Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
Here's the original video, complete with "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way" by Spectre General" in the Vader battle... (WARNING: If you're currently outside of the United States, you may not be able to see this one.)
...and here's the redone version, re-recorded for viewing outside of the USA!
Vader's Lair 2
You'll start the level falling down, collecting Rebel Alliance icons. This the last point in the game where you can do this, so grab as many as you can!
The red Stormtroopers as well as the jetpack Stormtropers will be out in full force. You'll be on the same platform for a little while at times to fight off the Stormtroopers on jetpacks, and you'll sometimes be switching to the blaster to pick off some of the red Stormtroopers at times.
When you reach the doorway, press Up to enter it.
Final Battle With Vader
This is the same, except the battle is insanely long.
His new attack here is pretty easy to figure out...but not right away. He'll jump straight at you regardless of where you are, then he'll send all sorts of metal pieces at you as soon as he blocks. Double jump to attack all these things, and pick up the Force power-up that one of them leaves behind.
When he's low on health, the metal pieces will keep flying at you with absolutely no end. When that starts happening, do nothing but double jump, and use the double jump to kill Vader.
Oh, but it's true, Luke Skywalker. You're near the end of the game.
Vader's Lair 1
The Stormtroopers here are now red. I guess they didn't have enough memory to give us the Emperor's Crimson Guard, so they just gave us recolors. That's pretty lazy for LucasArts standards.
There are laser turrets in the ground and laser guns in the background, the latter of which activate when you get in close to them.
When you finally reach the platform jumping section, the Snowtroopers on the jetbikes start flying around to screw you up. The lightsaber makes quick work of them, so always double jump to the next platform with the lightsaber equipped to take care of them and any bombs they release into the air.
The platforms cover a lot more space in the level and require a few leaps of faith at times. Use the shoulder buttons to look for the next platform if you're not sure where to go next.
After the platforms, drop down and you'll face Darth Vader. Block his attacks, and hit him after he drops back down from flying around (he stands there doing nothing for about one second before attacking again). Saber throwing also works pretty well against him, as does the Invisibility power-up, if you have them.
When you beat Darth Vader, he'll fly away. You'll then have a choice between the high road and the low road. Cross the platforms and stay on top so you won't have to fight any enemies.
After this, there's some more epic platform jumping. There is one platform that requires the technique from the second Chewbacca level in order to reach, so you'd better have it down to a science. (Of course, you could use Levitation for this one, making it easier. Sucks to be you, Chewbacca!) If you take the low road here before taking the high road, you'll get three large health power-ups and three Force power-ups at the end of it for your trouble.
The Stormtroopers on jetpacks rear their ugly heads again near the end. Fortunately, if you step to the right just enough, they'll spawn before they can push you around mid-jump.
When you meet up with Vader again, you'll fight him a second time. He stands around more often this time, giving you more opportunities to hit him. When you defeat him, Vader will use the Force to knock you out the window! Use the Force, Luke!
It's nighttime in Cloud City...and the bounty hunters are out to play!
Cloud City 2
This level is full of platform jumping that is even more difficult than what you've seen so far. Three of the jumps will test your double jump to its limit, since you have to reach the same height as the next platform on the apex of your double jump and deal with enemies at the same time. To make your way up there, jump off the platform so that it rises back to its normal level, then double jump as soon as your feet touch the ground again. It takes a bit of practice, but it can be done.
To beat Boba Fett, shoot at him when he's in the air and use your spin attack on him when he's on the ground. Give yourself some distance when he's in the air, as Fett's rapid ions bounce off the floor and ceiling, creating a shield of sorts around him.
When you defeat him, he'll fly away leaving three large health power-ups behind, which is more than enough to completely refill your health with. Continue on, and you'll meet up with his ship, the Slave I. Use the same strategy as before, and you'll cruise your way to victory!
Sadly, this is the last stage where you play as Chewbacca. Only two levels? Where's the love? Since Han Solo is now frozen in carbonite, you'll be playing the rest of the game as Luke. Destiny awaits!
Cloud City Battle
You'll be flying around in the X-Wing this time. Finally, you get to pilot this thing again!
This level, however, makes the attack on the Death Star look like child's play. The ground here is a layer of clouds that you can fly through. The problem with being under the clouds, however, is that when you're under there, your HUD disappears, making it impossible to keep track of your health if you get hit...and enemies will definitely be coming from both sides!
