4 Retro Star Wars Games That Are Better Than Half Of The Movies

4 Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (Revenge)

There’s a famous Internet recut of the prequels that supposedly turns the entire thing into a much better film. Episode I is such a despised attempt at a tale worthy of the Star Wars name that it’s reduced to just the final lightsaber fight. Is the recut better for that? It sure is, but only by virtue of it getting shortened, not by virtue of it showcasing the film's best part. Someone had a way better recut by the time of Episode 1’s release, and that person was whoever came up with Episode 1: Racer, a game that expands upon the only really good thing in that movie: podracing.

On top of dozens of awesome tracks, some really sweet and obviously fast-paced gameplay, Racer also improves upon the film's plot. No, really. It doesn't feature a story per se, which by itself is better than having Episode I's plot, but it allows Anakin to go from planet to planet absolutely destroying (in a sportsmanlike way) various opponents from the galactic podracing circuit, or whatever that is. There's even legitimate lore expansion, like how we get to play like that guy who blows himself up even before the race starts. Just how powerful was his ship? Well, it turns out it was very powerful. Racer had a PS2 sequel called Star Wars: Racer Revenge where Sebulba tries to take the title back from Anakin and guess what? It rocks.

3 Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast

Jedi Outcast, the sequel to the awesome Dark Forces series, the games that did the stealing the death star plans bit much better than Rogue One ever could, came out in March 2002. That's a mere two months before Attack Of The Clones plunged the brand into its supposedly lowest point ever. For those of us who were playing this at home, however, the infamous clone attack hit no harder than a Tantive IV janitor strike. On top of an original story that neatly expands upon the original trilogy by showing the remnants of the empire's inevitable attempts at taming the force via unnatural means, it's also completely untarnished by that dumb balance prophecy bullcrap from the prequels. We play as Kyle Katarn, an ex-Jedi who couldn't care less about light vs dark shenanigans.

On top of its great story, this was the first game ever to nail sword fighting in a way worthy of online play. Yeah, this had Dark Souls-worthy PVP a long time before that was a thing. The game's lightsaber combat was so awesome that they had to tone it down before launch. The devs wanted players to be able to realistically dismember their opponents, but they had to cut that out. And by “cut that out” we mean that it's totally fixable via a console command.

2 Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic

And if Outcast managed to make the expanded universe cooler than the official prequels, Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic showed everyone that we can actually have good Star Wars prequels. Set thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy, KOTOR tells the story of an old republic threatened by both a sith lord and the likelihood of the player falling to the dark side as well. The game masterfully allows players to choose their path, whether they want to save the galaxy or keep the galaxy. The game allows players to use a wide array of force powers, all of which feel great.

On top of all the fun we can have with the murderous all force powers, players can also not merely witness, but actually take part in one of the most surprising Star Wars tales ever made. We won't reveal any details here, but everyone is more than welcome to get spoiled about it all here.

1 Star Wars Battlefront II (the original one)

Star Wars Battlefront 2 from 2017 is nearly as despised as any of the prequels and as that Star Wars sequel that gets undeserved hate (yeah, that one). The game is actually good but was completely corrupted by a bunch of dumb microtransactions concocted by the evil sith lords at EA. If only we could have that game but without that crap… Well, then we'd have the OG Battlefront 2 from 2005.

Yeah, it might not be as flashy as its newest incarnation, but it provided a surprisingly complex package for its day (and impossibly complete for today) that allowed players to partake in multiplayer battles from the original trilogy and the prequel films. 

Every single one of these games came out between ‘99 and ’05, the unsung golden era of Star Wars, and they all provide way more engrossing experiences than any of the prequels, sequels, and even the more recent Star Wars games. Yeah, we might never get to experience such a great age of Star Wars video games because even the best Star Wars games of today are either bloated messes or are great, like Jedi: Fallen Order, but they just want to glue themselves as much as possible to the original canon and ignore the much cooler option that’s trying something original.

Well, at least we have Star Wars eclipse by David Cage the upcoming Star Wars game by Amy Hennig, the mind and soul behind both the Legacy Of Kain series and the best games in the Uncharted series. She’s our only hope.

Top Image: Disney