While you may think that bingeing on the entire Star Wars Saga would be the best way to prepare yourself for the seventh (holy shit!) Star Wars movie, we have an alternate, more interactive way to do so.
There are a ton of Star Wars games available, which might make picking the best ones a bit daunting. After all, you don't want to get stuck playing Super Bombad Racing or Masters of Teras Kasi. That's why we're here. We're going to pick out seven of the best Star Wars games you should try getting your hands on, in the short amount of time before the movie comes out. You know, which is tomorrow night.
Here are the seven objectively best Star Wars games you should be playing.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Before Knights of the Old Republic, fans never really got to see a world where Jedi were commonplace. KOTOR took us to a time, thousands of years before the events of the movies, when the Jedi and the Sith were very much at war.
BioWare did a fantastic job at adapting their role-playing gameplay mechanics to a Star Wars world. The story, combat and world were all so fleshed out, and the game had easily one of the best plot twists in a Star Wars medium, sitting right there with "No, I am your father."
You won't be able to beat this one before The Force Awakens, but that's just fine. If you haven't yet played through KOTOR, you owe it to yourself. Also, skip the sequel.
Star Wars the Force Unleashed
If you asked me to name a game that made me feel like an unstoppable Jedi with crazy force powers, there really is only one game that comes to mind, and that's Force Unleashed.
Playing as Starkiller, you got to see a previously unseen version of Star Wars, which showed events that happened before the original trilogy, but after the prequels. As Darth Vader's apprentice, you had to carry out missions in secret to try and kill off the remaining Jedi.
Of course, now that Disney owns Star Wars, the game is officially not Canon, but while it was, it served as a great origin story for the Rebel Alliance.
Also, you take down a freaking Star Destroyer using only the force…
Star Wars Battlefront II
No, I'm not looking ahead into the future and calling the next Battlefront game from EA one of the best Star Wars game ever. I'm talking about the sequel to the original Battlefront.
Battlefront II expanded a lot over the first game. Now players could control Hero characters such as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader depending on satisfying certain conditions. There were also space battles which were amazing! Where are my space battles in the new Battlefront EA?!
On top of all of that, it had a single player campaign called Rise of the Empire, as well as the extensive Galactic Conquest mode, which was essentially a Star Wars themed Risk, which had you attacking and defending various planets.
Man this game was good. Be sure to pick this one up on Steam for cheap. Sure, the multiplayer might be defunct now, but the single player stuff is well worth it.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
While I agree that Jedi Knight II should have been on this list also, Jedi Academy was just slightly better, simply because it allowed players to create their own character and mold their own story.
Jedi Academy had you completing missions for Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker, ultimately leading up to the decision to turn to the Dark Side or remain on the path of a Jedi.
The combat was awesome, at least for the time, and had you choosing between various lightsaber styles, including dual-wielding lightsabers or using a dual-bladed lighstaber like Darth Maul's.
Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II
Rogue Squadron was one of my favorite games on the N64. Years later, at a local Toys 'R' Us, I saw a demo station with the GameCube that had Rogue Leader on display. I was blown away. The graphics were stunning for its time, and I couldn't believe how great it felt to take down Tie Fighters above the Death Star, ultimately destroying the Death Star after going through the Trench Run.
Rogue Leader had a ton of varied missions as well. You weren't just piloting the X-Wing. You had access to a range of planes like the A-Wing, Y-Wing, Snowspeeder and even the Millennium Falcon.
Hell, booting up the game recently, I'm surprised at how well it aged, both in graphics and in gameplay.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
I remember first seeing Shadows of the Empire at a friend's house on the N64. The first mission he introduced me to was the Battle of Hoth. "Cool!" I thought. And then I saw another mission where he played as Kyle Katarn Dash Rendar. "Who is this?!" I exclaimed. My head was filled with questions about this game. I wanted it. I needed it.
Granted, he's no longer an official part of the Star Wars canon, which is a huge shame, but that doesn't mean you should discount this awesome game. Sure, it was janky as hell, and controlled about as you'd expect for a game on the N64 from 1997 to control, but reliving classic scenes, along with experiencing a side of the original trilogy you never got to see in the films was absolutely amazing. Seriously, hunt this one down if you still have a working N64.
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
This was a tough choice, and honestly, I would have put either X-Wing, or Tie Fighter in this place as well, as both are a superb example of a space flight sim based in the Star Wars universe. I went with X-Wing Alliance since it was technically a sequel to those games, included some updated gameplay mechanics, had full voice-overs and even included 3D renders of the cockpits.
These early PC titles were a great example of what a Star Wars themed flight sim would be like, complete with the soundtrack overlayed on top and authentic sound effects, you felt like you were in the cockpit of a freaking X-Wing. Not to mention, you also got to pilot the Millennium Falcon in this game, which was pretty freaking cool. Thanks to GoG and Steam, it's not impossible to play this game again, and I highly encourage you to try it, or any of the other Star Wars space sim games.
