These all-time great Star Wars games should get remasters, just like Star Wars: Dark Forces.
Since the 1980s, when the first Star Wars video games came out in arcades and on home consoles, gamers have loved playing in a world far, far away. There are so many different kinds of virtual Star Wars material, from flight sims to strategy games, that everyone will be able to find something they like.
Still, some of these games are very much like history. Many of these games are out of reach for current audiences because they have old graphics, controls that are hard to use, or are just too hard to get. The Dark Forces remake by Nightdive Studio helps with this a little, but other games still need some work.
Star Wars: X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter (1997)
Some Star Wars computer games fail because they are more cash-ins than tie-ins, but X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter didn’t do as well because it was actually very good before it came out. Unlike the first two games in this flight simulator trilogy, X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter didn’t have a single-player storyline. Instead, it was mostly about online battles between players.
In the late 1990s, the infrastructure wasn’t there to support this kind of game. To creators and players today, it may seem like normal business. In recent years, more and more people have had access to high-speed Internet, which has made games like this possible. However, the images and resolution could use some work.
Star Wars: Rebellion (1998)
Star Wars movies and TV shows from the late 1990s, especially “The Phantom Menace,” caused a lot of disagreement. This trend could also be seen in video games, like when Star Wars: Rebellion came out, which was very heavy on planning. Instead of giving gamers a lightsaber or putting them in the cockpit of a starfighter, Rebellion asked them to carefully plan how to take over the world.
The game got mixed reviews at first, but it quickly gained a cult following, and now the Steam version has a “Very Positive” ranking. But the images may turn off people who have never played the game before, even though they have a retro charm. Some reviewers also say that the version on Steam has bugs that should be fixed by a real remaster.
Rebel Assault 2: The Hidden Empire (1995)
Even though reissues of games like Night Trap 25th Anniversary Edition and new ideas like Not For Broadcast have made FMV games less important than they used to be, they are still an important part of the past of video games. Because of this, it’s not a surprise that the Star Wars series would use FMV to make the fight between the Empire and the Rebels more interesting.
In Rebel Assault 2: The Hidden Empire, the Rebel Alliance finds out about a bad plan by the Empire to make the TIE Phantom, a new starfighter. In order to stop this dangerous ship, players shoot rails.Any possible remaster could change Rebel Assault 2 from a rail-shooter to a regular shooter, bringing this hidden part of the Star Wars world up to date.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005)
More than 10 years before EA made a big mess with Star Wars: Battlefront 2‘s loot box-filled release in 2017, Pandemic Games released the game with the same name that was very addicting. This fast-paced shooter built on the ideas in Star Wars: Battlefront, which came out the previous year. It let players see Star Wars canon through the eyes of a veteran clone.
Battlefront 2’s action, which includes intense shooting on the ground and space battles between speeding starfighters, is still fun today. This is shown by how easy it is to find an online battle to join. This game has all the elements of a timeless standard, but it could be even better with a new coat of paint.
Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi (1997)
The Masters of Teras Kasi may be a silly idea for a Star Wars video game, but it’s also worth remembering that the idea of combining LEGO and Star Wars sounds even stranger. No, it doesn’t make sense for characters who usually fight with blasters and lightsabers to settle their differences through sci-fi kickboxing. But then again, even well-known fighting games like Mortal Kombat don’t let logic get in the way of a good fight.
The popularity of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series and its many copycats shows that people want to see famous people fight in funny ways. A remake of Masters of Teras Kasi might be able to take advantage of the game’s inherent silliness to make for some crazy results. It should at least make the controls better, since they got a lot of bad reviews when the game first came out.
Star Wars: Empire At War (2006)
A lot of Star Wars games put you right in the middle of the action, but some are more calm. It was this second method that Empire at War used to let players plan tense fights between good and evil. This Star Wars strategy game stood out because it included space fights, which weren’t in any other Star Wars games.
In fact, games like Funny Shooter 2 had just added a sci-fi coat of paint to other games. Empire at War, on the other hand, used a new system to build the battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance from scratch. Because it’s available on Steam, the game still has a strong fan base, but reviewers often say that mods are a big part of its ongoing draw. A remaster that includes the best of the fanbase’s changes would make it easier for a whole new group of people who want to be Grand Admiral Thrawn to get into the game.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998)
The work that Industrial Light and Magic did on Star Wars changed the way science fiction movies were made and what people expected forever. It makes sense that many Star Wars games have used scenes from the original trilogy’s space battles, where these effects work best.
A lot of fans think that Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is the best of these space battle extravaganzas. Fans still want starfighter-focused games, as shown by 2020’s Star Wars: Squadrons, even though that game is hard to get because it’s a VR experience. Fans who don’t want to spend a lot of money on VR headsets could still get the same rush of energy from a remaster of Rogue Squadron, which would combine new graphics and textures with the original gameplay.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (1997)
If Nightdive’s take on Dark Forces does well with critics and customers, it would make sense for them to do the same thing with Kyle Katarn’s future experiences, starting with Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2. The sequel is noted for adding the lightsaber, which is an important part of Star Wars canon, to the gameplay.
Even though its graphics look like origami and it was one of the first games to use 3D, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 got better reviews than its original and currently has a 91% average score on Metacritic. Not only could a remaster bring new players to a less well-known part of the Star Wars story, but it could also let them play one of the best sci-fi games ever.