Every Star Wars Video Game Ranked From WORST To BEST

Ever heard of Star Wars? I didn’t think so,  but you should look it up; it’s pretty good.   Anyway, it turns out there are a whole load of  games based on the movies, which means it is our   sacred duty to rank them all from worst to best. Yes, that’s right; our single most-requested   Worst to Best video is here, and we can’t  wait to upset all of you with our opinions.  As you can see, the length of this  video is already out of control,   so let’s get right tothe ground rules. First, as usual, we will not be taking   into account mobile games or browser  games. In most cases this is because   these are often lost to history, but in this  case it’s because I’ll be 50 years old by the   time I finish recording my voiceover for this  video and we have to draw the line somewhere.  Second, we will only count actual Star Wars  games, rather than Star Wars crossovers with   other games. That means no Disney Infinity,  Angry Birds, Zen Pinball, or The Sims.  We will not count collections of previous  games nor will we count programs that are   not games. Also, we won’t be covering  plug-and-play games because I don’t appreciate   Yoda looking at me like that, and we won’t be  covering educational games, because I refuse to   pay money for JarJar’s Journey Adventure Book. Finally, we’re covering officially licensed   games only, so that means noDeath Star  Interceptor. I know, I’m as disappointed   as you are. It would clearly be #1. Those are the rules. Let’s rank   ‘em.Meesa called Ben-Ben and I’m a little short for a stormtrooper.   I mean,I’m Peter from TripleJump…and here is  every Star Wars game ranked from worst to best. #100: Star Wars: Droids Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum  Star Wars: Droids was a 1985 animated  series that ran for 13 episodes.   The show does have its fans, but they should  all feel awful because this show is pants.  It did get a video game adaptation on the Amstrad  CPC, though “adaptation” is probably a lofty term   for a couple of robot sprites walking along  endless corridors, pausing only to play Simon.   For such a simple game, it even manages to control  terribly, with on-screen buttons that need to   be selected via a joystick or keyboard,  rather controlling the action directly.  The game was also ported to the Commodore  64 and the ZX Spectrum, for fans who prefer   their games to look as bad as they play. Ultimately, what I am trying to say is,   these aren’t the Droids you’re looking  for. Or, I suppose, this isn’t the Droids   you’re looking for? Hmm. Neither really  works. Then again, nor does this game. #99: Star Wars Millennium Falcon CD-ROMPlayset PC  The Star Wars Millennium Falcon CD-ROMPlayset  could be considered one of the earliest   attempts at the toys-to-life genre, which  makes it interesting in that regard and   that regard only. The playset came with a figure  of Han Solo with others available separately,   but none of them are needed to play the game.  The monstrositysits on your keyboard and serves   as a more complicated way of pressing  buttons you could be pressing yourself.  The game should be the real  draw of this package and, sadly,   it probably is. It’s a series of Star Wars  clips with button prompts overlaid. Youpress   the corresponding button in the physical playset.  Sometimes it tells you which button to press;   sometimes it does not. That’s it. That’s the game. The game is terrible and the playsetitself   is really no better. As a wise man  once put it: What a piece of junk. #98: Star Wars: Yoda Stories Game Boy Color  No human being was asking for a  handheldversion of awful PC game   Yoda Stories, but in 1999 we got one anyway.  Its main difference is that it’s even   worse. Whereas the random generation of the  original game’s levels allowed for at least   some superficial variety, this game has 15 tiny  levels that are the same each time you play them.  In theory, this allows the developers to design  each area and mission carefully. In practice,   the developers crapped out some barely-connected  screens for Luke to shuffle across,   tickling things with his lightsaber in the  hopes that something will eventually happen.  Though he gets top billing, all Yoda does  is tell you to find and/or kill something,   then sends you on your way. This is ostensibly  part of Luke’s training that we saw in The   Empire Strikes Back, but it feels more like  being sent to pick up Yoda’s dry cleaning. #97: Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon Game Boy Advance  Everybody loves the Millennium Falcon. And Han  Solo. And the large naked man Han Solo lives with.   Surely a game that features all of those things  prominently in its marketing must be good.   Right? NNOOO. I’d call this game a pile  of rubbish, but I don’t think this rubbish   iscompetent enough to form a pile. You rocket around – usually in the   Millennium Falcon, but sometimes not, just to  really kick you when you’re down – and shoot   endlessly at enemies, hoping against hope  that you’ll overcome the game’s terrible   controls just long enough to hit something. Along the way you will collide with obstacles   that you couldn’t discern from the background  because everything in this game looks like   it’s been smeared with crude oil. The levels  are far too long, there are no checkpoints,   and any child who got this for Christmas would  likely rather have been stung by hornets. #96: Kinect Star Wars Xbox 360  I have a bad feeling about this… It’s easy to dismiss Kinect games. Fun,   too! The hardware does have the potential  to provide a fun Star Wars experience,   though. The Force is all about pretending to  do things with your hands. Shoving things over,   unclogging your elderly neighbor’s toilet, or even  just strangling your friends…hold out your hand,   perform some gesture, and watch the magic  happen. It’s everything the Kinect promised.  And then we get a dancing game. I mean, yes,  it does provide an excellent opportunity for   handsome boys to show off their rhythm,  but beyond that, who wanted this?  There are other game modes, but the dancing  is by a wide margin the deepest one.   The rest consist of trying to get the Kinect  to actually work. There is one part of the game   that allows you to use the Force, and it’s the  least awful part. Huh. Who would have guessed? #95: Star Wars: Yoda Stories PC  It’s better than the Game Boy Color version, but  so is being dead. Star Wars: Yoda Stories for   the PC has the frame rate of a flipbook, but not  nearly as much depth. As in the other version, you   play as Luke, and Yoda gives you various missions  that involve walking blindly around a map. Also,   the map is randomized, to ensure you’ll never  know what you’re doing long enough to enjoy it.  The missions involve finding and  delivering objects, killing things,   uninstalling the game, powering down your PC, and  getting out of the house to enjoy some fresh air.  Also, this gameignores Yoda’s entire philosophy!  There is no try, Yoda. Don’t you remember?   Have you been forgetting your medication again?  I really think we should revisit the idea of   an assisted-living facility. Sitting in this  swamp all day is not good for someone your age… #94: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy DS  As we will see, Lego and Star Wars go together  very well. It’s good that we’ll see that later,   because we sure as hell won’t see it now. Fans who purchased Lego Star Wars II on   the DS no doubt knew it would not be an  experience comparable to the console version,   but they probably expected something that  would be fun – or at least complete. What   they got was a buggy mess, full of braindead AI,  glitches, and unintentionally funny animations.   Critics went so far as to accuse the game  of being unfinished, and I see why; for such   a high-profile release to feel so amateurish,  “it wasn’t finished” might have been the only   explanation that made sense to them. It scored a mere 47% on Metacritic,   compared to the various proper versions of  the game – including the also-portable PSP   version – which had scores in the  mid-80s. Play them instead. Please. #93: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones  Game Boy Advance I don’t know what any of   you did to deserve this, but I hope it was  worth it. Attack of the Clones for the GBA   seems like a perfect satire of terrible Star Wars  games, except it really is a terrible Star Wars   game. It’s slow, suffers from input lag, and has  significant hit-detection issues. What’s more,   there is absolutely zero personality in its  visuals;it looks like somebody put a blank sheet   of paper over another game and traced it. The controls manage to be both stiff and   overcomplicated. Instead of pressing a button to  swing your lightsaber, you hold down the button   and use the D-pad to swing. That may sound  interesting, but when the entire game consists   of fighting enemies that are right next to you,  it all starts to feel like a waste of time.  It’s awful, and I’m angry  you made me talk about it. #92: Star Wars: The New Droid Army Game Boy Advance  As if trying to make the prequels  seem fast-paced and thrilling,   The New Droid Army is one of the slowest, most  tedious, least eventful games in the GBA library.   Don’t let the title fool you; the game should  have been called Anakin’s 40 Years in the Desert.   At least the tedium explains why  he ended up hating sand so much.  On the positive side, the graphics  are too small to criticize;   we can’t tell if they look bad or not. Otherwise, the levels are far larger than   they need to be, often going for long stretches  without enemies or anything to interact with. The   combat is so bad, however, that it will make you  yearn for the times when nothing was happening.   Anakin walks like he’s slowly turning  into a statue of himselfand the game   suffers from periodic slowdown, in case the  experience weren’t quite slow enough already. #91: Star Wars: Masters of TeräsKäsi  PlayStation Star Wars should lend itself   well to fighting games, considering its large  number of recognizable characters and unique   styles of combat. There have even been a few  crossovers that live up to that potential. Then   there’s Star Wars’ first attempt at its own  fighting game and good lord is it awful.  Masters of TeräsKäsi features only one master of  TeräsKäsi, and it’s all downhill from there. It's   a sluggish, poorly controlled, uninspired mess.  Every fighting game has at least some balancing   issues, but there are characters in this game  whoare simply, without any room for debate,   superior. There is a massive difference in  attack range and power that puts some fighters   at either clear advantages or disadvantages. Additionally, the combos are frustratingly   difficult to pull off. It’s not as much  of an issue when playing against a friend,   but two people struggling to execute  combos is not much of an improvement. #90: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed DS  The DS was a great handheld. I’m saying  that to remind myself of that fact,   because it’s easy to forget after playing  a game that makes you use the touchscreen   for just about everything. Developer n-Space  seemed to have forgotten the DS had buttons.  Of all the versions of The Force Unleashed, I  can’t imagine too many people specifically wanted   the one for the DS. Maybe the controls  were awful as n-Space’s way of saying,   “No, seriously, buy this on a console instead.” The visual style will appeal to those who enjoy   polygons the size of gorillas. There’s no  voice acting in the game, which I imagine   might surprise someone who never played a DS port  of anything else. It also goes by pretty quickly,   with the entire adventure clocking in at around  four hours. The music and sound effects were well   received, at least. Another nice feature  is that it’s not illegal to throw it away. #89: Star Wars NES, Master System, Game Boy  Star Wars on the NES is not this far down the  list because it’s old and we have no patience,   but rather because it’s bad and…okay,  the no-patience thing still holds true.  The game is punishing in all of the wrong ways.  It’s a platformer that manages to be both too   stiff and too slippery – quiet back there – with  blind jumps, narrow platforms, and unforgiving   fall damage. You’ll navigate interchangeable,  confusing cave systems in precisely the way nobody   ever did in any Star Wars film ever. The Master System version looks much   better but still doesn’t manage to look good. It  also introduces more slowdown and hit-detection   issues which, believe it or not,  don’t make the game any better.  