It’s easy to dismiss many recent remasters from the PS1 and PS2-era as low-hanging fruit, given the limited remastering efforts we’ve seen and the suitably budget price point they go for. However, there’s an important preservation aspect to making these games compatible on modern hardware in a time when preserving access to digital libraries between generations is important. That said, 2000’s Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles – first released on the original PlayStation and SEGA Dreamcast – is a movie tie-in that I’d not considered a priority.
You’re going to want to watch the movie first…
As the title suggests, the action is framed as a very loose retelling of the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; a movie that has a surprising number of fans these days despite the general disdain it received at the time. Not that you should expect any serious storytelling beyond a few dated CG and in-game cutscenes, none of them voiced. The first and final mission recreate the failed negotiation on the Trade Federation Command ship and the battle against Darth Maul in the Theed Generator facility, but the rest take major liberties and simply serve to add some diversity to the level design and introduce new enemy types. If you’ve never watched the movie, don’t expect the game to act a plot synopsis.
Dated but fun brawling with plenty of old-school cheapness
The bulk of Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles plays like a 2.5D brawler you found in the arcades and later home consoles in the late 1990s, but the fully 3D environments add a bit of dynamism to the action, as the camera sweeps around and funnels you in a new direction. Using the modern control options, you’ve got a double jump; three attack buttons that can be used to create combos; a combined block and deflect button; and a bumper modifier that lets you use force powers or items.
Once you get the hang of the inputs, there’s a fare amount of depth, but you can typically get away with button mashing. That’s not to say Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is easy. Most stages are corridors packed with a mix of melee and ranged enemies, culminating in a boss fight that’s typically a test of pattern recognition and patience, rather than combo mastery. Thanks to the 3D environments, you also engage in some clunky platforming – a swiftly learn to hate enemies that knock you off ledges – and there are two simplistic but fun vehicle sections to break up the brawling.
Jedi characters like Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (or Darth Maul if you’re not interested in any semblence of narrative sense) can make short work of ranged enemies if you time your blocks to deflect blasts, but they must deal with nonsensical game logic as Battle Droids and mercenaries block their lightsabre attacks repeatedly. Blaster-wielding heroes like Queen Amidala, her captain, or a battle droid make short work of rushing melee enemies, but they’re locked in place while shooting, which makes engaging ranged enemies extra dangerous as repeated hits can effectively stun-lock you.
To improve the odds, Jedi and Sith characters have access to force powers – think force push, force stun, or lightsabre AoE attacks – that drain a Force meter. Blaster-wielding heroes get pick-ups like explosive detonators and temporary rocket-type rounds. No matter who you pick, the goal of each level is destroy as many enemies as possible and hoover up every collectibles – be that manual checkpoints, health, force energy, weapon power-ups, or just point boosts. With enough points at the end of a mission, you can unlock a health boost, new combos, and a damage boost. Frustratingly, these only apply to one character per campaign save file, so you can’t mix and match as you go.
A limited but clean remastering effort with one notable flaw
There’s not that much to say about the visual remastering effort other than it looks suitably crisp on larger TVs and runs flawlessly on modern hardware. Even at launch, the 3D environments and character models were quite simple, but when combat gets chaotic, the visuals remain suitably clean and readable. Like all Star Wars games, Jedi Power Battles also benefits from an incredible repository of iconic sound effects and an epic orchestral score that somehow elevates even the most mundane gameplay.
One notable flaw is that I think Aspyr achieved a widescreen aspect ratio but simply cropping the top and bottom of a native 4:3 output – a poor choice in a brawler with enemies that converge from all angles, and one with several stages that feature pit hazards and jumps towards or away from the screen. Your character can move so low that part their model is obscured, and I can’t count the number of times I was hit by a blaster bolt or leaping attack from off-screen. I’d prefer having the choice of a classic 4:3 ratio as an option.
Everything is better with a friend
Despite my cynicism going in, Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles proved a good fit for the Nintendo Switch. It’s brisk mission structure and point-chasing upgrade system make it ideal for short bursts, while the simple control scheme means you can play local coop by splitting a single pair of Joy-Cons.
And therein lies the most important consideration if you’re thinking of picking this up. Like the arcade brawlers that came before it, and the excellent isometric 3D co-op brawlers that followed – think Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance – Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is much, much better when you have a friend on hand to create a nigh unstoppable Jedi/ranged-hero pairing, or laugh at each other’s fate when a unlucky mid-air hit sends you plummeting to your doom.
Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One/Series S|X, and PS4/5.
Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Nintendo Switch) Review
Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Nintendo Switch) ReviewThe Good
- Local coop is chaotically entertaining and all too rare these days
- Many levels break up the action with platforming or vehicle sections
- Plenty of characters to choose from with basic progression mechanics
- The visuals are dated but still sharp and readable
- Game preservation!
The Bad
- Solo play offers a few hours of amusement at most
- Character progression is locked to a single campaign run
- Cheap enemy placement and stun-lock attacks can frustrate
- Cropping the top and bottom of a 4:3 output to emulate widescreen is not smart