The shock remaster of Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Energy Battles is correct across the nook. I and different retro Star Wars gaming sickos are celebrating already, however earlier than its January 23 launch throughout all fashionable platforms, I had the chance to shoot Aspyr some burning questions concerning the technique of revisiting such an ignored Star Wars oldie.
The developer-publisher is not any stranger to remastering traditional Star Wars video games, and regardless that 2024’s Battlefront Assortment confronted a tough kickoff on account of some baffling selections and general lack of polish at launch, its hit price has been outstanding: Episode I – Racer, KOTOR 1 & 2 (Swap), The Power Unleashed (Swap), and Bounty Hunter, amongst others, all efficiently refreshed the originals for outdated and new followers alike. We have but to see whether or not Jedi Energy Battles is a Pressured-powered win or one other fall to the darkish facet, however colour me excited.
Chris Bashaar, Director of Product at Aspyr, was type sufficient to shed some mild on why and the way Aspyr and Lucasfilm Video games remastered the (initially divisive) arcade-like beat ’em up. The developer has been steadily working its method via LucasArts’ wealthy again catalogue, and regardless that video games like The Phantom Menace have been rescued by Disney and Lucasfilm as simple re-releases as an alternative, many of the Star Wars titles we millennials blasted via within the late Nineties and early 2000s are getting a brand new coat of paint.
Elsewhere, Aspyr has additionally been killing it with the current remasters of Soul Reaver 1 & 2 and Tomb Raider’s authentic trilogy (quickly to be adopted up by IV-VI), so Star Wars hasn’t captured them in the event you’re anxious about that.
The next Q&A has been editorialized, trimmed, and rearranged for readability and cohesion.
“The choice to deliver it again stemmed from the right mixture of fan nostalgia, the sport’s twenty fifth anniversary, and the chance to introduce it to a brand new technology. Lucasfilm Video games has been an unimaginable associate, and collectively we acknowledged that now was the appropriate time to have a good time this cult traditional,” Bashaar defined. Whereas the ‘direct tie-in’ Phantom Menace recreation (developed externally by Huge Ape Productions) was launched in 1999, Jedi Energy Battles, a wacky retelling of kinds of the primary prequel film, was internally developed at LucasArts and dropped the next yr. With the Battlefront Assortment additionally dropping throughout a marked anniversary (the unique’s twentieth), now we have to marvel what could be coming from Aspyr this yr…
After all, 2005’s Revenge of the Sith tie-in, one other underrated fan-favorite, involves thoughts, however Bashaar sidestepped the query, stating Aspyr the workforce was “simply centered on bringing Jedi Energy Battles to gamers.” All proper then, maintain your secrets and techniques (the Disney snipers are scary, we get it). He did be aware, nonetheless, that “Lucasfilm Video games has been an unimaginable associate” to date.
I imagine most fanatics of this recreation, myself included, will admit Jedi Energy Battles wasn’t like good good, however it’s looser method to the property and charming bits gained you over in the event you caught with it (it is infamously onerous, not less than in its authentic PS1 iteration). At Aspyr, Bashaar notes that “a number of members of our workforce grew up enjoying Jedi Energy Battles… That private connection actually fueled the fervour behind this remaster. It’s not nearly bringing again a recreation—it’s about honoring the enjoyable, quirky spirit that made the unique so memorable.” Should you’ve paid consideration to the trailers (we’re sharing the co-op-centric one beneath), it is simple to see what he means by that.
Watch on YouTube
Gamers who solely skilled the PS1 model may additionally be confused by a number of the visuals and general artwork work the remaster sports activities. It truly is not an enormous ‘redo’ of that preliminary launch, however a direct improve of “the Dreamcast model as a result of it was essentially the most refined iteration of the unique recreation.” Once more, he isn’t mistaken, try this longplay of the Dreamcast launch; on high of wanting sharper and operating significantly better, quite a lot of adjustments had been made to difficult areas and jumps. The workforce has, nonetheless, stored a number of the superior UI components from the PS1 launch round: “We upscaled its textures, re-baked lighting, and improved general visible constancy, all whereas staying true to the sport’s aesthetic. We additionally preserved some components from the PlayStation launch, like elements of its iconic UI, to maintain that nostalgic connection intact.”
