Angry Birds Star Wars escapes from the Death Star to Windows Phone 7

When Angry Birds Star Wars appeared on Windows Phone 8 back at the beginning of November, early adopters of the new mobile OS had reason to celebrate. The latest installment in Rovio’s hugely popular franchise launched simultaneously on WP8, iOS, and Android, whereas most Windows Phone Xbox games appear months or even years after debuting on the other mobile platforms.

However, another group of Windows Phone owners wasn’t quite so happy about ABSW’s WP8 status: Windows Phone 7 users. Nokia quickly announced that ABSW would soon come to Windows Phone 7 too, but with no time table we couldn’t be sure if it was an empty promise or not. As it turns out, Angry Birds Star Wars has just appeared on Windows Phone 7 – exactly one month after Nokia promised it.

Catching up on Angry Birds Star Wars

Angry Birds Star Wars WP7 version

WP7 screenshots seem identical to WP8 other than resolution.

ABSW packs 100 levels of pig-busting fun based around the first Star Wars film (not the hated prequels). The game begins on Tatooine, where Luke Skywalker first met Ewan MacGregor, I mean Alec Guiness’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, who pointed him to his destiny. ABSW then progresses through numerous famous Star Wars locations, all the way to the Death Star. Some levels take place on ground and resemble traditional Angry Birds stages, while others happen in low-gravity space environments, just like Angry Birds Space.

The best addition to Angry Birds Star Wars is undoubtedly the Star Wars-themed characters. Each bird is based on a classic character, and they even have unique abilities from the films. After firing Luke, you can tap the screen to make him swirl his light saber, while Han can fire three blaster shots wherever the player aims. It adds a new layer of control and strategy to the series that is sometimes looked upon as too simple by many gamers.

Fan-favorite characters R2D2 and C3PO made the cut as well, but they’re only available in levels unlocked by reaching star milestones or finding hidden eggs. Of course, the film’s villains also show up as pigs. Players will fling the heroic birds at Stormtroopers, sand people, Darth Vader, and the Emperor. Darth Vader even uses the force to levitate blocks into the player’s path; take him out and the blocks plummet.

Windows Phone 7 specifics

If you were hoping to buy the WP7 version of ABSW from a Windows Phone 8 handset, you’ll be disappointed. The game’s store page claims it uses features that WP8 phones don’t have: namely a 480 x 800 screen resolution. That’s a flimsy excuse since WP8 handsets can display plenty of WP7 games running at that resolution.

Angry Birds Star Wars

Still, the real reason anyone would want to purchase both the WP8 and WP7 versions would be to stack the game’s Achievements – earning 200 GamerScore from each version since they’re technically separate games. Unfortunately, that won’t be possible even for people who own both WP7 and WP8 handsets because the WP7 version is not Xbox enabled.

That’s right: the WP7 game does not have Xbox Live Achievements. Rovio may have chosen to publish it as an ‘indie’ title in order to circumvent the laborious and developer-unfriendly Xbox certification process, thus getting ABSW to WP7 users much sooner. Or maybe someone doesn’t want users with both WP7 and WP8 handsets stacking the game’s Achievements like I just described. That would be a double standard though, since the Windows 8 tablet/PC version (opens in new tab) is Xbox-enabled and stackable.

On the plus side, the WP7 game’s store description lists it as coming with 100 levels, whereas the WP8 version only boasts 80. 

Angry Birds Star Wars for Windows Phone 7 costs 99 cents and has a free trial. Get it here on the Windows Phone Angry Birds Star Wars Store. For the Windows Phone 8 version go here (opens in new tab).

Thanks to Jey Si and everyone else for the tip!

QR: Angry Birds Star Wars WP7

Paul Acevedo

Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!

47 Comments
  • Better late than never. Rovio developers were very lazy to port a relatively easy 2D game in xna.
  • Rather than being lazy i think it was simply question of costs and profit. Windows Phone 8 is going to sell more and much easier to port the game.
    I would not be surprised if the likes of Microsoft and Nokia had dropped a coin to Rovio to make the game at all.
  • Yep, I don't believe the dual achievements point. The game is on W8 and WP8, both xbl. This came down to cost and time.
  • I'm actually surprised it got here this fast.
  • The graphic suck, and I'm using a 920...
  • Because it's not optimized yet, DUHHHHHH!
  • I meant the wp8 version.
  • How can you play the WP7 version on the 920?
  • ... He's playing the WP8 version
  • No achievements. No Thanks. I'm so bored with Angry Birds. It took forever to get a 200 gamerscore on the original.
  • This. No achievements. No thanks! Thanks for the info Paul.
  • yeah. I will pass. If I wanted it without achievements I would have gotten it already. Bummer
  • XBLA achievement points have spoiled me for non-achievement points games. I've gotten too used to there being a permanent record that I played a game.
  • I know right. They have spoiled me too. I will wait for wp8 to buy them I suppose
  • and space :D
  • Screw this game with no cheevos! I've waited for this game and now I now I have to wait till I get a wp8 to play with cheevos.
  • Just.play for fun. Obviously you are a star wars fan.
  • People are mad about the achievements not bring there. First world problems people. At least it's there. Shows that some devs aren't leaving the Windows Phone 7.x behind. I for one am grateful.
  • That's not the the only issue here. Rovio has opened the can of worms. It's a slippery slope from here on end.
    For anyone who is considering upgrading to WP8, you'll need to REBUY the game because it's a different version. Rovio could've avoided this by having only 1 version of the game compatible with both operating systems, and replace the native code version with the XNA one.
  • $0.99 isn't going to hurt me when I do upgrade to Windows Phone 8. I'm not that stingy and cheap.
  • Rovio could have replaced the native code version with this XNA one, but then they'd lose all the benefits of developing with native code like quicker development and hardware acceleration. Also, existing users would probably lose all their game progress.
  • Well. I'm not gonna buy. But all I was concern with was the frame rate. Its smooth compared to the original Angry Birds
  • I stil hate how low resolution angry birds star wars is in windows phone 8 compared to other platforms. :(
  • No achievements, no buy!!!
    Achievements are really the only motivating factor for me to play the games. So if I owned an Android, even if I had all the apps, I wouldn't play many games.
  • I'd be happy if no games had any achievements...
  • Ugh what would be the point of having a Windows Phone without achievements? That was the only reason I switched.
  • I hope your not banking on achievements being the main selling point for WP....And I just have no use for achievements, on WP or the 360. For WP, I purchase games that have replay value regardless of achievements. On the 360, I finish the main campaign of a game and move on. I don't have time to step on 10000 roaches just to score some ridiculous points that serve no other purpose but for bragging rights.
  • First people are crying about developers will abandon wp7 now people are crying about oh there is no acievments, I will not use f....g dollar for this, for me it looks like Americans (US) are some crying babies, Ok so don't buy it, just go out and buy some more hamburgers and get more fat, because thats how alot of people in the rest of the world look at you, fat and greedy ;-)
     
