There have been nearly 200 Star Wars video games since that first opening crawl entranced a generation of moviegoers more than 40 years ago, launching one of the world's largest multimedia empires. And, just like the Star Wars films, not all of the games are gems. For every Star Wars: Rogue Squadron bringing balance to the force, there’s a Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi that will make you want to give in to your anger. Given the sheer volume of games it would be foolish to try and rank them all, so here’s the best of the best.
10. Super Star Wars
Released in 1992 for the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) and loosely following the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, Super Star Wars features an incredible variety of gameplay, from familiar side-scrolling platforming to then nascent 3D-ish sections where you pilot a speeder and X-Wing. Players control a pixelated Luke, Han Solo or Chewbacca while they battle banthas and stormtroopers across Tatooine and the Death Star, meeting familiar characters like C-3PO and R2D2 along the way. Two sequels, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi refined the established formula, adding quality of life improvements such as a save system and the use of primary and secondary weapons, but the original is still the one to beat.
9. Star Wars: Squadrons
The most recently released game on this list, Star Wars: Squadrons is a first-person space combat game where players take on the role of pilots for the Galactic Empire and the New Republic, battling it out over who has the best lasers. While it’s single player is nothing to write home about, it’s a rousing good time in multiplayer featuring pure deathmatch modes and fleet battles where the objective is to destroy the other teams’ Capital Ships. If you’ve got a Rift, Vive or Quest it really shines in VR, bringing you as close as you’re going to get to the pilot’s chair bar swivelling around in your office chair going “pew pew”.
8. Star Wars Episode 1: Racer
While Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace received a mixed reception at best from moviegoing audiences, one thing everyone could agree on was that the podracing sequence ruled. Blending badass vehicles with an anything-goes ruleset (and a killer audio mix in the right theater), it was clearly the best part of a middling film, making it a no-brainer for translation to the videogame realm. Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (which oddly doesn’t follow the grammatical construct of the movie it’s titled after) was a great showcase for the Nintendo 64 and a fun couch co-op game in the era before multiplayer gaming exploded. Full of customizable ships and a thrilling sense of speed, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is definitely not bantha poodoo.
7. Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
Two childhood favorites come together for this delightful all-ages love letter to both Star Wars and Lego, released in 2005 for consoles and PC. Based on the prequel timeline, this first instalment in the entire Lego video game franchise set the tone for all of these games moving forward with its simplistic yet satisfying gameplay, dozens of playable characters and humorous sendups. Given that all the Lego Star Wars games are essentially the same, the original has the nostalgia factor going for it, so we’ll give it the nod, at least until Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga releases for current gen consoles next year.
6. Star Wars: Dark Forces
More than the Doom-clone a screenshot of it may suggest, Star Wars: Dark Forces was among the first FPS (First Person Shooter) games to introduce the ability to look up and down and allow the player to jump, duck and even swim. It also featured an inventory system with tools to aid in exploration, weapons with secondary fire modes and environments that dripped with atmosphere, thanks to new tech that allowed things like fog effects. All of which to say this was less a Doom-clone and more a huge step forward in innovation, making standard many of the things we've come to expect in modern shooters. The legacy of the game continues to live on in other ways today, with the Dark Troopers featured as part of the game's main plot most recently featured in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
5. Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)
While we have to give props to DICE and EA for keeping this franchise alive with recent, colon-less installments, nostalgia dictates that we keep a special place in our hearts for Star Wars: Battlefront II, the game that sold a bajillion PS2 network adapters and ate neighborhood bandwidth for breakfast. Featuring large scale land and space battles across iconic Star Wars worlds, troop classes with varied abilities, vehicles, weapons and the chance to become a Jedi or Sith "hero" character for the first time. This game was overwhelmingly generous with its content to the point where every match felt like waking up on Christmas morning.
4. Star Wars: Tie Fighter
Everybody knows the coolest ships in Star Wars belong to the bad guys, and in this sequel to Star Wars: X-Wing, players finally got the chance to gear up as an Imperial pilot under the direction of the Empire. Tooling around in the titular craft was an absolute blast thanks to the improved graphics, new weapons and overall feel and a roster list of compelling missions with primary and secondary objectives made for hours of Star Wars thrills.
3. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Take Dark Souls but make it easier, add a tablespoon of Uncharted and a dash of the familiar Metroidvania concept of areas that can only be unlocked by acquiring a new skill, and you’ve got the strangely titled Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Seriously, what’s up with that colon placement? It’s needlessly confusing and flies in the face of the naming convention established by every other Star Wars title. That being said, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a third-person action adventure game developed by Respawn Entertainment, the former Call of Duty creators who know a thing or two about making kick-ass pieces of entertainment. Following the adventures of a Jedi named Cal Kestis and his fight against the Empire following the purge resulting from Order 66, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has great lightsaber battles, cool force powers and a nice mix of exploration and combat. Best of all, it manages to tell a compelling original story, introducing a new cast of characters and settings to the Star Wars digital universe.
2. Star Wars: Republic Commando
The game that made PlayStation gamers in 2005 jealous of their Xbox-owning counterparts, Star Wars: Republic Commando turned the idea of what a Star Wars game should be on its head by eschewing Jedi antics and putting players in the gritty boots of a rough-and-tumble special ops unit during the Clone Wars. This squad-based FPS puts players in command of Delta Squad; four clone commandos with various combat and skill specialities, one of which can be controlled directly and the others who can be directed via orders. While well-regarded upon release, Star Wars: Republic Commando has since cemented its status as a fan-favorite, with Delta Squad appearances in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and clone commandos showing up in one form or another in novels, Disney+’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Battlefront II and elsewhere. With an enhanced port released just this year for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, there’s never been a better time to revisit this classic.
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
It will be no surprise to anyone even remotely clued in on the Star Wars video game universe that this title is tops this list. Developed by the RPG legends at BioWare (Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect, Dragon Age) this Xbox system seller quickly cemented its status not only as a great Star Wars game, but as one of the greatest RPGs (Role-Playing Games) ever made. Given the creative freedom to establish a story outside the bounds of the films, BioWare took their experience from Dungeons & Dragons games and crafted a rich universe, telling the tale of an amensiac Jedi who must rediscover his true purpose (if you haven't played it, saying any more would be a crime). Filled to the brim with incredible world-building, memorable characters and cinematic experiences, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can still hold its Medal of Bravery high.