• Jar Jar Binks Thumbs Up

/

The Dark Side: The 10 Worst Star Wars Games Ever

By on at • @mggjim

The feedback from our recent list of the 10 Best Star Wars Games of All Time was great. Many compelling arguments were made as to why certain games should or shouldn’t be on our list, but our primary takeaway from the discussion was that we have been incredibly lucky to experience so many fantastic Star Wars games. And with EA now in charge of future games, and new games rolling out already, the future looks bright.

But what about the stinkers? The games that publishers tried to shove down our throats based solely on some vague Star Wars branding? Or the well-intentioned games that just couldn’t make it work? Behold the opposite of our first list, the 10 Worst Star Wars Games Ever. Read on and let us know if this list will be even more controversial than the last.

Sign Up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest

Read more in Editorials or Games on TekRevue

  • Jacob Clipsham

    I’ve only fond memories of Star Wars Demolition on my Dreamcast and don’t care too much for you tarnishing that ;)

    • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

      Indeed, I *remember* loving several games on this list (Rebellion, Rebel Assault, even Yoda Stories) from when I was younger, but revisiting them now as I prepared the list made me realize how powerful nostalgia is. I loved Star Wars so much at one point in my life that I didn’t care what it was, so long as it featured blasters, X-Wings, and Wookiees :)

  • Andy

    How about Kinect: Star Wars?! Lol, people hated it so much they forgot about it.

    • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

      That’s on page 12, our “Dishonorable Mention” :)

      • Andy

        Haha, that comment made my day! Rare occasion that the original posters comment on these things. =) Nice Top 10 Star Wars games list too. As a lifetime Star Wars fan, I think you really nailed it and truly understand what Star Wars is about.

        • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

          Thanks for the kind words, Andy. And thanks for visiting!

    • James Vetzal

      I will say that I did enjoy the podracing quite a lot, made me feel like I was playing the old arcade game version of Podracer, which was a fantastic game.
      That needs a new sequel or a star wars open end racing game set on corouscant

      • Dan Rizzo

        Pod racing did have a sequel with Hayden Christensen. It had the same maps but it looked more modernly built

  • Kieran Cameron

    I am all for everyone gets their own opinion but I have only good memories of Star Wars episode 1: Jedi Power Battles. I wont say its not without bugs and issues but i would definately say there is much worse star wars games out there!

  • James

    How dare you put Star Wars: Obi-Wan on this list! That is one of my all time favorite Star Wars games. I thought the controls for the game were amazing!

    • Habib

      couldnt agree more! most original

    • Tyler Osso

      i agree completely… plus 1v1 jedi battles

      • Jesse Manners

        Thank you for saying this, I quietly screamed when I read Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Jedi Battles. Spent COUNTLESS hours on both.

        • Tyler Osso

          haha same here same here

      • David Mumford

        those were the best

    • Kody Adams

      such a great game, back when i had a modchip in the first xbox

    • David Mumford

      thank you! i’m not the only one who loved that game.

  • Christopher Riddles

    I enjoyed Rebellion, I even go back to it now and again in this day and age.

  • Ramon

    I also respect everyone’s right to their own opinion, but you are loony tunes for having Masters of Teräs Käsi and Rebellion on this list. Both of these games gave me and my friends many, many hours of entertainment. Empire at War was probably the first game I bought when it was brand new and uninstalled after the first hour. And Masters is the only fighting game from that era that I felt had perfect character balance.

    • ShadowMarshall

      all this proves is that you seem to have an extremely poor taste in video games.

      • Ramon

        And that is, of course, your opinion. I like what I like.

  • Fred101

    Star Wars Rebellion is a great game, one which I keep going back to play even now. Yes it had its fair share of problems, but the scale was amazing. To say that Empire at War gave us players satisfaction is (at least to me) completely false. I thought Empire at War would fix the mistakes of Rebellion and be great, but I ended up hated it very quickly.

    • Robert Bray

      Empire at war is how I’d imagine a sixty year old would feel if he thought he’d bought Viagra but instead was sold a placebo.

      Fantastic potential leading to epic disappointment. Picked up Rebellion on GOG. Still brilliant.

