Cover art that over sold the experience

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The box looked awesome, didn't it? Oh dear...

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari 2600, 1982)

Box art suggests: A recreation of the Battle of Hoth, where you can take down the AT-ATs on your TV. It's got to be amazing.

The reality: You pilot a blue blob. You fly left. You encounter a mass of squares in the vague shape of an Imperial Walker. You shoot it. Sometimes it fires a heat-seeking missile at you (er... just like the film?).It flashes and disappears. You fly left again and... repeat. Tripe.

Above: We know graphics technology was embryonic, but if you put these visuals on the front of the box, would anyone have bought it? Even a Star Wars fan?

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Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

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