You'll have to destroy fifteen Cloud Cars before you can move on...and this won't be easy!
Keep the fire button held down the entire time, and fire proton torpedoes with the shoulder buttons in inflict more damage on the Cloud Cars, as it takes a bit to bring them down. Weave up and down, going in and out of the clouds so you won't get ambushed often. When you finally start seeing two or three on the screen at the same time, go in a circle. You'll eventually take them all out, and minimize the amount of damage you'll take in the process.
I did not know that the clouds were a recolor of the floor from The Battle of Hoth until this video. Just wanna bring that up.
When you destroy the last one, fly towards Cloud City. It's time for Luke to face his destiny!
This level is even worse than the last. Screw the Ugnaught Factory being the hardest level, it's the Carbonite Factory!
Carbonite Factory
First off, this is the last level where you play as Han before he gets frozen in carbonite. Boo!
The flames that come out of the pipes in the level can damage you. Also, the claws that spin around lunge downward at you as soon as you're under them. If you can shoot them down, they'll drop a bunch of small hearts...useful if you're in dire need of health.
The pillars with the gold flashing spheres shoot those Cloud Car lasers at you. They can easily be shot down, but they can be annoying since they're usually located near at least one enemy, usually grenade-tossing Snowtroopers. Yeesh, fuck the ghetto, welcome to Bespin. Fortunately, these floors don't allow for lasers to reflect off of them, so don't worry about that.
The pipes on the walls shoot out carbonite (I guess that's what it is, since this is a carbonite factory) and freeze you. Be careful when you have to drop down or take an elevator trip up. The latter is when they're worse, since you have a higher chance of being frozen solid for a few seconds, but thankfully you can shoot these pipes down.
The orbs from the Ugnaught Factory also make a return appearance here, and they're even worse this time around simply because of the level design of the carbonite factory. There's nothing worse than jumping around and running straight into one of their fireballs, losing a chunk of health and being back where you started from.
The boss here is some sort of carbonite manufacturing machine. This thing will shoot carbonite that freezes you, and has pipes that do the same thing. This thing fight similarly to the Tractor Beam Core in the last game, and you can use the same strategy: go all the way up to the top left and keep shooting at it. You'll take damage, but it'll be dead before you are.
The good news is, this is a short video compared to the last one. The better news is, you get to play as Chewbacca. Finally!
Ugnaught Factory
Those midgets with the white hair are Ugnaughts. They're the beings that dismantled (but not deactivated) C-3PO in the movie. Strangely, our heroes actually meet them in the game...or at least one of them. They're quite fast and they respawn almost as soon as you blast them to smithereens. They don't shoot at you, but they push you back with what looks like some sort of spiky shield. They can be armies of one if you're not careful, especially if their surrounded by other enemies.
Chewie's secondary attack is a spin attack. To use it, press and hold A. This definitely helps out if you're stuck in a tight spot with one or two enemies, or if you're sharing a narrow platform with enemies. You're also invincible when you use it. You can only spin for as long as you have energy in the spin meter on the upper-right hand corner, but it doesn't take very long for it to recharge. It's a shame you don't get to use him very much in this game, though, since his spin attack is pretty cool and pretty useful.
The sections where you hop on lumps of metal on top of lava is self-explanatory enough, but the other danger here is the turrets on the ceiling that shoot those Cloud Car-style lasers at you, making getting from one side to the other in sections as quickly and as pain-free as possible the order of the day.
Blast upwards in the nooks where the Snowtroopers with the shields throw grenades. You'll be able to find some hidden power-ups here.
Some of these sections will also have doors that open and close, spawning purple orbs that follow you around, pushing you one direction or the other. When they open up, they launch a fireball towards the ground that can do a lot of damage. This is the only time you can damage them, making them a real annoyance.
After this, you'll see the same ceiling turrets from the lava platform sections lining parts of the walls. Thankfully, they (like their ceiling counterparts) can be destroyed with the gun. The Ugnaughts will also be throwing what look like rocks at you, giving them the ability to hit you from a distance. What jerks!
The last lava pool before the boss doesn't have those platforms. Instead, you'll have to wait for a platform hanging from the ceiling comes your way so you can jump onto it. You can then take the last, long elevator ride to the boss.
