and therefore fails the mission.
All of the original characters are replaced by new characters and voices, and, in some cases, new situations. For example, Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon are replaced by Rebel Commander Jake Farrell in an A-Wing who saves Rookie One just before he has to take the final shot on the Death Star.
Also See
Sound Effects Used
- CINESOUND - EXPLOSION TYPE 2
- Hollywoodedge, Highpitched Metal Sq PE188601
- Hollywoodedge, Hilarious Man Laugh CRT024301 (Heard once in the LucasArts logo after the credits.)
- SKYWALKER ASTROMECH CRITICAL SCREAM
- SKYWALKER, MOTOR - DUM-E STEADY
- SKYWALKER, SCI-FI GUN - TIE FIGHTER GUN
- SKYWALKER, SCI-FI GUN - X-WING FIGHTER GUN
- SKYWALKER, SPACECRAFT - SPACECRAFT PASS BY 01
- SKYWALKER, SPACECRAFT - SPACECRAFT PASS BY 02
- SKYWALKER, SPACECRAFT - TIE FIGHTER ROAR BY 01
- SKYWALKER, WHOOSH - SCREAM-LIKE PASS BY
- SKYWALKER, WHOOSH - SYNTHESIZED JET FLY BY