The Force Ain't Strong Enough With This One
Developed and published by Namco (under the Namcot brand) and was released only in Japan for the NES, Star Wars is a platform game based on the first film for its tenth anniversary in 1987. Just like in the film, Luke Skywalker receives Leia's message from Obi-Wan and must traverse across planets to rescue her from the Death Star.
The game is overall extremely unfaithful to the source material. To start with, the opening shows Luke (whose is the only playable character in the game; no Han Solo, Chewbacca, or other characters, as the latter characters are instead kidnapped across planets and you have to rescue them) with blond hair, but his hair is black in the gameplay; Luke fights Darth Vader at least seven times in scenes that don't happen in any of the movies (the first six times that you fight Vader, after you hit him once he appears to transform into various creatures, such as a scorpion, a shark, a Wampa (which doesn't appear until The Empire Strikes Back), and a pterosaur, and these enemies are actually changelings and are not really Darth Vader, only assuming his form; yes, there are changelings in the Star Wars universe (which actually do exist in canon, but didn't first appear until 15 years later, in Attack of the Clones)); and when you leave Tatooine in the Millennium Falcon, instead of going to the Death Star, you end up going through random planet after planet. You even end up on the planet Hoth from the movie The Empire Strikes back before you destroy the Death Star.
While the platforming controls are good, it's extremely difficult. Like with The Transformers: Mystery of Convoy, the editors suggest using your copy of this with a Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Genie and a HoneyBee adapter. The difficulty curve itself is also inconsistent; as some levels like the Landspeeder level are too easy as you are invincible and can dash through enemies, while most of the platforming stages are like something that would normally only be expected in a Kaizo ROM-hack.
Some parts of the game are also almost impossible to figure out without a walkthrough; The Death Star is a maze, there are parts where you have to get C-3PO to convince a random guard on Hoth to let you progress as well as summon a whale to carry you across the ocean to Echo Base. The latter is even made redundant by being able to levitate across the ocean if you have enough Force Crystals. Those and the other power-ups are hidden and don't last long, and the blaster pistol you pick up has its own share of problems.
Losing in this game is unforgiving. Having no life meter means you suffer one hit deaths (unless you are on the Landspeeder), and you're given only three lives at the start and extra lives are very hard to come by. Lose all your lives at any point in the game, and you have to start the game all over again. However, it is possible to continue after getting a game-over, but this requires that the player use code as well as have enough Force Crystals.
Even the trench-run on the Death Star is almost impossible due to a tight time limit, several instances of having to choose the right path and hoping you don't crash into a dead end and lose a life, sometimes the game respawns you inside a wall, killing you instantly and if the timer runs out or you lose all your lives at this part it's game over, even if you have enough Force Crystals to continue, and have to start from the beginning.
The hit detection is horrible and inconsistent. Blasts from laser guns can kill you even if you simply graze them, your lightsaber's hitbox is so small that the tip of it goes through enemies without hurting them. This makes the already difficult side-scrolling levels even more unbearable. Worse, in the vertical climbing stages such as the Egyptian temple planet and Yavin 4, you can't fall off the bottom of the screen, or you die like in Beetlejuice.
The space combat stages even suffer from stiff controls and not only do you have a limited number of shields, but you also have to activate them at the right time or else you'll still die anyway; not to mention that every time you leave a planet, you have to engage in a dogfight.
Barring the starting music and boss music, a loop of Luke's theme is the only music in the game. But even if the music is repetitive, it is still good.
I'm not saying all Star Wars nerds like me are probably going to enjoy this, but it was worth a try at least.