The Game Boy version is actually the best  of the bunch. Luke no longer slides around,   he can start running immediately  without needing to build momentum,   and the soundtrack is less terrible. Also, it’s  shorter. That actually qualifies as a bonus here. #88: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II DS  With the DS version of The Force Unleashed II,  there was an opportunity to improve just about   everything from the first game. The  developers only improved maybe 30%   of it but, still, that is progress. As with  the first game, the experience suffers from   excessive reliance on the touchscreen. As with  the first game, it was both too easy and too   short. As with the first game, there was genuinely  no reason that a sane human being would purchase   it over its console counterparts. What has improved, however,   is the game’s design. It’s still not great, but  it’s a 2D platformer rather than a 3D adventure,   making this a much better fit for the hardware. Whereas the previous game felt like it was only   released for DS for the sake of having a  slightly larger presence on store shelves,   The Force Unleashed II at least feels like an  experience that was designed for the handheld. #87: Star Wars: Jedi Arena Atari 2600  When you hear the words “Jedi Arena,” you  probably think of two or more Jedi swinging   lightsabers at each other, either in  battle or in sport. You may picture   that scene in Attack of the Clones when a  bunch of Jedi wig out and kill everything.   You probably don’t picture Luke in A New  Hope playing with that little training ball,   but Parker Brothers doesn’t care what you think! Jedi Arena features two color-coded Jedi waving   their…erm…weapons from side to side, as the  seeker ball floats about. The game plays as   a sort of one-on-one version of Breakout, with  each player chipping through the other’s shield.   The difference is that Breakout was  very good and this game is very bad.  It’s simplistic to a fault, even for an Atari 2600  game, and doesn’t control very well. One fun fact,   though: This is the first Star Wars game to  feature lightsabers. From humble beginnings, eh? #86: Star Wars Game Gear  Often dismissed as a port of the  NES Star Wars game, it’s not,   and anyone who tells you it is should no longer  be trusted. It’s been redesigned so that it’s   actually playable, for one, and it adds levels. You now start as Leia. This already represents   more variety and more recognizable Star Wars  content than most players wouldever see in the   NES game. Also, the irritating Landspeeder  segments between levels have been replaced   with simple left-to-right platforming stages. It’s still not good, mind you. The visuals are   roughly on par with early DOS games, the  flickering effect during low health is   indistinguishable from a graphical glitch, and  the intro screen looks like it was handled by   the same woman who restored the Ecce Homo. If you  need to play a version of this Star Wars game,   go with the Game Gear one. But you don’t need  to play a version of this Star Wars game. #85: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back NES, Game Boy  These NES games certainly thought the appeal of  Star Wars was wandering around confusing maze   systems with pixel-perfect platforming. Based on  the unrivaled worst film in the series, The Empire   Strikes Back is an improvement on the previous  game. It controls better, it looks better,   and the music is recognizably Star Wars. That is  hardly a recommendation, though, and it inherits   many of the flaws of its predecessor.There was  also a Game Boy version of the game, in case your   main complaint was that it controlled too well. On the bright side, there is a chiptuned version   of the Cantina theme. Or is it a chiptuned  version of the song Bea Arthur sings in the   Holiday Special? There is no way to be sure. And yes, The Empire Strikes Back is a great   film. I just wanted to see who ranted in the  comments before I finished speaking. As you were. #84: Lego Star Wars: The Video Game Game Boy Advance  Lego Star Wars for consoles was a  simplified retelling of the prequel trilogy.   Lego Star Wars for the Game Boy Advance is  a simplification of that simplification. For   those who only owned a GBA and wanted to make  adorable Star Wars toys knock seven shades of   studs out of each other, this was nice, but it  obviously cannot compete with the proper game.  On the bright side, it looks fine and it’s well  animated. But there’s no getting around the fact   that this is a lesser experience in every way. The  cutsceneshave been replaced by static images…sort   of like experiencing Lego Star Wars as a  PowerPoint presentation. Also, the vehicle   segments and other setpieces have been removed. There’s very little variety in the experience,   with stages repeating the same small amount of  content. As an attempt to translate Lego Star   Wars to lesser hardware, it’s admirable, but  it’s not worth seeking out on its own merits. #83: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes  DS Luke   probably would have been much less impressed that  Obi-Wan fought in the Clone Wars if he’d known   the entire thing took place on a touchscreen. Republic Heroes is hardly remembered at all,   and its DS port is remembered  even less so. This, I promise you,   is for the best. It offers precious little in  terms of gameplay, in terms of variety, in terms   of…just about everything, actually. You take a few  steps, kill some enemies, take a few more steps,   kill some more enemies. The constant chatter from  your companions would be annoying if they weren’t   the only evidence that you hadn’t fallen asleep. Visually, the game is quite ugly. The stylized   characters of The Clone Wars would have lent  themselves nicely to 2D sprites. Instead,   we got a game that looks like somebody wiped  it across your screen when you weren’t looking. #82: Star Wars: Return of  the Jedi – Death Star Battle  Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-Bit, ZX Spectrum That’s no moon! Or is…is that a moon?   It might be a moon; it’s really  hard to tell with these early games.  Even compared to other Atari 2600titles,  Return of the Jedi – Death Star Battle   feels limited. The game takes place across two  sequences. In the first, you approach the Death   Star. In the second, you shoot the Death Star.  Am I simplifying? Yes. Am I simplifying much? No.  The first sequence sees you cramped in the  bottom half of the screen, waiting for a hole   to appear in the barrier that separates you from  the Death Star. That’s it. In the second sequence   you fire away, chipping a path to the Death Star’s  core, which explodes when you hit it. That’s it.  A slightly better-looking version was released  for the Atari 5200 and the Atari 8-Bit family   of computers. A worse-looking version came  out for the ZX Spectrum. Pick your poison. #81: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy Game Boy Advance  Like the first Lego Star Wars game on the Game  Boy Advance, Lego Star Wars II loses a lot in   translation. It does, however, add some unique  weapons and other features that give it at least   some degree of identity. There is also, of  course, no contest when it comes to deciding   whether you’d rather play as characters from the  prequels or from the original trilogy. The events,   environments, and enemies are simply much more  appealing in this game, even it’s still a far   cry from the console version. It is nice that they included   vehicle segments. They control terribly and I  periodically wished they hadn’t included them,   but I’ll give them points for effort. Once again the levels repeat assets too   often to stay interesting, and killing the same  enemies over and over against similar backgrounds   really starts to grate. It’s easier to recommend  than its predecessor, but that is not saying much. #80: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance DS  The Nintendo DS was a massive success. Actually,  I wonder where it would fall if we were to rank   every handheld from worst to best…no matter. The  point is that millions of fans around the world   owned one, and so when The Clone Wars TV series  debuted in 2008, a tie-in DS game made a lot of   sense. Unfortunately, designing the entire game  around the stylus also made a lot of sense.  Nearly every action is controlled via the touch  screen, and to be quite honest, it functions   well enough. Like The Phantom Hourglass  before it, it takes some getting used to,   but it does work. Maybe they should have  called this “The Phantom Hourglass Menace”?   No, ignore that, it’s rubbish. The problem is  that the touchscreen holds back the game’s design,   reducing battles to screen-tapping  minigames and action set-pieces   to stylus-dragging quick time events. The game also gets repetitive fast and,   it must be said, it looks like  somebody’s daycare art project. #79: Star Wars: Lethal Alliance DS,PlayStation Portable  Taking place between episodes III  and IV, Lethal Alliance on the PSP   drops you into the boots of Rianna. NOT THAT  ONE. Although a game about that one doing her   shopping would probably be more interesting… Anyway, you’re a mercenary nobody will ever   refer to again, and it’s your job  to contend with a terrible camera,   dull levels, and uninspired gameplay as you  shoot things and make underwhelming use of   one of gaming’s most coveted licenses. Criticism  was levied at the poor controls and lack of any   reason to play it whatsoever. Overall, it’s pretty  FLIPPING bad. I’m funny. I’m so glad I’m as funny as I am.  There was a similar version released  for the DS. There are differences,   of course – different modes, touch-screen  controls, the game looking like somebody   ate it – but it probably doesn’t warrant  its own entry, especially since it scored   similarly poorly and the PSP version was  barely worth talking about to begin with. Also then we'd have 101 entries which would make me very sad #78: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Wii  For the Wii version of The Force Unleashed II,  the developers went with a complete reimagining   rather than a downscaled port. That is a  good thing, in theory. In practice, this   reimagining should qualify as a thought-crime. The most obvious difference comes from the   visuals. To be honest, I think they look quite  good. There is a clear visual style here that   suits the Wiivery well. The problem is that The  Force Unleashed II crams motion controls into   everything. Basic attacks, special attacks,  puzzle solving…everything you do involves shaking,   thrusting, and swinging, and never  the fun kind. Constantly jiggling the   Wii Remote makes the combat feel even  more repetitive than it actually is.  Across all platforms, the Wii version  performed the best with critics, earning a 71%   Metacritic average when compared to the 63% for  the PS3 version, which was the second highest.   Those critics are wrong. Neither game is  good, but this certainly isn’t better. #77: Star Wars: Force Commander PC  A real-time strategy game relies on two things:  the depth of the strategy, and the interface.   If it’s too shallow, it feels like you’re  not so much playing the game as you are   passively influencing it. And if the interface is  poor, playing itat all will be frustrating. Force   Commander manages to have both problems in spades. Perhaps this is because the original version of   the game – which was entirely 2D – was scrapped  and hurriedly replaced with a completely different   3D iteration. Force Commander was riddled  with glitches, saddled with a stubborn camera,   and had uncommonly poor visuals for a Star  Wars game. It was also infamously boring,   with a number of reviewers admitting to giving  up because they felt so miserable playing it.  Thankfully, Force Commander was not  the only attempt to turn Star Wars   into an RTS. Or a Star WaRTS,  perhaps? No. Perhaps not. #76: Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing PlayStation 2  I don’t want to talk about it and you don’t want  to hear about it, so let’s just get this out of   the way. Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing is a kart  racer in which all of your favorite characters   are reimagined as the Happy Meal toys you’d get  at the McDonald’s in Hell. It could play worse,   to be fair, but it’s a pretty blatant way to wring  a little more money out of a movie everybody was   trying very, very hard to forget. No least because that movie literally featured a racing sequence! So what's "bombad"? Wookieepedia says it’s “a gungan superlative,” which means nothing to me. Click the link to learn more and it says it’s “a superlative used  by gungans.” So there. It’s without meaning.   