The boss here is some sort of machine on chains controlled by an Ugnaught. Destroy the three pieces of armor in the corners, and you'll be able to deplete the machine's health. Be careful not to let those platforms sink into the lava, and watch out for turret fire.
When you beat it, the machine lets the bubble with the Ugnaught loose, and it'll fly around shooting rapid ion cannons at you. If you have the Plasma gun, you should be able to beat it in no time at all. Otherwise, you'll be doing a lot of jumping to avoid the Ugnaught and its firepower.
After that, double jump to the right and you'll reach C-3PO, who is surprisingly in one piece. Touch him and the level's over.
The music for the Cloud City stages is really awesome, and is amongst the best of the Super Star Wars series. It really builds your confidence for making it so far in this game.
And it's only going to get harder from here.
Cloud City - Day
Some parts of the floor sink when you stand on them and activate an electric zapper beneath. As a matter of fact, a part of the floor doesn't de-pixelize like the rest of the level at the start. If you happen to make a note of it, do yourself a favor and don't step on it...it's like dying at the hands of the first Goomba in Super Mario Bros. It's easy not to do, but when you do do it, you wonder why you did something that stupid in the first place.
One of the big enemies here are the orange vehicles, also known as the Cloud Cars. These things dwarf the droids that attack you in the stage, and they will come down from the sky sometimes and shoot at you unless you destroy them. Their lasers can bounce off walls and ceilings, so be careful when you meet up with one. Thankfully, every time you destroy one, you gt a large health power-up for your trouble. You'll need them...because this stage is pretty long.
You'll also stand on some platforms that sink when you stand on them. These platforms are usually not very big. Your double jumping skills will be put to the test on these things.
The next two stage hazards you'll see are doors in the walls that send out Imperial Stormtroopers when they open, as well as platforms that slide back into the wall when you stand on them. The doors aren't so bad, but you'll have to be quick with the sliding platforms.
The turrets on the ceilings are a pain in the butt. You're better off avoiding them, as you can't destroy them and they shoot the same lasers as the Cloud Cars.
Throughout the stage, you'll be seeing platforms flying around. Pay attention when you see one, since sometimes they fly around in quick, non-traditional patterns at times. Be sure to slide when the crushing walls sink back into the ceiling, so you won't take damage.
When you reach the elevator, you'll have to destroy all the enemies in the doorways before you can get the elevator to work. The Cloud Cars will definitely be pursuing you in these areas.
After the elevator, the enemies here get nastier and the jumps get even more complex. The bigger enemies that take several Plasma shots to kill will give you large health power-ups when you defeat them, though, so keep that in mind if the enemies give you as much trouble as the jumps. Also, some of the platforms are pretty small, and they have a door that spawns enemies at the side that cause you to fall off and start the jumping puzzle all over. You'll definitely have to be quick with your actions in these portions.
There will soon be another elevator when you get far enough, but it won't show up right away. Drop all the way down and stay to the right, and not only will the elevator finally show up, you'll find some hidden power-ups: two extra lives, a thermal detonator, a blaster power-up, and a large health power-up and a Health Sword that respawn numerous times, which means you can increase your maximum health until it caps out! This just got a lot easier!
Take the elevator back up, and you'll be going right and down this time around. The hallway before the next set of hard jumps has Stormtroopers on jetpacks that would just love to eat away at your health.
After that, you'll soon meet IG-88 as a regular enemy in this game. You've already seen Zukus and Bossk (two other bounty hunters) as regular enemies earlier in the level, and they all take a good amount of damage before falling. IG-88 is a jerk, though, as he can shoot a fast-moving blue ring at you that freezes you like the Wampa's breath back in the Hoth levels. This won't be the last level you'll see any of them in, that's for sure.
When you fight the boss, you'll have to shoot all the armor plating off in order to damage the boss. You'll be doing a lot of sliding and moving around as this thing will shoot rapid ion blasts and follow you around.
When you finish it off, you'll finally meet Lando. Man, that was a hard level.
Are you a bad enough dude to become a Jedi Knight?
We're back to playing Luke again, as we take a detour from Hoth and commit to training as a Jedi Knight in Dagobah.
Search for R2-D2
This one is pretty short. All you have to do is move right and find R2-D2. There's not much in terms of enemies, if you go all the way to the top at the beginning of the level, you'll find the Heal Force Power.
I might as well and go ahead and mention all of them, since lukenuetzmann doesn't want to cover all of them:
E: Elevation - This lets you float in the air for as long as you have Force Power. Use Up to start flying, then use Left and Right to go where you want to go.
