The Star Wars universe is perfect fodder for computer games. Space battles, lightsabre duels, bounty hunting and using the force are just some of the fine things that can be experienced in the galaxy far far away. The games from LucasArts don’t always deliver on the promise of greatness but there have been some cracking games worthy of the Star Wars series. If you’re a Star Wars fan here are some of the games that you should check out.
Rogue Squadron / Rogue Leader - Gamecube
These for me are the holy grail of Star Wars games. Back in the days of the Nintendo N64 the first Rogue Squadron game came out and gave Star Wars fans the chance to fly all kinds of ships including an X-Wing, Y-Wing, A wing and the Millenium Falcon. The game had excellent graphics for it’s time and was a great chance to get behind some awesome Star Wars hardware.
When the Nintendo Gamecube came out it brought with it more graphics power. Rogue Squadron 2 was released for the Gamecube and made flying X-Wings a whole lot more fun. This was the first time that the graphics actually looked on a par with the space battles seen in the movies. The game allows players to fly in lots of different missions some straight out of the films. It starts off with the Death Star run at the end of A New Hope and ended up with the frenetic Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi. Rogue Squadron III – Rebel Strike is similar to the second game in graphics but it also allows players to partake in some land based mission as Luke Skywalker and adds even more vehicles. You get the chance to fly through the Endor Moon on a Speeder bike and ride a Tauntaun on Hoth. It also comes with Rogue Leader 2 missions as a 2 player game.
If you have a Wii and want to check out these games you can as the Wii is backwards compatible with the GameCube. You’ll need a Gamecube controller but you can pick them up quite cheaply.
The Force Unleashed - Wii
I’m a big fan of the Wii. The Force Unleashed was released on the Wii, Xbox 360 and the PS3. I’ve got the Xbox and Wii games and the Wii version is so much better. The main Wii controller allows you to swing the lightsaber. Push the nunchuk forward and Stormtroopers and debris go flying as if hit by the force. Pick something or someone up with a button and then throw them aside by moving the nunchuk to the left. The Gameplay is brilliant. As the game progresses the character of Starkiller (crap name) gains more powers which means he can tackle lots more enemies. By the time you get to the end Death Star level there are waves of Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers to decimate. It’s not perfect though. The graphics were a real dissapointment. The Gamecube games seem to have better graphics or maybe I just had my expectations a little high. I played a few levels of the XBox version and I found it to be very dull stuff indeed.
Bounty Hunter - Gamecube
If you always wanted to roam the Galaxy as a bad ass bounty hunter this is the game for you. Set before Attack of the Clones the game tells the story of Jango Fett who takes a job from Darth Tyrannus (Count Dooku). One with a big prize at the end of it. The assignment is also given to another Mandalorian bounty hunter called Montross. Whoever manages to find and kill the dark Jedi Komari Vosa will become the template for a clone army. They’ll also get a huge payoff. The first thing they teach you at Bounty Hunting school is to never work for free.
Gameplay is excellent and you get access to a range of weapons including twin blasters, flamethrower, rocket pack, poison darts and laser rifle. The story and characters are all top notch and the scenes in between gameplay together with the music really add to the movie feel of the game. Jango can also fly once he’s bought a jetpack. The range of weapons teamed with the jetpack is what has kept me playing the game for years. As it’s Gamecube it can also be played on the Wii.
Shadows of the Empire - N64
Oh baby. This game came out in 1996 on the Nintendo 64 and was part of a full marketing blitz for the Shadows of the Empire story. It is set in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and had a book, comics and toys released from it. The main character is a Han Solo like character called Dash Rendar. He’s a smuggler who also has a Correllian ship similar to the Millenium Falcon called the Outrider. As Dash you get to do a lot of cool stuff in the game including flying speeders in the Battle of Hoth, riding ridiculously fast speeder bikes, fighting Boba Fett and flying spaceships around. Dash ends up helping Luke and Leia stay alive in a larger story where Darth Vader’s position as Palpatine’s apprentice is threatened. It’s got great music and some excellent graphics for the time and is a whole lot of Star Wars fun.
Battlefront – Xbox
This game came out on the original Xbox and allows you to take Star Wars armies into battle. You get to use Clone troopers, Stormtroopers, Droids and rebels. The gameplay is excellent. You go into battle with a squad of troopers with which you will attack or defend an area. Every time your character dies you just become another soldier in your squad. Different soldiers will have different weapons leaving suitable carnage to ensue.
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