''Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles'' is an
action Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
set during the time frame of ''
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Dan ...
''. The game was first released for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
, and afterwards for the
Dreamcast and the
Game Boy Advance (the latter under the title ''Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles'').
Gameplay
''Jedi Power Battles'' is a mix of a
platform game and a
beat 'em up
The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
. Emphasis is placed both on completing jumping sequences and defeating enemies. Players can choose from one of five prequel-era
Jedi
Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi O ...
and run, jump, slash, and use
the Force through the game's ten levels, starting on the
Trade Federation
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
Battleship and ending with the battle against
Darth Maul on
Naboo. The player's primary weapon is a
lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...
used to fight through waves of enemies and deflect blaster shots. The lightsaber combat is rather simplified with a system that lets the player lock on to the nearest enemy using the R1 button. Items and the force can also be used for special attacks. On most levels jumping puzzles make up a large portion of the challenge. There are a few segments in which the player can pilot various craft. The single player campaign can also be played in cooperative mode with a second player, while the Dreamcast version has an additional training mode and a two player duel mode. As players progress additional lightsaber combos and force powers are unlocked.
Five primary characters are available for players to use; Jedi Padawan
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...
, and Jedi Masters
Qui-Gon Jinn,
Mace Windu
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Windu was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel trilogy. Jackson reprised the role in the 2008 animated film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and with voice only in the 20 ...
,
Adi Gallia
This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...
and
Plo Koon
This incomplete list of characters from the ''Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt Dis ...
, with the latter two being unavailable in the Game Boy Advance version. Characters have specific lightsaber styles, force powers, weaknesses and strengths.
The game features both characters and levels that can be unlocked by completing specific tasks in the game, such as completing the game with a specific character. Up to four additional unlockable characters are available, depending on platform.
Queen Amidala
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
of Naboo and
Captain Panaka, head of the Queen's security forces, are the only two playable characters to utilize ranged weapons.
Sith Apprentice
Darth Maul and Jedi Master
Ki-Adi Mundi are also unlockable, though the latter is exclusive to the
Dreamcast version of the game. Four levels can be unlocked which offer players unique
minigames.
Plot
The game loosely follows the plot of ''
The Phantom Menace'' and begins as two Jedi are sent to negotiate an agreement between the corrupt Trade Federation and the royal government of
Naboo. The meeting turns out to be a trap and the two Jedi manage to fight their way through
battle droid
In the ''Star Wars'' space opera franchise, a droid is a fictional robot possessing some degree of artificial intelligence''.'' The term is a clipped form of " android", a word originally reserved for robots designed to look and act like a huma ...
s on the Trade Federation ship. The pair eventually make it to the planet's surface, where they fight through the swamps that eventually lead to the streets of Naboo's capital city, Theed. In the ensuing battle the Jedi are forced to flee with Naboo's Queen Amidala and several trusted members of her court on her starship.
The group arrives on
Tatooine
Tatooine () is a fictional desert planet that appears in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was first ...
, where they hope to acquire parts to repair the Queen's ship. The environment proves hostile, and the Jedi are forced to defend themselves against
Tusken Raiders and an attack by a dark-robed assassin while the parts are acquired. The group eventually makes their way to
Coruscant, where a group of criminals instigate an attack. The Jedi fight their way through the attackers to see the queen to the Galactic Senate building. Concerned for the welfare of her planet and finding no hope in the apathetic Senate, the Queen and Jedi return to Naboo to liberate the city of Theed from the control of the Trade Federation.
Now allied with the
Gungans of Naboo, the two Jedi fight their way through Gungan ruins to the city. They arrive and liberate a pair of droid
STAPs. Utilizing the vehicle's limber controls and fast firing weaponry, they fight their way to the royal palace. Upon arriving the Jedi scale the side of the palace, using their force abilities to jump from platform to platform until they ascend to the top. Arriving, they find their progress blocked by the Sith apprentice
Darth Maul, who had previously tried to kill them on Tatooine. The Sith engages the two Jedi as they push through the palace's generator complex. The Jedi gain the upper hand and Maul is defeated. The Jedi celebrate their victory with Boss Nass, leader of the Gungans, and Queen Amidala in a large celebration within the city of Theed.
Development and marketing
Level design began with what designer Michael Stuart Licht referred to as
spatial studies. Design began with paper cut outs of various rooms. Licht would rearrange these rooms until he found a design that he felt worked. The papers had design ideas written on them so that other developers could understand the overall flow of each level. Bubble diagrams were then created which represented main ideas for each space. This was followed by various stages of overview drawings and other drawing studies. 3D level design began after such studies were completed.
Characters were developed to have not only unique force abilities and lightsaber combos, with different lightsaber colors as well. Three characters had not yet had an on-screen appearance wielding their lightsabers. These colors matched the marketing coordination at the time seen in the
Kenner toyline and
Dark Horse
A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might.
Origin
Th ...
comics. In the sequels Lucas would reveal that majority of Jedi only carry blue or green blades.
Yoda was also off-limits as an
unlockable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
and it was not permitted to show him with a lightsaber, instead the sound of his laughter is heard every time the player collects a
power-up
In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
. ''Jedi Power Battles'' was first unveiled in March 2000 via a gameplay trailer.
Following the PlayStation release, developers sought to make improvements for the then upcoming Dreamcast version. Amongst improvements were 60
frames per second gameplay, tweaks to platforming sections, and a
bugfix
A patch is a set of changes to a computer program or its supporting data designed to update, fix, or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, with such patches usually being called bugfixes or bug fixes. Patches ...
that ensured unlockable character Darth Maul would use both blades of his lightsaber, unlike his single blade on the PlayStation. Improvements in character animation were also made, and the game runs on a higher resolution. HotGen Studios developed a GameBoy Advance game based on ''Jedi Power Battles''. It was released a full year after the console releases in the fall of 2001.
''Jedi Power Battles'' was first unveiled in March 2000 via a gameplay trailer. Following the PlayStation release, developers sought to make improvements for the then upcoming Dreamcast version. Amongst improvements were 60
frames per second gameplay, tweaks to platforming sections, and a
bugfix
A patch is a set of changes to a computer program or its supporting data designed to update, fix, or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, with such patches usually being called bugfixes or bug fixes. Patches ...
that ensured unlockable character Darth Maul would use both blades of his lightsaber, unlike his single blade on the PlayStation. Improvements in character animation were also made, and the game runs on a higher resolution. Characters were developed to have not only unique force abilities and lightsaber combos, but also lightsaber colors as well. Three characters had not yet had an on-screen appearance wielding their lightsabers. Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Adi Gallia and Plo Koon utilize blue, crimson and yellow lightsabers in the game, respectively. Windu would go on to change to a purple color for his saber in ''
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones''.
Reception
The Dreamcast version received "generally favorable reviews", while the Game Boy Advance version received "mixed" reviews, according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
[ Jeff Lundrigan of '' NextGen'' said in its July 2000 issue that the PlayStation version "really needed a few more months of playtesting and balancing. As it is, this is best approached as an exercise in anger management."][ Six issues later, however, Chris Charla said of the Dreamcast version, "'' Super Empire Strikes Back'' this isn't, but if you're looking for a hack-and-slash time killer, it'll satisfy."][ Uncle Dust of '']GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' said of the PlayStation version in its June 2000 issue, "''Jedi Power Battles'' gets off to a frustrating start and has too much platform jumping throughout. But after you slash through the legions of battle broids to reach Darth Maul, you'll remember the thrill of the fight and forget the agony of the jumps." Six issues later, Extreme Ahab said of the Dreamcast version, "if you have a high tolerance for falling repeatedly to your virtual death, ''JPB'' will reward you with spectacular visuals and hours of ''Star Wars'' fun."
The game placed 30th in ''Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
s top 30 ''Star Wars'' games list in 2016.
Reviewers were critical of the game's high difficulty. In the book '' Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts'', author Rob Smith said the media had a "tepid response" to the game's difficult control system. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of ''Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' magazine expressed fondness for the game's cooperative mode. He noted that while the game was "dreadful" he praised the incentive for two players to work together to complete the game. He cited modern games such as those in the ''Call of Duty
''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...
'' series, noting that with online play the desire to work as a team is lessened. This in turn brought his point that ''Jedi Power Battles'' provides an opportunity for two people to sit together and truly cooperatively work through the game.
Notes
References
External links
Official website
archived via the Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
*
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{{Authority control
2000 video games
Cooperative video games
Dreamcast games
Game Boy Advance games
LucasArts games
THQ games
PlayStation (console) games
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace video games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games scored by Allister Brimble
Video games developed in the United States