"You were supposed to be the chosen one!" we howled, as Star Wars Battlefront 2 gave us yet another lousy drop from a loot box system so pernicious that Disney told EA to turn off microtransactions. But while Battlefront 2 isn't all bad, it definitely doesn't feel like the right game to get us in the mood for The Last Jedi, which hit theaters in the past few days. Whether you've seen it already and want to sustain the high, or you're heading out soon and want something to get your midichlorians racing, here are our favorite Star Wars games that aren't Battlefront 2.
Super Star Wars (SNES, 1992)
One of the movies' earliest console adaptations, Super Star Wars is definitely of its time, but we still have a soft spot for this run-and-gun 2D platform game for a multitude of reasons. For a start, it reminds us of a simpler time when you could just stick "Super" on the front of a game name and people would take your work seriously, rather than assuming you were a hipster. And for another thing, it's amusing to look back at how roughly the game treated the Star Wars story it was building on. Remember the bit in the movie where Luke had to fight his way to the top of a sandcrawler to first meet C-3PO and R2-D2? Thought not.
Shadows of the Empire (N64, 1996)
Like a lot of N64 games, Shadows of the Empire has aged rather badly, but also like a lot of N64 games, one of the reasons it now feels so antiquated is that it was ahead of its time, riffing on iconic events in the movies and hopping between third-person shooter action and vehicle-based levels as it digs into what happened between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Kicking off with a level on Hoth where the player has to tie the AT-ATs' shoelaces together, it takes in battles with Boba Fett, fighting alongside Luke, Lando and Chewbacca, and generally makes you feel like you're in a good Star Wars movie.
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC, 1997)
The second Dark Forces game took the maze-like level design of the Doom-era original and made it feel more like a sprawling space opera. The original was a pure shooter, but as the title of this sequel suggests, returning hero Kyle Katarn is quickly set on a path to discover his own connection to the Force. Getting to use a lightsaber in first-person was an exciting new development, and while the level design often struggled to disguise its 'find the key, open the door' construction, the plot was pretty compelling, culminating in a choice between Katarn's lightest and darkest possible timelines.
Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II (GameCube, 2001)
The apex of the Star Wars space combat console game archetype, Rogue Leader stuck with the original trilogy, putting you in the cockpit of iconic ships including the X-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing, B-Wing, Snowspeeder and even the Millennium Falcon. The campaign took in events and locations across the series, including the Rebel attack on the first Death Star, a tussle with imperial forces above Bespin, and, of course, the climactic space battle in the skies above Endor. Rogue Leader nailed the look and sound of everything it attempted, felt wonderful to control, and probably goes down as one of the best third-party launch titles in console history. Sadly the sequel, Rebel Strike, failed to recapture the magic.
Jedi Starfighter (PS2 / Xbox, 2002)
History hasn't been kind to the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies (and, let's be honest, neither were reviews at the time), but there were a few good things to come out of them, including the Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter games. Punchy little space combat titles, these console shooters took the PC-only X-Wing and TIE Fighter adventures of the previous decade and gave them the accessibility needed to thrive on a joypad. We can barely remember the plot of these games, but we remember Jedi Starfighter was the superior sequel and that the core act of flying your ship around blasting Separatists or whoever the devil it was in those days never got old.
Knights of the Old Republic (PC / Xbox, 2003)
Most of the games on this list have been about fun gameplay and reliving iconic movie moments, but BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic is something else. Set thousands of years outside the cinematic timeline, this choice-and-consequence role-playing game saw players fighting across the galaxy to dismantle the evil forces of Darth Malak. BioWare RPGs often involve defining the player's moral alignment through action and dialogue, but KOTOR was able to tie this into the Force dichotomy of Light and Dark in a way that felt ravenously compelling to Star Wars disciples, and some of the twists and turns along the way were bold and exciting in a way the prequel trilogy - stuck between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith when KOTOR came out - rarely managed.
Lego Star Wars (PS2 / Xbox / GameCube / PC, 2005)
It seems funny to say it now, but nobody really expected much from Lego Star Wars. The prequel trilogy had been poorly received, movie licenses rarely made good games, and UK-based developer Traveller's Tales was largely unknown at the time. The result was an incredibly pleasant surprise for everyone who gave it a chance. Being able to manipulate Lego blocks with Force powers was a masterful way of tying the two licenses together, giving every scenario a magical feel, and the wealth of collectables and unlockable characters, not to mention single-screen multiplayer, meant the game had fantastic depth and replayability. The game's sense of humor sealed the deal, adding a dash of slapstick to cutscenes that re-enacted famous moments. The formula proved so successful that Traveller's Tales was acquired by Warner Bros. and went on to make around 20 further Lego-based titles, taking in everything from Indiana Jones and Harry Potter to Batman and The Lord of the Rings.