M: Mind control - This confuses enemies and has them move in the opposite direction so they can't attack you.
S: Slowdown - This makes enemies slower, as well as the game. Only a few monsters are actually affected by this power, though...
L: Sabre Control - Luke will throw his lightsaber and control where it goes with the power of the Force. Unfortunately, Luke can't move while he's using this, leaving him open to attack.
D: Sabre Deflect - Bullets that hit you won't do damage. Really useful when you have a lot of onscreen enemies.
I: Invisible - This makes Luke invisible. Enemies and stage hazards will go right through him as long as it's at work.
H: Heal - This lets you use the Force Power you have to heal yourself at will. Very useful against bosses.
F: Freeze - Freezes all onscreen enemies. Helps a lot if you're feeling overpowered.
Search for Yoda
Love the foregrounds in the Dagobah stages, by the way.
The green circles power up your Force Power, in case you don't know what's going on. You'll need Force Power to use your Force abilities that you collect on Dagobah.
The big black creatures with the gold horns are particularly annoying. They'll leap around and run into you in the process, and they can climb ledges with their jumping abilities. It's best to stay away from them, but you can get health power-ups from them if you can fight them off and survive.
The mushrooms floating on the water have hidden Force power-ups above them if you need to fill up quickly. Again, this is a pretty short stage...hopefully you've looked around for all seven Force powers and see which ones work best for you. Invisible and Heal are the best, in my opinion.
Also, why is Yoda and the piranhas in the water the same size? I'll never figure that out...
Your Jedi Training
This stage is longer than the other two. Just might as well point this out.
It won't be long before you reach what seems to be a huge lake. Just like in Hoth, there are a lot of Rebel Alliance logos spinning around that give you 50 points apiece. If you need a free life, you'd better start moving around. Getting one of the Darth Vader helmets and doubling your point gainage for a short time definitely won't hurt, either.
As the screen scrolls forward automatically, logs will rise from the bottom of the water. It won't be long before they rise above the water and work as a makeshift raft. There'll be quite a bit of slowdown in this portion, so prepare for some patience.
If you go higher in this part, you can find some Force Powers up there. You can even find some 1-Ups if you know where to look, so if you have the Elevation power, this would be a great place to use it if you want the real goods.
You'll eventually hit dry land and face the Habogad Swamp Monster (yes, that's what the instruction manual actually calls it). Equip your lightsaber and double jump a hell of a lot, as this thing sends out caterpillars and spits some green balls at you for attacks. You'll be taking out the five appendages above its mouth, and once you destroy all of them only then will you be able to damage this thing. As long as you don't touch it's mouth, you won't have to worry about taking a lot of unnecessary damage.
I wrote the piece for this after downloading this vid as an .avi for PS3 and watching it on TV.
I should do this more often.
Escape from Echo Base, Part 2
Just more of the same here. One of the dead ends has an open ceiling with a hidden health power-up.
Apparently, points matter after all. You gain an extra life every 50,000 points. I guess it does pay to fight...
If you ever come across a dead end, shoot around at the ceiling. You just might be able to find some hidden power-ups that you're desperately needing.
To beat the AT-ST, shoot the cannon down, then work on the AT-ST itself. There's a hidden shield that helps curb on unnecessary damage from the AT-ST's stomp attacks. The far right corner also works as a safe spot, as long as you don't more around and just stand there and shoot if you're cornered.
Asteroid Field
Oh, boy. This is going to be fun.
The radar screen at the bottom of the screen is going to be your best friend here, as you'll need it to see where the TIE Fighters are and move accordingly so their shots don't tag you...if the asteroids don't hit you first! The red light next to your score lets you know when you're in range when it flashes, so keep an eye on your HUD and the landscape as you fight. You'll have to shoot down 15 TIE Fighters before you can move on.
The higher the difficulty, the more TIE Fighters that will be on the radar at one time. You'll be dealing with just one on Easy, but you'll be dealing with two on Brave and three on Jedi.
The controls here are not inverted, so keep in mind that Up goes up and Down goes down.
Also, in case a TIE Fighter doesn't appear after a while, get the asteroid belt in the background to appear in the center of the screen and dodge asteroids until one shows up on the radar.
When you destroy them all, dodge all the asteroids as you wait for the game to move upwards so you see nothing but star lines and enter Hyperspace. You did it!
