Short answers, pulled from the story.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Atari Games in 1985. It is based on the 1980 film and serves as a sequel to Atari's 1983 Star Wars arcade game. The game features two main scenarios: the Battle of Hoth and the Millennium Falcon's escape through an asteroid field.
No, The Empire Strikes Back was originally released as a conversion kit for the 1983 Star Wars arcade cabinet rather than as a standalone machine. Arcade operators could purchase the kit to upgrade their existing Star Wars cabinets to the newer game.
Domark released home ports of the game in 1988 for the Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amiga.
The game used vector graphics, making it the second Atari Star Wars arcade title to do so. The 1984 game Return of the Jedi, which came between it and the original 1983 Star Wars, used raster graphics instead.
An emulated version of the arcade game can be unlocked in Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, released in 2005. It is included alongside the other two Atari Star Wars arcade games from that era.
According to the game's creators, it received less attention because it was not as fresh as the 1983 predecessor. Its conversion kit format also limited uptake, since arcade operators already earning steady income from the original Star Wars cabinet had little incentive to pay for the upgrade.