  • Bit of a chip on your shoulder there, huh?
  • Sorry if I insulted you, didn't mean anybody in special ;-)) ( will not make any big discussion) but there is allways alot of whining about everything, can't Get this colour, too little Gb, not the right model (NL920, NL820,NL822,NL810 HTC 8X etc) who cares, its below 1 usd............ what can you buy for 1 dollar ???  ;-)
     
  • It's more than American's whining, I can guarantee you that troll. Get off your high horse.
  • Please Rovio, publish this game, and Angry Birds Space too, in the Brazilian Windows Phone Store! There are so many users here. Please
  • Sweet! Too bad about the achievements though. . . It's weird that there isn't any. I wonder why.
  • Damn, wanted to buy but with out Xbox live can't be bothered. Only buy Xbox games.
  • +1
  • So wait a minute, If someone buys this on WP7 then upgrades to WP8, they lose the purchase?
  • Well not "lose" - it'll still be there for your WP7 mobile. It won't work on your WP8 mobile though
  • For 79p it's worth it even without cheevos. The more sales, the more likely future titles will be ported.
  • When I had my N8, I didn't buy AB for it simply because of their attitude towards WP (even though I didn't have a WP device at the time).  The ONLY reason I even got to play AB is because Nokia gave the game to us for free last Christmas for the N8(it was a $1.99 game, but it has almost 300 levels.
     
    Given that Rovio has been relatively decent with their time to market for WP on AB Star Wars, I think that I will download this for my new Lumia 900.  I will try it, and if I like it, I will purchase it.  $0.99 is about all I'm willing to give them at this point.  Baby steps....
  • It lost my buy since it ain't Xbox enabled. Still nice to see it on wp7 If I change my mind
  • c'mon guys... atleast be happy we got these apps... we have been crying for them for a long time... finally we have... lets be patient.. we might get an XBL version soon... but personally i am happy that we have it our marketplace.... we are getting apps finally... ans some good ones... we should be happy about it... XBL sets us apart Crapple shit and Android Dung... but yes sometimes we need a compromise... i believe this was done on purpose by MS ,Rovio and Nokia to give the WP8 platform a boost... They get XBL versions and we get the non XBL ones... this might be the case with all future apps... Even words with friends doesn't have a XBL version.. neither does draw somehing... we have to get used to fragmentation by now people... first Nokia and Now Microsoft...
     
    and also be ready for the nightmares that 7.8 will cause.. All Lumia users are getting the capability to share files via bluetooth... a we are just getting the start screen and lock screen... Samsung and HTC are shit... they won't do anything... Man I repent buying a Samsung WP device... wish i had purchased a Lumia... Samsung sucks.. forever!!!!
     
  • Words with Friends and Draw Something aren't XBL enabled because doing so will eliminate the two games' main draw: they can be played cross platform. Making them XBL enabled will actually fragment the communities.
  • i agree... but my point is achievements don't make a difference... you just made my point... not having these games viz. ABSW and ABS... was already bad enough.. we lagged behind other platforms... now we have them we should be happy... these games have my money... 55INR is no big amount..
    what i want to say is we have to understand that we have to first come close to others and then overtake them... you can't pass a car if at some point you are not parallel to it... achievements is secondary.. here we have to think as a community... the WP community that yes we are getting some well deserved attention... so instead of cribbing what small things we don't have.. be happy that we atleast have these games... some countries don't even have these games on WP... because they don't have the marketplace available in their country...
  • bah, sucks that we don't get achievements, can't see WP7 being supported much longer, we've had a brief drout, and now we're getting big new games without live support, can't wait til i can upgrade to return to being treated like a worthless customer, rather than a nothing
     
    sticking with windows phone obviously though, i hate apple, and also google, so the choice is easy before getting to the achievements through live enabled games...hoping i can get a nokia too, want those exclusives, and also hope no more exclusivity deals are arranged a month after i buy it
  • No XBOX live achievements ? WTF are they trying to pull ? Even if it was $0.50 I would not buy it because of that.
  • Awesome game.
  • not really a fan of star wars series but this is probably the best angry birds game to date, and I could care less about achivements since I don't have an xbox :p