The Force wasnt with them (Star Wars - Jedi Power Battles - Episode 1 (DC))

Member Name: oldreekie

Product:	Star Wars - Jedi Power Battles - Episode 1 (DC)
Date:	09/05/01 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: hey, its Star Wars, the lightsabres

Disadvantages: a bit boring, no cut sequences

Become your favourite Jedi Knight and battle your way thru 10 action packed levels, wielding your trusty light saber, in defence of Queen, honour and the galaxay.

For any Star Wars fan, it sounds too good to be true. And alas, it is.

The opening sequence certainly delivers. The "Battle of the Fates" from the classic lightsabre battle at the end of Episode 1, blasts out as you watch a fairly well animated sequence featuring the main characters from the game, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mace Windu and two others who seem to have been invented for the game, doing battle with assorted mechanical baddies before facing down Darth Maul.

Title sequences are all well and good but what about the game.

As I said, there are 10 levels, all set in locations from the movie and which faithfully follow the plot.

In most levels you just have to get to the end and defeat the Boss guy without getting killed yourself.

Along the way you will encounter other characters from the movie such as Jar-Jar Binks, Anakin and Queen Amidala and you will be gifted with the task of safetly escorting them to a particualr point in the level without them getting killed.

So whos trying to kill you. Well tons of trade federation droids for a start, a few destroyers (the cool rolling droids), assorted bounty hunters, and of course......Darth Maul!

And all youve got to help you is your trusty lightsabre and your Jedi powers. The lightsabre can be used for defence and attack. You have a couple of attack moves and attacks can be used in combos. More combos are unlocked the further into the game you go. The controls for the lightsabre work pretty well, however you soon find that repeatedly hitting the same button works just as well as attempting to put together a clever combo move. Each character has their own specific Jedi offence power.

There is a fair amount of platform hopping as well where you get a chance to use your Jedi J
ump, a cool looking double flip.

So whats wrong with the game?

It just feels as if the whole thing has been put together in a hurry and with little enthusiasm from the production team.

The levels are graphically fairly uninspiring. There are areas on the screen that the character cannot move into, not because there is something physically impeding them but because the programmer has deemed it out of bounds.

The animation of the characters is only average at best.

And after 10 levels the action becomes fairly repetitive. Its all jump and slash and run and slash.

Worst of all tho, there are no proper cut sequences. This kind of plot driven game requires cut sequences to connect the levels and keep a coherent story going. But not here. At the end of the level you get your bonus score and onto the next level with no explanation. I completed the game more with a sense of duty rather than because I wanted too.

This might have been acceptable a few years ago, but not now that we have games which deliver intricate plotting such as Code Veronica and Tomb Raider.

There is no on-line function. There is a 2 play battle zone mode and the game itself can be played with 2 players.

The is a seven level training mode which promises a secret for completion. Not a very exciting secret tho. It unlocks another character, the cone-head from the Jedi Council sequence of Eps 1.

I bought the game because I am a big Star Wars fan and the game will definitely yield most of its limited appeal to them. Non-Star Wars Im afraid will be fairly disappointed.

Summary: