STAR WARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE

STAR WARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE (Nintendo, for Nintendo 64, $79.95) You'd think an alliance between the advanced Nintendo 64 videogame system and the Star Wars franchise would prove as lethal as the Death Star, but as on the ill-fated battle station, firepower can't overcome a glaring defect: Most of Shadows' levels are rehashes of such games as the flight-simulating X-Wing Fighter and the Doom-like Dark Forces. Worse, Shadows can't take refuge in its plot: Your on-screen alter ego, Dash Rendar, is no Luke Skywalker, and the conniving Prince Xixor is strictly second-string Darth Vader. C-