Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles has arrived on the PS5, remastered and ready to rekindle your childhood memories – or mercilessly destroy them, depending on how forgiving you are. What promises to be an arcade-style Jedi romp through Episode I’s highlights ends up as an exercise in frustration, proving that not all relics from the past deserve a second chance…
Gaming Heaven
To give credit where it’s due, the visuals have been given a respectable polish, and Aspyr has added modern conveniences like co-op and more intuitive controls. If you squint, the game even flirts with charm as each character offers unique attacks – Queen Amidala wields a blaster while Jedi swing their lightsabers with what might be described as enthusiasm (if not accuracy).
Gaming Hell
Unfortunately, the gameplay is about as smooth as sandpaper. Combat lacks any satisfying weight, with lightsabers feeling more like glow sticks than weapons of justice. Your character glides through the levels with all the heft of a helium balloon, and controls sometimes outright refuse to cooperate. Add to this a generous helping of awkward platforming that punishes you for daring to jump, and you’ll spend more time cursing the game than enjoying it.
Mini-games like pod-racing or survival challenges could have been a welcome diversion, but they feel tacked on, as if the developers realised halfway through production that their main game wasn’t cutting it.
Final Judgement
If you adored Jedi Power Battles in its original form (highly unlikely) and can overlook its age, this remaster might hit you with a warm wave of nostalgia. For the rest of the normal population, this game serves as a painful reminder that not every blast from the past deserves a revival.
