Play Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle Online

Summary

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – Death Star Battle (often just called Death Star Battle) landed on Atari’s 2600, 5200 and 8‑bit computers in 1983, making it the first video game to draw directly from the Return of the Jedi film. Parker Brothers handled both development and publishing, and the title later resurfaced in 1985 as part of Sinclair Research’s ZX Spectrum+ software pack. The box art, a striking scene of the Millennium Falcon fleeing a half‑built Death Star while four TIE interceptors give chase, was painted by sci‑fi legend John Berkey, who also contributed to the original movie’s poster work. Though it shared the same era as Atari’s arcade Star Wars, this version carved its own niche by translating the epic space battle to home consoles at a time when Star Wars games were still a novelty. Its release helped cement the franchise’s early presence in the video‑game world, paving the way for the many space‑shooters that followed.

Storyline

Death Star Battle (the Atari 5200 version of Star Wars – Return of the Jedi) loosely follows the film’s climax. The player pilots the Millennium Falcon with the sole goal of blowing up the second Death Star.

The encounter is divided into two distinct phases. First, a swarm of TIE fighters must be shot down while the player waits for a gap in the energy shield to slip through. In the second phase the Falcon fires at the superstructure, carving a corridor to the reactor, then detonates it while dodging the fireballs from the ensuing explosion.