It’s the biggest film series of all time, it has spawned comics, board games, video games, spin-off cartoons and a new trilogy is entering production soon. Better still, Star Wars has a strong presence on Windows Phone!
Whaa?!
No, it’s true. Whether you’re a fan of Star Wars or not, there is no getting away from its ubiquity in the digital age, and this has recently meant a raft of new titles hitting Windows Phone 8. Everything From Angry Birds: Star Wars to Tiny Death Star (a Tiny Tower clone) is available, with the obligatory lightsaber apps filling up the list with some quality entries.
These might not be the apps and games you’re looking for, but before you go about your business you really should check them out.
The Force is strong in them.
What happens when you combine two awesome cultural phenomena?
Angry Birds: Star Wars, that’s what. Both Angry Birds: Star Wars and Angry Birds: Star Wars II are available for Windows Phone for just $0.99 each (£0.79) and feature the gravity bending, physics-based magic of Angry Birds: Space with a heavy dose of George Lucas’ iconic galaxy far, far away.
The idea is simple: rebel Angry Birds must tackle the Empire’s pigs, lead by the Pork Side’s infamous Sith Master, Lard (yes, you read that right) Vader. In fact the games are chock full of Star Wars characters – from both trilogies – and each has corresponding strengths such as blaster accuracy for Han Solo and lightning for Darth Sidious/The Emperor.
Most importantly, the games are the ultimate mashup, a perfectly-pitched marriage between Star Wars and Angry Birds. These games are also Xbox Live compatible, with a big selection of achievements to unlock and opportunities to improve your Gamerscore.
Don’t discuss this in committee – install Angry Birds: Star Wars on your Windows Phone today!
Featuring a very cool Star Wars style opening sequence (setting the game prior to The Empire Strikes Back), this is a card-based RPG with a heavy first-person aspect. A near-unique combination, and one that is very effective.
You might, for instance, start the game as Han Solo, captured by the Empire and attempting to rescue Chewbacca and escape from the Star Destroyer on which they’re held. A tutorial mission gets you started, in which game concepts and mechanics (such as player special powers) are introduced.
Assault Team is a great little game, and available free. There is the option to buy additional heroes to build your team of rebels (using in-game credit), while completed missions yield various rewards, from training to gems.
Produced by Disney Mobile and LucasArts, there is good in this game – I’ve felt it.
In 2012 a petition was launched to persuade the US government to put all of its energy and resources into building a real Death Star. The project was even costed, apparently, but turned down on grounds that the construction would have a fundamental flaw (come on, you know what it is).
While this seems like something approaching madness, building a Death Star is the aim in Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, a clone of the equally wonderful Tiny Tower – itself a remake of Maxis’ legendary Sim Tower from the early 1990s.
Charged by the Emperor and Darth Vader to build the Death Star into the ultimate space station, your aim is to make as much money as possible while attracting customers to the various residential and commercial levels you add to the world-killing monstrosity.
With a look that owes a lot to the original Tiny Tower, the magic in the game is really in the way in which Star Wars characters are portrayed, as well as opening your eyes to the fact that there surely must be an economy in the Empire – something you may have overlooked despite Han Solo being a mercenary smuggler on the run from bounty hunters and gangsters.
Remember, it may look like a small moon, but Tiny Death Star is indeed a space station. And it’s free, too.
There are two types of mobile app users: those that look for lightsaber apps the moment they switch on a new phone, and everyone else. I’m in the first group, and I suspect you might be too.
After all, there are – again – just two ways of owning a lightsaber. One involves an expensive prop, while the other is cheaper (free in this case) and can be successfully switched off and placed in your pocket without you looking ridiculous.
It might be that your father wanted you to have the lightsaber app when you were old enough, but whatever the case, you should be settling for the aptly-named Ultimate Saber, which features a range of designs for you to construct, different coloured beams and various achievements to unlock – very useful if you don’t have anyone to “duel” with. If you’re more of a Han Solo than a Luke Skywalker, the app also offers a blaster, while a lightning hand will satiate any megalomaniac Sith desires you might have.
A paid version is also available, but this only removes the ads and paints your name gold in the app’s Internet-connected leaderboard.
Most importantly, it’s an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age…
We’ve collected the veritable Jedi Masters of Windows Phone 8 Star Wars games here. There are plenty of poorer alternatives that wouldn’t have been out of place left to rot on Dagobah.
You’ll find that some of these apps are available on other platforms; the important thing to note is that they’re also here on Windows Phone 8, and they’re rather impressive. The prices are low too: you could install every app on this page for under $2 in total, which is a decent bargain.
Going somewhere, Solo?
Before you fly, let us know if you have played any of these games or apps on your Windows Phone, and what you thought.
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