Star Wars Reviews

You get to fly all your favorite ships: The X-wing, Y-wing, snowspeeder--even the Millennium Falcon. There are also some "secret" ships, such as the sleek Naboo Starfighterfrom Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace, a TIE interceptor, and, um, a '78 Buick.

The flight simulation in this game is first-rate. You'll find yourself leaning to the side as you pull a high-G turn in pursuit of Imperial TIE fighters. And the outstanding graphics and sounds are realistic enough to transport you to the Star Wars universe. Every detail is in place, right down to the individual Stormtroopers you can see running around (and trying to shoot you). One of the more impressive sequences lets you bring down Imperial Walkers by using the tow cables on your snowspeeder. Nice touch.

This is a single-player game, but you start each mission with a few wingmen from your squadron, and the well-done spoken dialogue between pilots and commanders really makes you feel like part of a team. The only significant shortcoming is the lack of a cooperative multiplayer option. With its excellent gameplay, varied environments, and interesting missions, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is sure to become a long-time favorite. --Eric Fredrickson

Pros:

• Faithful to lots of Star Wars details
• Satisfying flight action, explosions, sound effects
• Interesting missions and plot
• See--and fight over--the Spice mines of Kessel and other famous Star Wars planets

• For some reason, you can only fly clockwise when bringing down a Walker
• No "easy" setting for those without The Force
• Voices of Luke, Wedge, and Han don't sound like the real thing

Were you one of the millions who enjoyed the very popular Rogue Squadron? If you were, then get ready for more of the same, only this time wrapped around a lucrative Episode I license. This should appeal to newly christened fans and hardball line campers alike, as there's more of a concrete story line to follow than in the sidelined plot of RS.

Just as in the aforementioned classic, Battle for Naboo revolves around the collection of gold medals. New vehicles abound, and there's more than enough variety in the game's locales. The ability to switch craft at any time during the missions doesn't hurt the replay factor, either. If you discover the flash speeder doesn't have enough firepower to finish off that AT-AT tank, you can simply enter a different hanger and take control of a police cruiser.

The graphics are astounding, even better than what RS showcased. The game displays fantastic details everywhere--even the explosions are incredible. The sound, though, is very disappointing, especially when you consider that Factor 5 is behind the scenes. To the curious, Factor 5 has been one of the pioneers of gaming audio for a while now; the company was even chosen to helm the sound capabilities of Nintendo's next-generation GameCube console. With all of Factor 5's credentials, one might expect stellar sound. In many instances, the sound comes out muffled and the voice-overs are distorted.

The control and maneuvering should have been given more fine-tuning as well. This type of game relies on precise controls, but Battle for Naboo suffers from some sloppy movements and inaccurate targeting problems. This, combined with simplistic backgrounds and missions that are too straightforward, helps deflate what could have been a great game into a mere OK title. There's plenty of replay value here, but this game's certainly not for everyone. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• High replayability
• Large variety of ships and locales
• Impressive graphics

• The sound is muffled and the voice-overs are distorted
• Imprecise controls

This game has two important things going for it: the graphics--with 3-D polygons, smooth animation, and vibrant colors--are top-notch, and the sound effects, including snippets of music from the movies, are impressive for the GBA’s tiny speaker. Hearing the hum of the lightsaber, the twang of laser shots, and--perhaps most impressive--the creepy guffaws of the Tusken Raiders brought a tear to my eye.

But while the sights and sounds of The New Droid Army are impressive, the gameplay is a mixed bag. As young Anakin, you run around, slicing up stuff with your lightsaber. And then you slice some more, and then a bit more. You do have certain Force powers that add to gameplay (moving quickly, jumping really high, becoming invisible, healing wounds, etc.), but not enough to completely relieve the tedium. The biggest flaw though is the lack of character interaction. While you will often need to talk with people to gather information, not all people can talk, so most characters are merely window-dressing. Worse, there is no battery save option in the game. This is a good-looking game that falls well short of classic status. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• Great graphics and sound
• Fun cutscenes
• Useful Force powers

• No health packs
• Can’t interact with all characters
• Password save

Racer differs from a normal racing game. Rather than merely steering your way around the track, you can enhance your turns by using the Z button on the controller. Holding down the button shifts the cockpit off to the side and kicks you sideways with a burst of extra speed. And of course, a big part of pod racing is the spectacular crashes, and here LucasArts does not disappoint. As Qui-Gon says, "Pod racing is very dangerous!" Even your opponents crash--sometimes into each other.

