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Top ten best 'Star Wars' games
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Thirty-two years ago this week, Star Wars was released in movie theaters across the county. In honor of this anniversary, I sat down with a group of experts to come up with a list of the Top Ten Best and Worst Star Wars video games—and by “sat down with a group of experts” I mean my Sunday Night gaming group and I put our dice down, went to a local Chilis and composed these two lists on the back of cocktail napkins. Our credentials include being Star Wars nerds and spending hours upon hours playing these games—plus several “experts” have worked for game retailers and have either highly recommended purchasing or avoiding these titles to customers. What better people to ask than the people who actually play and sell these games?
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? After debating and defending our choices, we ruled the games listed below as the best and worst of the Star Wars gaming franchise. Today I present the Top Ten Best Star Wars video games. Look for the Top Ten Worst here.
Starting at number 10, here are the games that make us smile:
10. Bounty Hunter – GameCube and PS2 (2002)
What really makes this title is that gamers could finally play as a Mandalorian—and not just any Mandalorian, but Jango Fett himself. The story takes place just after The Phantom Menace, following the bounty hunting exploits of Boba’s dad. While not an official between-movies story like Force Unleashed, Bounty Hunter did explain how Jango Fett got mixed up with Count Dooku and the Kaminos (which sounds like a band). So consider it the between-movies story from Jango’s point of view.
Bounty Hunter also contained some of the best weapon choices and third-person controls of any Star Wars game on the market at that time. Even though it didn’t do so well in game reviews, Bounty Hunter was still filled with mindless fun. Plus who doesn’t want to play as a Mandalorian?
9. Force Unleashed – 360 and PS3 (2008)
Because Darth Vader secretly training an apprentice to take down the Emperor is always a brilliant idea.
The 360 and PS3 versions of last year’s hit game make our list because of the graphics, level design, and overall gameplay. Plus the award-winning story isn’t half-bad, especially because centers on murder, kidnapping, secrecy, and defiance. Force Unleashed is the official untold story between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, which includes the story of secret apprentice Starkiller and the birth of the Rebel Alliance. The game also features characters from the beloved films, like Princess Leia and her adoptive father Bail Organa (voiced by Jimmy Smits). The story also features multiple endings, depending on the players choices.
Force Unleashed isn’t all about the story, however. The game features a unique Force and Lightsaber technique leveling-up system, allowing players to create the most powerful Force-wielder ever. And since practically everything in the game can be targeted, the more powerful Starkiller is, the farther Stormtroopers fly, leading to hours of endless entertainment.
8. Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight – PC (1997)
The sequel to Dark Forces, this first-person shooter features Expanded Universe character Kyle Katarn as the protagonist as he tracks down his father’s murderer. But what sets this game apart from the others in the series is not only the ability to choose Kyle’s light side or dark side path, but that the player’s choices lead to different plotlines, changing the outcome of the story.
Dark Forces II was a single-player game, but did feature a multi-player mode, allowing eight people via LAN hook-up or four people via the internet to compete against each other in arena modes or capture-the-flag games. The series continued on after this game in the form of Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy.
The cut-scenes in Dark Forces II also helped set this game apart from the others as it featured live-action acting meshed with computer generated character and scenes, such as this one:
7. Shadows of the Empire – N64 and PC (1996)
The original between-movies story, Shadows of the Empire explained what happened after Han Solo was encased in carbonite and how Luke Skywalker came up with the plan to rescue him from Jabba’s Palace.
Shadows of the Empire was part of a multi-media LucasArts project, consisting of a novel, comic book series, action figures, soundtracks, and card games, to name a few. In this third-person shooter game, main character Dash Rendar (voiced by John Cygan) follows a similar plot as the novel, traveling to places outlined in both the book and comics, battling the same enemies while assisting Luke and Leia in their quest to find Han.
Although both versions play the same, the N64 version featured cut scenes containing still pictures and text while the PC version had animated and voice-acted cut-scenes. And for its time, the graphics weren’t half bad.
Both the PC and the N64 version had a secret bonus ending revealing a twist on Dash Rendar’s fate.
6. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga – 360, PS3, Wii, and DS (2007)
The only thing better than watching LEGO Chewbacca rip the arms of LEGO Stormtrooper out of their sockets is watching the Death Star explode into millions of LEGO pieces as an imperial officer flying through space smacks into the camera.
All six movies were given the LEGO treatment in this game, with adorable LEGO version of film characters running around the levels. Gamers could either follow the strict plot of the movies in Story Mode, or mess with canon in Freeplay by allowing, say, Admiral Ackbar to defeat Darth Maul. Originally the games were released as two individual titles, then complied onto one disc. The controls are simple, the gameplay whimsical, and the overall presentation great. The 360 and PS3 versions feature online co-op— a first for the series. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a must-have game for all ages and skill levels.
