The sport was offered by Aspyr for evaluation. Thanks!
I’ve been having fun with the way in which builders have been remastering older video games to provide them a brand new life after their unique releases. Of the builders doing this, Aspyr has been working to deliver again classics like Legacy of Kain, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, and the older Tomb Raiders. Now, the staff has introduced on Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles, and whereas it does have some tough edges, it’s higher than I initially anticipated.
For some context, Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles was initially launched on the PS1 in 2000 and later launched on the Dreamcast and Sport Boy Advance. Together with the apparent graphical enhancements, the remaster options up to date controls, extra customization choices, and refined mechanics to enhance actions like leaping and general stability. There are additionally 13 new playable characters to be unlocked to provide extra selection to the gameplay, making it worthwhile to strive it once more, even in case you have performed prior to now.
For me, this was a completely new expertise. I had by no means performed Jedi Energy Battles earlier than, however as a Star Wars fan, I used to be excited to see what the fuss was all about. Finally, this grew to become one among my favourite remasters from Aspyr, and I’m actually glad that is the sport they selected to remaster.
I might think about this sport to be extra like an arcade-esque expertise with some development, so the story by no means took prominence for me, however it’s nonetheless there. It loosely follows the occasions of the primary chronological Star Wars movie: The Phantom Menace. Some cutscenes and basic textual content describe what is going on, however it does not go in-depth into the story. As somebody who has seen the film, I discover it straightforward to observe alongside and determine what is going on at every degree. The story principally took a again seat for me and by no means felt very distinguished.
Jedi Energy Battles’ visuals and UI additionally maintain up, however they’re outdated. It isn’t essentially dangerous; it is a remaster of a sport from 25 years in the past, however it’s good to maintain it in perspective. Taking part in via every degree was fulfilling and did really feel distinctive in its construction, although navigating via the UI is somewhat obnoxious. Wanting via every menu choice and the characters you’ll be able to choose feels a bit archaic. Once more, it is not essentially dangerous, and it most likely is influenced extra by the unique sport than making an attempt to vary it an excessive amount of.
Nonetheless, the gameplay shocked me, and I wasn’t anticipating it to be so enjoyable. In nearly each degree, you run round because the character you chose, combating enemies with a mix of assaults together with your lightsaber and drive powers. Every degree has completely different targets, like getting off the house station, defending Jar Jar Binks, or rescuing pilots. Ranges do not take too lengthy to finish, they usually all contain plenty of combating enemies.
There are methods to lock into enemies, however most fight has you working round a 3D space and simply swinging your lightsaber at them. For probably the most half, fight is stable. There is a good number of assaults to make use of, and as you progress, there can be much more you could unlock. I additionally took plenty of pleasure in blocking blaster pictures to deflect them again to defeat enemies. It felt very fulfilling, particularly when combining it with common lightsaber swings. There are additionally power-ups and grenades you’ll be able to choose as much as dispatch teams of enemies, which is nice. The brand new management scheme works splendidly with the gamepad, and I’ve no complaints.
Nonetheless, I encountered some points. Whereas Jedi Energy Battles does have fulfilling fight, I usually discovered it somewhat clunky. Swinging your saber feels okay when it lands, however after a combo, there is a small delay earlier than you are able to do something once more, which opens you as much as being attacked. Swinging to blocking did not occur instantly, which bought me injured or useless usually. There are a stable quantity of checkpoints and therapeutic objects you’ll be able to choose up, so there have been plenty of probabilities to get better, however it was nonetheless obnoxious.
There are some points with leaping as effectively. Normal maneuvering across the ranges is okay, and the digital camera angles are alright for probably the most half, there have been solely two moments that I bought confused by the digital camera, however leaping round was a lot tougher to navigate. The primary leap reacted the way in which I assumed it could, contemplating how briskly I used to be working earlier than leaping and shifting ahead accordingly, however the second leap killed all of the momentum I had. This stopped me from shifting ahead, and I fell off the platform. Aspyr talked about that the leaping has been improved from the unique, however I want the momentum did not nearly utterly cease on the second leap.
As you play via ranges, you’re going to get factors relying on what number of enemies you kill and the way you kill them. These factors are then calculated on the finish of every degree and can provide as much as three bonuses, which embody new combos and additional well being or drive. Every character you’ll be able to play has its personal development and gameplay model. It inspired me to replay ranges once more with new characters to strive them out.
On high of that, you’ll be able to unlock new characters as you retain taking part in, and a number of completely different mini-games can boost the common gameplay loop of working round and attacking. There’s additionally a versus mode to battle towards your pals in native multiplayer. It was sufficient to maintain me coming again for extra, and I might say it’s worthwhile for the $20 price ticket at MSRP.
And it’s a pleasure to expertise on the Steam Deck.
STAR WARS: Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles – Steam Deck Efficiency
Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles was one other sport I had no worries about working on the Steam Deck effectively, and I used to be proper. It runs at a cool 60 FPS with extraordinarily low battery drain (6.5W – 7.5W), giving us over 8 hours of battery life. It feels proper at dwelling within the system, however one oddity stood out. There’s a 60 FPS lock, and making an attempt to play it above makes the digital camera really feel jittery, so I like to recommend locking the framerate and refresh price to 60.
In any other case, the problems I had with controls had been primarily the sport’s fault, not the Steam Deck. It may possibly really feel awkward to manage when attacking and leaping, however general, it’s expertise on the Deck.
Accessibility
Within the settings, you’ll be able to change the sound volumes, swap between trendy and basic management kinds, change when the stroll and run limits are for a way a lot you progress your joystick, and use completely different languages. There is not a lot within the settings apart from all of the choices above and testing idea artwork.
There’s 16:10 decision help, so there are not any black bars on the high and backside of the display, and there are each cloud saves and controller help. There are not any HDR settings.
Conclusion
Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles was higher than I anticipated it to be. The story is there, and the visuals do the job, however the gameplay loop and development programs had been fairly fulfilling. Regardless of a few of the flaws in fight and platforming, it was nonetheless a enjoyable expertise that made me return for extra. Mechanically, there are a number of flaws I want Aspyr mounted up, however general, I might think about this a stable remaster which may be one among my favorites from the staff.
It performs exceptionally effectively on the Steam Deck, making it a terrific match for taking up the go. It drains nearly no battery and may simply hit 60 FPS, providing you with 8+ hours of battery life whereas sticking to a pleasant, clean framerate. It is an ideal match for the Steam Deck and an fulfilling approach to expertise this 25-year-old basic.
Our evaluation is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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