Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

"Solid Gameplay. It's what you'll need to slaughter the Jedi"

I was skeptical of how the straight out port of GBA's version would play out on the DS (even with six 3D space battles). But it turned out to be a really fun game.

- Graphics: 8

This is a little difficult. Should I grade this base on the 2D graphics or the fact that Ubisoft did not even try to take advantage of the DS's hardware all the way and instead make most of this game just a port from the GBA version of Revenge of the Sith. It is a sharper on the DS due to the backlight. Ultimately I decided to grade it based on the former because a lot of us like 2D games and I rather did enjoy the comicbook like expressions of the characters.

The space battles played out well. Don't let the screenshots fool you. The action has great and steady frames per rate. However, I feel there's more to be done with the details and because of the length of these space battles, they're just mini-games to me.

- Sound: 9

Grunts, lightsaber hums, ships blowing up. Wonderfully done. And I'm not generous with 9 scores as much as other reviewers are.

- Music: 10

Nor do I give 10 scores that much. I usually give 10 scores when the music just never stops playing in my head long after I'm done playing the game. The Star Wars soundtrack is ripped straight out of the movies and plays out very well throughout the game

- Gameplay: 9

One word: Solid. Let's say you're busy slashing droids in front of you. One of them tries to sneak up behind you. Just press Back+B and you'll do a backwards stab and quickly get back to slashing what's in front of you. Once an enemy falls on his back, jump and plunge your saber into the chest to finish the job.

The way the controls handle those commands are very smooth, easy to do, and done very fast. The game is simple enough if you just slash and defend all the time. But it can get complicated when you try to make your own combos.

Space combat is well done but very short. Half the time, the enemy will turn and engage you if you go too close. Targeting is hard with the D-Pad and the enemy low HP makes up for the frustration. Due to the shortness of the space battles, they are nothing more than mini-games.

- Touchscreen/Dual Screen Concept

In the hack and slash levels, there are four buttons on the touchscreen. Pressing one of them will trigger a powerful attack that acts like a panic button if the player is in a desperate situation (getting womped by droids on all sides). The player can input these commands using a combination of button presses, but I find the touchscreen easier to use.

For the space battles, the bottom screen serves as a radar and displays all vital information which is rather useful ironically. The player can adjust on whether the front side of the ship gets more shields, or the back side. This may see more use in the multiplayer mode.

- Multiplayer (No Single Card download)

As of right now, I can't write on this portion of the game. As far as I know, it's just 3D space battles. I'll do an update as soon as I find another DS owner with the same game.

Final Word: 9

As of right now, this is one of my favorite DS games. I just love the feeling of mowing down rows of droids and clone troopers while listening to the great music of John Williams. I highly recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/05