In celebration of May the 4th, a pixel artist gives some of the most iconic moments from the originalStar Warstrilogy aZeldacoat of paint. BothThe Legend of ZeldaandStar Warsare some of the most celebrated media franchises that spawned in the 1980s and have become major parts of pop culture.The Legend of Zeldabegan in the mid-1980s with the original game that was released for the Famicom and NES. The series has become one of the most iconic and recognizable game franchises, with many of its entries ranking as some of the highest-rated games ever. The series has a particularly strong history on Nintendo handheld consoles, withhandheldZeldagameslikeA Link Between Worlds,The Minish Cap,Oracle of Ages, andOracle of Seasons being hailed as some of the best titles in the franchise.RELATED:Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Leaker Gets Roasted By Former Nintendo BossPixel artist Shoehead_art on Twitter tapped into the art style of the first handheldZeldagame,Link’s Awakening, to recreate some of the most memorable scenes from the first threeStar Warsfilms. This set of pixel art, fittingly titled “Luke’s Awakening,” features scenes from theStar WarsfilmsA New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, andReturn of the Jedipresented as if they were playable levels in aLink’s Awakeningtype of game. Although the originalLink’s Awakeningwas released for the Game Boy in 1993, its rerelease on the Game Boy Color is one of theGame Boy games playable on Nintendo Switch Online.
WhileStar Warsvideo gameshave existed for almost as long asStar Warsitself, many earlier titles did not reach the same levels of acclaim that games in series likeThe Legend of Zeldadid. In subsequent console generations, some games based onStar Warswould go up in quality and become major commercial successes. This continues today with titles likeStar Wars Battlefront 2,Star Wars: Squadrons, and the recentStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Fan art such as this shows that modernStar Warsgames could work well as retro-style games. Considering the great amount of nostalgia that exists for older eras of gaming, plus the continued success of theStar Warsfranchise, a well-designed retroStar Warsgame is likely to be successful. With theopen-worldStar Warsgame by Ubisoftcurrently in development, it is unlikely that something like this will come in the near future, though there could be an audience for it.
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