Overall score on pook's 100-point system (TM): 79 rounded to 8. a definite buy, especially at it's low player's choice price. for those who like arcade action and challenge, or want to relive their favorite star wars moments.
-the breakdown-
Graphics (26/30, judged by era)- this game was hailed early on as a gc showpiece. and indeed, it's among the best looking games the system has to offer, despite being a launch game. having played it through now, a few things make it still beautiful but not a perfect 30. for starters, while beautifully rendered and self-shadowed, aircraft are not organic models that have to animate and stuff; they're static objects. that's a minus (but an inevitable one when your game is ship-based). however, it's partially made up for by having tons of enemies onscreen at once, along with a decent framerate that jumps between 30-60fps, situation depending. there aren't a ton of levels, and they vary from pretty visually simplistic to very impressive. some of the outdoor planet-based levels are some of the most visually impressive, with nice lighting and water and such. some of the space scenes are pretty empty in terms of environment (it's space, remember) and are made visually interesting by tossing more enemies at you. so, it's a mixed bag but impressive overall. a couple of levels correspond to the gc's internal clock--a trick i wish more games would employ, and that i wish even this game would employ more consistently.
Sound- FX/Voice (9/10) fx taken straight from the movies, and voiceovers provided either by movie clips or by actors mimicing their film counterparts, often surprisingly well.
Sound- Music (7/10) while the john williams' soundtrack is totally appropriate and at times really adds to the game's tension, it's hard to give a game high marks for an obviously great score when that score took no effort on the part of the developer to do. like using mozart in your game or whatever. a little thought was put into using environment-appropriate music, when applicable.
Gameplay- Length/Lastability/Replay (15/15) while the base game can be finished in some 6-9 hours, there are another few levels to unlock, which may require a couple more hours of medal-earning. those levels will require time to play and earn medals on to unlock more levels and ships. it's an effort-based system and in the end provides a good 20 hours of gameplay--perfect for a game that is only $20 to buy new. if you're a completist who insists on getting all gold medals, you're in for 40 plus hours. however, some of the unlockables are so hard to unlock that passcodes are almost required, to extend your gameplay. otherwise you're bound to get frustrated by the difficulty in gathering enough medal points to unlock ships and levels that could extend genuine playtime.
Gameplay- Story (2/5) set within the original trilogy, starting with the death star run and ending with the destruction of the 2nd death star, the game basically allows you to re-enact famous scenes from the trilogy, often expanded a bit. the game is peppered with original levels that fit nicely within the storyline. for instance, the barely-shown yavin base becomes a setting for a mission.
Gameplay- Game Design (20/30)- the game doesn't stray far from its intent of being a flying-dogfighting space game. the game has you using all the major craft from the star wars universe, including some minor ones (like bespin speeders). the variance between craft is nicely done; the craft handle and play uniquely. unfortunately, not every craft is useful; a few are worth trying for the novelty but are functionally useless. upgrades can be found for your craft, but some are so placed as to be almost impossible to find if you don't use a guide. minuses for that. the difficulty is medal-based. the missions aren't terribly hard to pass, but getting gold medals is very difficult, at best. at worst, it seems near impossible to get gold on some levels. only the truly committed and hardcore will get golds on everything. so, as mentioned above, passcodes become necessary later on to unlock stuff that extends playtime. that's bad. however, the dogfighting aspect is fantastic and controls are generally responsive. this game requires actual skill and a little luck--if you've been playing nothing but rpgs for the past few years you may face a steep challenge on this game.
**Final Thoughts: a great game, and one that holds up well despite being a launch title. it's technically impressive and is a great showpiece for your gamecube...even if it's a little too difficult for the average onlooker to pick up and play and enjoy themselves.
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