An enormous promoting level of the remaster is all the brand new playable content material that comes with it, which totally transforms the sport right into a beneficiant ‘sofa co-op’ package deal that doubles down on playstyle selection and suppleness to expertise all the degrees. Since many of the new character and cheat additions work with property that had been already there, was all of it leftover and unfinished from the unique growth or dropped at life by Aspyr for the primary time?
“We’re including all-new content material, together with 13 newly playable characters. We wished to broaden the sport in ways in which felt natural to the Star Wars galaxy. These components had been rigorously crafted to reinforce the gameplay expertise whereas staying true to the spirit of the unique. We’re all about “additions not revisions” so nostalgic gamers are going to really feel that classicness again 25 years in the past.” You’ll be able to even play as Jar Jar Binks and make him fall to his loss of life repeatedly!
A draw back to the unlockable characters within the authentic (Captain Panaka, Padmé Amidala, and Darth Maul) was that they could not be leveled up, not even to get additional HP and extra Power capability. It appears that evidently hasn’t modified for not one of the remaster’s bonus characters, as they’re designed as a difficult, additional solution to expertise the sport: “The 13 new playable characters are a part of a New Sport + expertise with out development, unlockable by beating the primary marketing campaign as soon as. Apart from the Loader Droid, which requires a cheat. You’ll have to remain tuned to get that code.” Put together accordingly for wilder runs.
One other large query mark each time a brand new Star Wars recreation (outdated or new) releases is the place Lucasfilm is at concerning the general public notion of occasions and content material depicted in them, because the Story Group has been safeguarding a agency canon continuity for effectively over a decade now. All retro Star Wars video games are both thought-about Legends or their very own, what-if, madcap factor. Jedi Energy Battles is clearly one of many latter. However nonetheless, this franchise is strictly managed, so how does that work whenever you’re remastering a really foolish recreation?
“Lucasfilm Video games labored carefully with us to make sure every part aligns with the Star Wars galaxy. Their collaboration allowed us so as to add new content material, like characters, that really feel genuine to the franchise.” I imply, I am pretty positive random mercenaries aren’t in a position to uppercut and ship Jedi Knights flying, however sure, that is an Ishi Tib mannequin that appears like a background alien from the films. I dig this mixture of consideration to element and suppleness. Let Star Wars be foolish and over-the-top extra typically!
The final ‘silliness’ of Jedi Energy Battles additionally prolonged to its sound results, with Yoda’s traditional chortle enjoying for completely no motive (apart from it being actually f**king hilarious) each time you picked up an merchandise or power-up. The excellent news is that none of these have been minimize or remade, and the identical goes for John Williams’ improbable Episode I soundtrack. “All the unique audio and music stay unchanged to protect the authenticity of the expertise,” Bashaar confirmed.
Final however not least, we requested Aspyr concerning the matter of these wonky platforming sections (which, in all truthfully, are a part of the unique recreation’s problem) and whether or not one thing has been finished about them. It wasn’t a straightforward factor to determine and resolve on, it appears: “It is a very heated debate for us at Aspyr. Whereas sure, these mushrooms on Naboo are notably powerful to navigate, particularly as a primary time participant, the designers made these jumps with a really explicit intent. Should you break down the soar mechanics, ahead momentum doesn’t apply on a double soar. That is very distinctive to Jedi Energy Battles in comparison with different contemporaries. If we alter jumps, or the leaping mechanic, the knock-on results begin to take away the attraction of the design. What I can say is, single-jump these mushrooms and it’ll be a a lot simpler platforming part.” It should be famous the Dreamcast port already noticed large enhancements to many sections, however lengthy story brief: Git gud.
Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Energy Battles is coming to PC (Steam and GOG), PS4/5, Xbox Collection X/S plus One, and Nintendo Swap on January 23.
