Like any good Star Wars adventure, Jedi Power Battles kicks off with scrolling text. A nice touch, even if it is just the EULA. Beyond that lies a very unusual prospect. This is a remaster of a game that is not really considered a classic. It’s remembered, I suspect, with a mixture of fondness and frustration. Both of these emotions survive intact.
Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power BattlesPublisher: AspyrDeveloper: AspyrPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and Switch.
Aspyr’s on the remastering duties and the top-line notes are: the game looks clean and it’s lovely that everything’s unlocked from the start, but there’s also still a fair amount of rough edges and bugs. Character models are updated – at least the ones I tried out – but I also fell through the floor a few times, and I’ve read stuff online about vehicle sections being a bit ropey. Be warned.
I have had fun, though – at least some of the time. Originally released in 2000, this is a blend of hack-and-slash combat and platforming across a bunch of locations from the first prequel Star Wars film. You kill a lot of droids in this game. Hopefully they’re the bad droids with the sort of sad flamingo-beak heads. Sometimes, though, they’re the good droids who just got in the wrong place at the wrong time. Apologies, Protocol Droids!
Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles Remastered – THE FIRST TWO HOURS Watch on YouTube
Combat is about combos and managing multiple enemies and knowing when to stop swinging the lightsaber and use it to block and deflect in-coming laser fire. It’s fine, and when you chop a baddie in half with one swing or perfectly reflect a laser bolt back at whoever fired it at you, it’s somewhat more than fine. Platforming, meanwhile, is weightless and both unpredictable and fussy. There is always a sense of negotiating with invisible walls, and the camera rarely helps. Sometimes it’s just a bit of nonsense between the next fight. Sometimes it’s kind of pretty, taking you through evocative Star Wars dioramas with a minimum of fuss. Sometimes it’s so incredibly punishing that there are simply no words.