It’s Star Wars: Battlefront day, and I’m sure many of you are busy using The Force in some ways that would make Yoda frown. But it’s not the only Star Wars game coming to PlayStation 4 today.
Today, Sony launched the Star Wars: Battlefront PS4 bundle that comes with the system, the new shooter from publisher Electronic Arts, and four older Star Wars games. If you buy this bundle, you’ll get Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Racer Revenge. If you already own a PS4 and don’t want to buy a new one, you can only buy Super Star Wars right now for $10.
We’ve asked Sony when it will start selling the three other games, and we’re still waiting on a definitive answer (although it sounds like it will and just doesn’t know when). The company posted about Super Star Wars in its blog today, but it hasn’t said anything about the others.
But if you are one of the people who did get the bundle — or you’re wondering which one to play once they do go on sale — we’re here to help. It’s time for the official GamesBeat ranking of PS4 Star Wars re-releases. This is a prestigious award that we only give out when we really want to talk about old Star Wars games!
Let’s get to it:
No. 4 – Super Star Wars
Original release: December 1992
Original system: Super Nintendo
When you were a kid, this was one of a few Star Wars games you could play on your Super Nintendo. So, if you were like me, that meant you rented it from Hollywood Video when nothing else looked cool. Of course, it was always pretty disappointing. Sure, it’s colorful and has some familiar enemies and characters, but it was like every other movie tie-in game of its era: bland.
It was a side-scrolling platformer with too many enemies and not enough Star Wars. You could get this type of action in Robocop, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, or friggin’ Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Super Star Wars isn’t the worst of these, but it also does nothing to stand out from that crowd.
Score: 2/5 Midi-chlorians
No. 3 – Star Wars: Racer Revenge
Original release: February 2002
Original system: PlayStation 2
During the prequel era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, LucasArts fully embraced that it was the Star Wars company. That produced lots of interesting adventures for Jedi and smugglers alike — but it also meant the galaxy far, far away could expand into new genres like racing.
In 1999, the developer released Star Wars: Episode I – Racer. It was one of the few games during the time of The Phantom Menace that fans didn’t hate. In 2002, we got the Racer Revenge followup. It was not a huge leap forward.
Racer Revenge is one of the easier games to pick up and play, but it didn’t have a lot else going on. It also didn’t help that, by 2002, fans had already largely turned on Episode I and its podracing child hero Anakin Skywalker. But at least it wasn’t total bantha poodoo.
Score: 2.5/5 Midi-chlorians
No. 2 – Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Original release: March 2002
Original system: PlayStation 2, Xbox
Here’s another sequel, only this one was a bit more of an improvement over its predecessor.
Jedi Starfighter built on top of what LucasArts created for Star Wars: Starfighter by adding co-op and interesting missions. You could also use Jedi powers from your ship, which is an awesome idea all on its own.
This is hardly the best Star Wars flight sim (TIE Fighter). It’s not even the best Star Wars dogfighting game of its era (Rogue Squadron). But it’s still a fun game that stands a good chance of holding up in 2015 on PS4.
Score: 3/5 Midi-chlorians
No. 1 – Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
Original release: November 2002
Original system: PlayStation 2, GameCube
https://youtu.be/vgsan5C_cjU
The year 2002 had no shortage of Star Wars games. In addition to three listed here, you had The Clone Wars, The New Droid Army, and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. It’s hard to argue that the best one of these isn’t Jedi Outcast, but it’s worth noting that Bounty Hunter is underrated.
The biggest problems with Bounty Hunter were technical. It had framerate issues. Its menu and weapon-switching interface was slow and clunky. All of that made it easy to go “meh” at the time, but these troubles hide a fun and exciting adventure. Jango Fett is interesting. His story is fun. LucasArts didn’t skimp on the cutscenes. The levels were fun to explore and rather expansive for a 2002 PS2 or GameCube release. The weapons were fun to use, and I loved the bounty system where the game had you tracking down individual scumbags.
We’ll see if this still holds up, but I can’t wait to give it another go after really enjoying it 13 or so years ago.
Score: 4/5 Midi-chlorians