Star Wars has had a very long history in the gaming world. The very first Star Wars game hit the Atari 2600 all the way back in 1982, and from that point on, Star Wars games have never stopped coming. There have been countless Star Wars video games over the last four decades, ranging from direct movie tie-ins to looser adaptations to original stories set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and Star Wars Outlaws is the franchise’s most recent outing.
The first open-world Star Wars game in quite some time, Star Wars Outlaws is packed with additional content for players to make their way through after credits roll on the main story. This additional content includes a handful of minigames. Some of the best minigames in Star Wars Outlaws are those that act as subtle references to a previous part of the Star Wars universe, such as Kessel Sabacc, which pays homage to Solo, and Fathier racing, which references The Last Jedi. But there’s one Star Wars Outlaws minigame that takes things all the way back to the 1980s, seemingly referencing one of the first Star Wars games ever made.
Star Wars Outlaws’ Raven 6 Feels Like a Throwback to the Atari Star Wars Arcade Game
The Atari Star Wars Arcade Game Explained
Hitting arcade floors in 1983, Atari’s Star Wars cabinet is widely considered to be one of the greatest arcade games of all time. In 1983’s Star Wars, players take control of Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-Wing fighter as it barrels towards the Death Star and begins the iconic Trench Run sequence from the end of A New Hope. The game features three distinct phases, all of which are played from a first-person perspective.
In the first phase, players need to battle waves of TIE Fighters as they approach the Death Star. The second phase has them skimming the surface of the Death Star, avoiding oncoming turbolaser fire. And the third and final phase sees them navigate the narrow Death Star trench before launching a torpedo into its exhaust port and saving the day.
A defining feature of Atari’s Star Wars 1983 arcade game is its 3D color vector graphics, in which TIE Fighters, X-Wings, and the Death Star are depicted via colorful framework outlines and shapes. Though this was very rudimentary 3D technology, it holds up surprisingly well today, evoking a great deal of charm with its simplicity and vibrancy.
Star Wars Outlaws’ Raven 6 Minigame Borrows Some Familiar Features
In Star Wars Outlaws, players can stumble upon several in-universe arcade machines. One of these arcade machines presents players with the Raven 6 minigame. Much like the 1983 Atari Star Wars arcade game, Raven 6 has players flying through space, blasting enemy ships and oncoming hazards from a first-person perspective.
But while Raven 6 features similar gameplay to the Atari Star Wars arcade game, it’s the graphics of Outlaws‘ minigame that really cement its possibility of being a direct reference. Raven 6 features some very familiar-looking 3D vector-style graphics, with framework ships and asteroids emerging from off-screen and heading straight towards the player. These geometrical ships and objects are also given a splash of color as the minigame progresses, further cementing its familiarity.
