RETURN OF THE JEDI

WITH ITS EPISODIC NATURE AND PLENTIFUL ACTION, RETURN OF THE JEDI SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT FIJ FOR A MOVIE TIE-IN, BUT HOW DID ATARI'S COIN-OP FARE? JOIN US AS WE BRING YOU THIS INFORMATION - AND TRY NOT TO END UP LIKE MANY BOTHANS

- MARTYN CARROLL

Return Of The Jedi, the third film in the original Star Wars trilogy, premiered in May 1983. The same month, Atari capitalised on the latest instalment by releasing its Star Wars arcade game. Fans could watch the film in the auditorium and then play the coin-op in the arcade next door.

But Atari’s game was not based on Return Of The Jedi. Rather it was an adaptation of the original 1977 movie and memorably used colour vector graphics to depict the climactic Death Star battle in stunning first-person 3D. Riding high on the saga’s worldwide success, the game proved to be a huge hit, generating sales of $15 million and helping keep Atari’s arcade division buoyant throughout a turbulent time for the industry. Atari had paid $1 million for the Star Wars licence, so discussions quickly turned to adapting the other two films. For The Empire Strikes Back, the firm spied the 10,000-plus Star Wars coin-ops already in circulation and produced a cost-effective upgrade kit featuring several new scenes. When it came to Return Of The Jedi, Atari opted to try something different.

The Star Wars coinop was an undeniable success, but the vector hardware was costly to produce, expensive to purchase and often prone to failure. Something cheaper and simpler was required, and this led to the internal development of a highly efficient graphics chip that could produce scrolling backgrounds that required very little memory. Return Of The Jedi was selected as the first title to utilise the new chip, which dictated that the game would use pixels rather than vectors. A small development team was assembled, headed up by 25-year-old Dennis Harper who was the designer and programmer, with graphics supplied by Susan McBride.