Oh, so that's what the insides of those things look like.
Into the AT-AT
You'll still be flying the Snowspeeder when you begin this stage. Shoot down the Imperial Bikers as well as any bombs they leave, just like last time. You'll also be dealing with Snowtroopers on jetpacks. Move the speeder around this time to avoid being hit by them as well as the debris that comes out when you destroy them, which inexplicably harms the snowspeeder. The debris is hard to dodge, and you also have to take as little damage as possible for Luke and the snowspeeder share the same health bar. You'll soon get out of your Snowspeeder and continue on foot to Echo Base.
When you reach the leg, double jump your way up and you'll see a platform to your right. Get there and enter the door.
Once you're inside, switch to the blaster and shoot away. Everything will fall as you run to the doors. Press Up when you're in front a door and you'll go up to the next level.
The Snowtroopers and the rolling ball droids are easy to destroy, but the turrets involve a certain strategy. Get close to cause the cannons to appear, then duck and shoot at it. Stay away from it until after it explodes. Each turret you shoot up will give you a Health Sword. After four floors, you'll be at the top of the AT-AT.
To beat the boss, stand all the way to the right, switch to the lightsaber, duck and block until the boss kills itself from the rapid ion blasts reflecting back into the cannons on the AT-AT's head. Easiest boss ever.
Escape from Echo Base Hangar, Part 1
Hey, guess what? You get to play as Han Solo this time! Hell, yeah!
As mentioned in the first entry, Han has grenades for a secondary attack. Press A to throw the grenade straight ahead, or use up and up/towards to change your trajectory. You can have two grenades on-screen at a time.
When enemies drop grenades (the little gray thing with the x and a number next to it), pick it up as quick as possible. The quicker you pick it up, the better...kinda like the Time Power-ups in Super Star Wars. If you're fast enough, you can get as much as ten in one grab.
The good news is that any Blaster Power-Ups you picked up as Luke transfer to Han! If you've got Plasma, this should be pretty easy.
There are now turrets on the ceiling as well as Snowtroopers coming out of the door, now that the Empire has taken over the base. The stacks of blocks can be easily destroyed with the gun.
The elevators that whip you around the level are simply moved around by the Control Pad. You'll see other elevators that work like this on later levels, so keep this in mind.
If you come to a dead end, shoot around near the walls. You should be able to find some hidden power-ups.
To defeat the swinging rods of spikes, destroy the square in the center that keeps them stuck to the ceilings.
The flying robots are best beaten with the gun. They always leave a large health power-up when they die, so pick it up after killing one.
The boss here is another flying machine of the Imperial Army's. Destroy the rear cannon, the two spinning chains at the side and the front cannon, then shoot at it and avoid the bombs. When it comes to your level, toss grenades at it to destroy it even faster.
If, for some reason, you're luckier than lukenuetzmann and happen to get a Thermal Detonator from one of the Snowtroopers that come out of the final door before the boss, use it on the boss. You'll destroy all the armaments and you can focus straight on breaking the boss's health down. Score!
I don't remember these enemies being in the movie...
Echo Base
The bestiary shifts from wild animals to robots that obviously weren't in the motion picture.
The beams that hang from the ceiling will fall when you get under them, but if you're blocking (yes, you can block by pressing Y and holding Down on the D-pad or holding A) they won't do that much damage to you. You can also slide under them and they'll hit the ground long after you pass them.
You can deal with the flamethrowers in the ground one of two ways: either destroy them with the gun or slide past them. Yes, the slide is still useful.
You'll soon hop aboard some sort of hovercycle. Move up and down, and smoke those Snowtroopers as well as any bombs they drop.
Once you jump off, continue right and you'll get in the Snowspeeder. Time for some hot, hot Mode 7 action!
The Battle of Hoth
Your first task is to destroy 10 probe droids and 10 speeder bikes. This should be easy, and in case you need to know many you need left, just look at the upper-right hand corner.
Whatever you do, never, ever let your Snowspeeder hit the ground. You'll be using Up and Down as much as you use Left and Right, so if you want to avoid unnecessary damage, stay afloat. Best rule of thumb here: never let your Snowspeeder meet with its own shadow, especially when you're flying over hills. Also, you won't start seeing the bikers until you destroy a couple of Probe Droids. Once that happens, watch the skies carefully.
