Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game

Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game (subtitled Assault on the Death Star) is a 1996 board game released by Hasbro.

Opening crawl

ASSAULT ON THE DEATH STAR 
The Galactic Empire's second
Death Star is almost complete. The
Emperor, concerned that the Rebels
have discovered the location of his
new weapon, has ordered it to be
moved near the moon of Endor,
where it can be completed in
secret.

On board his Star Destroyer, Lord
Vader receives word of a large
Rebel supply base on D'rinba IV
and orders the Death Star, en route
for Endor, to divert there.

The Rebel Alliance intercepts this
transmission and assembles a
small team of Force-sensitive
Rebels. Using a stolen Imperial
Freighter, and cloaked by the
Force, they board the Death Star.
They must disable it before it is
within superlaser range of D'rinba IV.

But, at the start of their mission,
as the Rebels are concealed in the
Shuttle Bays, the Death Star has
another arrival....

Plot summary ‡

Following a failed attempt by the Rebel Alliance to destroy the second Death Star, Emperor Palpatine orders Darth Vader to take command of the battlestation and move it to the forest moon of Endor to be completed in secret. Shortly thereafter, he learns of a major Rebel supply base on the planet D'rinba IV and diverts its course to the planet, intending to use the battlestation's superlaser to destroy it. Intercepting this information, the Alliance assembles a team of Force-sensitive individuals to sneak on board and disable the station. However, Vader soon learns of their presence and has the station put on alert. The situation becomes a race against time for the members of the infiltration party, as they must attempt to succeed in their mission while avoiding the station's stormtrooper contingent and, late in the mission, a party member's fall to the Dark side of the Force.[2]

Contents

The game board

The game board

The game is based on cards and die, and requires the assembly of various three-dimensional components.[2]

  • 1 60-Minute VHS videotape
  • 1 Game Board
  • 13 Star Wars Figures
  • 36 Cardboard Explosives
  • 6 Force Level Indicators
  • 2 Combat Disks
  • 1 Death Star Reactor Core
  • 80 Cards
  • Die and Instructions

Development

Production

"The photography had to match the original film, but we didn't have the facilities or the money to do it. So I had to get the same results in a different sort of way, with different equipment."
―Gilbert Taylor[3]
The shooting of a Vader scene with Director Phil Attfield and DOP Gil Taylor

The shooting of a Vader scene with Director Phil Attfield and DOP Gil Taylor

The game contains a VHS tape that is played on a television screen as the players play the game. In the tape, Vader arrives on board the second Death Star to take command of the station to destroy a Rebel Alliance supply base on the planet D'rinba IV. The player characters are tasked with the mission to stop him.

The tape contains scenes from the original trilogy mixed with footage shot specifically for the tape by Gilbert Taylor, cinematographer for A New Hope. The footage, shot over the course of two days, features David Prowse and James Earl Jones reprising their roles as the physical presence and voice of Darth Vader respectively. Prowse wore an original Vader costume from the Lucasfilm Archives. Production Design was by Frank Walsh (www.fwalsh.com), who went on to design sets for the Netflix sci-fi series Lost in Space. Sets were built by Dick George Productions, who previously worked on some of the sets for A New Hope.[3]

Continuity

This game was referenced in The Dark Forces Saga, a series of online adventure scenarios for the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars RPG line published on their website. Written by Abel G. Peña, this series canonizes four of the VCR game's player characters as Kyle Katarn (from Star Wars: Dark Forces), Shira Brie (from the Marvel Comics Star Wars series), Corwin Shelvay (from West End Games's Star Wars RPG material), and Erling Tredway (also from West End Games's Star Wars RPG material.)[4]

Credits

By type
Cast Uncredited cast Crew Uncredited crew Special thanks

Cast

Crew

  • Nelson Hall - Lucasfilm Archivist
  • Gilbert Taylor - Director of Photography
  • Frank Walsh - Production Designer
  • Brian Aherne - dubbing mixer
  • Christian Marnham - script
  • Lance Brinded - editor
  • Martin Collins - producer
  • Phil Attfield - director
  • John Williams - music composer
  • Produced by Communicated Limited for Hasbro
  • Thanks to the creator of the Star Wars trilogy - George Lucas - and to everyone at Lucasfilm Licensing
  • Special thanks to Carol Wisely, Ben Rathbone and Alasdair Dewar
  • Thanks to Richard Ireland and Complete Facilities

Appearances

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By type
Characters Organisms Droid models Events Locations
Organizations and titles Sentient species Vehicles and vessels Weapons and technology Miscellanea

Characters

Droid models

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ HasbroInverted Star Wars Interactive Video Board Game™ on the Hasbro Star Wars official website (original link is obsolete)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 HasbroInverted Star Wars Assault on the Death Star VCR Board Game instructions on Hasbro's official website (backup link)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 SWInsider "Taylor Made: Special Edition" — Star Wars Insider 95
  4. ↑ WizardsoftheCoast The Dark Forces Saga: Part 1 on Wizards.com (original site is defunct)

External links