Ranking the best Star Wars games that I’ve played

A definitive look at all the Star Wars games that I’ve played

May the fourth be with you! Ha-ha, just a little joke on today, May the 4th — Star Wars day, to the uninitiated. It’s perhaps our most American holiday: no day off from work and in tribute to consumption of a multi-billion dollar entertainment product.

And in honor of this most American of holidays, I thought it would be prudent to rank the very best and very worst of Star Wars video games (that I’ve played). It’s a crowded field. Star Wars has been around about as long as games and there have been a lot of Star Wars games, many with confusing names like Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader that all bleed together. 

Be sure to name your favorites in the comments, and may the force be with you!

5. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Featuring classic sounds from the Star Wars universe, Rogue Squadron is a fast-paced game of dog-fighting and questionable draw distances. It’s no Nuclear Strike, but as far as early console flight games, it was pretty good.

4. Star Wars Battlefront

Battlefield-developer DICE took the Battlefront (no relation, well, until there was) reins when EA signed a deal with Disney for exclusive development rights to Star Wars games not long after Disney dropped $4 billion to buy Lucasfilm. I only played the beta. It was fine. Kind of hard to see anything on the snow planet, though. 

3. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

This was the first Star Wars game I played where you actually get to use a lightsaber, I think. That was pretty cool! Eagle-eyed fans will recognize the classic glowing sword as a staple of the Star Wars universe, having appeared in almost every Star Wars film, even the recent Rogue One, which has nothing to do with Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader that I’m aware of.

2. Star Wars: Battlefront II

Pandemic’s Battlefront II improved on its original Battlefront game by featuring a Stormtrooper with blue tribal tattoos on its box art instead of the stuffy, classic all-white look. This might be explained in the story, but I only played it for its multiplayer, which was fun.

1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

While not a Star Wars game per se, you can unlock and play as fan-favorite Darth Maul, who was introduced in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and voiced by someone other than the actor you see on screen, despite having only two lines of dialogue in the film.