I’m sure that by now, you are all familiar with the fact that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm LTD. If you are not, please allow me to use this opportunity to welcome you to the internet.
While everyone on the internet started coming up with the same jokes as everyone else, I did what I always do and started coming up with ways for this marriage of mouse and midi-chlorions to benefit those of us who love games, but also Star Wars and Disney. Sure, I’ve treaded similar territory before, but now that Disney is a variable I have a few ideas to how they can best use the property to make some awesome console games since no one else has done so in years.
Pod Racing
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who became more disappointed with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace the longer it continued to be projected onto the screen. There were, however, two things that stood out as awesome among the scenes of diplomacy and attempts at “humor” involving strange accents and clumsiness. The first thing that I enjoyed quite a bit was the pod race scene. Despite its length of about as long as an animated Disney musical, it was fast paced and a lot of fun.
One of the only good things to come out of the movie’s licensing was the arcade version of pod racing and some would argue that the Nintendo 64 version of the game was pretty good as well. However, the races were tragically slow in those games. Either this was an attempt to make the game a lot easier than it would be if played at the appropriate speed or a way to anger Star Wars purists by going against cannon.
I would love to have access to a great pod racing game that delivers all of the things that made us enjoy Pod Racing to begin with. I want the sense of speed to be so great, that there would be actual terror as I rounded the twists and turns of the track.
Battling is another thing that I would love to see recreated as the race in the movie was hardly a straight forward contest to see who had the fastest rocket powered death machine. I want to be able to force crashes, throw obstacles and sabotage vehicles. What better way could there be to use the Wii U controller than to use it as a way to fix your failing pod on the fly. It just seems like if you are strapped to two rockets wrapped only in thin layers of steel, I should be more terrified that I won’t live to see the next race.
Marvel/Star Wars Crossover
Way back when Star Wars had first begun, Marvel Comics released the official adaptation of the film. It only seems natural that everything can come full circle and have Star Wars collide with Marvel once again.
Only this time…it’s personal.
Honestly, I have a couple of ideas where a team up would conceivably work and I have no idea which one I would be more excited about.
First off, there would be the obvious fighting game. Using the Marvel vs. Capcom model, gamers can choose their favorite super powered pugilist or flinger of the force and then battle for their respective universes. Even though I like Marvel vs. Capcom, the last fighting game to be released with Star Wars characters in it (Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi) was received about as well John Carter of Mars riding piggy back on Jar Jar Binks. Even with that footnote of fighting game history to contend with, it would be a lot of fun to pit Darth Vader against Silver Samurai if only so that they could compare their killer headgear. And then try to kill each other. Let’s not forget that part.
My second idea is more of an Alternate Universe. Why not have a nice action/adventure game set in the Star Wars Universe? Maybe the Skrulls are running rampant through the galaxy and hope seems lost. Suddenly a band of super heroes appear to stop them at all costs to protect their own world. Imagine Spider-man, Iron Man, or Captain America fighting side by side with the Jedi to rid the universe of this menace. I am and the visuals are too awesome to be ignored.
Star Tours
I am a little bit of a Disney Parks nut. So it should be absolutely no surprise to know that I would love to have a video game version of the popular attraction Star Tours.
Taking cues from the Tomorrowland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios attraction, you begin by selecting your character. For those of us who want to have a classic Star Tours experience, you would be able to select rookie pilot Rex as voiced by Paul Reubens. Those who want a more modern experience can choose C-3PO who would be voiced by Anthony Daniels, naturally.
In the “Classic” mode, you inadvertently stumble upon the Rebel Alliance as they attempt to destroy a Death Star (in cannon this was a different Death Star than from Episodes IV or VI). After assisting with the destruction of the space station as it happens in the original Star Tours attraction, the story continues with Rex becoming the first (and last) dog fighting droid in a Star Fox-esque game.
In the modern version, you must help C-3PO escape the Empire as they try to stop a Rebel spy that you are carrying from reaching Naboo with information vital to the cause. Like the attraction, the level would be random and when you replay the game, the entire thing is different with over fifty different outcomes possible.
Disney Star Wars
Disney Star Wars would be exactly what it sounds like: a Star Wars game starring Disney characters. I imagine that the game would play like the kid-friendly LEGO Star Wars games do.
Luckily, the Disney company has already assigned their characters Star Wars counter parts, so it becomes just a matter of plugging the characters into the roles and voicing it out. Even though I really want to see this game happen one day, I must admit that the idea of Goofy being Mickey’s father and Minnie as his sister is incredibly bizarre. The good news is that we can just write this whole thing off as Mickey falling asleep while in mid-Star Wars marathon and dreaming up these events.
These ideas are just the ramblings of a crazed and excited Disney/Star Wars fan and the possibility of any of them happening are pretty low. Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that they will “focus more on social and mobile than we are on console,” but he is open to licensing the property, so who knows what lies in store for the franchise?
This could possibly be seen as a strange request to make of Disney, but I just want a great Star Wars game and not necessarily just some novelty game to capitalize on the Disney/Star Wars combination. The fact is that we will likely get something completely unexpected if anything at all. I just hope that we won’t be stuck with Disney’s Star Wars Presents: Where’s My Midiclorions?
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