TheStar Warsfranchise was born in 1977 withGeorge Lucas’s legendary film of the same title—easily one ofthe most influential sci-fi movies ever made. What followed soon expanded into the biggest transmedia franchise in history. Nowadays,Star Warsis an entertainment juggernaut with multiple films, TV shows, novels, comic books, and—of course—video games under its belt.
Well over a hundred officially-licensedStar Warsvideo games have been made over the decades. As such,it should come as no surprise that there’s a big variance in the level of quality that all of these games span. While there are a few that can be counted among some of the coolest sci-fi video games ever made, there are others that are simply not good at all. Ranging from the mediocre to the downright awful, the worstStar Warsvideo games have, as one would expect, aged like bantha milk.
Developed by Lucas Learning
The world ofMario Kartknock-offs is a surprisingly huge one, and much more often than not, these cheap rip-offs end up falling flat on their faces. Unfortunately, this includes aStar Wars-themedMario Kartknock-off:Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, a racing and vehicular combat game with characters fromEpisode I — The Phantom Menaceinchibistyle.
It’s a pretty easy game to learn, making it a good fit for the youngerStar Warsfans of the family. Anyone looking for a more in-depth experience, however, is better off looking elsewhere.Super Bombad Racingis too short, too shallow, and too dull to impress more seasoned gamers. The game performed so poorly that its Dreamcast, Windows, and Mac OS ports were canceled,leaving it forever stuck on the PlayStation 2, where it belongs.
14’Star Wars: Demolition' (2000)
Developed by Luxoflux
Made for PlayStation and Dreamcast,Star Wars: Demolitionis a vehicular combat game where Jabba the Hutt creates a lethal vehicle contest after the Empire bans his pod races. The game received mixed reviews upon release, with critics and gamers agreeing that,while it’s relatively fun in short bursts, it loses its charm too quicklywhen played extensively. Even though theStar Warsfranchise hasplenty of thrilling combat scenes, the concept doesn’t translate well to a game if it isn’t done with enough effort.
For those who loveStar Warsand also love blowing stuff up mindlessly in video games,Demolitionshould be more than fun enough for a couple of hours. Even those die-hard fans of the genre, however, are likely to find that the game’s lackluster controls, unpleasant visuals, and lack of re-playability cause it to become tiresome rather quickly.
13’Star Wars' (NES Version) (1991)
Developed by Lucasfilm Games and Beam Software
When it came out back in 1977,Star Warswas a massive sensation. As such, it surprised no one when, as soon as video games became a thing, several based on (or at least inspired by) George Lucas’s creation started coming out. One of the first wasStar Warsfor the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was later ported to several other consoles.
But while the Game Boy and Master System versions are slightly better, and the Game Gear version (more of a remake than a port) is easily the best,the NES version is just a little less than abysmal. Those who love challenges on old consoles have proved to become the fandom that has kept this game alive all these years, but anyone who’s not particularly interested in playing a game that’s impossibly difficult due to how outdated its controls and mechanics are should skip this one.
12’Star Wars: Jedi Arena' (1983)
Developed by Parker Brothers
When looking at old video games, it’s always important not to hold them up to the standard that one would hold a game made and released in the modern era. That being said, it’s perfectly acceptable to look back at a classic and accept that its age has rendered its entertainment value pretty much non-existent. Sadly, that’s the case with the Atari 2600 battle gameStar Wars: Jedi Arena.
Based on Luke’s training scene inA New Hope,Jedi Arenahas players trying to take out their opponent with the Marksman-H combat remote while defending themselves from incoming blasts using their lightsaber. Thoughthe game is historic, being the first-everStar Warsvideo game with lightsaber action, the controls are horribly unresponsive, the mechanics are too simple even for an Atari 2600 game, and the gameplay overall offers pretty much no fun for today’s players.
11’Star Wars: Obi-Wan' (2001)
Developed by LucasArts
Well before fans were left disappointed by the long-awaitedObi-Wan Kenobishow, they were left disappointed by a game focused on the beloved Jedi. Released for the Xbox shortly before the release ofEpisode II — Attack of the Clones, the action-adventure game sees players control a Padawan Obi-Wan during a sequence of events leading up toThe Phantom Menace.
