Okay, so maybe “worst” is too strong of a word. Dislike? Least favorite? Don’t care all that much for? Could have been so much better?
Regardless, the same panel of experts that assisted with the Top Ten Best Star Wars Games assisted with the creation of this list. Like with the first list, the qualifications we looked for in selecting games for these lists consisted of three simple questions: Is the story good? Are the game mechanics good? Is the game fun to play?
Before we begin, let me specify what you won’t see on our list:
1. Movie tie-ins (especially those concerning the prequel movies because, really, they’re all bad, and too easy to mock.)
2. Games geared towards children. (Games like Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing weren’t meant for adults, so they don’t count. But rest assured, we know they’re bad.)
3. Star Wars: X-Wing or Star Wars: TIE Fighter. (We like those games. Honestly! We really do!)
Games on this list are ones that fell incredibly short of our expectations, especially where sequels were concerned. (A few are just really, really bad.) Look for the Top Ten Best Star Wars Games here.
That said, starting at number 10, here are the games that make us shout: “IT’S A TRAP!”
10. Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords – Xbox and PC (2004)
Imagine an Empire Strikes Back with no mention of Han or Leia, Luke mysteriously missing, and a brand new main character flying around in the Millennium Falcon trying to find Luke yet never does because the only character who knows Luke’s location is R2-D2, and he’s not talking. It would be like watching Star Trek III: The Search for Spock but without finding a shred of evidence as to where Spock is. Depressing thought, ain’t it? Welcome to KOTOR 2.
I know the inclusion of this fan favorite will lead to many comments, but please note we are not 100% against this game. We do give KOTOR 2 kudos for having more fluid gameplay, extensive character building, and better customizable weapons and items than its predecessor. KOTOR 2 also included a lot of elements from the Tales of the Jedi comics, such as being able to visit the tomb of Freedon Nadd and the planets Onderon and Dxun. We also like the development of Canderous’s character (something that made this Canderous fangirl very happy), and that GameSpy named Kreia the Best Character of 2005.
However, all those pluses don’t make up for the underdeveloped new characters (sans Kreia), lack of old characters from the first game (or explanations as to what happened to them), the incomplete story (what in the world was up with that excuse for an ending?), buggy programming (randomly freezing games anger me), or the fact we all wanted to play as Revan, not the Jedi Exile. It’s a slap in the face for gamers who enjoyed the characters and story of the first game. Perhaps if it wasn’t marketed as a sequel but had been a wholly separate game (or answered the questions it posed) it would have been more enjoyable.
Part of the reason KOTOR 2 had an incomplete story was due to a rushed deadline. But for those of you with the PC version of KOTOR 2, there is some hope: Check out the work of Team Gizka, a group of fans devoted to restoring as much of the deleted content as possible.
9. Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike – Nintendo GameCube (2003)
Rogue Squadron games were brilliant titles all about the famous X-Wing squad under the command of Wedge Antillies. They were not about Luke Skywalker taking on AT-ATs by his lonesome.
While the graphics were gorgeous (drop dead gorgeous for a GameCube title), it was nothing like its predecessors. Rogue Squadron and Rogue Squadron II were all about space combat and ship-to-ship dogfights, while Rogue Squadron III focused more on land battles. There’s nothing wrong with land battles, but there’s something wrong with putting them in a series based on ship-to-ship combat. Fans of franchises have an expectation for sequels—like them being similar to the previous titles. Like KOTOR 2, this game would have been awesome if it wasn’t called Rogue Squadron III.
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8. Force Unleashed – Wii (2008)
While the 360 and PS3 versions of Force Unleashed featured realistic level design and character renders (one of the reasons those versions earned a spot on the Top Ten Best list), the Wii version does not. We know that video games shouldn’t be solely judged on graphics, nor are we completely insensitive to the Wii’s graphic limitations. But the Wii has proven what it is capable of. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was a gorgeous game. So was Super Smash Brothers Brawl; Solid Snake looked almost real. So why can’t the characters in Force Unleashed at least blink?