5. Republic Commando – Xbox and PC (2005)
Republic Commando followed the story of the elite clone commando team Delta Squad. The four-clone team—Boss, Scorch, Sev, and Fixer—carried out missions for the Republic during the Clone Wars in this squad-based first-person shooter game. The story spans between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, starting with the Battle of Genosis and ending at the Battle of Kashyyyk.
Republic Commando allowed players to take command of their team and station the characters at fixed points, such as a sniper and grenadier position. The only downfalls to Republic Commando were A) the game was too short, containing only three planets and B) the available online multiplayer modes were hardly utilized by gamers. But the Halo 2-style combat and rapid-fire snarky comments between the squad mates make up for the short story. (My person favorite character is Scorch, the sarcastic demolitions expert, voiced by Raphael Sbarge.)
Republic Commando also spawned a spin-off game for mobile phones, a successful book series by Karen Traviss, and the Republic Commando action figures.
4. Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader – GameCube (2001)
As a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube, Rouge Squadron II: Rogue Leader had more hype surrounding it than Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion. Rouge Squadron II featured ship-to-ship dogfights, allowing players to relive some of the film’s best battles such as the Battle for Hoth and the Final Battle above Endor, along with wholly original missions created for the game. Players could choose between a number of ships ranging from X-Wings to TIE Fighters, or even some hidden vehicles such as the Naboo Starfighter and a Buick Car—complete with a monkey bobble-head doll and the Cantina theme streaming through the radio.
Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader was the sequel to the N64 Rogue Squadron, and clearly the best in the three-game franchise. Better gameplay mechanics, better graphics, plus Dennis Larson reprising his role as Wedge Antillies all secured a spot for this game our list.
3. Super Return of the Jedi – SNES (1994)
Out of the Super Star Wars series, Super Return of the Jedi was the best, and one of the SNES games for its time. It was also the first and only game in the series where Princess Leia was a selectable character—who, dressed in her slave garb, kicked some serious butt. (This proves a Law of Anime Physics: The less clothing one wears, the more powerful they become, therefore bikinis offer the most power in the universe.) The levels mirror events in the 1983 movie, turning film scenes into side-scrolling platform levels. It also took some liberties with the plot, such as Han being able to battle the Rancor in Jabba’s Palace. But the best level in the game, by far, was the first-person Death Star Run as the Millennium Falcon on its mission to blow up the main reactor.
Super Return of the Jedi, like its predecessors, also had a password system that allowed gamers to jump ahead to certain levels and receive power-ups. Hooray cheating!
2. Battlefront II – Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC (2005)
Star Wars Battlefront was a great arena battle game, allowing players to focus less on their personal statistics and stick to team tactics, such as capturing all command structures, to win. Battlefront II not only improved upon Battlefront game mechanics, but added more content such as new maps and the ability to play as heroes and villains from the movies. Battlefront II also had space battles, featuring ship-to-ship combat and the ability to board an enemy vessel and destroy it from the inside. In addition, Battlefront II expanded on the Galactic Conquest mode which allowed players to take control of the Star Wars galaxy, expanding replay ability as well as making it feel more like an real-time strategy game.
Like its predecessor, Battlefront II had multiplayer capabilities, either via a system link or standard split-screen co-op play. But unlike Battlefront, the sequel also allowed for online multiplayer, something that fans to this day can still be found online playing.
1. Knights of the Old Republic – Xbox and PC (2003)
I alone could write an entire article why Knights of the Old Republic is the best Star Wars game ever. But at the risk of being prejudice, I asked my panel of experts to explain why they feel this game tops our list. Adjectives such as “awesome” and “brilliant” were used to describe this multi-award winning Game of the Year title, so at least I’m not alone.
Knights of the Old Republic, which the LA Times listed as one of the most influential works in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, backtracks 4,000 years from the times of Darth Vader to tell a wholly new story with brand new characters. Influenced by the Tales of the Jedi comics, Knights of the Old Republic is a d20-based RPG that chronicles the journey of the main character—male or female whose name is entirely up to the player to choose—tracking down the sinister Darth Malak to bring an end to the Jedi Civil War and all the trouble that ensues. What really makes Knights of the Old Republic fantastic is the well-written story, driven by dynamic characters, and the unforgettable, jaw-dropping plot twist near the end.
Even though this game is more than five years old, Knights of the Old Republic still has a huge fan following on the internet, spawning several forums and fan fiction sites with hundreds to thousands of members debating until their fingers bleed whether Darth Revan is male or female. (My experts and I prefer female Revan, thank you very much.) This game is also the main influence in BioWare’s upcoming The Old Republic MMO, set 300 years after this game. Knights of the Old Republic is one game that should be in every Star Wars fans collection.
[Pics from Wikipedia]
(Thanks to Jeff, Chris, Travis, James, and Joe! You guys are awesome!)
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