Missions have you single-handedly taking out escorts for a Rebel medical frigate, running a suicide bombing run on a massive capital ships, and playing wingman for Darth Vader. But all that background multitasking never feels distracting. You can adjust your engine power to increase your ships shields and blaster power at the expense of speed, and even configure how your ships weapons fire on the fly. TIE Fighter is a true flight simulator, but one that never feels too complicated for its own good. In TIE Fighter, from the moment you step into the briefing room to the triumphant return to your fleet, each mission makes you feel like a real Imperial pilot rising through the ranks to become one of Emperor Palpatine's most trusted servants. Battlefront's new X-Wing VR mission smashes it now, but that's only 20 minutes long. Since the release of TIE Fighter (and the excellent X-Wing series), no full game has come this close to capturing the feeling of piloting a starfighter in the Star Wars universe. A Star Wars shooter, brimming with fresh faces, pulsating action and a brave new vision for the franchise? That's about as winning a combination as you'll find in any era. Along for the ride were Kyle's right-hand gal Jan Ors, Rebel turncoat Crix and a nasty Imperial officer by the name of Rom Mohc. Enter Kyle Katarn, a scrappy young mercenary questing to prevent the completion of a deadly form of stormtrooper. Four years on from the unofficial launch of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (beginning with the 'Thrawn trilogy' of novels) LucasArts took the bold step of creating a whole new cast of characters. Of course, id's wasn't the only formula being rewritten. Stick those killer apps on your promo poster. No mere carbonite copy, LucasArts' blaster-happy adventure manages to occasionally outdo its inspiration, introducing a bevy of small improvements that allow players to look up, down, duck and jump. Case in point, 1995's Dark Forces, a first-person shooter title patterned after id Software's original Doom. From the dogfighting film reels of World War 2 to the heroic archetypes of ancient myth, Star Wars has never been averse to mining a good idea.

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