The 3-D visuals and sound are good, but not groundbreaking. To forestall the inevitable boredom that all racing games eventually leave you with, the game lets you race on different planets, each with their own tracks. The tracks are inventive, especially in the later levels: some tracks have shortcuts to discover, others have zero-gravity sections and hair-raising jumps. The racing pods also differ, and with victory in certain races, more powerful craft become available. A pit area allows you to view all the weird designs up close in 3-D.

In tournament mode, prize money is awarded for top finishers; you can use the cash to buy parts to upgrade your pod. It's a good thing the purse isn't paid out in Republic credits: Star Wars fans will recognize the parts dealer as none other than Watto. His wry comments spice up the shopping experience, and he sounds just like he did in the movie. Racer is a worthwhile purchase for fans of Star Wars or racing games. --Eric Fredrickson

Pros:

• Imaginative tracks keep it interesting
• Watto's parts shop!
• Up to 2 players (each needs his or her own controller)
• Star Wars

• Basically a racing game, won't hold your interest forever
• Does not allow a 4-player option

In addition to Jango's trademark dual blaster pistols, your armor bristles with gadgets and weaponry: darts, flamethrower, blowtorch, scanner, cable snare, and--of course--a missile-launching jetpack. Use this arsenal to battle hordes of uncooperative guards, fend off rival bounty hunters, scale precipitous skyscrapers, and capture fugitives--dead or alive. The basic controls are surprisingly easy to master, and you've got enough armament at your disposal to fight your way out of almost any situation. Still, some finesse is required: as fun as it is to walk into a room and blast everything in sight (and it is fun--especially when you're the one wearing the jetpack), you may discover when the smoke clears that the guy you just fried was worth twice as much alive. Oh well...

The complex storyline is revealed by extended cutscenes that let you rest your thumbs while Jango follows up the next lead. (Star Wars fans will appreciate the quality and detail of these scenes, as well as the fidelity of the story arc--namely how Jango is chosen as the model for the clone troopers in Episode II.) And anyone familiar with the Lucas Arts suite of games will not be disappointed by the superior graphics, music, sound effects, and fully realized characters and locations. The pace of the game is up to you: methodically seek out the secrets of each level, or ruthlessly blast your way to the big payoff. --Maile Bohlmann

Pros:

• Impressive graphics and rich detail
• Excellent scripting and voicing
• Nice balance between action and strategy
• Controller setup is intuitive and easy to learn

Cons:

• Long stretches between save points
• Climbing sequences can become redundant
• Weapons must be holstered to use scanner, leaving you vulnerable

As the family's newest pilot, you fly tutorial missions at first, under the supervision of your sister Aeron and the droid Emkay. But even as you are training, the situation heats up. Before long, the family has been betrayed, your space station has been seized, and you're forced to turn to the Rebellion. Though the game's focus is on combat, the development of this story is tight and suspenseful.

The story and the merchant/smuggler setting give the game plenty of variety. One mission may have you piloting a loaded freighter through an Imperial blockade, while another may place you in the cockpit of an X-Wing on a hit-and-run raid against an enemy battle station. Every ship, every weapon, every sound effect is pure Star Wars, totally faithful to the look--and feel--of the movies. This extends to the missions themselves: nothing works as planned, but somehow you and your Rebel allies manage to make it all the way to the climactic Battle of Endor. If you've distinguished yourself in the earlier missions, hot pilots will get the chance to take the controls of the Millennium Falcon and cram a torpedo into the gut of the Emperor's second Death Star.

Controlling the fighters, freighters, and transports in X-Wing Alliance is easy, with all the options you'd expect in a Star Wars simulation. Shield, engine, and weapon power levels are all adjustable, so you, too, can transfer all power to front deflector screens while attacking, or shut down power to weapons to outrun a swarm of TIE fighters. Novice players may find it difficult to control wingmen or to keep track of the changing objectives when missions go sour. But practice makes perfect, and the truly frustrated can simply skip up to three missions without penalty.

With a modest learning curve and graphics that put you right in the milieu of the Star Wars films, X-Wing Alliance will have you flying combat missions for the Rebel Alliance in no time--and loving every minute of it. --Alyx Dellamonica

Pros:

• Loving attention to detail
• Fantastic sound effects and John Williams's music
• Interesting and changing mission objectives
• Wide variety of spacecraft

• Occasional bugs within missions can render them unwinnable