There’s also the matter of the level design being entirely different. After playing the 360 version, we were completely shocked at how different the Wii version was: an entirely different level layout and different storyline. It was like playing an entirely different game. (Have I said “different” enough?) And the controls were difficult to master, so aggravating most of us stopped playing and switched to the better 360 or PS3 version instead.
Force Unleashed for the Wii does feature a mode the other versions do not have: a duel mode where various characters can be pitted against each other. I, for one, rented this version solely to play as Mara Jade. But it ultimately didn’t matter who I played as; all the characters featured the same moves and force abilities—if you managed to get the Wiimote to respond to your movements. While we do give the game points for effort, duel mode ended up being more frustrating than entertaining.
Which brings us to:
7. Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels – Wii (2009)
We’re not sure who’s at fault here, LucasArts or the Wiimote design, but Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels proves that just because the Wiimote has the potential to act like a lightsaber doesn’t mean it can act like a lightsaber. Much like Force Unleashed for the Wii, it’s not a duel game to see who can master lightsaber styles like Street Fighter combos, but more of a sadistic contest to see who is diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome first. Young gamers may enjoy playing as their favorite characters, but as for the rest of us? Not so much.
6. Jedi Starfighter – Xbox, PS2 (2002)
The title says it all. You’re a Jedi and you spend the entire game in a starfighter. That’s it. No cool lightsaber moves. No awesome Force powers. It’s just you and your trusty Starfighter. *yawn* Oh, and you do get to use the Force to enhance your ship, like giving it shields. Ooh, thrilling.
Jedi Starfighter was the sequel to the popular Star Wars Starfighter game. SW Starfighter was a great flight simulator/space combat game. We’re not saying Jedi Starfighter isn’t; in fact it received stellar reviews. But with the word “Jedi” in the title, it’s expected that there would be heavy Jedi content. Gamers want to play as Force-wielding, lightsaber-carrying heroes, not Force-wielding, lightsaber-carrying heroes trapped inside their starfighter the entire game. If you liked Starfighter and want to pilot a Jedi craft, give it a whirl. Otherwise, steer clear.
By the way, it should be noted that the Jedi in this game can use Force Lightening in addition to the ship blasters. Did we miss the memo or isn’t Force Lightening a Sith trait?
5. Rebel Assault – PC (1993)
Ever wonder what it’s like to pilot an X-Wing? After playing this game, we’re still wondering.
Rebel Assault followed a similar, decent storyline to the original Star Wars movie (with elements from Empire Strikes Back thrown in just for the hell of it), and the 3D rendered graphics were better than anything else on the market. But unfortunately the graphics and content were extremely limited in their abilities. The levels themselves were one big loop that continued to replay over and over again until all the TIE Fighters had been hit—mighty nice of the TIE Fighters to wait patiently to be shot, if you ask us. The looping levels also featured pre-determined straight paths that the game would not let players stray from and limited abilities to steer the X-Wing.
It was pointed out by many readers their disappointment that Star Wars: X-Wing (1993) and Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994) were excluded from our Top Ten Best list. While my experts and I prefer the Rogue Squadron series over both DOS games, we would highly recommend either franchise over Rebel Assault—although Rogue Squadron may be easier to find at a local used media store.
4. Star Wars Galaxies – PC (2003)
Where do we begin? The fact there was no storyline to follow (just characters aimlessly wandering around the Star Wars, well, galaxy), the original character class system being too massive and convoluted that only someone with a Masters degree could figure it out, or the communications gap wherein you had to learn all the alien languages if you wanted to talk to someone? Maybe we should just stick to the whole mess of becoming a Jedi, because, really, Star Wars is all about lightsabers and the Force.
If you wanted to be a Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies you had to work for it. And man did you have to work for it. There were two ways for characters to become Jedi: 1.) Grind every single profession (which players wound up having to do anyway) until characters “felt” their Force Sensitivity. 2.) Choose the four specific professions when creating a character that would lead to Force Sensitivity. While the second one seems simple, it wasn’t. Of those four specific professions, three players could discover by reading in-game holocrons. The fourth one was hidden, and the only way to discover which one was to grind profession after profession until the magical Force Sensitivity appeared.
