If there’s one name able to strike fear into a Star Wars fan, it’s Jar Jar Binks. That, and Jedi Power Battles. Lucasarts chose to create a second wave of Episode 1 tie-ins roughly a year after the film’s release, squeezing out every cent they could before turning attention to Episode II. You’d think this second wave would be stronger, with parts of the movie no longer hush-hush and a more relaxed deadline, but this wasn’t the case – Jedi Power Battles had all the hallmarks of a cash grab. While a few critics found solace in its arcade-like sensibilities, the majority were left saddened that the almighty Lucasarts had been reduced to churning out quick buck projects.
Before going further, it’s worth clarifying what this re-release offers. It comes from HD re-release specialists Aspyr, who recently worked their magic on remasters of the Tomb Raider Trilogy and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2. The graphics here have been enhanced with sharper textures, there’s a concept art gallery, and the general presentation – including the quality of the few CGI intros – has been improved, matching modern standards. It seems they knew Jedi Power Battles wasn’t exactly a fan favourite, but rather than fixing stuff, they’ve instead addressed the original’s unfair difficulty by adding more extra lives.
Nothing is locked away in this version either. Every unlockable character – such as Darth Maul and a Battle Droid – is now available from the start, and not only is every stage accessible but the four mini-games too. This allows you to jump in and out of stages, as opposed to hitting a difficulty spike and giving up. The mini-games can be played in two-player as well, so unlocking everything was a smart move, making every scrap of content accessible instantly.
You’d think that ability to freely jump in and out of stages would make the storyline a garbled mess, but that’s not quite true. And that’s because there is no storyline – something that really hammers home the laziness of it all. Ten short stages are on offer, spread across locations from Episode 1 such as Tatooine, Naboo, and the Theed Palace – around half of which have a very loose and vague mission objective, merely amounting to ‘complete the stage’. The action is viewed from a side-on perspective with a claustrophobic auto-camera that often obscures the path ahead. The arcade-like sensibilities meanwhile include a scoring system and power-ups such as (sigh) the ability to extend the Jedi’s lightsabers. “Yes, it’s an extender!”
In a way, Jedi Power Battles could be seen as a proto–LEGO Star Wars…only it’s oddly po-faced, and everything feels cackhanded. The double jump feels stiff and awkward with characters only occasionally grabbing onto ledges, enemies are quick to swarm and overwhelm (although most are avoidable by simply running past), falling into a pit or similar will abruptly chuck you back to a checkpoint, while the boss battles are clunky and generally underwhelming. Tatooine features the Great Pit of Carkoon, which would’ve made for a memorable location for a boss fight, but instead our heroes are ushered into yet another rectangular featureless room.
Frustration arises during the two missions involving rescuing a number of hostages against tight and unforgiving time limits, with one infuriatingly featuring zero checkpoints, and a survival challenge mode that merely involves standing in a square room and defeating 100 battle droids with just one life and a single health pick-up. The other mini-games don’t fare much better, including a button bashing swamp creature race that feels like it was knocked up just hours before the game shipped.
While some of the unlocked characters are fun to mess around with, those that can fire pistols are prone to breaking things, either not locking onto targets needed to progress, or in the case of the final boss battle, nudging said boss out of the play area. So much for cheesing that battle.
Making this feel even more like a piece of merchandise than a typical Star Wars video game, the artwork mostly comprises of stock images – the very same found on trading cards and other promotional material – while the music has been lifted straight from the Star Wars Episode 1 soundtrack CD, with no noticeable new compositions. While not bad, per se, you’ll be sick of hearing ‘Duel of Fate’ by the time you’re done.
If you’re wondering if there’s any fun to be had here, then you may be surprised to hear that this isn’t entirely joyless. The easier difficulty lessens much of the original’s frustrations, and it does have a few fun touches – defeating enemies by deflecting blaster shots is oddly pleasurable – and one of the later stages is vehicle-based, playing similarly to a vertical shooter. The stage set in Coruscant also has a bit of tact, involving leaping from rooftops and flying space taxis, and is one of the better-looking locations. A step above the rest. I was also surprised to find that characters essentially level up through use and gain additional health, combos, and force powers – which is quite advanced for something released in 2000. To beat the final boss, you’ll need an (almost) fully powered-up character, giving you something to focus on.
Aspyr definitely had their work cut out here, having to make the best of a bad situation. In terms of the quality of the remaster, it’s pretty good – characters remain low-poly and oddly proportioned, but the textures are a lot richer – and the easier difficulty has made it more palatable. I spent a weekend with it, playing through each stage in order, and did manage to find some entertainment despite its flaws. This mostly involved beating target scores to obtain achievements, and gearing up to beat the final boss – who remains deceptively tricky. It’s a good version of a bad game. Creating a bundle with the 1999 Episode 1 movie tie-in would’ve made more sense, giving fans a double dose of nostalgia, but not as much sense as remastering one of the better regarded Star Wars games.
Aspyr’s Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles is available digitally on all formats. Originally developed by Lucasarts.