The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess
From Sega Retro
| The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega-CD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: The Software Toolworks (US), Mindscape (Europe) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: The Software Toolworks, LucasArts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supporting companies: DMP Entertainment (voice-over production) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distributor: Tec Toy (BR) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Simulation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess is a Sega Mega-CD chess game based on the Star Wars movie franchise.
Contents
Story
| “ |
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... It is a time of great competition in the Galaxy. An uneasy state of peace has been established between the weakened forces of the Galactic Empire and the growing Rebel Alliance. During this uncertain period of truce, the old adversaries settle their differences through the ancient, eternal game of CHESS. With their greatest heroes as champions, the Empire and the Rebels fight battles of the mind. It is a new kind of warfare. One that will decide the fate of planets, civilizations and the future... |
„ |
— Opening crawl [4] | ||
Gameplay
The game follows the rules of chess, with characters from the Rebel Alliance portraying the white pieces and characters from the Imperial Army portraying the black pieces on an isometric chessboard. Similar to Battle Chess, a popular PC game of the time, a short animated battle plays when one piece captures another. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, where the king is immediately threatened (in "check") with no way to escape. The king is considered checkmated if the player cannot capture the threatening piece, move another piece in between the attacker and the king, or move the king out of the attack. The game calls a draw if the same board position happens three times in the same game or the game goes 50 moves without a capture or a pawn move.
The player moves the cursor around the board with the D-Pad and picks up and places pieces with 
. The player can receive a hint with 
or switch to a conventional 2D view of the chessboard with 
. The 2D chessboard has additional options, such as the ability to replay or undo moves, switch control of each faction, or add or remove pieces.
The player can play against AI opponents of four different difficulty levels. The game also supports two-players so two human opponents can compete against each other. The player can also optionally set two AIs against each other and watch the computer play against itself.
Pieces
| Piece | Rebel Alliance | Imperial Army |
|---|---|---|
| Pawns | R2-D2 | Stormtrooper |
| Knights | Chewbacca | Tusken Raider |
| Rooks | Yoda | AT-ST |
| Bishops | C-3PO | Boba Fett |
| Queen | Princess Leia | Darth Vader |
| King | Luke Skywalker | Emperor Palpatine |
Captures
There are 72 different animated sequences for pieces being captured. Animated sequences can be skipped with START .
Rebel Alliance
Imperial Army
Production credits
- Project Manager/Programming: Peter Lipson
- Art Direction: Becca Martinson
- Producer: Steve Hutchins
- Quality Assurance: Buck Irving, Craig Brisgell, Scott Van Schoick
- Capture Scripts: David K. Goodman, Steve Hutchins, Don Laabs, Vicki Sidley
- Technical Art Assistance: Chris Kosel
- Storyboard and Character Art: Erica Benson, Tansy Brooks, Cesar de Castro, Jeff Griffeath, Dan Guerra
- Background Art: Dan Guerra
- Principal Animation: CARTOONLAND
- Animation Director: Kevin Coffey
- Animators: Arnie Wong, Steven Lee, Steward Lee, Mike Smith, J. Garrett Sheldrew, Robbin Atherley
- Additional 3D Animation: John 'underground' Root
- Effects/Touch-up Artists: John Root, Peter Davis, David Gale, Duncan Knarr, Armen Petrosian, Wendy Piuck, Brad Reynolds, Jose A. Scarpitta, Stefanie Smith, David Weisman
- Intro Sequence By: Armen Petrosian
- VP Software Development: Don Laabs
- Documentation: Anne O'Brien
- Package Design: Julie Lippold, Ruth Weston
- Music Arrangement & Original Music: Peter Stone, Indescribable Creations
- Principal Music Composed By: John Williams
- Voice-over Production: DMP Entertainment
- Additional Character Voices: Dave Goodman, Becca 'Take That' Martinson, Andy Iverson, Bob Cooper
- Film Sound Effects Courtesy of: Lucasfilm Ltd.
- Audio Production: Steve 'wav' Hutchins, Zachary Fuller
- Chess Consultant: Don Laabs
- Star Wars Characters licensed from: Lucasfilm Ltd.
- Special Thanks to: Mike Duffy, Linda Norton, Julia Russo, Stacy Mollema, David Platshon, Joy Schneer, Rob Powers, Don Bies, George Lucas
- "STAR WARS"
- (John Williams)
- © 1977 WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. & BANTHA MUSIC. All rights administered by WARNER-TAMBERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
- "EMPEROR THEME"
- from Main Title, "RETURN OF THE JEDI"
- (John Williams)
- © 1983 BANTHA MUSIC. All rights administered by WARNER-TAMBERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
- "YODA THEME"
- from Main Title, "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK"
- (John Williams)
- © 1980 WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. & BANTHA MUSIC. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
Magazine articles
- Main article: The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
53 |
|---|---|
| Based on 11 reviews | |
| Mega-CD, US |
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  Cover
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 Disc  Manual |
| Mega-CD, EU |
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  Cover
|
 Spinecard  Disc  Manual |
| Mega-CD, BR |
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   Cover
|
Technical information
References
- ↑ GamePro, "December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 247
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-08-15), page 25
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-15), page 61
- ↑ File:Star Wars Chess, Opening Crawl.pdf
- ↑ File:Star Wars Chess MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Star Wars Chess MCD music credits.png
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-15), page 111
- ↑ GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 120
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-25), page 18
- ↑ MAN!AC, "01/95" (DE; 1994-12-07), page 94
- ↑ Mega, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-21), page 69
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-07-30), page 83
- ↑ Play Time, "2/95" (DE; 1995-01-04), page 112
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 84
- ↑ Sega Power, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-04), page 62
- ↑ Sega Pro, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-08), page 57
- ↑ VideoGames, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 114
| The Software Toolworks' Star Wars Chess | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Comparisons | Magazine articles | Reception | Technical information | |
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