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Published on January 23rd, 2025 | by Nay Clark

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles Review (Switch)

May the Force be with you because you are definitely going to need it in this challenging arcade style Star Wars game! Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a beat em’ up platformer developed and published by Aspyr and released on January 23rd of 2025. This game is a remaster that started on the original PlayStation in April of 2000 and got rereleased with new features for the Dreamcast in October of 2000 and Gameboy Advance in December of 2001. Aspyr, long time Star Wars video game developer, has remastered the Dreamcast version of the game and included even more additions to this lightsaber twirling classic. Grab a buddy, claim the high ground, and take down the presence of the Sith to restore balance to the Force.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, as the name implies, follows the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The game begins with two Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, who were sent to a meeting to negotiate an agreement between the powerful wavering forces of Trade Federation and the royal government of Naboo. Of course things go awry, in the worst way possible, and the two Jedi must fight their way out of the predicament that they are in, setting the starting point for the warring events that will ultimately shake the galaxy. The 10 levels in the game will look familiar to long time Star Wars fans. You’ll be marching through the Trade Federation Battleship, trudging through the Swamps of Naboo, and tromping over the many tiles and bricks within the City of Theed.

You can choose between two different difficulties, Jedi Mode and Easy Mode, which famously don’t have any differences between them for some reason. This new rendition of the game starts with everything unlocked. All of the characters, levels, and bonuses are unlocked from the start immediately giving you a plethora to play around with at your leisure. Characters you can choose to play range from Qui-Jon Jinn, Adi Gallia, and Plo Koon. Even previous unlockable characters like Darth Maul and Queen Amidala can be selected without having to complete the game first. The remaster adds some new characters that you can play with as well like Rifle Droid and Jar Jar Binks. Some of the Jedi’s lightsaber colors can be changed and there is a “Level” and “Skill” counter for each character so you can keep track of who you use the most.

The gameplay is simple and is easy to pick up and play making this the perfect game for a handheld like the Switch. You get loaded into a level with an objective, whether it be to simply move forward through the level or to protect a computer controlled character that follows you. All of the characters roughly play the same although the differences may determine how you play the game. Some characters have distinct differences like Plo Kloon being slower, but more powerful and Mace Windu being more balanced between offensive and defensive skills, but his lightsaber moves being a bit more flashy which may give the enemies more time to knock you off your feet.

Jedi characters have a few different Force abilities that they can use to get the upper hand on their enemies from AoE shockwaves to singular laser-like beams. The Jedi’s can also deflect gunfire with their lightsabers, effectively deflecting the shot back at their opponents. While blaster users that you can pick from can’t deflect incoming fire, they can shoot enemies from afar, giving you ample time to react to the opposition’s offense. I also found the AMP item pickup in the levels quite useful for the blaster users since it turns their bolts into rockets, productively creating destroyed droids.

There are different power-ups in the game like Health to refill your health, Force to restore the Force of the Jedi characters, Extra Life gives you another life, and Blade Extender makes your attacks stronger and increases the length of your lightsaber allowing you to hit enemies further away. Collecting power-ups and defeating enemies nets you with a different amount of points that don’t ultimately reward you with anything other than a challenge for yourself and your friends to try to beat your best score within a level. The feel of this arcade design of the game and how it is regulated between the mechanics make the game amusing to mess around in. Running around and picking up the different power-ups and watching your points rack up is satisfying in a lighthearted way, especially while playing the game in co-op mode.

Besides the main game, there are some other modes that you can play. In Training Mode, you can practice with whichever character you want while you go through multiple training sessions, like obstacle courses, to advance your parkour skills. There isn’t a lot you can do fighting wise, but there are some nice combos you can unleash and the pause menu holds a list where you can view which combos you have used and how many times you have used it. VS. Mode allows you to duel it out one on one style to increase your fighting abilities. There are also some fun bonus levels like one where you play as a droideka and you have to clear the palace of guards before time runs out.

While the basis of a nice game is here and the actual game is fun in quick bursts, it really isn’t all that exciting to play. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is practically exclusively made for co-op. Playing this game by yourself is a drag. The controls are super stiff, especially jumping. The platforming in the game is already half-baked due to the arcade style of the game so the odd jumping doesn’t do it any more favors. There is a weird momentum to jumping and even if you pull off the momentum of your jump correctly, it still feels as if you did it wrong. The difficulty is also all over the place. Sometimes you can breeze through a room and other times you can’t let your guard down at all.

You’ll at least have someone else to take the flak for you if you play the game with a friend, but playing this by yourself is so tiresome. You’ll constantly lose health and die in intolerable ways. From enemies knocking you off platforms, enemies swarming you from all directions, or missing a jump due to the wonky controls. Enemies are attacking you so much that this essentially becomes Block: The Game; and then when you do get a chance to fight back, you are still outnumbered so you are still getting hit when your guard is down. While the arcadey fun is here, it feels a little bit too much on the goofy side design wise. No matter if I’m taking my time, locking on to enemies, dodging, and using items efficiently, my actions don’t really have a purpose and I’m not getting rewarded for playing well.

The game looks good graphically at first glance with textures being sharper and models simply being better than before. Keeping the old-school polygonal flair is also a nice touch. There are a couple of odd things that I did notice in the graphics department. The environments are a lot brighter which allows you to see a lot of the stages better, but now some areas are washed out. A lot of purposeful shadows and darkened colors have been recreated into something vacuous. Browns are now yellows and the shape of round objects look flat. Some details, like lines in a walkway or the inner workings of a container look terribly peculiar. Some details look more sloppy than the original. Grooves in grates or intended straight lines in the original look curved here in this rendition of the game. I’m not sure if it is due to A.I. upscaling or simply the graphical change in general that has caused these issues, but it’s all throughout the game. While it is nothing drastically distracting, sticklers for factors like this may take a double take while slicing down a Tusken Raider.

Audio design is very straightforward and what you’d expect to hear. Brilliant pieces like “Dual of the Fates” composed by John Williams are rightfully included among more ambient music and sound effects environments like Naboo. Menu clicks and voice lines have a muffled sound to them that brings that nostalgic feel to the game. The buzz of lightsabers and hums of blasters sound great as well. The polish of the clear music and the crunchy audio does feel a bit dissonant as the two don’t clash harmonically, but the inconsistency doesn’t expel anything away from your experience playing the game.

Final Thoughts?

Everything about this remaster is incredibly true to the original, so while it may look cleaner and more crispy than the previous versions, it still plays the same. The framerate is better, character models aren’t as low res, and the game looks brighter overall. While sticking to the source material is good for a lot of reasons, it is also bad for other reasons. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a taxing game in a lot of different ways. The stiff controls are cumbersome and the game would feel a lot smoother if they were more snappy. Not only do unfair gameplay moments provide you with no challenge, but they also make the game incredibly boring to go through when you are losing in arbitrary ways. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles has a decent amount of content and nonsensical entertainment with the co-op modes, but I find my lack of motivation to play this game disturbing.

About the Author

Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.

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