Top 10 Star Wars Video Games (Redux)

MMORPG’s with the Star Wars brand have been a tricky endeavor, with Star Wars Galaxies releasing to mixed reception and receiving controversial patches. However Bioware was able craft the universe based on their own “Old Republic” lore with lots of exciting missions, interesting character choices, and gameplay that stands out amongst its MMORPG brethren. It also has the most expensive development budget to date, costing EA $200 Million to bring this enormous world to life.

An intellectual property that is at its core about intergalactic warfare seems like it would be the perfect fit to become a real-time strategy game. For years, developers tried to make an RTS that captured the epic scale of “Star Wars,” but arguably, nobody got it right until “Empires at War.” The sheer scope of the game is impressive: players manage everything from planets and ships all the way down to on-planet battles between soldiers and vehicles. “Empire at War” does a great job of making your every decision feel important, especially when you’ve got the Death Star under your control.

“Shadows of the Empire” was one of the coolest early shooters for the Nintendo 64, letting us explore a previously unseen aspect of the “Star Wars” universe as Dash Rendar, a bad-ass smuggler who’s totally not Han Solo. “Shadows” also gets a million extra points for being the first game to faithfully re-create the awesome Battle of Hoth scene from Empire Strikes Back. Sure, other games tried, but it took the N64’s hardware to nail the feeling of taking down an AT-AT walker with nothing but your skills as a pilot and a couple tow cables.

“In the early ’90s, first-person shooters were the most popular PC games because of the success of Doom. And among the many early quote, unquote: “Doom clones” released in a quick rush, “Dark Forces” was one of the games that stood tall. As mercenary Kyle Katarn who originally stole the Death Star plans, you are on a one man crusade to help the Rebel Alliance and stop the Empire. Because you feel like you can take on the whole empire yourself, and you probably can.

The Super Nintendo was host to dozens of awesome platforming games, but some of the most fondly remembered are these three entries in the “Super Star Wars” series. While they’re practically identical mechanically, they’re often remembered for their sometimes hair-pulling difficulty, With each title based on their respective film in the original trilogy It’s still pretty awesome to be able to choose which character you want to be: feel like getting up close and personal with Luke’s lightsaber? Or maybe rewrite how the events took place by having Han Solo deliver sweet revenge on Jabba the Hutt.

“Rogue Squadron II” was a system-selling launch title for the Nintendo GameCube, and it was basically a dream come true for fans of “Star Wars’” vast array of ships and intergalactic battles. Re-creating all of the classic battles from the original trilogy, as well as some new ones, plus a huge array of ships, and Denis Lawson reprising his role as ace pilot Wedge Antillies, “Rogue Squadron II” had a lot of people flocking to Nintendo’s new console. Also fun fact, the game was put together in only 9 months, yet it still holds up really well today.

When “Tie Fighter” came out, it blew its predecessor, the still-excellent “Star Wars: X-Wing” out of the water. It improved on literally everything while finally letting you play as the bad guy. “Tie Fighter” is punishing but rewarding, and its’ energy system means that you need to use your brain while engaging enemies. You’ll get more firepower if you divert your energy to weapons, but then your shields will be weaker. Amazingly satisfying gameplay combined with cool, Empire-based storyline makes “Tie Fighter” the best Star Wars flight simulation ever.

You didn’t think we were done with Kyle Katarn did you? After all one on the most iconic characters in the Star Wars Expanded Universe earned his badass reputation for a reason. Though the first Jedi Knight was groundbreaking, it has not aged very well, but “Outcast” still holds up nicely. And while “Academy” gave you your lightsaber and a bunch of fancy powers right away, “Outcast” was a much more cohesive experience. Excellent combat mechanics, combined with a more mature tale about personal redemption and honor, the force was strong with this one.

Yes this is the game that so many of you wanted in the original list. After all by combining the Star Wars universe into an intense multiplayer shooter, similar to DICE’s Battlefield series essentially screamed money printer. “Battlefront 2” improved on every single aspect of the first entry, this time including ‘hero’ characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi with game-changing abilities and powers along with battles based on the original and prequel trilogies’ climactic battles. The scale of the battles were previously unseen; 32-person wars on the original XBOX? But, most importantly “Battlefront II” was just a whole lot of fun to play.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Republic Commando” (2005)

“Episode I: Racer” (1999)

“The Force Unleashed” (2008)

“Star Wars Trilogy: Arcade” (1998)

“Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga” (2007)

A Star Wars RPG with branching narratives and extensive galactic exploration; in retrospect, it seems like such an obviously amazing idea, but it took until in 2003 when Bioware released “KOTOR” for that idea to come to fruition. With a story that matches up to the film series, exciting squad-based combat, and dialogue choices that actually affect the narrative, Knights not only shattered expectations, it also set a new standards for Western RPG’s. KOTOR laid the bedrock for every one of BioWare’s subsequent RPGs, so if you’re a fan of Mass Effect or Dragon Age and haven’t played this, we really don’t know what you’re waiting for.
Agree with our list? Which Star Wars game made you feel like you were in a galaxy far far away? For more force-wielding top 10’s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.