And therefore pretty fitting for this game. Oh well. There isn’t much else to say,   so here’s a joke I invented: What happens when  a gungan gets sand in his eyes? Jar Jar blinks.   You’re welcome. #75: Star Wars Famicom  A Japanexclusive, to this day Star  Wars on the Famicom still hasn’t   seen a proper Western release. For that, I am  grateful beyond my capacity for expression.  It’s a platformer, which were  often quite good on 8-bit systems,   at least when the games weren’t called Star Wars.  Once again, Luke slips around like he’s got banana   peels for feet. Why does a guy called Skywalker  have so much trouble keeping his balance?   The levels get progressively more frustrating  as they introduce tighter and tighter jumps,   and Luke is fragile enough that one hit  will kill him. Maybe he’s getting off easy,   though; whenever Darth Vader takes a hit, he  instantly reincarnates as some weird animal.  The game both looks and sounds better than  the NES game, but it doesn’t play any better,   and isn’t worth seeking out aside from the  opportunity to fight Darth Vader while swimming. #74: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC  If you liked The Force Unleashed, you’ll love  a pointless, rushed, uninventive sequel. What’s   that? No you won’t? I’m sorry; I was misinformed. The Force Unleashed had clear potential, but left   a lot of room for improvement. It’s almost daring  how little of that room The Force Unleashed II   explored. Certainly that’s due in part to the  fact that LucasArts gave the development team   less than one year to complete it. One of the  writers revealed that he was given only three   weeks to turn a script around. If you were  wondering why one of the major characters   killed in the previous game returns here with  the excuse of “oh, he’s a clone now,” that’s why.  Neither critics nor fans were much impressed,  and I’m sure there will be people watching   this video who are surprised we ranked  it even this high. It’s underwhelming in   just about every way imaginable. It’s  nothing if not consistent, I guess. #73: Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Game Boy, Game Gear  The Super Star Wars series on the  SNES has a distinctive look and feel,   so it’s a bit disingenuous that a Game  Boy game that looks and feels nothing   like it got released under the same banner. It isn’t awful. It’s not good, to be clear,   but it isn’t awful. While all of the Super Star  Wars games feature multiple playable characters,   this one opens with a character select,  allowing you to choose between Luke,   Chewie, and the Mighty Leia-Boushh. It works  well enough as a standard platformer, but   compared to the SNES game it sees a significant  reduction in the number of enemies and hazards.   Many fans might see as a good thing, however. A version was also released for the Game Gear   which certainly looks better – we’d be impressed  if it managed to look worse – but it introduced   significant slowdown, making it a chore to play.  Fortunately, you weren’t going to do that, anyway. #72: Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron DS  While every other Battlefront game  stayed largely consistent across   platforms, Elite Squadron on the DS is very  different from Elite Squadron on the PSP.   Neither is great, but it’s nice that these very  different systems received games that were at   least somewhat tailored to their strengths. On the DS, the action is simplified and   makes use of a top-down perspective during ground  sequences. The simplification may work against it;   critics took issue with the fact that you  could essentially fire repeatedly while   walking in circles and have a pretty  decent shot at finishing the game.  The space battles were also scaled back,  allowing for horizontal movement only.   This renders the very concept of a space  battle pointless; you actually have   fewer movement options in a spaceship than you  do when you’re on foot. The game functions well   for what it is and certainly does offer an hour  or two of fun…but it’s Battlefront in name only. #71: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,   PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, PC Republic Heroes takes place within the   continuity of the Clone Wars TV show, and at  times it actually does a good job of feeling   like a lost episode. The cutscenes more or less  look the part, the entire voice cast returns,   and the events of the game fit neatly after the  end of the first season. For fans of the show,   this is excellent news. The less-excellent news   is everything else. While the game looks  and plays similarly across all platforms,   that’s only because it does  neither of those things well.  They can get away with these visuals on PS2 and Wii but less so on PS3 and 360 Gameplay-wise though it doesn't matter what platform you're playing on; it's inexcusable in all cases You’ll mash your way through repeated enemies  and tumble into chasms during the game’s awful   platforming sections.You are able to play as  different characters in different missions,   but none of them makes the game more enjoyable. Outside of the cutscenes, Republic Heroes doesn’t   even look that great, eliminating much of  the appeal for fans in the first place. #70: Star Wars: Attack on the Death Star PC-98, X68000  To be honest, I had no idea this game existed  prior to researching this list. I don’t feel   too guilty about that; it was released for  two computer systems that had practically   zero presence outside of Japan. But now that I’m  actually familiar with it, it’s not half bad.  The vector-based graphics still look fine today,  and the game animates remarkably smoothly on the   PC-98. It’s responsive, and it’s satisfying to see  things explode into polygons when you shoot them.   There is approximately zero depth to the  gameplay, but it’s about as good as one can   reasonably expect from such a humble game in 1991. The game doesn’t seem to run quite as well on the   X68000, but it’s still not bad. The two versions  look different, certainly, but each has charms of   its own. A bit much to call it a hidden gem,  maybe, but it’s a hidden few pence at least. #69: Star Wars: Obi-Wan Xbox  Star Wars: Obi-Wan is the story of the man who  honored Qui-Gon Jinn’s request to raise the   child who would one day murder him. It’s just  as much fun as that sounds. It’s not all bad;   it’s an action-adventure game that does few things  interestingly but does fewer things appallingly.  One point of contention was the control  scheme:You wave your Obi-wand around using   the right thumb stick. This seemed to split  fans roughly down the middle. On the one hand,   you had full control over the direction  of your attacks. On the other hand,   it’s different and people hate  things that are different.  Critics took issue with the bland, brown  textures, which is just a longer way of   saying this is an Xbox game. It’s not a game that  was ever much loved, but it does have its fans,   and if you scroll down you’ll find them  yelling at me in the comments right now. #68: Star Wars: Demolition Dreamcast, PlayStation  Star Wars: Demolition is a Star Wars demolition  game. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.   And since it’s so far down this list, it’s  likely also proceeding as you have foreseen.  The concept of using a classic Star Wars  vehicle to blow up other classic Star Wars   vehicles is a good one, but the game doesn’t  seem to have been given much consideration   beyond that. The maps look good  but you won’t see much of them,   as the vehicles all end up clustering in one spot  and firing blindly until the rest of them explode.   The draw distance is terrible, and the ability  to heal yourself in the middle of a match is   irritating, especially since you’ll want  to end the game as quickly as possible.  Both version play similarly but the PlayStation version looks worse. Maybe that draw distance is a mercy. I don't want too much of this in my field of view at any one time. #67: Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron PlayStation Portable  Battlefront II received a surprisingly faithful  PSP port. It lost some areas and modes, but it   was recognizably Battlefront II. From that point  forward, it seemed likely that handheld systems   would continue to get scaled-down versions  of Battlefront games. What happened instead   is that handhelds got the only Battlefront  games, at least until EA rebooted the series.  For Renegade Squadron, developer Pandemic  handed the series to Rebellion Developments.   Rebellion sure must have had some truly  fantastic games under their belt. Okay, Google:   What else have they made? Oh God no, Google,  take it away! Get it out of my eyes, Google!  Reviewers found the controls clumsy and  cluttered without a second analogue stick. Or   whatever that thing was that the PSP had  instead. A nipple, I guess. The point is,   as a game designed for a handheld system,  it translated the Battlefront experience   underwhelmingly. The other point  is that your PSP has a nipple. #66: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars 3DS, DS, PlayStation Portable  Of all the Lego Star Wars games – and there  were a lot of them – this one probably had   the narrowest appeal. Based on the CGI film  The Clone Wars and the TV show that followed,   Lego Star Wars III meant little to anyone who  wasn’t interested in those spinoff titles.   Additionally, those who were interested might  not have wanted a Lego game. And those who did,   might not have wanted a portable  version with less content.  Gone is the well-received ground assault  mode, gone are many of the playable characters   (77 here as compared to 115 on consoles),  and gone are cooperative puzzles, as only one   character is on screen at a time. Additionally,  the levels that are here have been simplified   and contain fewer enemies and obstacles overall. On the bright side, the game was largely the same   across the three portable versions, meaning  we won’t have to talk about it two more times. #65: Star Wars Chess Sega CD, PC  Essentially a reskinnedBattle Chess,Star  Wars Chess may not be the worst game on   this list, but it is one of the least  inspired and least interesting ones.  The opening text crawl explains that the  Rebels and the Empire are sitting down to   settle their differences through chess. It does  not explain why the chessmen resemble actual   human beings on either side of the conflict,  however. Does Garry Kasparov carry little   Garry Kasparovs with him to use as chessmen? Also, Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a   galaxy far, far away, so does chess predate Earth  history? Did chess come from space? I expected   these games to wreak havoc with Star Wars canon,  but this one is destroying the canon of real life.  The most frustrating thing is we’d have  probably enjoyedthis if it were based on   the Star Wars-specific holochess. Instead,  we got Star Wars sprites on a chessboard,   lifting animations from a much more original game. #64: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith PlayStation 2, Xbox  I never got round to playing this one myself but some people in our office absolutely love it If you’ve ever watched characters in a Star  Wars film walk down a corridor and thought,   “I wish I could do that in a game, many  times in a row without any variation,”   Revenge of the Sith is for you, my friend. You progress through the game easily through   mere button mashing, and very rarely will you  be rewarded with anything other than the same   handful of enemies and environments for  your trouble. The experience feels like   somebody purchased a template for a repetitive  brawler and plopped Star Wars imagery into it.  Revenge of the Sith is by no means the only  offender on this list, but it is bizarre to   me that with the Star Wars license and a universe  as vast as these films occupy, we spend an entire   game confined to a series of narrow corridors.  It feels like a joke. Somewhere out in space,   something fun must be happening, but  you’re stuck here instead. Enjoy! #63: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Atari 2600, Intellivision  The very first officially licensed Star Wars  game, The Empire Strikes Back for the Atari 2600   took clear inspiration from Williams  Electronics’ Defender. In fact, it even   looks a lot like the 2600 port of Defender. The game centers entirely on the Hoth sequence   from the film, with you taking down AT-AT walkers.  