When you're done with that, you'll have to destroy 5 AT-STs (those things with two long legs). They take a lot of hits, but they drop a lot of health, so if you're hurting from Mission 1, this is your lucky day. Just watch out for those speeder bikes. They're still out in force.
Mission 3 is the big one - you're wrapping your tow cables around those four-legged AT-ATs. When you get near one, stay near the legs and under the body, and don't stray too far. (Of course, if you watched the movie, you'd know that, right?)
After that, fly towards the last AT-AT. There. You're done.
This place is cold. Just like the rest of the game. What, you thought this would be easier with all the new gameplay changes and additions? Well, you thought wrong!
Hoth - Second Cave
There will be a Wampa right in front of you when the stage begins, so shoot it down with your gun. Move to the right, and when you get to the platform, stand there so that it lowers. You can now jump to the right without taking damage from spikes...and the Wampa near it will miss you! Ha, ha!
Some of the platforms will lower when you stand on them, so that you can get further into the stage safely. Keep that in mind in case you have no idea where to go in this cave and the shoulder buttons don't seem to help.
There are blaster power-ups here, but keeping your Seekers here is well-advised.
You'll find another area where the air will take you into another cave with hidden power-ups. You'll find Shields in this one, which helps with the spikes for a limited amount of time. The second one, which you'll find about half a minute later, will have a 1-Up and some health tucked in one of the corners. The third one, which is just after the second, has a blaster power-up in case you can't live without your Rapid Ion. (Or Plasma, if you found the other one and got it.)
You'll soon find an arrow pointing up. Go up, then go all the way to the left and double jump. You'll land on invisible platforms, and if you go all the way up fast enough, you'll get two 1-Ups! Sweet!
Go right, and you'll eventually land on a platform that takes you down a slope. Collect as many of the Rebel Alliance icons as you can, even though points don't really matter. You can also cause the platform to rise from the ground by jumping.
Hoth - To Giant Probe Droid
This one is more of the same. You'll be fighting off more wild animals and Probe Droids, and you'll be jumping across even more platforms.
When you fight the giant Probe Droid, destroy the arms before you destroy the Probe Droid, or else it'll keep replenishing its own health every time it takes damage. The lightsaber is best for this one. Just be sure to avoid the ion blasts it shoots downwards. If you have the Plasma gun, though, you can use that to tear this thing apart.
You'll then take another Rebel icon-collecting sled ride before the platform sinks into the water. Leap to the platforms, then continue right and you'll meet an even bigger probe droid. Holy crap, I don't remember seeing that in the movie!
Wait for the probe droid to rise out of the water and attack, then get in the water and shoot at it with the blaster. If somehow you have the Plasma gun, this works very well, as you'll be able to blast it into a junk heap in less than a minute.
When its health runs out, it'll come back from the dead with its lower half removed, revealing a sort of afterburner that burns you if you're too close to its underside. Stay on the platform to let it sink, and you should have enough clearance to shoot upwards at it without taking much damage. All the while, you'll have to avoid the electric eels and their electric current shocking the water.
To celebrate the release of the complete Star Wars saga on Blu-Ray on May 4th, 2012, I threw a wrench in the works, went off the beaten path and shook things up PrinceWatercress style!
Here's our old buddy lukenuetzmann, playing the sequel to Super Star Wars...
Super Empire Strikes Back!
There are a few differences here compared to Super Star Wars, and they all translate further into the next game, Super Return of the Jedi. (I'll cover that game eventually; hold your horses.) The first and most important one is that you no longer have to hold Up and jump to Super Jump. Instead, it has been replaced by a double jump that can be performed simply by pressing B after your first jump.
Second, you can now run and shoot at the same time. Hold the Y button, then move wherever you want. You can run and shoot upwards or downwards, too. Just move the D-Pad diagonally! Score!
Third, the game has a password system. When you lose all your lives and you have the option to continue, you'll get a password after inputting your high score (if you achieved one). Nice.
Fourth, Han, Chewie and Luke all have secondary attacks. Luke has Force Powers, Han can throw grenades and Chewie does a spin attack that destroy everyone nearby. All can be performed with the A button, though you'll have to earn the Force Powers for Luke later on before you can do it.
Fifth, the lightsaber is much better balanced now. You can actually defeat enemies and bosses with this thing. You can still use the blaster if you need to, but you'll definitely use the lightsaber for most of the bosses.