But it’s not over yet. After becoming Force Sensitive, players had to endure a long, long, long, long, long quest chain filled with mundane tasks. When that was over, then players were allowed to build a lightsaber—which took forever to find the pieces and crystals necessary. Then, congratulations, your character is a Jedi! Once you became a Jedi, you could kill anything in your path. Just avoid bounty hunters and Darth Vader. If they killed your Jedi, congratulations, you get to start all over again!
Then came that fateful day when developers realized their complicated MMO was too difficult for the general public to grasp and decided to revamp the entire game to make it a whole lot simpler to play. What resulted was a complete overhaul of the game by deleting old content and replacing it with new content. That included individual player characters. Gamers who had invested their precious time into their characters watched them disappear into a puff of pixels and were forced to begin from square one. It was like having your game freeze and realizing you’d never saved it. Characters, weapons, and items were all erased after the overhaul was complete. The biggest change to the new version? Players could be Jedi from the get-go.
A lot of people quit the game after that, including my panel of experts—a few who are still extremely angry to this day. Here’s hoping The Old Republic is a whole lot better than Star Wars Galaxies.
3. Empire Strikes Back – Atari 2600 (1982)
We realize that back in 1982 video games weren’t about fantastic graphics, incredible voice acting, and superb level design. We get that. We also realize that those three elements aren’t needed to make an entertaining video game—in fact there were some great games for the Atari 2600. Empire Strikes Back, however, isn’t one of them. (And yes, we promised no movie tie-ins. We lied.)
This simplistic game is nothing more than AT-ATs vs Snowspeeders. The game ends when either the player runs out of Snowspeeders or the AT-ATs reach the Hoth Rebel Base power generator. It may sound easy, but this is one of these most difficult Star Wars games ever created.
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back is also credited as the first Star Wars video game ever. Yeah, the game may be a classic and may be great for a retro kick, but the repetitive nature only lasts so long. This is one game that has not withstood the test of time.
2. Masters of Teräs Käsi – PlayStation (1997)
Star Wars was a great movie. Mortal Combat was a great game. Putting them together equals hardcore fail.
Masters of the Teräs Käsi’s major downfall wasn’t the title’s misspelling (“teräskäsi” is the correct Finnish spelling that translates to “steel hand”), but that other fighting games out at the same time were better, like Tekken.This game featured bad graphics, a horrible storyline, a mediocre fighting engine, and off-balanced characters. Plus the weapons were a joke: lightsabers resembled light-up sticks rather than powerful limb-severing blades.
If you’re dying to play a good Star Wars fighting game, pick up Soul Calibur IV and play as Darth Vader, Starkiller, or Yoda. Avoid this title at all costs. It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
1. Yoda Stories – Nintendo Gameboy Color and PC (1997)
I have a degree in English and even I can’t find the words to describe just how awful this game is. Even the cover art features the character the game is named for trying to blend into the background, as if he’s trying to tell gamers “Wish to be associated with this game, I do not”. (He’s above Luke’s shoulder in case you missed him.)
Yoda Stories is a puzzle action game similar to the original NES Legend of Zelda—or at least it tries desperately to be one. The story centers on Luke Skywalker training as a Jedi Knight. How he ever became one after this game the world will never know. We certainly don’t; we never made it past the first level. The entire game consists of Luke being nothing more than Yoda’s errand boy: finding objects, rescuing people, lather, rinse, repeat. So why is it called Yoda Stories when you don’t even get to play as Yoda?
Let’s move on to the next element of pain: The soundtrack. We used to like the theme to Star Wars. It’s gorgeous and undeniably one of the best movie themes ever. However, when John Williams composed the theme, he in no way envisioned it to be rearranged in 8-bit form repeated on an infinite loop. We’re pretty sure the Yoda Stories soundtrack could be used as a means of torture for young children who won’t eat their vegetables.
