Title Graveyard feature: Star Wars Arcade Developed 2009 Platforms Nintendo DS

Web browsers Genre Classic Arcade Screenshots jpg # shots 6 Badges

In order to build Code Mystics' portfolio, we invented projects to challenge us. We weren't commissioned to do this work  it was entirely our own idea  but it helped us flex our technical muscles and there was always the chance that the completed prototype might grab the interest of the parties in question. Code Mystics' Graveyard series features these games that never were.

So, with that said, we admit this one was a long shot but nostalgia compelled us! Atari's 1983 Star Wars arcade game is an all-time favourite of many, including many of us on the Code Mystics team.

We wanted a proving ground for our FOCAL Emulation Techology that we'd been building up, and we already had the vector renderers from Tempest. Star Wars was built on the Motorola 6809 CPU, a CPU we wanted to add to our revamped tool chain, and it was a great excuse to play the game again.

The thing with Star Wars, though, is that it's obvious a property of LucasFilm (now part of Disney) but the game is also an Atari creation. Working out the business side with the various stakeholders seemed pretty daunting, but it was secretly our dream to have that classic 1983 arcade game (and perhaps its two sequels!) out there for its 30th anniversary.

We got the game running both on the Nintendo DS and also in browser, expanding on the technology we'd created for the Atari Play browser experience earlier that year.

It was a great demo that we were proud to show off in industry meetings when we could, but alas the pieces never came together. Who knows, though? We think it'd be a great addition to the inevitable PR push that'll come with Episode VII... Anyone at Disney want to get in touch?