Hoth - Path to first cave
The game begins on Hoth. You'll be fighting off wild animals and dodging giant snowballs as you make your way from point A to point B. One of them, strangely, is a light blue version of the flying monsters from the first stage of the previous game. Also, you can destroy the giant snowballs with the double jump slash, but it's not the time, effort, or the amount of damage you take from doing so, even if you get a lot of small hearts for your health bar for destroying it.
Believe it or not, one of the ledges leading up the hill leads to a hidden blaster power-up. Just double jump at the height of your jump when you jump to the left off of one of them, and you'll instantly grab the hidden power-up. Yep, this game has some hidden power-ups as well.
It won't be long before you find a Tauntaun that you can ride on. If you wanna start ridin' dirty through Hoth, jump on the Tauntaun. Simple enough. The Tauntaun has its own energy bar and in case it takes too much punishment and dies, you can still continue on foot without harm to Luke's own energy. It's like having an extra life within an extra life. Of course, you can also kill it yourself with the Blaster if you're a complete jerk, but why would you want to?
Jumping on it will give you a cutscene showing some sort of asteroid hitting the planet's surface (it's really an Imperial Probe Droid).
Hoth - Path to first cave (continued)
It's a little harder to attack while on the Tauntaun unless you're using the blaster. It does have a lot of health, and you dismount and continue on foot if it dies, so don't freak out if it's low on health.
This part shows off a new stage hazard: ice crystal spikes that pop out of the ground when you're right in front of them. You can see where they're planted, it's just a matter of jumping over them (which is easier if you're not on the Tauntaun). You can also shoot them where they lie in order to instantly get rid of them before they're even sprung.
After a while, you'll see another hazard: bridges that explode when you cross them. The best way to avoid the explosions is to jump on the bridge and quickly move across.
A little while later, you'll start seeing Imperial Probe Droids. These things will fly around and shoot down at the ground in an attempt to hit you. Don't fight them unless you absolutely have to. Believe it or not, you can keep destroying them as long as they keep showing up, and the last one drops a weapon power-up, so it's possible to get the Plasma shot before the first cave. You can do this with a lot of enemy spawn points.
After a series of platforms to jump on (which is kinda easy, thanks to the double jump/lightsaber combination) you'll find a cave. Do as the game says and enter the cave.
Hoth - First Cave
This is where it gets a little more difficult.
The hardest enemies to hit here are the bats. You're better off using your lightsaber for these, since they move just fast enough to make the blaster almost useless.
Sometimes, if you double jump at certain points, the air will lift you up into caves where you can use your weapon and uncover hidden power-ups. Just don't touch the spiky walls and ceilings.
The Wampas take a good beating before they finally fall. They can freeze you with their ice breath, and hit you with their claws while you're immobile. You're better off upgrading the gun to at least a Seeker, but the Plasma is ideal as they go down in a mere three hits.
The first time you have the opportunity to move downwards on your way to the boss, go all the way down to the bottom of the screen, you'll find a hidden blaster power-up. Just watch out for the electric eels, and get out of the water when they jump out and dive back in, as the electric current will damage you. There will also be piranhas that will bite at you when you're in range, as you'll find out not long afterward.
If you land in the spike pits, you'll die instantly. Keep your jumps accurate with the double jump if you have to.
When you reach the platforms surrounded by spikes, equip the lightsaber. You'll need it to destroy the bats with a double jump, as the bats will push you around and knock you either out of reach of a platform or straight into spikes. Despite not being powerful at all, they can be a real pain.
If you do a double jump off one of the platform, you'll be taken higher into another hidden nook with a Health Sword and another hidden blaster power-up waiting for you! We have Seekers now? Nice. Now that you have them, switch to the gun on your way back down. The Wampas are much easier now.
You'll have to switch back to your lightsaber, though, as you'll meet the first boss: a giant Wampa on steroids. His pattern is very easy: avoid his right arm, avoid his breath, avoid his left arm, avoid his breath, avoid his right arm, avoid his breath, avoid his left arm, rinse, lather, repeat. Double jump as you avoid his attacks and you'll wipe him out in no time!
Hoth - Path to second cave
You'll be out of the cave, and you'll have another Tauntaun waiting for you. The jumps will be easier to pull off if you're not on the Tauntaun, as there are platforms on top of spike-lined columns that branch out yet again.
