I fondly remember when Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace released in theaters. Not because it was a great film – in retrospect it was one of the worst films in the franchise – but after sixteen years, the return of Star Wars was a global sensation. While it may be the norm by today’s standards, for many of us it was the first time in our lives we experienced theaters offering presale tickets to a film release – this was still at the infancy of the internet, online sales were not a thing, so we had to line up at the theater days in advance to get first available showing. I remember my wife and I saw the film at a midnight showing with a neighbor and her 9yr old son. The theater was packed, the atmosphere was electric, and we were all blown away by the special effects.
This period is also important to me because it marks my migration from PC gaming to full-time console gaming. It was early 2000 that we found out my wife was pregnant with our first child. Amy spent the first six months pretty much sleeping anytime she wasn’t at work. Essentially alone for those 9 months, I was bored, and having my wife wake up to a pile of empty beer bottles wasn’t really a good look. I was always a gamer, but money was short, and my once top-notch gaming PC was in need of upgrades which I simply couldn’t afford. Even worse, it was located in the only area in the apartment with a spare phone line, which happened to be our bedroom where my wife was camped out – so that wasn’t happening.
I happened across a used PlayStation console and a handful of games for a steal. I then found that the local video rental offered a monthly two-at-a-time game rental subscription for $20 which allowed me access to all the new releases. It was then that I fell in love with playing games on the cushy couch in the living room rather than in a dilapidated office chair in the bedroom.
And I distinctly remember happening across Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles and falling in love with the fast-paced 3D platforming lightsaber battles – which delivered a more arcade-like take on the previous year’s story-driven adventure movie tie-in The Phantom Menace.
Nearly a quarter-century later, the folks at Lucasfilm Games and Aspyr have delivered a quality remastered version of Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles – and while it might be a bit outdated compared to the past couple generations of games, it still delivers a viscerally addictive experience that Star Wars fans are sure to enjoy.
I’m going to start off by saying that Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is not an easy game to play through. The difficulty level is surprisingly high for two reasons. First, the game follows old school conventions: there’s no on-the-fly autosaving, no auto-reviving, there are limited lives, and checkpoints are few and far between. Second, the original game was infamous for its glitchy level design which set up some often seemingly impossible jump sequences which the remaster did little to fix. Coupling both issues together and the result is a lot of unfair plummets that force replaying from distant checkpoints. Believe me, it is frustrating as hell at times – but that’s old school gaming for you – and that constant frustration makes the act of finishing a level that much sweeter.
At its heart, Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a hack and slash platformer. Players select a character who comes armed with a lightsaber and a handful of unique Jedi force moves. As the gamer progresses through the level, their character unlocks additional lightsaber and force combos which they can use to more quickly and efficiently dispatch enemies through the game’s 10 basic levels and 4 unlockable minigames.
This remaster features all the original game’s characters including the obvious Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Plo Koon, Adi Gallia and Qui-Gon Jinn. It also includes the previously locked characters Darth Maul, Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala, Ki-Adi Mundi, and the Battle Droid which are now available from the start. But don’t think the remaster is giving up everything from the starts, as there is a stable of 12 new unlockable characters, one of which may or may not be the most controversial character from the entire Star Wars franchise.
If that weren’t enough, Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles keeps the solid local co-op multiplayer mode from the original. Two gamers can play side-by-side through all of the games levels, making it a great game for friends to burn an evening – just like in the early days of gaming.
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles can be frustrating as hell, and it may look a little rough around the edges, but it really is one of the better remasters I’ve played in a while. It offers up all the great characters and levels from the original, then goes above and beyond to add a ton of additional content. You might have to replay levels a few more times than you’d like, but when you finally clear one it’s a feeling like no other.
