A Star Wars arcade game came out shortly after the 1997 Special Edition rerelease of the original trilogy fixed a plot hole that was edited into A New Hope. George Lucas has notoriously made numerous alterations to his iconic space opera films, many of which haven’t sat well with Star Wars fans. One edit seemingly made for the sake of spectacle during the Battle of Yavin – A New Hope‘s climactic battle to destroy the Death Star – was corrected roughly a year later by Sega’s Star Wars Trilogy Arcade.
Although arcade games aren’t typically on the list of Star Wars games with a Jedi player character, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade put players in control of Luke Skywalker for three key battles and two boss fights across the plot of the films, with a fourth mission that gets unlocked switching the perspective to Wedge Antilles. Players take part in the space battle at Yavin, the defense and subsequent evacuation of Echo Base on Hoth, and the speeder bike sequence and assault on the shield generator base on Endor. The boss battles let players use Luke’s lightsaber in duels against Boba Fett and Darth Vader, with the Wedge Antilles mission being another space battle to destroy the second Death Star.
Star Wars Squadrons canonically added to the long line of playable Star Wars space battles in video games, but Trilogy Arcade sought to depict the famous battle at Yavin, and many might consider it more faithful than Lucas’ own reimagining in the 1997 Special Edition. As technology progressed following Star Wars‘ debut in 1977, Lucas sought to modernize his creation, but made some controversial alterations along the way. The most famous example is Han shooting Greedo first being retconned so that the latter misses from near point-blank range a split second before he’s roasted by Han’s blaster.
Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Fixes A Battle Of Yavin Plot Hole
Among the many other changes to A New Hope made for the Special Edition is a new CGI preamble to the Battle of Yavin, something this Star Wars movie tie-in video game seems eager to correct. In a shot showing Rebel ships flying from Yavin IV to confront Imperial forces around the Death Star, the Special Edition has a long pan where both the moon and the Death Star can be seen, both easily visible around the curvature of Yavin. This comes mere seconds after a shot of a map showing how the Death Star is slowly moving into range around the planet. From the Special Edition’s perspective, the Death Star would already have a clear shot at Yavin IV, disrupting the tension of the entire scene.
Releasing shortly after the Special Edition in 1998, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade changes the pan to two separate shots, moving Yavin IV and the Death Star further behind the planet in either direction. It’s a small detail, but the angles are much more convincing. Star Wars Visual Comparisons on Twitter has some very good screenshots putting the two versions of the scene side-by-side. The Star Wars rerelease in 1997 modernized the classic films, but made some questionable changes, including soiling the logistics of the Battle of Yavin, something the developers of Star Wars Trilogy Arcade fixed shortly after.
