Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles

"Not the best Star Wars game, but is great for a time killer."

When May of 1999 rolled around, we ALL bought tickets to see the newest installment of Star Wars. Most of us were disappointed... Especially because of the weird, slackjawed Jar Jar Binks. Star Wars games on the Playstation? Well, they sucked, too, except MAYBE the Masters of Teras Kasi. But with a new engine, polished looks, and 5 playable characters along with 3 secret characters, who knows?Unfortunately, just because you attach a well-known franchise to a well-known beat-em-up engine, doesn't mean it will be good. There are some awesome things to the game, such as the music. Directly from the movie, the concerto brings the game alive. The sound and voices are directly from the movie, instead of cheesy effects. But the most fun out of the game would probably be the ability to use four different special attacks, a combo system well-thought out, and using the enemy's weapons against them. They were all thought out pretty well, but could have been better. But, with every game, there are flaws. Such as the graphics. They were extremely blocky, and too colorful. Too colorful? Yes. For instance, Obi Wan Kenobi has brownish hair. In the game, it's very reddish. Weird. Also, the FMVs are a bit lame, having cheesy graphics that could have been alot better. Also, the game just skips to each level without a decent explanation of what's going on! You wander around aimlessly without knowing the main storyline, killing people. Star Wars was only good back on the SNES. Why didn't they keep it that way? If the script were better, the game might have been better. Well, the Episode 2 script has just been finished, so one can only hope that there will be no Jar Jar or any Gungans to destroy our Star Wars dreams. Should you buy it? Probably not. Rent it? Only if it's the best of the litter.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/00, Updated 04/23/00