History VideoGame / XWing

A year after release, a sequel was released that allows you to play for the [[NoCampaignForTheWicked evil Galactic Empire]]: ''VideoGame/TIEFighter''. Another two years after that, players would also have a chance to hold multiplayer competitions with ''VideoGame/XWingVsTIEFighter'', the engine ofw hich would also serve as the basis for an UpdatedRerelease of this game and ''TIE Fighter''. The last game in the series, ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'', finally allows players to pilot the legendary ''Millennium Falcon'', and ends with the Battle of Endor from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

** The Y-Wing is the Alliance's mainstay bomber; it's slow, but with four beam weapons and a generous supply of torpedoes it packs a sizable punch. It can double as a fighter if nothing better is available, but suffers badly when pitted against faster craft.

* CopyProtection: Removed in later versions.

* {{Mook}}: The Imperial doctrine dictates [[ZergRush 3 to 1 odds]] against Rebel fighters to make up for their lack of shields meaning that any hit is a permanent hull hit.

** The Trench Run is supposedly flown by Keyan Farlander instead of Luke Skywalker (though the Strategy Guide pretends that you are playing Luke Skywalker on that mission), flying alone into the trench. Depending on player actions, you might not have any TIE Fighters - let alone Dart Vader - pursuing you down the trench. The trench is full of obstacles and wall-mounted turrets, instead of the basically-empty trench seen in the movie. There is no targeting computer for the exhaust port; Instead you just need to fire torpedoes at the hole to win the mission. The ''Millennium Falcon'' does not appear at any point during the mission.

* SimpleYetOpulent: In one of the books, it's mentioned that simply having large quarters on some ships would count as opulence, even with unused space.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Leia is the only major female character in the game and she only show up in cutscenes. Mon Mothma has a minor role presenting medal awards when completing Tour of Duties and other optional achievements.

* ThatOneLevel: One much hated mission from this game shows up in the ''X-Wing'' novels [[invoked]] as a hated training scenario, complete with mention of actual strategies that can be used in the mission, see EscortMission above.
* TooDumbToLive: Overlord Ghorin, who not only apparently failed to anticipate that the Rebels would thoroughly test the tainted foodstuffs he attempted to sell them, but also worthy of note is the fact that he did this without the knowledge of his superiors in the Empire. Once the Rebels catch on to his plot, they exact revenge on him by having their agents send the poisoned grain back to the Empire. With the Emperor and Lord Vader apparently both unaware of Ghorin's attempt to further cripple the Rebellion, he has absolutely no defense to offer once Vader comes to have him executed.

** ''X-Wing 95'', included in the Collectors Series bundle. Compatible with modern Windows [=OSes=] and retrofitted with the ''VideoGame/XWingVsTieFighter'' engine but in turn it loses some of the classical features and makes the use of a joystick mandatory.

* Shootthebullet: Warheads are destroyable. This is a valid point defense tactic when defending key targets against torpedoes from the bombers.

* ShootThebullet: Warheads are destroyable. This is a valid point defense tactic when defending key targets against torpedoes from the bombers.

* ShootTheBulletFirst:
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Leia is the only major female character in the game and she only show up in cutscenes. Mon Mothma has a minor role presenting medal awards when completing Tour of Duties and other optional achievements.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Leia is the only major female character in the game and she only show up in cutscenes.

* ColorCodedArmies: On the flight map: Green for the Rebel Alliance and Red for the Empire.

* ColorCodedArmies: On the flight map: Green for the Rebel Alliance and Red for Empire.

* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: The ''Intrepid'' has the honor of being the first Star Destroyer to be destroyed by starfighters.

Initially the game lets you fly either an [[JackOfAllStats X-Wing space superiority fighter]], [[MightyGlacier Y-Wing assault fighter]] or [[FragileSpeedster A-Wing high-speed interceptor]]. A later expansion pack adds the [[LightningBruiser B-Wing heavy assault starfighter]], which is a vast improvement over the Y-Wing, as well as extra missions rounding the campaign to 50 total and bringing the game up to just before the Battle of Hoth. ''X-Wing'' has the distinct honor of being the first ''Star Wars'' game with an original plot, with only the final missions of the base game being an almost direct adaptation, recreating the climactic assault on the Death Star from [[Film/ANewHope the original film]].

The game's missions are much more complex than simply destroying all enemy ships. Besides capital ships needing to be hit in vulnerable areas for massive damage, the Empire's ships are often scripted to use flanking maneuvers and feints, to the point that some missions revolve more around solving puzzles than {{Old School Dogfight}}s. As a reward, players are able to participate in the attack on the Death Star during the final missions.

A year after release, a sequel was released that allows you to play for the [[NoCampaignForTheWicked evil Galactic Empire]]: ''VideoGame/TIEFighter''. Players would also have a chance to hold multiplayer competitions with ''VideoGame/XWingVsTIEFighter''. The last game in the series, ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'', finally allows players to pilot the legendary ''Millennium Falcon'', and ends with the Battle of Endor from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

Not to be confused with the more recent ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games, although both are flight sims, with ''Rogue Squadron'' being much more simple and "arcade-y", and ''X-Wing'' being far more complex and "simulator-ish". Also not to be confused with the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic book and ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novels, though they share many story elements and offer a number of {{Mythology Gag}}s to ''X-Wing'' the computer game.

The game received an UpdatedRerelease based on the ''X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter'' engine.