Super Empire Strikes Back – Review for the Super Nintendo

In Super Empire Strikes Back, Luke wakes up in a cold cave, the frozen home of some creature on the planet Hoth. Numb from the cold but jolted awake by the pain of recent bruises, he tries to sense beyond what his normal senses allow. He focuses, becoming one with the Force, and expands his mind across the known universe until he detects the presence he’s searching for.

The Wampa, a massive beast from the icy plains of the planet, was a creature with almost always hostile instincts that loved to feast on tauntaun meat. By now, his own tauntaun was probably already dead. And soon, he would be too if he didn’t concentrate, if he didn’t let the situation flow as Obi-Wan had taught him. A growl warned him of his executioner’s approach.

He would have liked to run far away, but unfortunately, his body hung upside down from the ice ceiling, held by his trapped feet. That’s how Wampas stored their food. But all was not lost. Just a few meters away, buried in the snow, lonely yet shining like hope refusing to fade, was Luke’s lightsaber—the one that once belonged to Anakin, the one Ben had given him years ago on Tatooine, the morning his life changed forever. He focused. It wasn’t snow separating him from the saber, it was just the Force. He could feel it.

It was like the air, always there. The saber trembled. Another growl. The creature emerged from the depths of the cave, ready to feast, but it was too late. With a bright flash, Luke melted the ice around his feet and dropped just in time to repel the enraged beast’s attack. The crackle of a flame in the air was followed by the fall of the Wampa’s arm. This time, the growl was tinged with red—with fear—just like the cave’s snow. Meanwhile, Luke ran out of the cave, ready to face an even more terrible enemy: the harsh conditions of that dreadful planet.

In my humble opinion, The Empire Strikes Back is the best film in the entire Star Wars saga. A movie of such intensity and power deserved a video game in the same vein, one capable of transporting us to its key moments and letting us become, even if briefly, the protagonists of such a legend. LucasArts had already worked miracles with Super Star Wars—now it was Super Empire Strikes Back’s turn. Let’s see if they succeeded.

Gameplay in Super Empire Strikes Back

If Super Star Wars’ controls were flawless, why wouldn’t Super Empire Strikes Back’s be? Only new additions could ruin what was already perfect. But new features are necessary—and here, they’re executed perfectly. The structure remains the same (alternating platforming stages with action-heavy ones and some vehicle segments), and the controls stay impeccable, even improving on some aspects from the previous game, like the double jump, which is now performed by pressing jump twice instead of up + jump. More comfortable and intuitive.

But what other new features make Super Empire Strikes Back (SESB for short) a step forward rather than just a simple sequel? First, Luke’s Jedi powers. Most of these powers are acquired on Dagobah (hidden throughout the levels, with some being truly hard to get), though others, like those related to the lightsaber, are available from the start.

In Super Empire Strikes Back, the most interesting additions are the jump attack and, above all, the ability to block and even deflect enemy attacks. As for Jedi powers, the selection is quite broad, and while most are useless, they do add considerable fun. The powers to acquire are:

Healing: As the name suggests, for a small Force cost, it refills your health bar. One of the easiest to find—and the most important. Essential for the duels with Darth Vader in Cloud City.
Lightsaber Throw: A very hard power to obtain, but also one of the strongest and most fun to use. With it, Luke attacks by levitating the saber with the Force. The player can control its direction with the D-pad. The Force drain is insane, but so is the damage this attack deals.
Levitation: Another tough power to get, but exceptionally useful, as it lets Luke fly for a limited time until his Force bar runs out. Perfect for avoiding deadly falls or finding secret areas.
Freeze: A somewhat useless power, but cheap. It paralyzes nearby enemies, leaving them open to your saber.
Slow Motion: A neat, easy-to-get power. By spending a small amount of Force, enemies move in slow motion, which also adds a funny effect.
Mind Control: It’s always been said that Stormtroopers are the worst shots in the galaxy. This power proves it easily, forcing them to shoot each other. Unfortunately, most of the time—thanks to their terrible aim—they end up hitting you instead. A silly power, and on top of that, hard to get in Super Empire Strikes Back.

All these powers in Super Empire Strikes Back, as you’ve probably guessed, are executed by spending a Force bar, which then refills very slowly. But the world doesn’t run on Jedi alone, so the game’s spotlight is shared with Han Solo and Chewbacca—both far more direct than Luke. With the addition of grenades, Han and Chewie’s methods for dealing with Imperial agents are, shall we say, appropriate.

Finally, as a counterpoint to the action (Han & Chewie) and platforming (Luke) stages, we have the vehicle levels—three in this installment:

The Battle of Hoth, where you control Luke’s snowspeeder (Rogue 1) to take down an AT-AT and several combat droids.
The asteroid chase, where you man the Millennium Falcon’s turret to fend off TIE fighters and space rocks.
The last one near Cloud City, with Luke desperately trying to reach the city in his X-Wing (Red 5).

Unlike the previous game, where the vehicle stages weren’t fully polished (at least not the Death Star battle), here they’re one of the highlights—with absolutely sublime controls and perfect atmosphere, especially in the legendary Battle of Hoth, one of the most impressive moments in 16-bit gaming.

Lastly, given Super Empire Strikes Back’s length, LucasArts wisely added a password system—a much-appreciated feature, especially considering the high difficulty of some levels.

So, in this regard, let’s just say "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it"—except here, they didn’t just keep it, they improved it.

Graphics

"Stunning" is the only word that fits when describing Super Empire Strikes Back on the SNES. The improvements over the previous game are so fundamental they’re downright overwhelming. The animations are even better; the enemies are much bigger (trust me, MUCH bigger—some don’t even fit on-screen); the levels, aside from being huge, are incredibly detailed; the movie cutscenes are more numerous and higher quality; and the vehicle stages are, quite simply, a mind-blowing technical marvel. Since everything here is excellent, there’s no need to overanalyze. As I said before: stunning.

Music and Sound Effects

Once again, what was great remains great. John Williams, the composer of the Star Wars trilogy’s soundtrack, is an absolute master, and The Empire Strikes Back is one of his most complete works. LucasArts’ use of his score is equally masterful, making each level convey the same emotions as the film. The sound effects in Super Empire Strikes Back, a perfect translation of Ben Burtt’s work, are also flawless—especially those in the iconic Battle of Hoth and the Cloud City stages. And above all, the digitized voice lines of Darth Vader, though completely unintelligible, still sound majestic in Super Empire Strikes Back.

Gameplay

Conclusion

The only possible conclusion is that Super Empire Strikes Back is the perfect answer to a perfect movie. Just for experiencing moments like the Battle of Hoth and the incredible final duel with Darth Vader (a flawless depiction of a Jedi fight), this game is worth revisiting. As I said in my Super Star Wars review, LucasArts has never shown this level of mastery again… though Star Wars Galaxies might shut me up forever. May the Force be with you.