There’s a reason why Gamespot cited Yoda Stories as "possibly the worst Star Wars game ever produced". If you find a copy in a used media store, walk away. This clearly is not the Star Wars game you’re looking for.
(Thanks again to Jeff, Chris, Travis, James, and Joe! At least all of us can agree!)
[Pics from Wikipedia and Wookiepedia]
Comments
Two things:
I never did get around to playing KotOR II, something about the idea seemed bad. The developers have no clue how you left the universe when you stopped playing, who was on your team (meatbag), who did you help (who did you hurt), what was your alignment? How do you continue from an unknown point? Like you said it might have been better as a separate game.
I have never heard of Yoda Stories and now I want to get it just to see how bad it is... I think I still have a GBC in my basement.
RX: In the beginning of KOTOR 2, the Jedi Exile had a conversation with another NPC named Atton. During that conversation, you could choose whether Revan was male or female, lightside or darkside. Depending on what you picked, the subplot of the game changed along with the history of events as the other characters may have remembered them. For example: If you selected darkside, you couldn't meet Carth later in the game (as Darth Revan killed him at the end of KOTOR). If you picked female, you never saw Bastila later in the game. It didn't read your previous save files, so other than that one conversation, there was no way for the game to know what your choices were in KOTOR.
One of the reasons I'm excited for Mass Effect 2 is the promised feature that it will read your Mass Effect save files and allow you to pick up where you left off. For me, that's a true sequel, not playing twenty questions with a pilot.
I think KoTOR 2 could have been much, much better. However, I think it still is one of the best games ever. You have to remember that when they made it, they were counting on the story being a trilogy, so they left "teasers" about the people from the first game to be explained in the now probably-never-to-be-made third game.
P.S. Also, Darth Nihilus is so much more awesome than Darth Malak.
I don't agree with having the Wii version of The Force Unleashed on here simply because some people can't play it naturally. Two, Rebel Strike happens to be my favorite all time game because of all the movie re-enactment levels. Every single Episode 1: Phantom Menace game should be on this list except for Jedi Powerbattles. As for Masters of Tera Kasi, you've hit the nail on the head!
AHH!!! When my brother and I got a Gamecube one Christmas, the sad attempt at Rogue Squadron was the only game that coincided with our SW addiction. I HATED that game, but my older brother loved it. You didn't even mention how terrible the controls were, it might as well have had the same looping issue as Rebel Assault. I thought I might have been wrong, because I've always been into the EU books more than games, but I'm glad to see that I wasn't disgusted only because I'm not amazing at Video Games, I was disgusted because that game was insulting. Thank you, I needed that venting. Lol.
Rebel Strike III was awesome! Plus The force Unleashed for the Wii was really good due to its controls which made things like using the force alot easier and having diff. versions of lvl layouts is good because then if u've played it on the 360/PS3 then u dont end up getting bored since u know the layout already, which adds to the fun of it.
is easy to review old games now days for everyone! but back in the day this games were really something else that made everyone get a new perspective of video games so they could evolve on what you have today on the visuals department and also game elements!
To really understand the star wars games you need to be a hardcore fan but if you never heard of star wars (IMO that is not likely) you can still get hooked to the plot and mechanics as long as you don't get frustrated, that is the only thing star wars games have that most people doesn't like "lots of cut scenes that for something out of your reach at the given moment! that is a frustrating factor because you watch a lot and play a little!
I have to disagree with Yoda stories being the worst Star Wars game of all time. When I was little, I would play that game to no end. The game wasn't based towards adults at the time it was released. Its demographic was aimed at little children like I was. It was my favorite game to play when I got home from school. I'm surprised to see it even on this list at all, given that you said children's games were not to be listed on here. The same goes to The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels, since I'm pretty sure that game isn't geared towards the older crowd.
Another game on your list I have to disagree with is The Empire Strikes back for the 2600. Like I said before, I had a blast playing that game on my parents' 2600, as did the rest of my family friends who played it.
I'm surprised that you would put The Empire Strikes Back on that list and not Star Wars: Jedi Arena. Now THAT was a bad game!
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