The hulking machines can take a lot of damage,   but players can show off their  skills by hitting a glowing pixel   that serves as the enemy’s weak point. The game is notable for the fact that celebrated   science fiction author Harlan Ellison took time  out of his schedule to pen a scathing critique   for Video Review magazine. He said the game bored  his “ass off” and called it “the latest icon of   the Imbecile Industry,” with “the potential to  emerge as the most virulent electronic botulism   of all.” You know…just in case you thought  the “angry reviewer” trend started on YouTube. #62: Star Wars: Rebel Assault 3DO, Sega CD, PC  As a series that relies so heavily on  visual spectacle, it’s no surprise that   LucasArts often pushed video game technology  as far as it could go. Also like the films,   a common criticism is that the visual spectacle  may come at the expense of a better product.  Rebel Assault is an early disc-based game, which  allowed it to take advantage of full-motion video,   pre-rendered animated backgrounds, and full  voice acting. Okay, it was 1993 voice acting,   but still, that’s impressive. The game is almost entirely on rails,   though you do have just enough control over your  ship to get frustrated when you crash into things   that you thought were part of the background. The  poor controls were a common complaint as well,   especially in the Sega CD version, which also  saw a significant downgrade to the visuals.   It’s more of a maddening experience than it  is a challenging one, but there is another… #61: Star Wars: Rebel  Assault II: The Hidden Empire  PlayStation, PC In Rebel Assault II,   every complaint about the first game has  been addressed. Not always for the best,   but it has been addressed.The game looks better,  sounds better, and controls better. Its story   is better. Its voice acting is better. Okay, it  was 1995 voice acting, but still, it was better.  The missions were also more  varied, but this is where the   “improvements” might begin to work against the  game. One of the new mission types involves   steering a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter  through narrow passageways like a trash barge.   Why missions that essentially allow you to fly  the Millennium Falcon are so dull is beyond me.   These should have been the highlight of the game. They also overcorrected for the difficulty. Next   Generation said that it was like “a movie that  requires you to press a button at certain points   until you get to see more of the movie.”  Critics, eh? There’s just no pleasing us. #60: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC  The Force Unleashed takes place between the  prequel trilogy and the original trilogy,   with story concepts and plot details  contributed by George Lucas himself.   Is that a recommendation or a warning? Yes. The point is, this game was meant to represent   a story in the series’ main canon.That’s  good, because without that narrative clout,   the game honestly wouldn’t stand out much. It  was a third-person action game that may have   looked like Star Wars, but felt like  most other third-person action games.   One of its specific selling points was the use of  the Force, which was meant to put every previous   game to shame in that regard. It…didn’t. The controls are finicky and without the   ability to lock on to targets, hurling things  around with the Force is more frustrating than   fun. You do gain other Force abilities as you  progress. If you decide to progress, that is. #59: Star Wars Battlefront II PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC  I don’t like microtransactions. They’re  expensive, and predatory, and irritating.   And they get everywhere. I HATE THEM. There’s a fine line between providing valuable   additional content to players and preying on them  with aggressive microtransactions. I’m joking,   of course; that line is long and thick  and EA knew exactly what they were doing.  Paying for a full price game would, you’d  think, allow you access to its characters   and features. Perhaps you’d have to unlock  them, but not pay for them a second time.   And, indeed, they could be unlocked, but only  through grinding that was clearly designed to   be lengthy and tedious. The practice proved to  be a legally grey area, with several countries   launching investigations into whether or not  the game’s loot boxes constituted gambling.  EA at least somewhat addressed the concerns with  a series of post-launch tweaks, but by that point   it was clear that they hadn’t sold players a  game; they had sold them a vending machine. #58: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Arcade  The original Star Wars arcade game was a massive  hit for Atari, so it was not surprising that   they’d want to release games based on the other  films. What was surprising was that they adapted   Return of the Jedi next. The Empire Strikes  Back was actually the third game released.  It was not, however,released as a cabinet. Instead  it was a conversion kit, meaning that if arcades   wanted the new game,they needed to buy both the  first game and the conversion kit. They’d also   lose the original game by converting it to The  Empire Strikes Back. This was not a popular idea,   as the original game was still profitable. The game includes more variety than the original,   but it’s less fun, and the final mission–  which involves no combat whatsoever – was a   disappointing finale. Especially, y’know,  compared to blowing up the Death Star. #57: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace PlayStation, PC  As a concept, The Phantom Menace  for the PlayStation is not a bad   one. It was intended to explore the  relationship between Qui-Gon Jinn and   Obi-Wan Kenobi. And why not? The  film didn’t bother exploring it.   In reality, however, it’s aconfusing slog  through mediocre late-90s game design.  The camera manages to remain zoomed out  without actually showing you anything,   making platformingunnecessarily frustrating.  There’s also a frequent lack of clarity on   how to progress, and when the game decides to  spice up its formula, it does so with an escort   mission straight from the depths of Hell. The combat is not great, either. Using a   lightsaber feels fine, but using a blaster is an  exercise in frustration, as lining up your shots   is more “a nice idea” than even a remote  possibility. The PC version looks better,   at least. By that I mean it doesn’t  look like a child drew it from memory. #56: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Arcade  Atari’s second arcade game was a  massive visual departure from its first.   The vector-based graphics were gone  in favor of what was a more colorful   and common sight in arcades at the time. Everybody  will have their own preferences, of course,   but for the era this looked pretty good. The gameplay unfolds over the course of   several vehicle-based segments, in which you  control a speeder bike, the Millennium Falcon,   and an AT-ST. Each segment involves both combat  and navigating obstacles, and it’s not easy. The   highlight of the game – though a very difficult  one – comes in the second section, where you must   escape the exploding Death Star after blowing  up its reactor. Navigating the same course again   in reverse is a clever way of getting more mileage  out of the sequence and ramping up the tension.  In the end it’s little more than a fancy  score-attack, but it’s a fun one while it lasts. #55: Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron  PlayStation Portable Usually considered the “proper”   version of Elite Squadron by fans of the game  – yes, both of them – the PSP version is much   closer to the spirit of Battlefront than the DS  one is. This was the third game in the series made   for Sony’s handheld, of course, which meant that  developers had already seen just how close the   system could get to a full Battlefront experience. Both the ground combat and space combat felt   closer to what the series had established,  and the game was praised for its campaign.   There was also a nice multiplayer mode that  allowed two players to share a single PSP.  It wasn’t received much differently from the  DS version overall, however. It sits at 63%   on Metacritic compared to the DS version’s  61%. For both fans and critics at the time,   the handheld titles simply were not  scratching that Battlefront itch. #54: Star Wars Racer Revenge PlayStation 2  Episode I: Racer was great, but there was  one problem: the PlayStation didn’t get it.   Nintendo and Sega fans got to enjoy the  only good thing that said “Episode I” on it,   but Sony ponies – as we’ve seen you cleverly  call us in the comments – were left out.  Well, the joke is on you, because PlayStation  owners got the disappointing sequel and you   didn’t! Put that in your pipe and Snoke it. The  story serves as a sequel to the previous game,   with Anakin and Sebulba meeting up  eight years later to podrace again.   Because as a Jedi in training,  Anakin surely has loads of free time.  It wasn’t terrible, even if it was a big step  backwards. It had fewer tracks and fewer racers,   but you could race as Darth Vader, which you  shouldn’t think about too carefully. You can   also unlock Darth Maul, but I would’ve preferred  having to unlock each of his halves individually. #53: Star Wars Arcade  Regarded as one of the best arcade games  of its era, Atari’s Star Wars was parsecs   ahead of its time. (We’re referring  to both time and distance here so,   look, we used the wordcorrectlyand stayed true to  the film. BE IMPRESSED.) Its vector-based graphics   still look great, and they provided gamers with  one of the fastest, most intenseexperiences   they could have for a quarter/the UK equivalent. The entire game centers on a single sequence from   A New Hope: the attack on the Death Star. Three  levels repeat, increasing in difficulty each time,   of course, until the player finally runs  out of lives. The game gets frantic fast,   to the point that anyone who consistently  performs well should be tested for midichlorians.  Fun fact: In 2005, Brandon Erickson set a world  record by playing the game for a continuous   54 hours on a single credit. I’d hate to have  been the guy after him, waiting for my turn. #52: Star Wars Galaxies PC  Star Wars Galaxies was an ambitious MMORPG  that ran from 2003 to 2011. In that time,   it built a large and passionate user base,   and then drove all of those users away  through a series of poor decisions.  Galaxies was a rich experience, full of  customization and opportunities for roleplaying.   Charactersdid not have to engage in combat at all,  if they didn’t want to. They could run shops, be   entertainers, gather resources…it was basically an  opportunity to live within the Star Wars universe.  In 2005, however, the game introduced an  expansion which, contrary to its name,   actually reduced the amount of content available.  It was so poorly received that Sony Online   Entertainment offered refunds, but Galaxies  started to hemorrhage users. It dragged itself   along to 2011, when the game was hacked, affecting  the personal information of between 20 million and   30 million users, and was shuttered not long  after. Way to go out with a bang, though. #51: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, N-Gage  Weirdly, the scaled-down version  of The Force Unleashed released   for inferior hardware is the better game overall.  LucasArts created a unique physics engine for the  PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, which is   not used here due to hardware limitations.  This actually ends up being a good thing,   as that physics engine didn’t work. This  version of The Force Unleashed centers around   direct combat instead ofobject manipulation.  That is unquestionably a good thing.  It also has all of Starkiller’s abilities unlocked  from the start, meaning you have more options for   how to deal with any particular threat. What’s  more, the narrative of the game is the same,   meaning you don’t lose out on that sweet, sweet  canon; you just gain a better experience overall.  Oh, also, there was a version released for the  N-Gage. We couldn’t find much information on it,   but it seems to run at the  framerate of a novelization. #50: Star Wars: The Clone Wars GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox  Dedicated specifically to the battles  that took place in and around Episode II,   The Clone Wars relies heavily on vehicular  combat. It’s not a standout title on any   of its platforms – even among Star Wars games –  but it plays well and looks great for its time.  