The Top 10 Worst Star Wars Video Games

Microsoft introduced its Kinect as an answer to the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls, and the limited albeit functional PlayStation 3 motion controls. Unfortunately, many of the Kinect titles were truly terrible. Kinect Star Wars utilized the Kinect peripheral. Players use the add-on to appear on-screen moving objects with The Force and brandishing lightsabers.

Featuring four story modes, the Jedi Destiny narrative occurs in the prequel era. Similarly, Duels of Fate brings one-on-one fighting. There’s a podracing game, and the dreaded Galactic Dance-off. It’s basically Dance Central, but with a twist. For instance, “Hollaback Girl” has been revised to “Hologram Girl.” “Ridin’ Solo” morphs into “I’m Han Solo.” Does anyone really want to see Han Solo dancing in the carbon freezing chamber on Bespin seranaded by Gwen Stefani? Didn’t think so.

The Atari 2600 is a beloved console. While the Atari is long gone, its legacy remains through such devices as the Atari Flashbackseries, and emulation on devices such as the Raspberry Pi. Though many of the more popular and well-known Atari 2600 titles were Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Pit Fall!, quite a few movie tie-in games launched. E.T. notably is one of the Atari 2600’s more infamous games.

Star Wars: Jedi Arena may not have the negative acclaim of E.T. but it’s deserving of such a legacy. The colors may be pretty neat, however combat is unrecognizable. It’s difficult to tell what you’re looking at unless you’ve been told. For this extreme abstraction, Jedi Arena makes the cut of worst Star Wars games of all time.

During the PlayStation 1 era, vehicular combat games were all the rage. Twisted Metal achieved critical acclaim. Star Wars: Demolition however did not. Based off of the Twisted Metal formula, Demolition pits vehicles against one another. There’s a back story that podracing is illegal but Jabba runs a series of life-threatening races. While some aspects appeal to Star Wars fans like the various arenas and vehicle design, it’s a poor attempt to emulate the Twisted Metal series.

Ultimately, Demolition is mildly enjoyable so long as you can get past the cheap knockoff vibe it radiates. It’s not that Star Wars: Demolition is that bad of a game, it’s just not very good. Rather, it’s a disappointing, half-cocked iteration of more successful titles. A solid soundtrack somewhat compensates for its lackluster originality.

When The Clone Wars hit airwaves, nobody could have predicted that it would evolve into such a massive success. Unfortunatley, while The Clone Wars television series is quite spectacular, its 2009 video game counterpart Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes fell prey to graphical and control issues. The reasonably engaging narrative set during seasons one and two of the TV series is offset by muddy graphics and clunky controls.

Gameplay mechanics reflect such titles as Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and LEGO Star Wars. So it’s a shame Republic Heroes bombed because it had a lot of promise. Yet graphical and control issues plagued this game across every platform making it tough to recommend.

A bad game, you have. Back during the Lucas Film “Desktop Adventure” period, Star Wars: Yoda Stories debuted. A funky little top down RPG, Yoda Stories puts you into character as Luke Skywalker. Gameplay consists of rushing about and completing various tasks.

This mundane task-based play is ironically rather light on the story side. Plus, dialogue is painfully cheesy with lines like “Wheeoo...bzzt...I’m here to HELP! Take me along then from me on anything you find confusing and I’ll give you some hints!” For a more in-depth review, check out this hilarious Kotaku piece.

Considering the commendably bad source material, it’s no surprise that Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace ranks among the all-time worst Star Wars games of all time. The game plods along with the plot of the movie, if you consider The Phantom Menace film to have a coherent plot. Movie-based games don’t tend to fair well, and nor do game-based movies. Star Wars Episode I is no exception.

Despite gameplay that emulates Tomb Raider, this terrible game takes a nosedive like a malfunctioning podracer. During the second level, Jar Jar Binks appears and from here it’s a slog. You’ll find yourself merely button mashing, and probably just mashing the fire button frantically. While you’re a Jedi, the lightsaber feels underpowered, your Force power is almost useless unless enemies are nearby, and moreover enemies can hit you from offscreen.

My advice: just like its cinematic inspiration, pretend this game doesn’t exist in the Star Wars canon.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed may not be the greatest Star Wars game but it remains a fun update and the emphasis on using the Force was cool. However the second installment, The Force Unleashed II, was forcefully lambasted. Critics agreed that The Force Unleashed II lacks the depth and aspirations as its predecessor. Instead, the sequel feels rushed and an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the first game as well as the Star Wars franchise.

The verdict: The Force is not strong with this one.

Fighting games have long populated the video game space. Popular titles include the likes of Mortal Kombat and Marvel vs. Capcom. Tragically, Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi is the epitome of a fantastic concept and poor execution. While the idea definitely had promise, there’s a glaring issue: lightsabers don’t work properly. Even those who haven’t seen Star Wars probably know the mechanics of a lightsaber.

But Masters of Teras Kasi does feature recognizable locations and characters. Plus it further unfolds the expanded universe. Still, glaring issues such as the lightsaber functionality as well as minor bugs and a clunky game engine make this an utterly awful release.

Poor Star Wars: Rebel Assault. This 1993 title released on PC, Mac, 3DO, and Sega CD was an on-rails shooter. Unfortunately, its revolutionary full motion video (FMV) sequences were negated by commendably clunky controls. And the FMV scenes were spectacularly bad, probably owing to underpowered hardware. Although the name and concept may sound appealing, this is no X-Wing or TIE Fighter.

Thankfully, its sequel Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire succeeded in making marked improvements. But getting worse would have been a tough feat.

How did this even get made? Arguably many of the best Star Wars video games involve vehicles. Take Star Wars Episode I: Racer and the X-Wing series. But oh Super Bombad Racing is anything but super. It’s really simplistic and aimed at kids. The game feels like a cheap Mario Kart rip off. Even the music sounds half-completed.

Truthfully, the only audience that may find this game entertaining is a very young demographic. With its simplistic gameplay and goofy Star Wars characters, Super Bombad Racing might appeal to the kiddos. Plus, they will naturally overlook the aggregious soundtrack and outdated graphics.

Your turn: Which Star Wars games do you think are the worst?