Skip to main content

Flashback to 1995: Watch The Force Awakens trailer in glorious 16-bit

Star Wars: The Force Awakens 16-Bit Trailer
As a celebration of that holiest of geeky holidays, May 4 (“May the fourth be with you”), the folks at Noober Goober Gaming have put together this excellent remake of the recent trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in the style of a 16-bit video game from the 1990s.

Gamers of a certain age will be immediately hooked by the video’s opening with the logo for LucasArts, the now-defunct game-producing wing of George Lucas’ creative empire. In addition to developing dozens of Star Wars games over the decades of its operation, LucasArts was perhaps most famous in the gaming community for being the lead developer of adventure games during the genre’s heyday in the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s. Its output included classics like Grim Fandango, The Curse of Monkey Island, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

Recommended Videos

The trailer goes on to recreate, shot for shot, the most recent teaser trailer for The Force Awakens as if it were a game for the Super Nintendo. The audio track is left untouched, but the visuals have been entirely replaced with pixelated sprites. The sprites themselves are of varying quality, and some scenes are just pixelated stills from the trailer, but the overall effect is spot-on.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

This wasn’t actually the only remake of that trailer to come out on this past Star Wars Day. Solid Brix Studios also released the excellent Lego version below, which similarly recreates the teaser shot-for-shot with legos.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser #2 IN LEGO (Frame by Frame)
Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
If you have to watch one Star Wars movie this May the 4th, stream this one
Luke looking off into the binary sunset before dying in The Last Jedi.

Every Star Wars fan has a favorite movie, and many Star Wars fans also hate at least one of the entries in one of their favorite franchises. That can make the exercise of choosing the perfect Star Wars movie to watch on May the 4th difficult. For all of the love this fan base has shown to the franchise over the years, it's also a fan base that has strong opinions about why one movie or another is worthy of your time.

This May 4, though, I'd recommend watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Almost undoubtedly the most controversial entry in the saga, one that makes some people furious and others jump for joy, The Last Jedi is worthy of your attention, whether you like what it's doing or not. Here are three reasons you should check it out:
Luke gets to live the Jedi legend
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trailer (Official)

Read more
5 TV shows you need to watch in May 2024
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly in Dark Matter.

Not sure what you need to watch in May? There are several shows returning with new seasons, along with a handful of new shows that you might want to add to your watch list. Bridgerton fans will be delighted to know that the record-breaking series is returning with the first part of its third season, while sci-fi fans will be intrigued with the premise of the Apple TV+ show Dark Matter, especially if you've read the book on which it’s based.

The five TV shows you need to watch in May are available on top streaming services, like Max, Disney+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. Keep track of the premiere dates and plot them on your calendar so you don’t miss out, or wait until the end of the month to binge as many episodes as you can, since many of these shows' episodes are released on a weekly basis.
Hacks season 3 (May 2)
Hacks Season 3 | Official Trailer | Max

Read more
Disney+ reveals the first trailer for Star Wars: Tales of the Empire
Barriss Offee in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.

In 2022, Disney+ and Lucasfilm unveiled Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, a six-part series of animated shorts. A second season was announced soon after, and it's now just a month away. However, the show has undergone a name change to Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, and it's about to dive into even darker territory. Disney+ has dropped the first trailer for Tales of the Empire, and it chronicles the story of two women who embrace the Dark Side of the Force.

Tales of the Empire | Official Trailer | Disney+

Read more