Star Wars Game Weirdness: Missing Entries? VADER IS A GIANT SCORPION?!

It is officially May 2026, and it is honestly a little bit weird to think about the fact that there is a brand-new Star Wars movie hitting theaters right now. The Mandalorian & Grogu has officially landed on the big screen, marking the franchise's return to cinemas. However, if you look around online, it feels like almost no one is really talking about it with the kind of massive, universe-shattering hype we used to see for Star Wars cinematic releases. I have never been the absolute biggest fan of The Mandalorian TV show on Disney+ to begin with, so my expectations for a feature film adaptation were already pretty measured. But all of this current Star Wars theatrical talk really got my gears turning. It sent me down a rabbit hole thinking about the expansive, incredible, and sometimes completely baffling history of the franchise in video game form. Specifically, what are some of the absolute weirdest, most bizarre things we have ever gotten over the years in terms of video games set in the Star Wars universe? When you look all the way back to the 8-bit era of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), there are immediately a couple of incredibly interesting anomalies that stand out. First and foremost, did you realize that we only ever officially got A New Hope & The Empire Strikes Back on the original NES here in the West? That's right—we never actually received an 8-bit version of Return of the Jedi. It is a completely bizarre omission. This weird gap becomes even more glaring when you look at the 16-bit era on the Super Nintendo (SNES). On the SNES, we got the legendary and punishingly difficult Super Star Wars, Super Empire Strikes Back, and Super Return of the Jedi. We got the complete trilogy in the 16-bit generation, but Jedi was entirely left in the dust during the NES era! But the weirdness doesn't stop there. The NES version of Star Wars that we received here in North America (developed by JVC) is completely different from the Star Wars game that was released for the Famicom in Japan (developed by Namco). The Namco Famicom version is the game that you are watching me play in the background footage above. The Angry Video Game Nerd has talked about this specific game quite a bit in the past, but seeing it in action is truly something else. Right from the start, things are off. In the opening cutscene, R2-D2 is colored completely black and white instead of his iconic blue and white. Furthermore, in the cutscenes, both Luke and Princess Leia are rocking bright blonde hair. But the moment you transition from the cutscene into the actual gameplay? Suddenly, Luke’s sprite has jet-black hair! Oh, and despite this being the very beginning of the A New Hope timeline, Luke starts the game already wielding a fully ignited lightsaber. It makes absolutely zero chronological sense. You also encounter the Sand People, and I have to warn you—this game features brutal, unforgiving one-hit deaths. You touch a Sand Person, you touch a condor, you die instantly. I mean, come on, Namco! If you manage to survive, you eventually make your way to the Jawa Sandcrawler. Now, ask yourself: when did Luke Skywalker ever go inside the Sandcrawler in the movie? Never! But in this game, you jump inside, and to make matters worse, there are Imperial Stormtroopers stationed inside the Sandcrawler! Why are there Stormtroopers inside a Jawa vehicle? Who knows! But the absolute crowning achievement of weirdness happens at the end of this very first level. You reach the boss of the Sandcrawler, and who is waiting for you? Darth Vader. Yes, you fight Darth Vader in the very first level inside a Jawa Sandcrawler because that is exactly how it happened in the 1977 film, right? And just when you think it can't get any weirder, Darth Vader takes damage and transforms... into a giant scorpion. You read that correctly. Darth Vader turns into a scorpion. It is definitively not a great game, but it is an absolutely fascinating piece of weird Star Wars history. Now I want to turn it over to you guys. Did you know that this was a thing? Did you know there was a massive difference between the Japanese Famicom version and the US NES version of Star Wars? More importantly, with decades of titles to choose from, what Star Wars video game is your absolute favorite of all time? I want to point you toward an awesome video from our good friend, The Immortal John Hancock. He has already gone out and seen The Mandalorian & Grogu in theaters and has just uploaded a completely spoiler-free review over on his channel. If you are on the fence about whether or not to go see the new movie, definitely go give his video a watch to get a solid, honest take.    • Mandalorian & Grogu Movie Review:  What Yo...   Japan Retro Direct: japanretrodirect.ocnk.com/ #StarWars #TheMandalorianAndGrogu #RetroGaming #NES #Famicom #NamcoStarWars #AngryVideoGameNerd #Nintendo #8bit #DarthVader #RetroGames #FamicomGames #StarWarsGames #GamingHistory #SpringOnShorts