• Top 10 Star Wars Video Games

  

  Written by Zeromage 59 Comments
  Last Updated:: December 2, 2008

  The original Star Wars movies are some of our favorite movies of all time here at Old-Wizard.com, and as you might expect we also love the video games as well. That’s why this list was especially difficult for us, considering that all three of us have been playing Star Wars video games since the early 90s.  After much debate though, we finally settled on ten games we could all agree on. These next games span the days of the Macintosh all the way to the seventh generation consoles like the Nintendo Wii, and in our humble opinions these are the ten best Star Wars games of all time, and we’re sure you’ll agree us with us. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

  10. Star Wars Episode 3

  Call me petty, but I normally hate anything even remotely connected with the Prequel Trilogy. I usually dismiss the novels, comic books, action figures and even video games without even giving them a try. Like many nerds who grew up in the late seventies/early eighties, everything that I held dear about my childhood was ruined when I first heard about Jar Jar Binks and midichlorians. That all changed one night when I was over a friend’s house after leaving our local pub a little early. With six Guinesses in me, and the promise of a lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode 3’s battle mode, I gave the game a try, and I’m glad I did. I still don’t own the prequel trilogy DVDs, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I do own this game (except to good-looking women).

  9. Jedi Academy

  When I first heard about Jedi Academy, nothing could stop me from getting it on the very first day that it was released. Any video game where you get to play as a Jedi Knight is a must own for me, and this game was no exception. It is an easy-to-use game that requires almost no strategy and minimal puzzle-solving ability. If you can run, jump and swing your lightsaber, that’s about all you’ll need to get through Jedi Academy. You get a variety of Force powers to choose from, like the Force Push (good for knocking opponents of cliffs, ledges, and bridges), Force Protect (your own personal shield), Force Speed (enabling you to run circles around your opponents), and Force Heal. In addition, you can you us Force Sense to find hidden objects. As there is no over-arcing strategy to Jedi Academy, it’s ideal for people who want to play for 30 minutes or for an hour at a time. If you’re looking for a Star Wars game that requires a little more concentration and attention to detail, you might want to try Knights of the Old Republic. But if you want to just hack and slash with a lightsaber for a few hours, Jedi Academy is just what you’re looking for.

  8. Star Wars Battlefront 2

  While its not a secret that we’re not big fans of the FPS genre here at Old-Wizard, there’s still something to be said about blowing up Han Solo with a rocket launcher as Boba Fett, and that’s exactly what you get to do in Star Wars Battlefront 2. What Star Wars Battlefront 2 did, was it took a great concept (which was Battlefront 1) and actually made it work. This is a prime example of the sequel to a game being a lot better than the first installment in the series. There are more levels, more units, more vehicles and of course you can now play as a Jedi Knight. SWBF2 also fixed a lot of the many problems with the clumsy AI in Battlefront 1. This is hands down the best multi-player Star Wars Game ever made.

  7. Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader

  Being a big fan of both flight simulator games and Star Wars, I was really looking forward to the release of Rogue Squadron 2 when it was released with the launch of the Gamecube. I might catch some flack for saying this, but I think this is the best Gamecube launch title. The graphics are stunning for a Gamecube game, and much more importantly the game play was simply amazing. The game controls themselves are great, with every craft feeling a little different to pilot. There are also several different views (inside the cockpit, just behind the fighter, far back of the fighter, and bombing view for those fighters that are capable) and each viewpoint has its own advantages and disadvantages. The game is fun and sometimes challenging, and some of the different missions included situations where you had to do some genuine tactical thinking to get out alive (protecting convoys, destroying targets, etc). Overall Rogue Squadron 2 is one of the best flight simulation games ever made, and well deserving of its placement on this list.

  6. Knights of Old Republic 2

  Unlike most of people that I’ve talked to about Knights of the Republic 2, I just didn’t like it as much as the first one. The game mechanics are virtually identical to the original, which really is fine. There were a few minor tweaks of course. The workbench could be used to create items, not just upgrade them, and there was a new “lab station” that could make medical items and explosives. Both of these stations were much more common than the workbench was in the original. You could switch between several “forms” which give bonuses to some attributes, and penalties to others. Pazaak has been improved with the addition of some new cards, plus the first play alternates between the contestants. Other than that, there’s not much in KOTOR 2 that was really new. That’s not to say that KOTOR 2 isn’t a great game, because it is, which is why it makes our list. But there’s just not that much of a difference from the first game in the series. Its lack of innovation is what keeps it at number six on our list, but as the old saying goes, if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

  5. Force Unleashed

  For some reason there’s a lot of people out there who don’t like Force Unleashed, but I’m definitely not one of them. While many modern games seem to take way too long (who has the time to spend 70+ hours to beat a game anyway?), Force Unleashed took me less than 10 hours to beat. More important than how long the game takes is how much fun it is, and its here that Force Unleashed succeeds beyond all expectations. In the opening level you get to play as Darth Vader, giving you a preview of the power of the dark side. As the developers have stated, this is to give you a chance to realize what you can become. The absolute awesomeness of this level really sets the tone for the rest of the game. Marching in and eliminating Wookies while AT-AT’s walk down below the cliff, and Star Destroyers, troop transports, and TIE Fighters fly above, left me feeling like this really was Star Wars.

