STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles

I honestly do not think that there was anyone who was more excited when STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles was announced than I was. This is one of my favorite Star Wars games of all time and the fact that this is getting remastered is just awesome. Well, apart from the fact that they did not put remastered in the title!!! Why would they not do that, the only different thing about the title is the fact that Star Wars is written in all caps, that is the only way to know someone is writing about the remastered version of the game.

The Force Is Strong With This One

Say what you want about the prequel trilogy, but I loved them and most of the games based on them too. STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is easily the best, based on the Phantom Menace. The game follows the plot of the movie a little, not as closely as the actual Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace game does, but it is more than close enough to get the message across and you will easily recognize the locations from the movie. I am glad that they did not just regurgitate the plot of the Phantom Menace as we already had that in the other game so it is cool they took a slightly different path.

The Whole Gang And Some Newbies Is Here

STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles gives you the standard characters in Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Adi Gallia. I have always been a Qui-Gon Jinn man myself. However, the original game had a bunch of unlockable characters such as Darth Maul and Queen Amidala most notably and all of those unlockable characters can be selected right from the start so Darth Maul may very well give Qui-Gon Jinn a run for his money. As well as this, they have actually added in a bunch of new playable characters as well including a Tusken Raider and Weequay which is kind of awesome.

A Galaxy Of Rage

What I love the best about STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is the gameplay. This is like a Star Wars beat-em-up and not just your typical action platforming. Hey, there is platforming, but the real emphasis is just laying waste to enemies with the very satisfying lightsaber combat, before this game, no other Star Wars game came close to making wielding a lightsaber as fun as it is here. The closest game to this is the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Game Boy Advance version of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. At the time this was originally released on the Dreamcast (which is way better than the PS1 version) I used to say that this was basically Streets of Rage with Star Wars and I still think that is the best way to describe the gameplay here.

Putting The Repair Droids To Work

So what exactly is new in the STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles remaster? Well, the visuals have been given a bit of a spit shine, it is not a huge overworking of the presentation, but it does look clearer and smoother than it did on the Dreamcast and especially more so than the PlayStation 1 version. The mini-games that were on the Dreamcast, but not the PlayStation are here and can be played with a buddy. The games control scheme has been tightened up offering you a whole new more modern way to play the game if you like. You can also change the color of your character's lightsaber if you want which is so freaking cool!

Pros:

• All of the unlockable characters are available from the start
• There are a bunch of new characters here
• From what I understand, all the content from the Dreamcast version is here
• The refined controls and sharper visuals are much appreciated

Cons:

• I do feel they could have added in some new levels or some other new content
• I would trade my force sensitive first born for a physical version of this!