Aspyr is mostly known for being a publisher responsible for porting some big Windows games to the Mac. Over the last few years, it's taken more of a role in porting over classic titles to as many platforms as possible, including Windows PCs. We've gotten the first trilogy of Tomb Raider titles from Aspyr, along with the re-release of Stubbs the Zombie and the duo of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver titles. On the Star Wars front for the PC, Aspyr published the duo of classic Star Wars: Battlefront titles and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, which is significant since the latter title had never seen a PC release in the past. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is the latest game and another title that was never released on the PC before, but those without any nostalgia for the title might wonder what all the fuss is about.

One of the things about Jedi Power Battles that will take you by surprise is its lack of storytelling. You see the famous scrolling text that sets up the beginning of Episode I, but there's little to go with beyond that. Transitions barely come with any cut scenes, and the whole game assumes that you're already very familiar with the narrative of the movie. This isn't a bad thing, but it is surprising that a game from the year 2000 goes for a classic arcade approach of eschewing story in favor of everything else.

When it comes to the gameplay, the game goes for a genre that no Star Wars game had done before: a beat-'em-up. In particular, it goes for a 3D beat-'em-up style, similar to some other titles of the time, like Fighting Force. You have full 3D movement in the environment, so you can fully go up and down instead of being restricted to left and right movement. You have three different types of basic attacks and some Force-powered attacks that differ per character. There are also items to pick up that temporarily give you boons such as grenades, a longer lightsaber, or a lightsaber that inflicts more damage. Aside from classic beat-'em-up action, the game features some platforming, with several levels that test your ability to leap over gaps or reach out-of-the-way areas for secret items.

The game is primarily described as a beat-'em-up, but you can transform the title into a shooter, since some of the game's secret characters are unlocked from the outset. For a title that's designed around melee combat, running around as a person with a gun makes the experience much easier, especially since the game automatically locks on to enemies, so you don't have to worry about delivering stray shots. You can still deliver melee attacks if you wish, but they're underpowered compared to lightsaber users. Force powers aren't a factor for gun users, so you're also looking at simpler controls.

This all sounds great on paper, especially as the genre lends itself to fans wanting to run around and engage in lightsaber fights. The problem is that the actual fighting is far from enjoyable. Just about all of your lightsabers attacks are slow, so you start to feel like the combat is focused on flashy moves while neglecting the need to deliver actual damage. The result is that it takes multiple hits to down a basic droid. There's a tendency to leave yourself more vulnerable because of this, which leads to a problem with the game not providing invincibility when you're getting up from a knockdown. Get hit with a rocket or a good uppercut, and your character will get knocked down before slowly getting back up. Without invincibility, another hit knocks you down immediately, and this cycle repeats until you get lucky enough to get an opening to finally retaliate, but at that point, you've already lost roughly half of your health.

Combat isn't the only thing that feels lacking. Being able to deflect enemy laser fire is a crapshoot because there's no reliable way to determine if a timed or constant block will send the shot back at its shooter instead of making it bounce somewhere else. This is especially infuriating at the end of the first stage, where you need to deflect shots to actually hit the boss while also dealing with the droids rushing at you. The game has a very high difficulty level, even if you're playing at its lowest difficulty, and that's amplified by the fact that some elements in the stage simply don't function well. The fans in the last stage, for example, may never turn off, so you're actually blocked from going anywhere because the start and stop timing is completely broken. The move to a widescreen format also breaks the AI; you can push an enemy to the furthest edge, and they may never realize that they need to return to the playfield to keep fighting.

Yet the biggest non-combat-related flaw has to do with the platforming. The main problem lies with the fact that your character shadows are barely rendered. The shadow is so faint that the only way to see it is if you're sitting close to your screen. Jumps are made much more difficult because you can't quickly gauge how far of a leap you've made or if you're correctly aligned with the platform. It certainly doesn't help that your movement is a bit slippery, so be prepared to find yourself making what seems to be a good jump only to fail at the last moment and get sent back to a checkpoint that's a considerable distance away.

There is also one interesting thing you may stumble upon, and that's the fact that all of the game's 14 levels (10 from the campaign and four bonus challenges) are selectable from the get-go. If you really want to, you can skip everything and go straight to the final Darth Maul fight without any real consequences, or you can focus on the bonus levels instead. Considering that the main campaign is going to be the real appeal for most players, having every level unlocked from the start is a curious choice.

Beyond the main campaign are two other modes. You have a Training mode that acts as a series of challenges that specifically targets certain sections of the gameplay, like jumping. There's a scoring system attached to this, so it provides some replayability to a mode that few would bother with otherwise. The game also features a Versus mode where you can pit two characters against each other in a duel to the death. Like many beat-'em-ups that feature this mode, it's pretty basic. With seemingly endless matches since there's no visible win limit, this is more of a one-off novelty rather than a mode you'll frequently play.

There is one thing that this version has over the original PlayStation and Dreamcast versions: an expanded roster. Once you beat the Campaign mode, you get around 10 new characters to play with in both the Campaign and Versus modes. Jar Jar Binks is the obvious highlight, as it's still a novelty to play him no matter how you feel about him as a character. There are other characters to play as, such as Ishi Tib, at least two different Tusken Raider types, and a bunch of other minor characters. This isn't a monumental change , but it is neat nonetheless.

Graphically, Jedi Power Battles is pretty good when you consider its vintage. The characters that aren't robots have an interesting look, where their heads sport near-photorealistic faces but their bodies are fairly low polygon. It looks like what the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii version of NBA Jam had, minus the multiple face texture changes. The environments are pretty simple, but the texture work isn't as blurry as expected. The particle effects feel very tamed, which can sometimes make some laser blasts pretty difficult to see. There are moments where blaster fire isn't being emitted from the correct spots. Frame rates hold steady all of the time, which is a big positive since there's no way to alter any of the graphical options.

Unlike the graphics, the audio quality is all over the place. The music is lifted straight from the films, with only a few tracks that sound like they were made specifically for the game. It's good, but the game has a tendency to awkwardly cut off the tracks. The sound effects are OK, but there's a tendency to have some errant sounds, such as droid beeps and radio cutoffs without reason. You also have Yoda laughing whenever you grab a power-up, which is a strange design choice. There aren't that many voices in the game, but again, there's a tendency to have them not play when they're supposed to. Overall, it's a messy implementation that needs some patches to fix up.

Considering the vintage of the game, Steam Deck users shouldn't be surprised that the game runs very well on Valve's handheld device. The system's full 1280x800 resolution is used, and the game is completely locked at 60fps at all times. The game will run at close to six hours on a full charge, which is excellent. What isn't good is the fact that the game doesn't support cloud saves, but considering that the only thing you'll need to unlock is New Game+ for the bonus characters, you aren't missing too much from this missing feature.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a good idea stuck with a mediocre execution. The various mechanics — from the platforming to the combat to the defensive inconsistencies — make what should be a simple game more laborious. While the addition of more characters should be great for fans of Episode I in particular, the fact that none of them play well makes the expanded roster even less appealing to unlock. If you're a very forgiving person, you may have some fun with this, but everyone else is better off playing either another beat-'em-up or another Star Wars game.

Score: 5.0/10