Guess who's turning 40? That's right, one of the
most successful film properties in history; Star Wars! Aside from being one of the most lucrative licenses ever, Star Wars has an
influential reach throughout pop culture, from storytelling right down to merchandising. The Star Wars phenomenon has inspired and entertained generations of fans in addition to helping up the ante for special effects across the movie industry. During my childhood I didn't see any of the Star Wars movies but its cultural impact was so strong, purely through osmosis did I know about Jedi, The Force, Death Star, Han shooting first, and numerous quotable line along with the infamously often misquoted "Luke, I am your father!".
That's how powerful Star Wars is! So it should come as no surprise why Star Wars has etched a place in pop culture eternity. Shaping the imaginations of fans old and young alike, you can see references to Star War in a multitude of media whether it's music, TV shows or - video games. There's definitely a crossover appeal between science fiction media and video games and many times game developers like to sprinkle winks and nods towards Star Wars, usually as a token of appreciation. I'm listing a few of the Star Wars references and inspirations I've observed during my video gaming experience. This is no means an ultimate list of all Star Wars references in video games, just a shorthand guide in no particular order:
1. Star Fox
Nintendo
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| Find me a more iconic foursome after these two...besides the Beatles...Ninja Turtles...A Tribe called Quest...uh nevermind. |
The title alone is a homage to the popular sci-fi franchise but most of the references I remember are from the Nintendo 64's unsurprisingly titled Star Fox 64. Arwings are the strongest visual reference to Star Wars even right down to pronunciation (Arwing/R-Wing = X-Wing). When you begin Story mode you're greeted with a short narration of the Star Fox lore reminiscent of the iconic Star Wars title crawl (except it's conveniently voiced). Many characters and relationships are representative of those found in Star Wars as well; Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi are the Luke Skywalker and Han Solo of the team, respectively.
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| A comparative look at the Arwings (l.) and X-Wing (r.) |
Other references is the Gorgon Station bearing resemblance to the Death Star and the ending scene having shades of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
2. Jet Force Gemini
Rare
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| I guess the creepy eye stare is a homage. |
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| Yup, definitely a homage. |
The most obvious reference to Star Wars are the forced-to-collect Tribals who evoke (to put it nicely) the style of the Ewoks. The main and only human characters, Juno and Vela, are likely proxies for Luke and Leia as they are both sets of twins. The robotic assistant FLOYD is also a callback to the fan favorite droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. I'd like to think their dog Lupus was the Chewbacca of the crew since they're both canine (-ish) armed soldiers.
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| Robo-Sapiens |
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| Can never go wrong with dogs (and Wookies) with guns. |
3. Super Smash Bros. Series
Nintendo
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| One cuts the other one smashes. |
Although Star Wars wasn't the first work of fiction to feature the idea of a Lightsaber weapon-type, it sure did popularize it! The Beam Sword from Super Smash Bros undoubtedly owes its existence to most iconic movie weapon of all time. Hell, the Beam Sword had the same sound effects as the Lightsaber which unfortunately was removed from all versions of Smash Bros outside Japan.
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| Light vs Dark | Pink vs Navy |
Another inspiration from Star Wars is in the character Meta-Knight who shares elements with Darth Vader. Despite Meta-Knight appearing first in the Kirby series, his inclusion on this list is because his voice wasn't realized until Super Smash Bros Brawl where he exuded a vocal likeness to James Earl Jones' iconic voice role. In addition he's the dark counterpart to Kirby's lightheartedness harnessing the moral dichotomy Star Wars is famous for. He too also wields a sword and walks around with a dark flowing cape - truly the son Darth Vader always wanted.
4. Mega Man X series
Capcom
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| A Jedi and Reploid walk into a bar... |
The Mega Man X series evolved the Mega Man franchise in many ways, adding new moves, a new storyline and a gritty futuristic backdrop to name a few. One of the more popular characters to emerge from the series is Zero, who's the "Mr. Cool Guy" counterpart to Mega Man and eventually got his own series in Mega Man Zero. One of his main weapons is the Z-Saber and just by its visual nature you can already tell what it's based off of.
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| Well they got the lowered-head brooding walk down. |
The last boss in Mega Man X Command Mission, Epsilon could have been inspired by Darth Vader because of his imposing height, dark color scheme and long flowing cape.
5. Viewtiful Joe
Capcom
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| The Force and The Viewitful. |
Viewtiful Joe somehow always makes my lists. I guess because it takes a little of everything from comics, movies and tokusatsu. One big obvious homage to Star Wars is the last level in the first game of the series, this level not only takes place in space with armies of enemies lined up but it features enemy spacecrafts called the Die Fighters, a unique tank that has a cannon similar to the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, a poster designed similarly to A New Hope and the end boss reveals a deep dark secret not unlike Darth Vader's confession to Luke.
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| Who knew armies clad in all white could be so scary... oh wait.. |
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| Even little details are easy to spot. |
That's all for now, but if you play video games, you know this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Star Wars references and inspirations in video games. I'll definitely follow up with some more for the curious few. Until then, "May the Force be with you."
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