  4. Tie Fighter

  Ever since the first time I saw a Tie Fighter I wanted to pilot one. For some unknown reason I’ve always thought they looked so much cooler than X-Wings. Sadly I knew my dream would never come true, not even in a video game. After all, video games only let you play as the good guys, right? Well, that’s what I thought until I stumbled upon this amazing little game. This is the game for all those kids (like me) who always thought the Empire was cooler than the rebellion. With Tie Fighter there was finally a game where you were able to pilot the bad guys’ ships and the defend the Empire from those upstart rebels. As far as I know this is one of the first video games where you got to play as the bad guys, and in my opinion its still one of the very best.

  3. Knights of Old Republic

  The original Knights of the old Republic was one heck of a game. It took everything that we loved about the classic trilogy and the expanded universe of Star Wars, and packed it neatly into an epic RPG where you could even chose between the light side or dark side of the force. This game feels more like Star Wars than the Prequel Trilogy did, and sadly it probably has a better story line too. The game was well scripted, and had great plot twists, all while giving you the possibility of roaming both sides of the conflict in the best way any Star Wars game ever has. The game mechanics in KOTOR are some of the best in any RPG ever, giving you the ability to either choose what attacks each character in your party will use or leave them automated. The bottom line is, this game is a must for any Star Wars fan or RPG fan. If you haven’t played it, I feel sorry for you.

  2. X-Wing (PC)

  No modern day flight simulator game will ever capture the “feel” of the original Star Wars movies better than the X-Wing games for the PC. The problem with new Star Wars games is that they LOOK GOOD. I know this sounds crazy, but its the same problem I have with the Special Edition of the movies, and the Prequel Trilogy. I’d much rather watch the unmastered versions. The new ones are too polished. I feel like I’m watching Star Trek. Star Wars was cool because the ships were dirty, and the characters were all scoundrels. It was a grittier, and almost more realistic vision of space. With the polished Naboo fighters that we see in the new movies we lose that gritty feeling. Same goes with the sleek new video games. The fighter consoles and computers all look too new for a Star Wars ship. If you want to really FEEL like you’re back in the original movies, go play X-Wing for the PC. Along with the B-Wing expansion pack, these are the best Star Fighter games ever made.

  1. Super Star Wars Trilogy

  I’m sure that most of our long time readers aren’t very surprised by our number one pick. The Super Star Wars Trilogy, which included A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi on the SNES were some of the most fun games ever released on any system. In the first two games you got to play as Luke, Han, and Chewie, adding a nice level of variety to the game. In Jedi they added Leia and the Ewok Wicket. Each character had his/her own strengths and weakness, and in this game you really had to be aware of who you were choosing to play as, as these were three of the hardest games I’ve ever played. Forget today’s easy Star Wars games (Star Wars Legos!) these were games for real gamers, and I personally broke tons of controllers while playing these games. It didn’t make them any less fun though, besides, did you think its going to be easy to defeat a galaxy-wide empire?

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59 Comments

1. #1 Ustio Merc. says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 7:14 am

   You forgot to mention Republic Commando retards!
2. #2 PHOENIX says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

   Great list!!

   When I saw X-Wing, and Tie Fighter on it, I had to say these people know their stuff. You have to forgive these kids who grew up with the new Trilogy releases, Xboxes, and PS3s. Their entertainment has been handed to them on a silver platter. Their senses and visual stimulation has been so spoiled with CG, they don’t know the difference between fantastic costume design, and set modeling, from Jar Jar Binks and buzz droids.

   It’s sad, but these kids don’t know what we went through back in the day. To see such a magnificent compilation of movies, such as the original Star Wars Trilogy, and then to go home and not have the 20 Xbox 360 & PS3 game release renditions of those same movies; which really made it different for us. Our imaginations were forced to grow larger like Lucas himself. It wasn’t spoon fed like today’s generations, with every Star Wars midi-chlorian getting its own game.

   Games like Tie Fighter, and X-Wing really did bring the experience of Star Wars home with great detail. They should get the props, because of what these pioneers (game designers) could accomplish (extraordinary games) back when they didn’t have as good of technology as we do today, and were still able to have the games look decent compared to today’s standards. I don’t hate on the new Trilogy, but the originals had better acting (better screenplays) and more depth all around.

   All in all, if I were to still play the games on the list today…I know I would be entertained and impressed! Good job OLD-WIZARD.com!!!

   And yes… “Agree with me, the counsel does!”
3. #3 Anonymous says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

   As a hardcore star wars fan, I can easily say that this is a great list. I personally believe it was well thought out, not letting the newer games graphics interfere with the position on the list if outweighed by the mechanics of the older games.
   Overall good job!
4. #4 Azelfknight says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 10:01 pm

   Good List, but Mines got some major changes from yours. Without having played a few of these games however I can’t saw if you’re wrong, I’m wrong, or were both right.

   Thanks for sharing your thoughts and here’s my listing.

   5. Battlefront 1
   Classic FPS set in my favorite universe, but no jedi control made it a pain when the enemies jedi comes after you and you can’t kill it unless you blow him off the map.
   4. Force Unleashed
   Amazing force powers and incredible fights, all I need to say.
   3. Knights of the Old Republic
   RPG’s are hard to master, but BIOware knows what they’re doing. GReat all aroung game for any video game fan.
   2. Battlefront 2
   Fixed up the original like you said and added space battles! The only thing I wanted was more maps and to keep the old ones otherwise a perfect game.
   1. ???
   I can’t pick a favorite Starwars game, it depends on the day, the weather, I don’t know. Im’ sure one day a game will trump anything we’ve seen and then it will be number 1!
5. #5 nick says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm

   I would have put battlefront 1 at number 1, but still a great list!
6. #6 Azelfknight says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

   Thanks nick hope we all can get a great game soon to put in number one spot on all our lists!