Appearances by the Falcon's siblings-by-design are also rampant in the game world. Star Wars: Galaxies (2003+) allows players to build their own YT-1300 light freighter, which is the same core ship as the Falcon, sans modifications that make the Falcon so special -- such as its Class 0.5 hyperdrive and in-floor storage.
One of the first games to take advantage of the ubiquitous nature of the YT-1300 was Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (1995). In it, the game features a freighter named Corellia Star, which is the spitting image of the Falcon. Boasting in-game video and for-the-time, cutting edge graphics, this PC CD-ROM game pretty much drove players down a rail -- you didn't get to fly freely, but it was a pretty ride.
While the Millennium Falcon does get the most screen time, this article would be in remiss not to mention the younger brother of the ship -- the Outrider. Dash Rendar, a smuggler and the hero of Shadows of the Empire (1996) for the Nintendo 64, piloted this ship through some of the better space battles to hit game consoles.
While the ship shares obvious design qualities with its more famous counterpart, gamers hold the Outrider quite dear to their hearts. Not only was it a ship that happened to be in the background throughout the epic moments of the rebellion, but it was the ship which rescued Leia Organa, enabling the group to continue on their quest to free Han of the carbonite.
It's technically the Falcon, albeit a brick-built incarnation -- a LEGO version of the ship is found on both LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006) and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga.
The recently released Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) bridges the gap between Episode III and Episode IV, giving it that perfect chance to show off the Millennium Falcon before Luke got a chance to ride in it. On Raxus Prime, once the Imperials control it, find the fourth Holocron and look around a bit - you'll see a little surprise the designers slipped in.
For other Millennium Falcon stories, don't forget to check out:
- Millennium Falcon Week Begins StarWars.com gets the ball rolling with an excerpt from the new novel, Star Wars: Millennium Falcon by James Luceno.
- The Last Corellian Shipyard Explore the behind-the-scenes history -- and the tragic end -- of the full-sized Millennium Falcon set!
- Millennium Falcon Collectibles The best Falcon toys, puzzles, models and more.
- Learn to Draw the Millennium Falcon Step-by-step instructions on how to draw the classic vessel.
- Draw a Millennium Falcon Battle Scene Tips on how to compose a dynamic space battle starring the Falcon.
- Make a Millennium Falcon Neck Rest Turn an ordinary neck rest into a crafty Star Wars one.
- Secrets of the Millennium Falcon Millennium Falcon week concludes with this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Ultimate Blueprints.
