A space battle was a battle that took place above a planet or a space port, or even out in open space. These kind of battles featured prominently in the Star Wars saga, and thus were a focal point of the games. Several were devoted only to flight, such as Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance and TIE Fighter. Others, like Star Wars: Battlefront II, integrated it with other parts of the game.
Role in Games[]
Every game mentioned below has had some form of space combat. Some have been canon, while the LEGO series flights took place strictly in non-canonical parts of actual battles.
Star Wars: Battlefront[]
Space battles in Star Wars: Battlefront took place in a mixed setting. There were craft flying about above the planet, while infantry battled it out on the ground. Many players thought that these and other vehicles imbalanced the game, allowing pilots to fire at unsuspecting soldiers below. For this reason, online play, for the most part, sticks to the maps that don't contain as many vehicles.
Spacecraft by Faction[]
Each faction has its own vehicles, which it must use to bring down the others and win the battle. Most of these fighters are iconic in their own right.
CIS:
Other:
- Geonosian Starfighter (Seperatists/Geonosians)
- Cloud Car (All)
Star Wars: Battlefront II[]
In Battlefront's sequel, Star Wars: Battlefront II, the battles are taken into space for the first time ever. There are still snowspeeders present on Hoth, but now you're able to play out your favorite battles, from Luke Skywalker and his X-Wings versus Darth Vader and his TIE Fighters to the Clone Army fighting the droids for control of Kashyyyk. Now, space battles have their own classes, too. You can choose to fly and dogfight as a pilot, or take it to the enemy as a marine. Like in Battlefront, each faction has its own fighters, but one can get a ship from the opposite hangar as easily as flying in and taking it. Different from Battlefront, however, are the new presence of space-only modes, such as Assault - which is basically shoot at enemy fighters and blow up their capitol ship, and 1-Flag Capture the Flag - the same as its ground namesake, except you must deliver the flag to a place above the other ship. Also new are auto turrets, which make getting kills harder, and destroyable points on the map such as the Auto-Defense System, which keeps up the turrets, and Life Support. If destroyed, these locations give you valuable points needed to win the game.
Spacecraft by Faction[]
Republic:
CIS:
- Tri-Fighter
- Droid Starfighter
- CIS Strike Bomber
- Droid Gunship
Rebellion:
- A-Wing
- X-Wing
- Y-Wing
- LA-AT Gunship
Empire:
- TIE Interceptor
- TIE Fighter
- TIE Bomber
- Imperial Shuttle
Star Wars: Battlefront: Renegade Squadron[]
Renegade Squadron takes a page out of its big brother's, Star Wars: Battlefront II's, book, with a space combat mode that's very similar to its predecessor's. All that's added is a host of new spacecraft, including the B-Wing and TIE Defenders, as well as the ability to customize your weapons, which you only can use outside of the craft, obviously.
Star Wars: Empire at War[]
Part of the massive real-time strategy game, Star Wars: Empire at War, is space tactical battles. Here you command your spaceships, space stations, transports, and whatever else you might have brought along, to destroy the other faction's (either Rebellion or Empire) host of the same. These also include special "Hero" fighters that you can build. They are such iconic figures as Han Solo'sMillennium Falcon and Boba Fett'sSlave I. If these are destroyed, you must wait a certain amount of time before hiring them again. The winner gains control of the space station, and the loser's fleet is destroyed or must retreat. At the start of the battle, you can only build the most rudimentary of fighters, but as you upgrade your space station, you will find that you can even eventually build Star Destroyers! You'll be able to build just about everything in between, too, because just about every Rebel or Imperial spacecraft is available for you to build.
Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption[]
In this expansion to Empire at War, Forces of Corruption brings a new leader, Tyber Zann, who comes with his own host of battleships and fighters. Here, the mechanics are almost identical to the previous game, but Tyber's ships sometimes come with special abilities. He also has his own heroes, bringing more destruction to the interstellar battlefield.
Star Wars: Starfighter[]
This is a singularly flight-based game, revolving around the Battle over Naboo and the fall of the Trade Federation. You fly various missions in various craft, after receiving some basic training at a flight center. There are unlockable missions and craft, providing depth and making it feel like the arcade games of old.
Bonus craft include:
- Guardian Mantis
- Havoc
- N-1 Starfighter
- Sith Infiltrator
- N-X Police Cruiser
- Scarab Droid
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter[]
The sequel to Starfighter, Jedi Starfighter continues with both the plot and the mechanics of Starfighter. Some craft gain useful secondary weapons such as mines and force powers. The premise is still the same: players fly in a variety of different craft over 15 3D campaign levels, with hidden objectives and bonus craft. Some include the Slave I and the Republic Gunship.
Star Wars: X-Wing[]
In this game, different from others, you were finally given the chance to interact with your wingmen. Their AI depended on how well you flew, and though the theme was, again, the same - Rebel Alliance craft duking it out with the Empire, this was much more based on the duels of World War I and II. In addition, historical missions add some nostalgia to the piloting of your favorite craft.
Star Wars: TIE Fighter[]
The space battles in this game are different from any others up to that point in that you could play from the viewpoint of the Imperial Navy. New ships and new weapons meant your battles could be much more exciting, and could be played from the bad guys' point of view.
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance[]
The ability to jump to hyperspace made the space battles of "XWA", as it was known, different. Also new were new textures and the separation of the HUD from the cockpit, which angered many hardcore pilots.
Notable Space Battles[]
- Battle of Coruscant
- Battle of Yavin
Appearances[]
As space battles appear in most Star Wars games, this list does not include appearances during video clips, or games that mention battles, only games that actually include a space battle.
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
- Star Wars: Empire at War
- Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
- Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
- Star Wars: Starfighter
- Star Wars: X-Wing
- Star Wars: TIE Fighter
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
- LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Non-canonical appearance)