Once you have inserted a coin into the cabinet of Atari Games's 1985 first-person shooter arcade game The Empire Strikes Back and pushed either one of the thumb buttons, it shall proceed to the difficulty selection screen shown above, where you shall have seven seconds to select either "EASY" (Wave 1, 0 points), "NORMAL" (Wave 2, 100000 points), or "HARD" (Wave 3, 250000 points) difficulty by directing the gunsight towards one of the planets and pressing either thumb button to fire a shot at it, but it's also possible to aim it at one of the two copies of the "Rebel Manual" for the following instructions:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS
1. YOU BEGIN WITH ENOUGH "FORCE" TO PROTECT YOU FOR X COLLISIONS.
2. "FORCE" STRENGTH IS LOST WHEN YOU COLLIDE WITH ENEMY SHOTS, WALKERS AND ASTEROIDS.
3. AIM YOUR LASERS WITH CURSOR TO EXPLODE PROBOTS, TRANSMISSIONS, WALKERS, TIE FIGHTERS AND SHOTS.
4. AVOID COLLISION WITH ASTEROIDS BY FLYING AROUND THEM.
X can range from 2 to 5 (depending on how the cabinet has been set); once you have chosen a planet, the game will proceed to its opening cutscene as the text of "DARTH VADER'S EXECUTOR IS SEARCHING FOR THE REBEL HIDEOUT" fades in (at the top of the screen). After it fades out, the game will proceed to the first level as the text "IMPERIAL PROBOTS SEARCHING FOR REBELS" appears on the screen - and as the Probots fly towards the SnowSpeeder, the text "SHOOT PROBOTS AND THEIR TRANSMISSIONS" will appear on the screen. You'll initially have to shoot six Probots to make a Jedi letter light up, and if you manage to do this the text of "5,000 POINTS AND JEDI LETTER AWARDED" will appear on the screen; however, if you should ever fail to shoot a Transmission, the text of "PARTIAL TRANSMISSION SENT TO EMPIRE" shall appear on the screen. At the end of this level, the text of "DARTH VADER ALERTED TO REBEL LOCATION" will appear on the screen and the game will segue into the next level (with the Walkers).
At the start of the second level, the text of "IMPERIAL WALKERS ATTACKING POWER GENERATOR" is displayed on the screen followed by "SHOOT RED EYE OR USE TOW CABLE ON LEGS"; the SnowSpeeder starts with four tow cables, and in this level, the second thumb button on the handlebar is used to fire them. You'll again initially have to shoot six Scout or Imperial Walkers to make a Jedi letter light up, and when you fly between a Walker's legs you will receive a "Flight Bonus" (which starts at 5000 points, and increases by 5000 more points each time you do it) - but if you should ever miss either type of Walker the text "PARTIAL GENERATOR DAMAGE" shall appear on the screen. At the end of this level the text "REBELS EVACUATING HIDEOUT" appears on the screen and control switches to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon as the game segues into the third level (with the TIE Fighters).
In the third level, which is a repeat of the original Star Wars game's TIE Fighter battle, the text of "SHOOT ENEMY SHOTS TO SAVE YOUR SHIELDS" will appear on the screen; you shall initially have to shoot five TIE Fighters to make a Jedi letter light up, and at the end of the level, it will segue into the fourth one as the text of "AVOID COLLISIONS WITH ASTEROIDS" appears on the screen, followed by "SURVIVE TO EARN NEXT JEDI LETTER". At the end of this level, Darth Vader's head will appear on screen with the text of "WAVE COMPLETED 2,500 POINTS" below it - and if you chose to start on Wave 2 or 3, you will receive the 100000- or 250000-point bonus for completing it. The game shall then start over again at a higher level of difficulty.
As mentioned on the previous page, the amounts of enemies to be destroyed to make the Jedi letters light up will also increase as the game progresses:
| Wave | Probots | Walkers | TIE Fighters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| 4 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| 5 | 13 | 13 | 11 |
| 6 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| 7 | 15 | 15 | 13 |
| 8 | 16 | 16 | 14 |
| 9 | 17 | 17 | 15 |
| 10 | 18 | 19 | 16 |
| 11 | 19 | 23 | 17 |
The game will continue until you run out of shields, in which case the text "SHIELDS GONE" will appear at the top of the screen; the text "GAME OVER" will then zoom into view in the centre of it. The game shall then go into high-score mode - and your score will most likely be the highest on the cabinet to date so you should enter your initials at the top of the table with pride (by directing the gunsight towards the letter you want to enter, then firing a shot at it to do so). The game will then go back into attract mode; however, the Star Wars series continues on Famicom with Namco's Star Wars game in 1987.