Star Wars: Battle Pod

Overview

Star Wars: Battle Pod is a 3D sci-fi flight combat game developed and released by Bandai Namco for arcades (using PC-based Namco System ES3 hardware) on January 2015.

A spiritual successor to Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Battle Pod is an arcade adaptation of the Star Wars series and is built on the same gameplay engine and style as their earlier 2013 game Mach Storm (itself a spin-off of the Ace Combat series of flight combat games).

The game follows three major events from the original Star Wars film trilogy (from the perspective of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire): the attack against the first Death Star orbiting Yavin IV, the evacuation of Echo Base at Hoth, and the multi-stage assault against the second Death Star orbiting Endor. In addition, players can play an original non-canon mission on Darth Vader's TIE Advanced, where he must prevent the Rebels from stealing a superweapon in the wreckage of the first Death Star. On August 31, 2016, a new mission was added as a tie-in to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, based on the Rebel Alliance's repel of a First Order invasion on Takodana.

The game was originally sold with a large pod-shaped full-body cockpit enclosure (the same used for Mach Storm). However, a more traditional "Flat Screen Edition" cockpit cabinet was also sold in Fall 2015 (trading the full-body enclosure and curved screen for a 42" screen and the ability to link up cabinets for multiplayer mode). In addition, a more expensive Premium Edition of the original machine was sold for personal home use (with a MSRP of $100,000), featuring leather seats and a choice of two unique designs (one resembling a X-Wing pilot helmet and one based on Darth Vader).

Missions

• Yavin (Easy, X-Wing) - Based on the final space battle from Star Wars: A New Hope, this mission follows a starfighter squadron's assault on the seemingly-impenetrable Death Star above the Rebels' secret base on the planet Yavin IV.

• Hoth (Medium, Snowspeeder) - Based on the first air battle from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, this mission follows the Rebel evacuation of Echo Base from Imperial forces on the planet Hoth.

• Endor (Medium, Speederbike) - Based on the final ground battle from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this mission follows the Rebels' tactical assault on the Imperial shield generator on the forest moon Endor that secures the second Death Star.

• Death Star II (Hard, Millennium Falcon) - Based on the final space battle from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this mission follows a starfighter squadron's assault on the second Death Star above the forest moon Endor.

• Vader's Revenge (Extreme, TIE Advanced) - An original mission taking place right after the end of the Yavin mission, following Darth Vader as he prevents the Rebels from stealing the Nebulon-B superweapon from the wreckage of the Death Star.

• Takodana (Medium, T-70 X-Wing) - Added in the 2016 update. Based on one of the ground battles from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this mission follows a Rebel starfighter squadron's repel of the First Order from the forces of General Organa on the planet Takodana.