What was the first Star Wars video game to be released on a CD-ROM?

Star Wars: Rebel Assault was the first Star Wars video game released as a CD-ROM-only title by LucasArts. Released in 1993, it used the disc format for digitized film footage, full speech, music and prerendered 3D sequences.

The game is a rail shooter and interactive movie centered on Rookie One, a new Rebel pilot. Its missions move through familiar events and locations from the original trilogy, including the attack on the Star Destroyer Devastator, the Battle of Hoth and the assault on the Death Star.

Rebel Assault appeared on DOS, Macintosh, Sega CD and 3DO. The PC version helped demonstrate why CD-ROMs mattered: a single disc could hold audiovisual material that floppy disks could not. That made the game an important early showcase for full-motion video in home computer games.

X-Wing, TIE Fighter and Dark Forces are common alternatives because they are better-known Star Wars titles from the same era. However, Rebel Assault came first as LucasArts’ CD-ROM-only Star Wars release.