"How did this game become so lame?"

What could have been, would have been and, SHOULD have been a good game, Lucasarts has totally destroyed. It just doesn't seem like Lucasarts could do such a terrible job on this kind of game. What I was looking for in Jedi Power Battles was something similar to Gauntlet Legends with a touch of Star Wars. Why they couldn't implement this in a good way I really don't know. When things go wrong most people ask ''why?''. In this case I ask ''what?'' as in what were these people smoking when they made this game.

Gameplay- 3/10 - JPB has frustrating game play. Whether these robots are made of tougher metal than in the movie or the characters are just weak, there is still no reason for a saber not to cutdown the droids with one swipe with only few exceptions i.e. Gray Droids and mini-bosses. The control is terrible and I often found myself completely missing the enemy even with one ''locked-on''. Jumping is another bad factor in this game.Too many times I've died because of a bad angle on a jump. The two-player mode really
bites too. If your comrade dies during battle it'll take a credit and right to find the right spot to repop the character. It rarely found a spot in time for any use and so you are forced to waste credits. Another problem is the jumping in two-player mode . As terrible as it is with one player now the camera must keep two players on the screen. Jumping together usually forces someone into a hole to die since you can push each other around. The game just won't allow any cooperation worth any use to finishing the game.

Story- 3/10 - I really liked the movie, but I'm really getting tired of seeing the same plot over and over again. It's starts all the same. Infultrate the Trade Federation blockade ship. Escape to Naboo into the swamps. Rescue the queen and make an emergency landing on Tatooine. Sounds familiar to me. The only story twist is now if you don't want to use Qui-Gon Jinn or Obi-Wan, you can opt to use Plo Koon, Adi Gallia, or Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu).

Graphics/Sound- 5/10 - As always the soundtrack is good but it's gotten to the point where I expect it to be.The sounds are all true to their respective properties such as the humming whoosh of the lightsabers to the pachings of blaster fire. The graphics however aren't that appealing. The characters look like raging polygons with arms and any big explosions are cheesy to the core.

ReplayValue- 2/10- I could not stand this game. The replay value is almost non-existant thanks to the idiotic process by after you die you are placed back half-way through the stage and have to fight the enemies all over again. Maybe if you could repop where you died... The two-player mode doesn't offer any replay value either seeing as how you end up killing each other through accidentaly pushing and shoving off of cliffs into oblivion.

Overall- 3/10- RENT this game before deciding to buy it. Odds are most people will find it not to their liking. The game feels incomplete. Any mischevious player could cause it to crash buy jumping onto a certain area at a certain time. I have not played a game this bad since Shadowgate 64 last July. So for that I give it my Ultra Frisbee Award.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/23/00, Updated 05/23/00