Criticism was directed at the campaign’s  reliance on escort missions, on-foot sequences,   and other irritating objectives that  distracted from the game’s actual strengths.  The Clone Wars is at its best when it leaves the  player alone to simply enjoy the explosive fun,   and it really shines in multiplayer. The Xbox  version took this aspect of the game online,   giving it an edge over the others.  Cooperative modes and competitive   modes kept things interesting long  after the story was complete…if   you even bothered to complete the story. If  somebody remembers The Clone Wars fondly today,   it’s almost certainly due to nights spent  blasting the absolute sith out of a loved one. #49: Star Wars Episode I: Racer Game Boy Color  If there was one thing everybody loved about  The Phantom Menace, it was Jar Jar. I’m joking,   of course; it was midichlorians. I’m joking,  of course; it was child Anakin. I’m joking,   of course; it was the Galactic Senate.  I’m joking, of course; it was Darth Maul   appearing for only about 20 seconds. I’m joking, of course; it was the pod   racing sequence, which felt tailor made to  serve as the basis of a great video game.   And it did! But less so on the Game Boy Color. This versionworks well enough and conveys a   decent sense of speed. You can’t always see the  entire width of the track, however, making it   difficult to judge upcoming turns. An on-screen  indicator tells youwhat’s ahead, but that’s   different from being able to see it yourself.  It’s like driving with your eyes closed while   someone in the passenger seat shouts directions at  you. Only, y’know, not utterly stupid and illegal. #48: Star Wars: Squadrons PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR,Xbox One, PC  Star Wars: Squadrons doesn’t bode  especially well for an inspired   future of Star Wars games. I will say that  it looks excellent. Visually, it’s difficult   to find much fault. The modeling of the ships in  particular – both inside and outside – is great,   and that’s good, because the ships  are the main appeal of Squadrons.  Sorry; I misspoke. The ships are the  only appeal of Squadrons. In fact,   it feels like it’s been carved off from a larger,  more-complete game. One that had more of a story   and a variety of missions and couldn’t as easily  be boiled down to “blow things up in space.”  It’s unclear who, exactly, the game is for.  Fans of X-Wing and TIE Fighter will likely   be turned away by the focus on quick combat as  opposed to simulation, and those who enjoy the   quick combat probably already own several Star  Wars games with much more content and variety. #47: Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels Wii  After Masters of TeräsKäsi brought us  an underwhelming Star Wars fighting   game and The Force Unleashed brought  underwhelming lightsaber combat to the Wii,   there wasn’t much reason to expect that a  title combining the two would be any good.   The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels, however, is  less disposable than you would have expected.  The lightsabers work about as well as  anything can with a Wii Remote. The game   may have benefited from the Wii MotionPlus,  which didn’t release until the following year,   but the standard controller works well enough  for the game to be fun, especially with friends.  The combat is simple and repetitive,  though. The characters also never shut up,   a problem exacerbated by the limited  number of voice lines. Additionally,   the AI is atrocious, sometimes hacking away at  the environment instead of at you. But it works,   and when it comes to motion-controlled games, that  is sadly enough to qualify as a recommendation. #46: Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter PC  The first game was X-Wing. The second game was  TIE Fighter. The third game is X-Wing vs. TIE   Fighter. It’s somehow confusing and perfectly  straightforward at the same time.You won’t see   those other two games for a while, and that’s  for a good reason: There was a lot more to them.  X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter had a rather  daring idea: It was multiplayer-focused,   with only practice missions available for single  players. In 1997 – when dial-up modems with   limited online hours were commonplace – online  gaming was far less convenient than it is today,   though, andthis limited the game’s appeal. The developers eventually did release an   expansion that gave the game a single-player  campaign, but we aren’t counting expansion   packs for the purposes of this list. Those  who could play online had a lot of fun. #45: Star Wars Arcade 32X, Arcade  Ten years after Atari’s classic Star Wars game  hit arcades, Sega released what was essentially   an updated, ground-up reimagining. While it  did not offer much more than the original,   it was worth making if only to show just  how far video game technology had advanced.   Look! The polygons are solid now! Also, few arcades in 1993 would’ve   still possessed a cabinet from 1983 taking  up floor space. If they wanted more quarters,   they’d have to release a new game. Like the  original, this one sees you flying around and   blasting things, and now you could do it in  co-op. That alone is worth it for the chance   to shout, “Don’t get cocky” at each other. The fact that Sega made the game meant that   they would have dibs on a home console port, and  they indeed released one for their struggling   32X. It was well received by critics,  but not well enough to save the console. #44: Star Wars: Starfighter Arcade,PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC  Starfighter for the PlayStation 2 is a difficult  game to get a handle on, mainly because it feels   unremarkable. Some Star Wars games are  significantly better than this one, and   some of them are significantly worse. In almost  all cases, they’re more noteworthy and unique.  All of which is to say Starfighter is  neither very bad nor very good. It’s   entirely competent. The game runs fine. It looks  okay. But it’s a far from memorable experience.   Perhaps this is due to its short length and low  level of difficulty. Blasting ships is less fun   if you don’t feel like you’re in danger, and the  enemies in this game really stretch the second   half of the phrase “artificial intelligence.” An upgraded version was released for the Xbox,   and it made a rare console-to-arcade transition  as part of Tsunami Visual Technologies’   TsuMomulti-game system. I can find almost no  information about it. I’m sure it was great. #43: Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter PlayStation 2, Xbox  One year after Starfighter, which was a  Phantom Menace tie in, we got Jedi Starfighter,   released to promote Attack of the Clones.  Like the movies on which they’re based,   the second one was superior to the first,  but not by enough to really matter.  Still, it is a better experience overall,  representing more of a challenge and more   variety in the types of missions available. The  major difference is indeed the Jedi Starfighter   itself. Players can now choose between two  pilots, one of whom can use Jedi powers in   addition to the ship’s weaponry. That  alone makes the game more interesting.  Both versions of Jedi Starfighter  suffered from frame-rate issues,   and the Xbox version introduced some bugs of its  own. If you’repicking up only a singleStarfighter   game, this is the one to get, but if you  enjoy one you’ll probably enjoy the other. #42: Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan’s Adventures Game Boy Color  Pop quiz: Which Star Wars film received the  largest number of video game adaptations?   Well, The Phantom Menace, obviously,  otherwise I wouldn’t be asking the   question during this entry. But still, if it  weren’t for that, you’d be quite surprised!  Obi-Wan’s Adventuresdoes not look great.  In fact, you’d be forgiven for taking one   glance at this and deciding that it is not  for you. Give it a shot, though, and you’ll   find a surprisingly decent Star Wars game. The game shines in its responsiveness and   fluidity. It’s far beyond most games  on the Game Boy Color in that sense,   with genuinely engaging combat that is  helped along by incredibly smooth animations.  It’s everything fans hoped for from  the 8-bit Star Wars games on the NES.   It took a while to get here, and a much worse  film to be based on, but it was worth the wait. #41: Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles Game Boy Advance  It’s not quite up to the standards of its console  counterpart, but the Game Boy Advance version   of Jedi Power Battles does an admirable job. It  features three characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon   Jinn, and the correct choice, Samuel L. Jackson. They each have their own abilities, but none   of them will make for an easy adventure; the  game is tough as nails, particularly when it   comes to the platforming. The combination  of the small screen, limited visibility,   and aggressive enemies means you’re always in  danger of falling into a pit and dying instantly,   long after you’ve mastered the actual combat. For this reason, Jedi Power Battles is about   evenly split between being satisfying  and frustrating. That’s unfortunate,   because the game looks fine, has great pacing, and  is a lot of fun while it’s focused on the combat.   It’s a shame the platforming is so  mac-clunky. OKAY. OKAY, I’M SORRY. #40: Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles Dreamcast, PlayStation  Jedi Power Battles is a lightsaber-‘em-up  with platforming elements that really,   truly should not have any platforming  elements. It’s an uneven experience to be sure,   and it frequently feels unpolished, but  for some mindless action – especially   mindless co-op action – it’s a lot of fun. The biggest crime the game commits is being dull.   The impressive animation obscures how shallow  the movesets actually are. What’s more,   those animations end up getting in the way  during the more-frantic sections, as you’ll   be vulnerable during your windup animations. The PlayStation version is nearly identical   to the Dreamcast version, but the latter does  have some noticeable advantages. For instance,   it has improved visuals, much quicker  load times, and even had some of the   platforming sections redesigned so that they  are …still pretty bad, actually. Nevermind. #39: Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo Nintendo 64, PC  The final N64 Star Wars game saw Factor  5 – developer of the excellent Rogue   Squadron – working their magic on The Phantom  Menace. That’s a bit like hiring a master chef to   warm up your Ginster’s chicken and mushroom slice,  I know, but Factor 5 did some pretty good work   with the source material. And, by that, I mean  they didn’t focus too much on the source material.  The game comes across as a sci-fi war game  with sky-, sea-, and ground-based vehicles   armed with futuristic weaponry. Beyond that,  it didn’t have to be a Star Wars game at all.  Criticism was directed at a lack of the  film’s characters, but considering the   characters introduced in that film, I think  they made the right decision. Praise was   directed at its technical achievements, such as  its impressive draw distance and weather effects.   The game’s PC versionwasreceived much worse,  due to poor porting, controls, and optimization. #38: Vader Immortal Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR  It may have a title like your grandmother  trying not to curse after stubbing her toe –   “Vader immortal!” – but until Squadrons came  along, Vader Immortal was the closest thing   fans had to a proper Star Wars experience in VR. It looks the part, sounds authentic and tells an   interesting story about one of the most famous  villains in cinemahistory. For some, that will   be more than enough reason to pick it up. For those seeking an actual game, though,   Vader Immortal leaves a lot to be desired.  It might as well be on rails for the amount   of interactivity there is, andthe full  experience clocks in at around two hours.   It’s also glitchyto an unfortunate degree. Much betteris the side content: isolated   training missions that allow you to wield  blasters, lightsabers, and the Force. All   of the replay value is here. If only they’d  fleshed it out and made this the game instead. #37: Clone Wars Adventures PC  Few properties lend themselves to MMORPGs better  than Star Wars. The films introduced audiences to   a wealth of races, factions, and planets, each  with their own histories ripe for exploring.   