The game does certainly have a few fans who enjoy the feeling of power that the combat gives them. However,for the most part,Star Wars: Obi-Wanwas (and still is) panned by critics and gamers alike. The graphics and colors are dull; the story and voice acting are pretty mediocre; and the control scheme (whose most notable feature is the fact that Obi-Wan’s lightsaber is controlled with the right thumbstick), while unique, doesn’t quite stick the landing.
10’Star Wars Battlefront II' (2017) at Launch
Developed by DICE
The original twoStar Wars: Battlefrontgames from 2004 and 2005 are among the most beloved sci-fi third-person shooters ever. In 2015, EA’s subsidiary DICE rebooted the franchise to divisive effect. In 2017, the franchise hit what fans agreed was far and away one of the lowest points in the history ofStar Warsgaming:Star Wars Battlefront II, which launched as an empty, buggy, unbalanced, microtransaction-filled mess.
Thankfully—andunlike what’s the case with pretty much every other badStar Warsgame—this story has a happy ending.Battlefront IIhad one of the most colossal comebacks in the history of live-service games, and could now even be considered among thebestgames in the franchise. During the initial part of its existence, however, it was a pay-to-win travesty with a forgettable campaign and not nearly enough content to justify its price. It had great graphics and awesome combat to counterbalance its issues, but those issues were nevertheless far too many and too big to just sweep under the rug.
Star Wars Battlefront II
9’Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II' (2010)
While divisive, the 2008 hack-and-slash action gameStar Wars: The Force Unleashedremains one of fans' favoriteStar Warsgames nearly two decades later.Its sequel, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as well-liked.The Force Unleashed IIis set a year before the events ofEpisode IV — A New Hope, following a clone of Starkiller as he travels the galaxy avoiding Darth Vader and struggling to understand his identity.
The game was reportedly rushed out of the oven by LucasArts, and it feels like it. The fan-fiction-like story is silly at best, the combat is brutal but not particularly compelling or challenging, and the number of glitches is larger than the main character’s M-count. Though Starkiller remains one ofthe coolestLegends Star WarscharactersinForce Unleashed II, the game itself isn’t nearly as cool.
8’Star Wars: Yoda Stories' (1997)
Developed by LucasArts and Torus Games
First launched for PC as part of LucasArts’Desktop Adventureseries, and later ported to Nintendo’s Game Boy Color,Star Wars: Yoda Storiessees players move Luke Skywalker from a bird’s-eye perspective across a 2D grid in order to do all sorts of menial tasks. The two games are considerably different,but both being equally boring and uninspired, it’s hard to see them as two separate entities.
Star Warshas, on many occasions,gone on to redefine the sci-fi genre.Yoda Stories, on the other hand, brings absolutely nothing fresh or exciting to the table. It’s a sad and lifeless game, and though it has some cutesy character designs and a duration short enough that kids may find some enjoyment in it, that doesn’t prevent it from being utterly forgettable.
7’Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy' (DS Version) (2006)
Developed by Amaze Entertainment
The first licensed LEGO game wasLego Star Wars: The Video Game, released in 2005 and based on the three installments of theStar Warsprequel trilogy. The second one came one year later, covering the films of the original trilogy:Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. From this early point in the history of LEGO games, a pattern started that would prove true for many years to come: Handheld versions of their games tend to not be particularly good. But even then,Lego Star Wars IIfor the Nintendo DS is an egregiously bad case.
It’s insulting just how evidently unfinished this version of the game is.It’s filled to the brim with game-breaking glitches that force you to restart the gameif you want to keep playing—but even then, why would you? The controls are awful, the visuals are awful, the whole thing is awful. This is a cautionary tale about what happens when you release a game that clearly needed another few months in the oven.
6’Star Wars: The New Droid Army' (2002)
Developed by Helixe
Attack of the Clonesis bad enough as it is, typically being consideredthe weakest of George Lucas’s prequels. To add insult to injury, it had a number of bad tie-in games, one of the worst ones beingStar Wars: The New Droid Army. The game follows Anakin as he travels to Tattooine under orders to investigate a new type of droid that the Separatists are building.
The graphics are decent enough for a Game Boy Advance game, but that’s about as far as praise forThe New Droid Armycan go.Gameplay is excruciatingly slow, with clunky combat and Anakin walking through long stretches of sandy emptinessabout as quickly as a Hutt. There are worseStar Warsaction games out there, for sure, but there are also so many better ones that there’s no way to justify picking this one up.
