I’ve played a version of this game before, on DS. As with Lethal Alliance, I figured the PSP version as the lead platform would give a better experience. Turns out that unlike Lethal Alliance there are pros and cons to both, and I ended up preferring the DS version! Note I left the multiplayer component—ostensibly these games’ selling point—completely untouched and just judged the campaign.
My Star Wars RPG party, low-res pixel style!
I’ve been playing the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game tabletop RPG with a small group. You start on Jakku some time before TFA and shenanigans inevitably ensue.
This is our party: Mhar’li the brash pilot and blastslinger, Durm Bormo the exiled patriarch and teller of tall tales (that’s me!), Wol Kessix the incompetent Space-French spy (an NPC who stuck around; we gave him the appearance of unused PC Tiras Or’un), and Sherry the cocktail-dispensing droid that the GM gave us after my constant requests for a robot sidekick.
Released alongside Lightsaber Duels for the Wii, this game also attempts to replicate the feel of a clash of sabers… but with touchscreen tapping instead of Wii remote waggling. I like the original plot, but the gameplay leaves something to be desired.
Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, low-res pixel style!
Here’s another very fun Star Wars show, about a family of scavengers trying to get by in the time of the Empire. It’s got comedy, action, great characters, and plenty of Star Wars fanservice too. It’s also got my favourite depiction of the Emperor, which is largely carried over from this show’s predecessor The Yoda Chronicles, as is the character Jek-14. I’ve done separate pieces for heroes and villains here.
Rowan Freemaker, Kordi Freemaker, Zander Freemaker, R0-GR, Jek-14, Quarrie, Lieutenant Valeria
Naare, MOC, Durpin, Plumestriker, Graballa the Hutt, Dengar
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, low-res pixel style!
In lieu of portraying episodes 2 and 3 in pixels, here’s something I actually enjoy. The CG animated show told a lot of fun stories, but the ensemble cast is massive. I tried to cover all the most important people but there’s many more clones, Jedi, minor villains, and other characters that didn’t make the cut. I also put in a bonus row of characters from other audiovisual media of the Clone Wars era, such as video games and the in-some-ways-superior 2D animated Clone Wars show (if I included comics too it would get out of hand).
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Rex, Padmé Amidala, R2-D2, Yoda, Mace Windu, Wullf Yularen, Fives, Jar Jar Binks, Satine Kryze, Hondo Ohnaka, Cad Bane, Boba Fett, Pre Viszla, Barriss Offee, Mother Talzin, Chancellor Palpatine, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, Savage Opress, Maul, Jango Fett (Attack of the Clones), Durge (Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars), Sai Sircu (Jedi Alliance), Kul Teska (Republic Heroes), X2 (Battlefront: Elite Squadron), Jek-14 (The Yoda Chronicles)
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, low-res pixel style!
I like Phantom Menace the best out of the prequels, both because I think the story is closest to a fun Star Wars adventure, and also nostalgia factor due to my age. The cast too has that feel of a group thrown together by circumstance but banding together for a purpose. So here they are.
Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jar Jar Binks, Padmé Amidala, R2-D2, Anakin Skywalker
Star Wars: Rogue One, low-res pixel style!
The next in my continuing series of Star Wars pixel arts, the eponymous crew. A loveable bunch of misfits, as befits a good story of this far galaxy. Let’s relive their camaraderie and purpose through these blocky colours.
Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K-2SO, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, Bodhi Rook
Since I’ve been watching The Clone Wars, I thought I’d check out its primary tie-in game. As an action game it’s mediocre, and as a representation of the show it’s messy. Is there anything to like? Ummmmmm
Here’s a Lego game. The episodic structure of the TV show lends itself well to a level-based game like this, but my relative unfamiliarity with the source material rendered it slightly unrelatable on top of the disconnected structure undermining the storytelling. I liked the more modern Lego look and feel for the Star Wars setting, and more versatile characters, but some of the new gimmicks like landing a ship and continuing on foot were lame.
Well. During my scathing review of the DS version of this game, I speculated multiple times on how superior the PSP version would surely have to be. Turns out… I was completely right! I was amazed at how much better this game was on its lead platform.
Every one of my complaints in the DS game was addressed on PSP: Rianna and Zeeo are in fact developed better through animations and voice acting; they felt more believable as a team. Their abilities are more useful, and fun. Level design is more dynamic; there’s a bit more of a combat focus but this version pulls it off well and irritating touchscreen minigames are completely absent!
I was so impressed with this game in comparison to the miserable DS port that I enjoyed it very much, even engaging better with the story as well. The question I’m having more trouble answering is: is it a good game in its own right? The controls can be clunky, and the shooting is not amazing. But I think the buddy gameplay with all of Rianna and Zeeo’s separate possible actions, not to mention combo attacks, makes up for this and adds enough depth so that it ends up feeling like a decent enough handheld action game. Plus it’s a neat little Star Wars side-story that fits well in the universe. I must reiterate: absolutely avoid the DS version. This one is pretty good.
I went back for the Whiz-Bang Super edition of FU1 and the generously priced DLC for FU2, to see what extra life had been wrung from the formula before the series met its untimely end at the hands of Disney.
Let’s be up front: don’t play this game. As with Battlefront Elite Squadron, I suspect that the more powerful and feature-rich PSP version was the lead platform and the superior game, although apparently the critics don’t agree. There are good ideas here, but executed so poorly that it’s hard to appreciate them.
Despite lingering bad blood between me and the Force Unleashed 2, I actually enjoyed this DS conversion better than the DS demake of the first game. It’s still got the problems common to the whole project; small scope, dumb plot, etc. But rather than making a pale imitation of the base game, LucasArts Singapore instead took a new perspective, like, literally, because it’s, like, a sidescroller.
Having now played all four different versions of this game, what can I say about the DS one? It’s… better than the one made for java phones?
I documented my disappointment when I played this sequel on PS3. My main complaint was a rushed feeling, with a smaller scope and breadth of content than the first game. The Wii version of the sequel is even briefer, but I felt better disposed towards it while playing; maybe it was that my expectations had already been lowered.
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