If you take the expanded universe material into  account, the possibilities are even greater.   Of course, that was until Disney bought Star  Wars and started dispatching agents to the   home of anyone who mentions the expanded  universe. Okay, I need to hurry this up…  Clone Wars Adventures was basedon the Clone Wars  series, and it shares the family-friendly approach   that show took to its material. Critics, however,  took issue with how shallow the experience was.  Much of Clone Wars Adventures consisted of playing  minigames, most of which were modeled onother   games. It’s difficult to look at something  like Star Wars and decide that playing a   few rounds of Tower Defense in an MMORPG setting  is living up to the franchise’s true potential. #36: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64, PC  Shadows of the Empire had a troubled  development, which is reflected in the   uneven nature of its overall experience. It  entered development for the Nintendo 64 before   the specs for that system were finalized. The  team used a modified SNES controller to get a   feel for how it might play on the new system. The fruits of their labors were shown off at   E3 1996, where nobody liked it. They postponed  the game for retooling and that was probably for   the best. Even so, the finished product met with  mixed reviews. The overall consensus was that the   vehicle segments were varying degrees of good and  the on-foot segments were varying degrees of bad.  Critics and fans loved the opening mission on  Hoth, though, which was uniformly lauded as a   high-water mark for Star Wars games in general.  So beloved was that mission that it actually   inspired the Rogue Squadron series, which  we will not hear about any time soon. #35: Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds PC  Have you played Age of Empires II?  If so, you’ve played Star Wars:   Galactic Battlegrounds.I’m exaggerating, but  only a bit. Whereas a few games on this list   could be said to be clones of other, non-Star  Wars games, Galactic Battlegrounds went so far   as to license the engine from its inspiration. LucasArtsliterally took Age of Empires II and   painted over it with Star Wars characters, making  it feel like a standalone expansion to that game.   “Age of Empire Strikes Back,” if you will.  By no means did that result in a bad product;   Age of Empires II is great and  provided a sturdy foundation.   And if Galactic Battlegrounds WAS an Age of Empires expansion in all but name, it was the biggest flipping expansion I've ever seen. The number of different units here was ridiculous LucasArts certainly put a lot of work into this game but, either way, it still feels like an AoE clone. Amusingly, Galactic Battlegrounds got its   own expansion called The Clone Campaigns. It  was a more accurate title than they intended. #34: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC  “More of the same” is a phrase we started hearing  a lot at this point in the life of Lego Star Wars,   but with a formula this strong, that’s not  such a bad thing. You know the kind of gameplay   to expect, you know the kind of humor you’ll  experience, and you know it will be a good time,   even if it’s not as memorable as its predecessors. Fewer fans were going to get as excited for a   Clone Wars game as they were for the games  based on the live-action films. Developer   Traveller's Tales did their best, though.  They introduced real-time strategy segments,   improved the vehicle segments, and  included more playable characters than   were available in the previous games: 115  this time, which is nothing to sneeze at.  It didn’t review as well as Lego Star  Wars II, but that was to be expected.   As with all Star Wars material, it’s almost  impossible to compete with the original trilogy. #33: Star Wars Battle Pod Arcade  Nowthis is pod-battling! With the  heyday of arcades long since past,   Bandai Namco knew its 2014 Star Wars game would  have to feel like an event. The company debuted   it at New York Comic-Con to demonstrate the  machine’s merits, and those merits were many.   It was designed as a 180-degree experience, with  the action unfolding around you and simulated wind   to make you feel as though you were really  in space. You know…where all that wind is.  The levels take the form of famous  scenes from the first three films.   Weirdly, the prequels are not  represented. That’s unfortunate;   I would have loved playing through those long  scenes of boring people talking to each other,   feeling their breath in my hair. It was an expensive game,   and it’s not the sort of thing every arcade could  afford. Bandai Namco also released a standard,   non-pod version for that reason, but  playing it was nowhere near as memorable. #32: X-Wing Alliance PC  Two years after X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter left  single-player fans cold, X-Wing Alliance attempted   to win them back, and it was a solid attempt.  The game looked incredible for 1999, the combat   had been reworked, and the space battles were far  larger and featured more ships than ever before.  You begin the game essentially slumming for your  family’s transport company, which serves as both   a great tutorial and a fitting prologue  for the character. Before long, of course,   you end up roped into a struggle for the fate  of the galaxy, where you – just like everyone   else in every other game – are our “only hope.”  You’d think that title would be more exclusive…  Anyway, fans and critics saw it as something of a  return to form, but numerous glitches, confusing   objectives, and a lack of polish held it back from  being regarded as highly as the first two games. #31: Star Wars: Dark Forces PlayStation, PC  1993’s Doom released to such  acclaim and popularity that   countless knockoffs appeared in its wake.  It turns out people like money. Who knew?!  Star Wars was not about to be left behind. In  1995, LucasArts released what looked like a   very impressive Doom mod featuring Star Wars  characters. The game is good, and it kicked   off the larger Jedi Knight series, but in this  first game there was not much to set it apart   from id Software’s game from two years prior. LucasArts built its own engine for Dark Forces,   allowing for more complicated atmospheric effects  and some additional movement options, such as   looking up and down. Which is all well and good,  but it was still Doom with Star Wars characters,   and it would be up to the game’s sequels to move  beyond that definition. It’s a good time, though,   as long as you avoid the PlayStation version,   which runs like the console is  attempting to leap into the sarlac pit. #30: Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4,   PlayStation Vita, Wii U,  3DS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC  What? Could it be? A Lego Star Wars game that  is more or less the same experience across   all platforms? Well…no, actually, because  this game was also released on mobile phones,   but we are not taking those into account,  which means Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens   only needs one entry on this list. It’s also a pretty good game overall,   though it feels a little slight when compared  to the previous titles, which either adapted   entire trilogies or TV shows.The reduced scale of  the game still left plenty of content, however,   with more than 200 playable characters. Like the film, it didn’t reinvent the formula,   but it gave us another serving of something  we enjoy. Now to see what they do with The   Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker in the  upcoming Lego Skywalker Saga. I have to admit,   the design of the steelbookmakes me  think they’re off to a good start. #29: Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Arcade  The run-up to The Phantom Menace sawmassive  amounts of merchandising. Store shelves were   full of Star Wars characters and imagery.  Though it was obviously the upcoming films   that dominated imaginations, it was also  a time to celebrate the original trilogy.  Sega’s Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, released just  a few months before Episode I hit theaters,   was among the best of those celebrations. While  the visuals may be showing their age a bit now,   the core gameplay is still every bit as fun as  it ever was. Sega took famous scenes from the   original three films and reimagined  them as nail-biting rail-shooters.  The game had great controls and a  surprising amount of variety for the genre,   shifting between ground missions,  vehicle segments, and even   lightsaber battles. It may not be as  “classic” as the Atari cabinets were,   but this is what every young fan saw when  they played those games in the first place. #28: Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike GameCube  The release of the excellent Nintendo 64 original  established Rogue Squadron as a series to follow.   It got a solid sequel on the GameCube, so  surely the third would be even better. Right?   Not right. Wrong, in fact! Rogue Squadron III ran into   development problems that were, let’s be honest  here, completely avoidable. For no real reason,   Factor 5 scrapped the entire engine they had built  and started fresh, running into new glitches and   complications that had never been problems before.  They also introducedclumsy on-foot missions, which   is a puzzling decision for a series based around  thrilling aerial combat. Wait, is it aerial if   there’s no air? Eh, you know what I mean. Neither fans nor critics were particularly   impressed. It didn’t score terribly,  but a Metacritic average of 75%   for this game was a huge step down from  the 90% of its immediate predecessor. #27: Star Wars: Bounty Hunter GameCube, PlayStation 2  Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was  released in support of Episode II:   Attack of the Clones. It stars JangoFett,  who was the best-received aspect of that   film…probably because he reminded fans  of a character in a much bettermovie.  The game fleshes out his history, which  should be a huge bonus to anyone who felt   the prequels didn’t contain enough unnecessary  exposition. Overall, it’s a simple action game   with good controls and exciting gun fights.  You get to walk around and shoot people,   jump around and shoot people, and fly around  and shoot people. Who could ask for more?  The bulk of the criticism was levied toward  the game’s stubborn camera and finicky lock-on,   as well as the fact that it drags on far longer  than it remains enjoyable.   The GameCube version was better received due to its higher framerate and superior visuals. #26: Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force Game Boy Advance  We’ve seen a number of attempts to reimagine  the Star Wars saga as a platformer – and we’ll   still see a few more – but Apprentice of the  Force is among the best. I know, that’s saying   precious little, but it really is worth a look. True to the game’s title, we play as Luke through   the events of the original trilogy. He gradually  becomes more in tune with the Force, acquiring new   abilities, which keeps what is an overall simple  game from ever growing too stale. Vehicle segments   also make an appearance to break up the formula,  and the pair of one-on-one lightsaber duels   with Darth Vader feel appropriately climactic. It animates smoothly and the action is engaging.   It’s a genuinely goodtranslation of a classic  film series intoa classic video-game genre.   It’s not nearly as well known as some other  titles, but it is indeed worth a look. #25: Star Wars: Racer Arcade Arcade  Star Wars: Racer Arcade ended up being  the final Star Wars game Sega developed,   but they definitely went out memorably. There’s no wrong answer when it comes   to choosing between this and Episode I:  Racer. We ranked it below the console game,   but we still admit it’s gorgeous, runs  marvelously, and is fun to play, especially   if you can find one of the two-player models. Why did we rank it lower, then? First, to make   you angry. But second, because we don’t feel that  it has quite as much staying power as Episode I:   Racer. The amount of content here simply doesn’t  compare. There are only four tracks and four   racers, as compared to the more than 20 of each  available in the console games. Also, y’know,   there’s the fact that you can’t buy this nearly as  easily. Don’t let me stop you from trying, though. #24: Star Wars: The Old Republic PC  According to reports, Star Wars: The Old Republic  is one of the most expensive games ever produced,   with estimates placing the development costs  north of $200 million. For that kind of money,   the game had better be good. And it is! Like all MMORPGs,   the game has had its ups and downs, but criticism  tends to be more along the lines of “it’s World of   Warcraft with Star Wars stuff” rather than  “it’s a bad game and not worth your time.”  