  • http://www.thepurgemusic.com The Purge

    You used an image from Rebel Assault 2 in the Rebel Assault description, I think. I played the shit out of that game when I was like 7.

    • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

      Whoops. Thanks for catching that! Should be fixed now once the cache clears.

      Indeed, I played every game on this list for hours when I was younger (except for Kinect Star Wars), and I remember loving them all. But looking at them now, they don’t hold up like the games on our Best of Star Wars list.

  • Milo Cremer Eindhoven

    What about the horrible Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing?

  • Austin Beckstrom

    I might be the only person I know who enjoyed Rebellion.

    • Michael Castleberry

      I liked it a lot also. The game was broken as hell though once I got an Interdictor cruiser when I played as the Empire. Have a big ass fleet with a few star destroyers and a super star destroyer, and an interdictor so they can’t retreat into hyper space, and you basically just mop up the galaxy pretty easily. Then capture every planet except the rebel base, and destroy it w/ a Death Star,

  • Patrick Furlong

    How could anyone NOT like Rogue Squadron 2 on the Gamecube?

    • Kris

      Rogue Squadron 2 was good, the bad one was Rogue Squadron 3. That one had all the horrible ground missions.

  • William Grundmann

    I want to talk about Force Unleashed II, although the gameplay and level design were good. The extremely short length and crappy storyline did not come close to compare to the first Force Unleashed. I finished its 3 levels in an hour and I was like thats it, its like the forgot to make the 75% of the game.

    • Ron Trackwell

      I agree, and its not even really three levels, you just go back to the first world in the end.That game was such a big disappointment.

  • Joshua Hunt

    Im Sorry i know that some people disliked Jedi battles, But my brother and myself Sat there for hours on end trying to finish it Granted today i would only play it in memory of my brother, But i love that game with the actual hard game of 2001.

  • Matt James Krause

    I’m sorry but clearly you didn’t try Star Wars Obi-Wan on the Gameboy Colour, that shit was the best

    • Matt James Krause

      really different to the console/pc version

  • Tony Horton

    Are any of you KIDS who created this list old enough to know the 1983 arcade classic sit-down Star Wars? I thought not, seeing as you omitted it from the Best 10 list…….jeeeesh. Ask your parents, or do your homework better.

  • Robert Xiste Plouffe

    The worst star wars game ever made was star wars kinnect

  • Dan Rizzo

    Obviously you sucked at the game. This was the best star wars game of all time. This is a pathetic review and you should be banned for your top ten best and worst. Just seeing that picture makes me miss the game horribly. Ever hear of the evolution of graphics? Too bad man. Work on your gaming skills. You even get to play as Darth maul but you probably weren’t good enough for it. TWIT!!!

  • Dan Rizzo

    Time your attacks right!!!

  • Dan Rizzo

    Can’t stand the truth? No constructive criticism? Work on your controls bro!

  • Dan Rizzo

    Bad list!

  • Steven Klein

    Star Wars Rebellion is one of the greatest games ever made. It just takes an investigative mind to figure out how it works! I doubt any living person could beat me. But there may be a handful of challenges out there.

  • William Petersen

    BOO! Rebel assault was awesome!!

  • Christopher Bodenberger

    I really enjoyed Force Commander and rebellion when I was young. Trying to play them recently left me with a bad taste. Mostly for the reasons you mentioned but also because they aren’t playable on modern hardwareand I’ve been spoiled by Empire At War. I’ve bought the game several time and only play it Modded now days. Absolute Corruption Mod ftw.

    • Robert Bray

      Bless GOG.

  • Isaiah Timothy Miller

    what about battlefront with the poor AI

  • Mike

    Did the author seriously say “with EA in charge, the future looks good”? Does he even know who EA is?

    • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

      Yeah I did, because compared to what LucasArts was doing with the franchise for the past 10 years, the future does look bright. EA makes plenty of mistakes, and it’s fun to beat on them, but they still produce good games from time to time, such as the Mass Effect franchise, which would be right up the Start Wars alley.

      • Mike

        Bioware already had those franchises established though. Hopefully EA doesn’t screw Battlefront up, I might actually buy one of their games again if it’s good. I am still struggling with purchasing dragon age inquisition on my ps4, I want it but it’s EA, ugh.

        • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

          I’m with you on that. EA represents both ends of the spectrum for me, making or publishing both some of my absolute favorite games (Mass Effect, last-gen NHL, Left 4 Dead) and my worst gaming experiences (NHL 15, SimCity, Battlefield 4, etc.). But LucasArts was doing absolutely nothing good with Star Wars, and I’m happy to have at least some progress, even if it ends up sucking the first round through.

          • Mike

            My fingers are crossed that Battlefront turns out great. I will most likely get DA: Inquisition eventually breaking my ban. Although if I don’t get it before the Witcher 3 comes out, I may not worry about it.

  • Daniel

    You can’t really lump the Playstation, Dreamcast, and Gameboy Advance versions of Jedi Power Battles all into one listing. The Playstation version was meh. The Gameboy Advance version I never played but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that a game on those two systems cannot be compared. The Dreamcast version was FANTASTIC (for its time). It sported far cleaner and pleasing graphics, better controls, and a fantastic co-op. Just look at the available reviews: the Gameboy and Playstation reviews average around 60% whereas the Dreamcast version is around 75%.

  • Austin Kennedy

    The GBA version of Jedi power battles was actually pretty fun.

  • dustyn

    I loved force commander honestly…

  • David Mumford

    Obi-Wan should not be on this list

  • Sharpe

    I am going to start accumulating authors who can’t do research for my article called “The Sith Side - The 10 Most Uneducated Journalists Who Think They Can Write About Star Wars”. Here’s a great example. Where is Star Wars Episode I The Gungan Frontier on your list? Or how about, Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo? Both of these games were atrocious. Meanwhile, on your list of good games we get Jedi Outcast. How about Dark Forces? or Dark Forces II? Or even Jedi Academy (Which had far, far better level designs with the same engine). You have X-wing - which was terrible, story and all - but where is X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter, which finally let us blow each other up in true multiplayer style? I get that true honest unbiased journalism is dead, but come on, this kind of article you can justify buying EVERY STAR WARS GAME and playing them as a Business Expense, and you just did what? Perused some fan forums? Disappointing.

    • http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue

      Hey Sharpe, great examples of both good and bad games. Just one point, however. You see that big blue word at the top of the article that says “Editorial?” This is opinion. Our opinion. “Biased” journalism is the entire point. As mentioned several times throughout both lists, these are our favorite Star Wars games. The ethics of the situation would only apply if we included games that we knew weren’t bad (or vice versa) due to some personal connection with the game or other reason unrelated to our enjoyment or lack thereof (depending on the list).

  • Douglasde

    Looking at this list It’s not hard to see why Lucas Arts was shut down. I must say I did kinda enjoy Rebellion, but that game was ridiculously hard to manage at certain points. Not to mention a game manual that was the length of a novel.

  • bandack

    i loved jedi power battles

  • ssmithjr

    MoTK was great! Why isn’t SWG-NGE on this list?

  • Shannon

    I’d have to add Star Wars Arcade for the Sega 32x. No plot, horrible voice acting & incredibly tough level design. I’m a die hard star wars fan & with unlimited time on my hands but I still couldn’t stomach this game.

  • Franklin Sherwood Holland III

    Rancor Rampage was pretty fun too

  • Miles Hilario

    It’s funny that one of my most memorable Playstation games is Masters of Teras Kasi and it was impossible to find when I repurchased the first playstation many years later. Granted when I got the game I was only 7. Viewing a youtube clip of the game makes me realize that I’m glad I never found it or I would have been disappointed. :P I think I was too excited over the fact that I could play as Darth Vader and I always kicked my older brother’s ass at it. :D

  • Johnstradomus

    I figured Star Wars Obi Wan would be on this after it failed to make the best games list. The lightsaber combat, multiplayer and story were fun and one of the only drawbacks was the camera at times.

  • Johnstradomus

    First Obi Wan and then Jedi Power Battles? I respectfully agree to disagree. Perhaps it was poor marketing to be faulted here for their lack of commercial success.

  • Paul Peterson

    Yoda stories? A random generating ultimately replayable star wars adventure? awesome to me