Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles Reviews
You can only polish a turd so much. The new visuals are nice, the content is cool, but playing the game is just a painful exercise in frustration.
Released 25 years ago, Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles is a divisive game, and Aspyr's modern port doesn't do much to make it a must-play.
Does Aspyr recapture the magic of the original release, or does Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles belong in the trash compactor?
For those who enjoyed the original release back around the turn of the millennium, Star Wars: Episode I - Jedi Power Battles is just about the safest remaster you could imagine. The instant level unlocks and expanded character roster are both nice touches, but Aspyr's limited improvements leave this feeling very of its time. If you can get past the sluggish combat, painful platforming, and performance 'quirks', then this is a fun trip down memory lane; if you can't, then prepare for a lesson in what games felt like a long time ago.
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a blaster shot from the past, with fun beat-em-up action slightly let down by dodgy platforming.
To put it simply, if this was one of those retro re-releases that are basically fancy emulators with additional screen filters and save states, maybe online play as a treat, Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles (whew) probably would’ve been alright.
What Jedi Power Battles really needed was a remake, not a remaster, so that the gameplay could be brought up to something worth playing in this decade. If you want to be a Jedi these days there are way, way better options out there.
Jedi Power Battles struggles to hit its mark but does enough to be a fun time to play once or twice either alone or with a friend. The addition of new characters is exciting and sometimes ridiculous, but if your goal is to beat the levels, most of the additional characters won't get it done. If your goal is a trip down memory lane or the chance to show a friend a game that is nostalgic for you, this game is it.
The last two-and-a-half decades have not been kind to Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, and Aspyr hasn’t done quite enough to tackle the bugs and other issues that plagued the game upon its 2000 release. This remains a fairly torrid experience, then, and one of the Star Wars series' lesser video game outings. Maybe leave this one in the Sarlacc pit where it belongs.
It's good this game is cheap because there's not a lot here worth really digging into unless you're a hardcore Star Wars game fan or have a friend to burn some hours with. Despite the many irritants embedded in the game's core design, this remaster has polished some of the rough parts and even added a slew of new playable characters. Even though I don't strongly recommend this particular Star Wars title, I laud the effort to preserve classic games for newer hardware.
Whether you’ll enjoy Star Wars™: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles™ depends purely on nostalgia, but for the modern day this game just doesn’t hold up.
STAR WARS: Jedi Power Battles is a galactic disappointment. While some technical updates like faster load times are nice, the force is not strong with its outdated mechanics, frustrating platforming, and missed opportunities to fix core issues. A mediocre game from 2000 with no substantial changes simply doesn't cut it in 2025. It's a Womp rat of a re-release that fails to live up to the legacy of the Star Wars saga.
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.
STAR WARS: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a fun side-scrolling arcade beat 'em up, with a few issues, but is still a fun time.
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is sort of the ultimate version of the game, where you can find all the content in one place, even from different versions (and it's based on the Dreamcast version). So there's lots of characters, levels, a gallery of bonus material and other content. But it's not a good experience. It's full of bugs, often major ones, that often make it impossible to progress through the game.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a good idea stuck with a mediocre execution. The various mechanics - from the platforming to the combat to the defensive inconsistencies - make what should be a simple game more laborious. While the addition of more characters should be great for fans of Episode I in particular, the fact that none of them play well makes the expanded roster even less appealing to unlock. If you're a very forgiving person, you may have some fun with this, but everyone else is better off playing either another beat-'em-up or another Star Wars game.
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is still as fun as it was when it was released 25 years ago, but this mediocre and bureaucratic remaster does little to address the aesthetic issues and even less for the original's limitations. While it largely ignores newcomers, it may have its appeal for a few moments for longtime fans, but it does little to reward them for their loyalty.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
PS1-era Star Wars game that is certainly showing its age
Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles is basically fun, there's no question about that. If you get into the retro gaming experience from the early days of 3D action games, you can definitely have an entertaining time with the game. It gets even better in two-player couch co-op, especially in connection with the cheats, which provide visual changes and thus a smile or two. However, the game wasn't completely problem-free 25 years ago, and unfortunately nothing has changed at all. Collision queries are not calculated correctly, numerous clipping errors spoil the gaming experience and the fiddly jump sections often prevent smooth progress through the game. In two-player mode, the camera control also often gets in the way when it suddenly switches unfavorably during a jump or causes characters to simply fall out of the picture. If we look at the improvements to the new release by Aspyr, the only thing that stands out apart from the revised graphics textures is the scope, as the game provides all content such as unlockable levels or characters right from the start of the game. Otherwise, the game is exactly the same as it was a quarter of a century ago, with all the problems it had back then. This means that Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles is definitely good for a fun round, but unfortunately not for much more.
Review in German | Read full review
It’s basically a generic action game with Star Wars slapped on top, featuring some fairly easy platforming and plenty of hacking and slashing your way through forgettable enemies.