Even the least impressed players,  however, have had great things to say   about the writing. A game like this  could have skimped on narrative,   but each of its eight classes gets an  entire storyline full of companions,   dialogue options, and voice acting. Also, it  came to Steam in July, nine years after its   original launch. If you’re interested in giving  a go for the first time, you won’t be alone. #23: Star Wars Battlefront PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC  Oh how naïve we were in 2015, when  EA launched a rebooted Battlefront   series and gamers were actually happy about it. In fairness to our younger selves, their first   Battlefront game provided little reason to worry.  It looked great, it played well, it was fun,   and – get this – the DLC was substantive and  worth buying. Fancy that! Especially praiseworthy   were the detailed visuals, which were lauded as  being the best a Star Wars game has ever looked.  There were perfectly valid criticisms of the  game, centered mainly on its dearth (ha ha) of   single-player content and the fact that several  of the multiplayer modes felt unbalanced,   favoring one side over the other. Each version of  the game scored between 72% and 75% on Metacritic,   which we think was fair. It was clear,  however, that the game’s flaws could   easily be ironed out by a sequel. Again: How naïve we were in 2015. #22: Star Wars: Republic Commando Xbox, PC  For a game about the joys of going without  undergarments, Republic Commando is darned   good. It’s a first-person shooter  following a squad of clone troopers,   which sounds like it should be the  most disposable game in history,   but its solid design and unexpectedly  strong characterization helped it stand out.  Republic Commando takes superficial  inspiration from the excellent Metroid Prime,   with the HUD consisting of actual visor  elements that your character sees,   though it is far more action-oriented and  relies on teamwork as opposed to going solo.  The teamwork, of course, would be a detriment  rather than a benefit if it weren’t for the   impressive squad AI, which sees your companions  only rarely doing the dumbest things imaginable   in the heat of combat. The game was well received,   with the main criticism being that it  wasn’t long enough. While it lasted,   though, it was a lot of fun with a style that  was both distinctive and recognizably Star Wars. #21: Star Wars: Battlefront PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC  Before EA left its distinctive mark  on Battlefront, the series belongs   to Pandemic Studios. They had an appealing –  and pretty savvy – idea for a Star Wars game:   no boring stuff. Other Star Wars games had  clear high and low points. Pandemic intended   Battlefront to consist only of high points. Overall, the approach worked. They took an   assortment of planets – mostly ones we’d seen  in the films – and allowed players to choose   from different factions and time periods. From  there, they’d be launched right into battle.   The developers counted on the rhythms of  multiplayer matches to provide the tension   and release necessary to keep things interesting. It was a hit, with scores mainly in the low to   mid-80s. It was far from the deepest or most  complex Star Wars experience available, but   Pandemic managed to capture akind of thrill that  many other games had only periodically achieved. #20: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II PC  Kyle Katarn, star of the first Dark Forces  game, got his chance to shine outside of   Doom’s shadow with Dark Forces II. And…okay,  yes, it’s still an awful lot like Doom,   but it does a better job of making the series  stand out…which might be why they applied a new   title – Jedi Knight – from here onward. The levels are more carefully designed   and better balanced, giving the feeling of a  series of actual locations as opposed to the   interchangeable rooms and corridors that made  the first gameso claustrophobic. Additionally,   the items and enemies are no longer sprite-based;  they are made of polygons, which was uncommon   for first-person shooters at the time. Also,  there’s a lightsabernow. You like those, right?  Critics adored this game. Whereas the first was  understandably derided as a clone, this one scored   exceptionally well, jumping from the first  game’s average of 77% to a well-deserved 91%. #19: Super Star Wars SNES  The earliest Star Wars game for which anyone  with self-respect could possibly feel nostalgic,   Super Star Wars is far from perfect  but still manages to be a lot of fun.   It has an appealing simplicity that keeps  it in the conversation today. Not many   SNES games warrant a PS4 re-release, after all. As far as a true retro Star Wars experience goes,   Super Star Wars hits the spot. The controls are  tight, the sound effects are true to the films,   and murdering aliens is endlessly satisfying. It has its flaws, of course. It seems to want   to both look like the films and  be cartoony, doing neither style   justice. Its level design could certainly use  some cleaning up, too; it alternates between   being simple to the point of boredom and being  overstuffed to the point of frustration. Still,   it set the stage for the entire SNES trilogy, and  it’s absolutely worth a few hours of your time. #18: Star Wars: Empire at War PC  Galactic Battlegrounds was a good game in the  sense that LucasArts took an already-good game   and wrote “Star Wars” on it. Five years later,  Empire at War made good on the promise of a   genuine Star Wars RTS experience, and it’s  still remembered as a highlight of the genre.  One advantage it clearly has over its  predecessor is its space battles. You   know…literal star wars. Instead of just  claiming and conquering territory on the ground,   you also get to spread your influence  throughout the vast reaches of space.   It was an obvious addition and a welcome one. There’s also a much-loved Galactic Conquest mode,   which sees players conquering planet after  planet, either as the dominating forces of the   Empire or the scrappy resistance of the Rebel  Alliance. Empire at War does an excellent job   of capturing the spirit of the films in a more  strategic way than most games ever attempted. #17: Lego Star Wars: The Video Game GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC  Lego and Star Wars are two of  the most beloved properties   in the world. Combining the two in a  video game would, at the very least,   be an interesting experiment. It turned  out to be a beloved new series of its own.  The game reimagined the prequel trilogy as  silent minifigures performing slapstick comedy.   It was a genuinely funny and surprising take on  what was – for better or worse –deeply serious   source material. It also featured legitimately  creative gameplay, laying down a sturdy formula   for all other licensed Lego games to follow. It reviewed well, but not exceptionally so;   depending on the platform it averaged  between 75% and 79% on Metacritic. It was   a sales success, however, selling around  seven million copies worldwide. Its low   difficulty and simplistic puzzles were  singled out for criticism, but its charm,   accessibility and sense of humor were the real  draws here, and nobody can find fault with those. #16: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith DS, Game Boy Advance  Revenge of the Sith is a movie about two  men beating each other up by some lava.   Sorry, did you say there was more to the movie  than that? Not as far as I remember. Anyway,   the handheld game is quite good. Unlike the movie on which it’s based,   the game is bright, colorful, and honestly  rather adorable. It couldn’t possibly be   further from the source material in terms of  its presentation, and that’s exactly what I   love about it. The game plays to the strengths  of Nintendo’s handhelds, with a great comic-book   style and gorgeous sprite animations. Combat  is fairly involved, as well, and the enemies   can quite easily get the upper hand if you  don’t pay attention to what you’re doing.  The DS and GBA versions look almost  identical. They differ a little bit   in terms of extra content, but you  can’t go wrong with either version. #15: Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back SNES  The second Super Star Wars game is an excellent  evolution of the first. Fansresponded positively   to just about everything it did differently.  The levels wereless frustrating and the gameplay   introduced new abilities, which represented Luke’s  development as a hero. This includes using the   Force, deflecting lasers with his lightsaber, and  double ju…erm… two thirds of a triple jumping.  The difficulty was still extraordinarily high,  but everything felt a bit fairer with more room   for error. That doesn’t mean that it was  fair or that it had much room for error,   but with games this difficult, we will  certainly take all the help we can get.  The best thing about it, of course, was that its  existence all but guaranteed we’d get one more   game, and Star Wars would not just be a trilogy of  great films, but would also be a trilogy of great   16-bit platformers. Maybe it’s a bit greedy  to want both, but I’m glad we’ve got them. #14: Star Wars: Battlefront II PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, PC  With the first game, developer Pandemic  decided “no boring stuff.” When looking at   critical feedback, their thought process changed  slightly to, “okay, maybe a little boring stuff.”  While the previous game succeeded as the  action-focused cacophony it set out to be, much   of the criticism it received was based on the fact  that there was nothing more to the proceedings.  Battlefront II gave the single-player  mode an actual narrative, improved the AI,   added new types of objectives, and expanded  the player’s moveset. In short, it retained   everything that fans enjoyed about the first  game and improved or replaced what they didn’t.  Miraculously, the PSP version compares  well to its console counterparts.   The controls and graphics aren’t  as good, but that’s to be assumed.   It lost some content, but everything  that survived the transition works well.   Battlefront II was great all around. That’s a  sentence nobody has said in a long, long time. #13: Star Wars: Rebellion PC  Renamed Star Wars: Supremacy in the UK  for reasons that don’t seem to exist,   Star Wars: Rebellion was a strategy game  with “strategy” underlined several times.   There are action sequences, but that’s  not what the game was about. In fact,   the game allowed you to skip them entirely.  Instead, Star Wars: Rebellion was about squad   building, time management, diplomacy, resource  allocation…essentially everything that happens   behind the excitement of an interstellar war. Likely for that very reason, it split critics   right down the middle. Computer Games Magazine  called it “nearly flawless,” for instance,   while Next Generation used its review to  caution LucasArts that they should stop   slapping the Star Wars name on any old trash. Honestly, we think the game is pretty good.   It’s a bit too ambitious, perhaps, but it’s  that ambition that helps it to stand out.   It’s not the easiest game to love, but  those who love it, love it for good reason. #12: X-Wing PC  Space combat is a common feature of the games on  this list, but X-Wing had the interesting idea of   merging it with a flight simulator. It was not  a simplified, accessible one, either; X-Wing   was a difficult game to fully understand and  master, but that’s exactly why people loved it.   Anybody could line up some virtual crosshairs and  press a button to make some virtual war widows,   but in X-Wing, you actually had to learn what  you were doing. If you managed that, it felt   satisfying in a way few other Star Wars games did. Those who stuck with X-Wing and learned how   to play it – or, I suppose, fly it – loved  it, and it still comes up in conversations   about the best Star Wars games ever. Those who  did not have the patience for it, of course,   found it far less enjoyable, but its critical  reception was overall positive, and deservedly so. #11: Star Wars Episode I: Racer Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PC  We could list all of the franchises that  needlessly crammed its characters into a racing   game, but it would be quicker to list all of  them that didn’t. Ready? BBC News at 10…actually,   that’s it. Sorry; I thought there would be more. Most of these racing games are cash-ins that   have little or nothing to do with  the property being represented.Then   there’s Episode I: Racer, which is among the best.  