The Problem Nobody Wants To Admit About Star Wars Games

I Have A Bad Feeling About This...

"Yeah, so? What's the problem?" you ask.

There is no question that a vast proportion of Star Wars games are either great, very good, or at least have enjoyable, redeeming features - titles like Jedi Outcast and the Gamecube Rogue Squadron titles being prime examples of this. However, the insistence on action as the main component of Star Wars games has just as often led developers on the path to the Dark side, when some lateral thinking and creativity could have yielded much more impressive results.

Take for example the Xbox exclusive title Obi-Wan, the multi-platform game of the movie The Phantom Menace, and the universally loathed Masters of Teras Kasi on PS1. Firstly, we have two action-adventure games which follow the tried and tested 'press button, defeat enemies, press button, fight boss' formula which had already overstayed its welcome even in the late 90s/early 2000s, and are both shockingly average and completely uninspiring.

In Teras Kasi, we have an attempt to cash in (cash-in being the operative term here) on the Tekken/Virtua Fighter style 3D brawler, the execution and reception which being just about as bad as you could possibly imagine. Titles like these and too many others like them, heralded the beginnings of a worrying new trend - copy and paste Star Wars action games which failed to inspire audiences.