Star Wars Battle Pod Arcade Game
The Force is Strong in the Star Wars Battle Pod
A trip to the mall the other day led me to stroll around the arcade to find some games my two year old would get a kick out of. The usual suspects were available; Time Crisis, Mario Kart, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game; nothing he hadn’t seen before, but then out of the corner of my eye I spotted the familiar Imperial sign. Could it be? The arcade game that, according to its own website, was not available at the mall? As I approached the other side of the machine excitement overcame me and knew that I had found what was going to consume my tokens. Star Wars Battle Pod.
Unveiled in October 2014, the Battle Pod is a new way to experience the biggest battles from the original Star Wars trilogy. You get behind the cockpit to battle the Death Star above Yavin 4, trip AT-ATs during the retreat of Hoth, fight along the Ewoks on a speeder bike, and guide the Millennium Falcon to deliver concussion missiles to the Death Star 2’s core. For the most skilled of players, there is a fifth mission where you are Darth Vader himself, hunting down the Falcon in an attempt to stop the Rebels from getting the Superlaser designs.
I took the opportunity to play and started with tackling Yavin 4. After selecting Yavin you are treated to sitting in the bunker, waiting to launch your X-Wing. As you look over the controls you are told to push forward on the accelerator. Doing so brings a big wind rushing over you, catching you off guard and giving you a sense of awe, as reality hits that it is up to you to destroy the Death Star.
The Battle Pod is a sight to behold
From there, it’s a full on assault of your senses. X-Wings and TIE Fighters are flying all around, you’re careening on the surface of the Death Star. You shoot down some turrets, Imperials are shooting at you and you turn your focus to them. Fellow Rebels join in the action. Just as you get acclimated to the controls you’re thrusted into the trenches. The corridors are tight, but fighters are flying all over the place, keeping your attention. Then, the infamous TIE Advanced appears. It’s you vs Darth Vader himself. You fire, knowing time is limited before that exhaust port appears. Fire from above knocks out Vader and you hear a familiar scoundrel’s voice. What does he say? Who knows, because now you have to use the force to focus on delivering the death blow. A 5 second timer appears, take aim, and fire. Sit back and enjoy the destruction of the Death Star.
After successfully defeating the first level I started to think about what level I may want to try next. Hoth? One of the two Endor levels? Or do I feel cocky enough to try the hardest, Darth Vader level? As I’m making a decision the downside to this experience appears. Despite beating the level, I’m being asked for more tokens to proceed forward. Just to start the game cost me 8 tokens. To move forward I needed to insert another 6. If you want to fully experience the Battle Pod, bring a sizable amount of cash.
I decided to give it a go one more time, and popped in the required payment.
You beat a level! Insert more money now!!!!
Now I’m behind the controls of a speeder bike, racing through the forest of Endor. I’m trying to shoot down some storm troopers, but struggling to aim at such high speeds. Eventually one storm trooper saddles up next to me. I can’t aim, so I hammer the controls to knock him off. Not sure what combination worked, but he goes flying off. The trail narrows and I see to shield generator bunker. Enter AT-STs tromping all over the place, your speeder dodging between their legs. Eventually you are face to face with an AT-ST, and a twenty second timer. You fire your special weapon while not letting up on the lasers. The first pass did some damage, but you loop around for another. More special weapons, more lasers, timer ticking. You go for one final pass, less than 10 seconds to finish of the enemy standing between you and the bunker. One last launch of the special weapons…and the AT-ST explodes. The shield goes down and the Ewoks cheer. Another level cleared. Another request for tokens.
I gave it a rest after that. I didn’t have enough tokens, and my son, who was sitting in between the controls, was done watching Dad have fun, wanting his own shot at the Imperials. Luckily, promising him a shot at skee-ball was all he needed to leave the Rebel Alliance.
For more reviews, check out www.nostalgicroe.com! And if you like Star Wars arcade games, we had the chance to check it out when we reviewed the Sega 32x.