Borrowing more than a little from 1995’s Wipeout,   Episode I: Racer has an incredible  sense of speed. Its controls are great,   its courses offer a variety of  alternate paths, and the customization   options leave real room for strategy. There is a reason this game is regarded   as one of the best Star Wars games, but the  fact is, it’s a great racing game in general.   Take away the Star Wars license and we’d still  be talking about it as a highlight of the genre. #10: Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi SNES  The Super Star Wars trilogy concluded with  Return of the Jedi. It looked, sounded,   and played a lot like the previous two games,  but it also improved upon them both in key ways.   It hadmore varied environments, fun levels,  and the best movement options in the series.  We disagree with the critics on this one, as many  of them complained that it was too similar to the   previous games. We would argue instead that Return  of the Jedi represents the ultimate refinement of   the Super Star Wars formula, which wasn’t all that  bad to begin with. Besides, it’s a bit silly to   complain that three games in the same series  released for the same system play similarly.  It’s especially silly for them to  complain about repeated content   when they never even finished the previous two  games. We know they didn’t, because nobody did.   Maybe someone told you they finished the games,  but no. That’s not true. That’s impossible. #9: TIE Fighter PC  X-Wing, this game’s predecessor, found  an appreciative audience in spite of its   obtuse mechanics and rock-hard difficulty, but  it left a lot of other fans cold. TIE Fighter,   the sequel to that game, took the criticism  on board. The developers did not want to   lose the sense of accomplishment  that came from mastering that game,   but they also wanted to craft a more forgiving  experience that a wider audience would enjoy.  That could have ended up creating  somethingnobody enjoyed but, instead,   TIE Fighter is almost universally seen as the  better game. Perhaps that’s because the developers   didn’t stop at making X-Wing simpler or easier;  they crafted a game that played to new strengths   rather than only addressed previous weaknesses. Also, you got to play as the bad guy. Not in some   optional mode or an unlockable  scenario, either;you are, by default,   killing Rebels on behalf of the Empire.  That alone makes it a memorable experience. #8: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC  By this point in the list I’ve been tempted  to make a “Dark Souls of Star Wars” joke…let   me count…fifty-one times. But I couldn’t do  that because there actually is a Souls-inspired   Star Wars game. What’s more, it’s pretty good. Fallen Order is an adventure through the stars,   relying on challenging combat with little room  for error. Those who stick with it will find a   lot to appreciate, even if it does wear out its  welcome as the game progresses. Criticism was   aimed at the blandness of the protagonist,  bugs, and a lack of incentive to explore,   but little else. The game sold more than 10  million copies and holds either a 79% or 81%   on Metacritic, depending on the version. Fallen Order is the second-most-recent game   on this list,and it is hopefully a sign  of more great Star Wars titles to come. #7: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader GameCube  Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64 was a  massive hit for Factor 5 and, truth be told,   it was a much-needed hit for Nintendo as well.  When the GameCube released in 2001, then,   it was in the interest of both companies  for its sequel to be a launch title.  Rogue Squadron II looked and sounded even better  than the first game. There was more content,   more action, and more ships to master.  There was playable Darth Vader. Oh,   and cockpit mode, so you could feel like  you were actually flying these things. Yes,   I consider that to be a massive selling  point and yes, you may judge me for it.  And yet, it wasn’t quite as good as its  predecessor. Rogue Squadron showed fans   what Star Wars games could be. Rogue Squadron II  did that again, but lesswell and a bit flashier.   It’s still worth playing, of course; it’s a  chance to experience more of a great thing. #6: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Xbox, PC  After the excellent Jedi Outcast, developer  Raven Software was given only one year to   produce a direct sequel. This felt like a  move designed to kill what had quickly become   a renowned subseries but, honestly, Jedi Academy  turned out very well. We prefer Outcast overall,   mainly because Kyle Katarn is relegated to  sidekick status in this adventure, with the   player taking control of his protégé instead. Some fans do prefer this game, likely due to the   amount of customization it offersand the improved  swordplay. But the new protagonist never feels as   compelling as Katarn did, and the story doesn’t  live up to the standard set by its predecessor.  Jedi Academy ended up being the  last game in the series. That’s odd,   as sidelining Katarn for this game seemed to imply  that the series could continue while focusing on   others. Jedi Academy isn’t the best Jedi Knight  game, but it’s still an impressive way to go out. #5: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation   Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC People loved Lego Star Wars. I know,   because I’m people. But there was one thing  holding the game back from being truly great:   the prequels. It’s a simple fact that the original  Star Wars trilogy is more beloved, better known,   and has had a greater impact on pop culture in  general. It’s also better. You can disagree,   but I find your lack of taste disturbing. A sequel to Lego Star Wars focusing on the first   three movies was guaranteed to be a hit. It had  more characters, a more memorable story to retell,   and refined gameplay. It also reviewed better,  with Metacritic scores in the low to mid-80s.   Even the PSP version was great!  That’s an achievement in itself!  The game sold more than one  million copies in its first week,   and ended up being within the ten best-selling  games on each of its platforms for 2006.   That’s astonishing, and not  even slightly undeserved. #4: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II:   The Sith Lords Xbox, PC  For the sequel to what was already being lauded  as one of the greatest games of its decade – and   which would go on to be lauded as one of the  best of all time – BioWare handed the reins   to Obsidian, a name we all know today,  but this was that company’s first game.  Opinion is overall split on how Knights of the  Old Republic II fares when measured against   its predecessor. Critics said it inherited  the unbalanced combat from the first game   and introduced significant bugs to the experience.  Some reviewers went so far as to accuse Obsidian   of releasing an unfinished game. Others feel that the morality was more   satisfyingly grey in this game, the characters  were better, and the already strong story of   the first installment was improved upon. Where do we fall? We think it’s great,   but we’re not sure it measures up to the  original. That’s okay, though. Very few things do. #3: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Nintendo 64, PC  Looking at the evolution of Star Wars games  is like looking at the evolution of gaming   as a whole. Compare what it looked like  to take down an AT-AT Walker in 1982’s   The Empire Strikes Back with what it  looks like in 1998’s Rogue Squadron.   It’s impressivejust how far  the technology had come.  Even more impressive is how large Star Wars  games had gotten. Rogue Squadron had huge maps,   varied missions, and classic Star Wars moments  and imagery scattered throughout. Factor 5 was   clearly doing its best to make the definitive Star  Wars experience. They even included a spacecraft   from the then-unreleased Episode I, waiting until  the film debuted to reveal the code to unlock it.  If Rogue Squadron has any real shortcomings it’s a  lack of multiplayer, but that did not deter fans,   whomade it a massive sales success. For many  of them, it is still the best Star Wars game   to this day. Not for us, though. And  we’re the ones making this list. So relax. #2: Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast GameCube, Xbox, PC  The second Jedi Knight game – and the third game  in the Kyle Katarn saga – was a massive leap   forward. Everything fans loved about the previous  game was better here. Visually, narratively,   lightsaber-atively…every aspect of the  adventure was simply better than ever before.  It also holds up impressively well. Granted,  it shows its age in its presentation,   and its objectives could do with some  clarity, but last year’s rerelease   on the Switch and PlayStation 4 has reminded  us of just how engaging Jedi Outcast can be.  The real star here is Katarn himself, whose  experiences in the previous two games have   soured him on the whole Light Side / Dark  Side struggle. He has attempted to return   to his quieter life as a mercenary. Yes,  I said “quieter life as a mercenary.”  Katarn left a surprisingly large mark on Star  Wars, appearing in a trilogy of novels and   even becoming an action figure…one of very few  extended universe characters to have that honor.  Nice work, Kyle. But there’s a  game that’s done you one better… #1: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Xbox, PC  Star Wars games can be system sellers.  It’s no stretch, in other words,   to assume that Knights of the Old Republic  was a big part of what helped Microsoft to   gain a foothold in the gaming market. It was  the fastest-selling Xbox title upon release,   was universally praised, and made a  number of Sony fans extremely jealous.  Developed by BioWare – fast establishing  themselves as RPG royalty with Baldur’s Gate   and Neverwinter Nights – the game  was a critical and commercial smash.   Knights of the Old Republic is considered one  of the best games ever made, Star Wars or not,   and has been lauded for its compelling  narrative, characterization, and voice acting.   It was also highly detailed and well animated,  providing a remarkable degree of immersion.  The Force Alignment system has more of an  impact than one might expect from a binary   morality system, as well, with your character’s  overall appearance changing depending upon your   proximity to the Light or Dark side. There are also, of course, legendary   narrative twists, which we won’t spoil  for those who haven’t yet played it.  And, yes, that’s my coy way of assuring you  that it’s still very much worth playing. And that’s every Star Wars game ranked from worst  to best. Disagree? Good. Let the hate flow through   you. Tell us in the comments which Star Wars game  you had growing up and which is therefore the best   one. Tell us which of these games you’re  still playing today. And tell us, please,   how wrong we are about everything we’ve just said. Also, if you have suggestions for other “Every X   Ranked From Worst to Best” videos, let us know.  We do listen; it’s just that these videos take so   long to make that it seems like we don’t. You can follow TripleJump on Twitter here,   and while you’re at it, why not support the things  you enjoy by having a look at our patreon.Finally,   don’t forget to like the video, share it with  your friends, and subscribe to the channel.   I’m Ben,and I’m Peter from  TripleJump, and thanks for watching.

Channel: TripleJump

Views: 969,870

Keywords: star wars video game, star wars video games, star wars jedi fallen order, star wars, star wars games, ea star wars, jedi fallen order, star wars squadrons, star wars battlefront 2, clone wars, star wars trailer, fallen order, battlefront 2, star wars squadrons trailer, star wars battlefront, star wars vr, battlefront, lego star wars, xwing vs tie fighter, star wars squadrons gameplay, star wars battlefront ii, star wars the old republic, fallen order gameplay, EA

Id: z4vwB23NwwY

Length: 105min 25sec (6325 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 09 2020