Top 10 Star Wars Games You Probably Never Played #MayThe4thBeWithYou

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Star Wars has been a staple of gaming for decades.  We all know and love the popular titles like Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront, and love to hate ones like SWTOR, but there are many Star Wars games you’ve probably never tried — many you’ve never even heard of! Allow me to share a few of my favorite lesser-known Star Wars Games.

Rebel Assault 2

Rebel Assault I (1993) & II (1995)

I combined these two games into one because most of you probably never played or even heard of either of them. I remember playing Rebel Assault I & II. At least I remember trying to play them. Buying a game for the PC was hit or miss when it came to getting things to work with DOS. Once they were finally up and running, these games boasted live-action cutscenes flying ship levels, ground combat, and cover mechanics all woven into a fascinatingly cheesy storyline.  I think the only thing I remember is hating half the levels and some prototype TIE fighter.

TIE Fighter Game

TIE Fighter (1994)

“You are now the hand of the Emperor!” Oh yeah, that’s right. Nothing like managing shields, speed, powers, etc., all from the cockpit of a TIE fighter. This made the simulation genre come alive for me.

Dark Forces Game

Dark Forces (1995)

Way more than a Doom clone, Dark Forces put the player in the role of Kyle Katarn for the first time. While tasked with stealing the plans of the Death Star, Katarn learns about this super secret Storm Trooper being built: The Dark Trooper. The story and levels were awesome. Dark Forces easily spawned the Star Wars shooters genre.

Yoda Stories

Yoda Stories (1996)

Yoda Stories is often hated on as one of the worst Star Wars games ever, but I think it’s simply misunderstood and before its time. Yoda Stories was a quasi-RPG map-solving game all about going on little mundane quests and exploring procedurally generated top-down tile maps. Graev absolutely loved it.

Dark Forces 2

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997)

Katarn is back in the continuation of what will become one of the most important stories to Star Wars video games. Katarn sets off on a journey (taking place right after Episode VI) to find the Dark Jedi who not only killed his father but also intends on rebuilding the Empire. Katarn discovers the force is strong with him and based on the player’s actions can become a Jedi or the next Emperor. Epic!

Rogue Squadron N64

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998)

A departure from the simulation style play of its predecessors, Rogue Squadron features amazing arcade-like flying and action. I remember flying in the X-Wing, A-Wing, V-Wing, Y-Wing and Snowspeeder. Roping walkers was a pita. Rogue Squadron on the N64 was the first game to ever use the Expansion Pak, which upped the resolution. I remember buying that thing just for this game!

Battle for Naboo N64

 

Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo (2000)

Made by the same team as Rogue Squadron, Factor 5 continued their arcade-action-flight series with Battle for Naboo. Featuring lots of cool vehicles from the era , Battle for Naboo was the first chance we had to experience vehicles and things like this from the prequels.

Rogue Squadron 2 Rogue Leader

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001)

Oh yeah, they made a second Rogue Squadron (and a third but I never played it), and it was pretty awesome. Rogue Squadron 2 was probably my favorite game on the Gamecube. Although the story was a little lacking compared to the original, it was simply awesome to fly all of the different ships.

Jedi Knight 2

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002)

Jedi Knight 2 is one of the best Star Wars games ever made. Continuing Katarn’s story is one thing, but where this game shined was in its multiplayer. From mods to roleplay servers, Jedi Knight II was yet another game before its time. JK2 featured different lightsaber dueling styles and force powers! I remember Graev and I played on a server all about recreating the Jedi Academy. He was an instructor and trained in light saber dueling styles. Graev and I even competed in a tournament competition hosted by Gateway computers. Good times.

Empire at War

Empire at War (2006)

If there was ever a franchise that would lend itself to a rich RTS, it’s Star Wars. Large epic battles in space, on land, and utilizing all of the Star Wars vehicles, characters — all in RTS format — makes Empire at War an easy addition to the list. Empire at War was much, much better than Galactic Battlegrounds which was the Star Wars RTS from 2001 and impossible to run on my computer.

Wow, that was an adventure down memory lane. Did I miss one of your favorite lesser-known Star Wars games?

  • Getting Yoda Stories to work on a modern PC is a struggle, but I think there are some tweaks out there to make it happen. Worth a shot even if the only reason is to say you’ve played it. 😉

  • I miss a lot of these. Personally I liked x-win vs tie fighter the best out of the simulation games though. JK2 was so good though, I still go back and play through it on single player just because it was so much fun. The Dark Forces series/Jedi Knight series is actually what got me into the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

    Empire at War is still one of my favorites as well, though heavily modded. I did not realize it was that old though.

  • @Drathmar: X-wing vs TIE was amazing, but soooo many people have played it I decided to leave it off my list. It’s one of the best of all time. 🙂

  • Dark Forces was such a great game. The sound alone of the dark troopers freaked me out to no end.

  • I loved Tie Fighter. Setting up those massive battles in the “create a battle” mode was always awesome.

    Even though it was much maligned, I loved Star Wars Rebellion.

    I still wish we could get an interesting Star Wars turn based or 4x strategy game made in modern times.

    Man, if Paradox Interactive could acquire the rights to develop a Star Wars game along the lines of Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron. That’d be a real “shut up and take my money!” situation for me.

  • Great list. The rogue squadron games and the dark forces/jedi knight games were easily some of my favorite all time games.

  • As was mentioned about, Star Wars Rebellion was epic. But… slow. Really, really slow. I probably would enjoy it more now than I did then.

    My personal wishlist for a Star Wars game these days is essentially a Star Wars: Elite Dangerous/Star Citizen. Smuggling, pirating, dodging blockades etc.

  • Also, nobody has mentioned Shadows of the Empire from N64.

    How many people loaded that game up just to replay the first level over and over and over and over. It was the first great implementation of the Battle of Hoth into a game.

    Has there ever been a video game that was more defined by it’s first level?

  • Does Star Wars Racer count? Played the crap out of that when Episode I first came out. Great little racing game that really captured the sense of speed you should feel if you were in a real pod racer.

  • Never heard of Yoda Stories, looks neat, like Desktop Dungeons?

    Always wanted to try Empire at War and never got around to it.

    My favorite that I played will always be XvT, as great as X-Wing and Tie Fighter were individually, I will take XvT’s multiplayer over the campaigns of its predecessors every day of the week. XvT was one of the first games that made me think about what an MMO could be, I remember saying to my friends “imagine if every one of those ships was a player.”

    And the #1 Star Wars game I never played: SWG. Whoops 🙁

  • @Nukethesitefromorbit: Wasn’t that the Age of Empires game with a Star Wars skin?

  • Yes Galactic Battlegrounds was even made in the AOE engine I think. My comp couldn’t run it well for whatever reason.

  • Was Yoda Stories related to Indiana Jones Desktop Adventures? It looks the exact same interface…I remember playing that game a lot. It was a fun little adventure.

  • @SineNomine: Yep, this came after Indiana Jones Desktop Adventures and was based on the same game concept.