Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (PS1)
25 years ago, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released in theaters, and while its legacy has been tarnished, the enthusiasm for it at the time was enormous. It had been sixteen years since a Star Wars movie had been released and fans were eager to go back to a galaxy far far away, something merchandisers were eager to take advantage of with abundant tie-in products. While the likes of Jar Jar Binks and Darth Maul were being turned into toys or gracing candy packaging, more substantial tie-ins would come in the form of quite a few video games, but only one of them would be marked as the definitive adaptation of the film’s events. Perhaps appropriately then, the PS1 action game Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ends up having the same uneven quality that would make the film contentious, although you’re likely to get less pushback for speaking ill of the video game tie-in.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on PS1 follows the events of the films fairly closely, extending a few bits and discarding others based on what segments it wants to design some gameplay around. Two Jedis, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, have been called in to help with peace talks after the Trade Federation’s displeasure with trade route taxation has lead to them blockading the planet of Naboo. While things do turn sour, the course of events in trying to defuse the growing tensions do eventually take the Jedi and Naboo royalty out to a lawless corner of the galaxy where they encounter a child named Anakin Skywalker. The young boy shows an unusual affinity with the Force, a power that weaves through the entire universe and can influence it, Qui-Gon taking special interest in training the boy, but with a war on Naboo, saving the people takes priority over cultivating this promising prodigy. All of this should sound familiar to people who saw the film, but players will likely be surprised that pod racing, a dangerous sport Anakin uses to prove his skill and ability, is barely represented here, the race not even shown and you have to rely on a commentator to hear how it unfolds. There was a pod racing game released around the same time likely meant to capture that type of play better, meaning Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on PS1 didn’t have to break too far away from the standard top-down action that makes up the game’s eleven major areas.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace has you playing as four different characters across the experience, although the two Jedi, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, might as well be the same character in how they fight. Both come packing their iconic lightsabers, and while famed for their ability to slice through the toughest metals like hot butter, even the battle droids the movie makes a point of making into weak cannon fodder can pose a threat here. This is because the moment an enemy sees you they will waste no time in attacking, droids rapid firing blaster shots at you that make it hard to approach without some injury. Even if you get in close, it takes a few swipes to take out most foes, and droids rarely are alone, meaning you’re likely getting peppered by blasters for daring to try and attack with it. However, the game salvages Jedi play some in that you can stand your ground instead and deflect lasers. You don’t have much control over the angle of the deflection and unfortunately it’s tied to the same button as attack, meaning at some points the Jedi may decide to slash his saber when you want to defend. It is a pretty simple and often dull waiting game done in response to seeing droids, and while the saber can find its moments elsewhere against bosses and monsters, some of those are even more brainless as its best to just slash away.
The other way you can attack enemies spices things up a tad though. Padme and Captain Panaka make up the game’s other two playable heroes and they both lack the laser sword, instead relying on laser blasters as well as a range of weapons found throughout the levels. Besides some odd dodges they lack good defensive options, but many times Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace seems to expect you to find ways to exploit what advantages you can gain like standing just out of range for a droid or funneling them into better positions for you to attack with little risk. Getting new weapons can really change how certain fights go, heavier weaponry able to take out some foes before they can even ready their own guns and unusual tools like the Gungan energy ball can stun foes as well. The Jedi can actually use these items as well in addition to having a Force push to knock enemies off their feet if you need to manage a group, although the game can also struggle with detecting what should be hit, meaning a nicely planned use of an explosive or Force attack is undone by the fact some foes just didn’t register it.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace seems to recognize some of its issues by having full heal health packs placed near areas where the player likely sustained heavy injury and there is a remarkably kind save system in place where not only can you make multiple files, but they save your exact spot. This helps alleviate some of the moments the game places ambushes you just won’t be equipped for dealing with, there sometimes being warnings that such things lie ahead but they can rely on a character you’re escorting to safety speaking up when they won’t always do so. Escorting characters can be annoying at times since they’ll often bump into you and come to a halt to criticize you for it, although they likely did so because you have to be near them to get them to move and they can take a bit still to get going. Straying too far from them is an instant loss, although this is likely to prevent you from just clearing out the level of all threats, and again, good saving means you can workaround any risks you feel like taking.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is often more interesting when it’s working in elements beyond just battle. While some jumping segments aren’t the best thanks to the camera angle, there are periods where you’re instead told to investigate large areas like Mos Espa on Tatooine. Here you’ll need to interact with many characters and try to trade your way into getting parts for your ship (although there are no space battles either). There will be combat at points during these segments, but finding out how to get people to help you, searching the nooks and crannies of the busy desert marketplace, and seeing more of the Star Wars world is a nice way to pull you away from battles that aren’t shaking up their design too much. Even in a combat heavy level though there’s usually at still a little bit of puzzling and small opportunities to avoid or court danger based on if you want extra goodies or simply took a wrong turn. In the undersea city of Otoh Gunga the game makes one of its most interesting choices, the jailbreak of the goofy Jar Jar Binks including a peaceful and violent route. While fighting the unique Gungan guards gives the violent route something special the peaceful one lacks, there are still little puzzles and platforming challenges guaranteed along the way so trying the less straightforward approach won’t be hollow.
The moments of exploration and trading sequences don’t make up for combat that is rarely holding up its end of the experience though. Quite often it feels like doing anything but engaging with the unsatisfying battle action is a relief even if it’s not always cleanly designed itself, some sections having plenty of instant death drops you’ll need to hop over with movement that isn’t the cleanest to control. Without the save system this game would definitely wear out its welcome more easily and it’s still not great reloading a few times for a single jump, so a lack of smooth play ends up dragging down the part of the game that could have potentially redeemed it some as well.
THE VERDICT: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on PS1 has some neat ideas like exploration and character interactions taking the focus over lightsaber and blaster combat at points, but the overall experience is just as rough as Jabba the Hutt’s sharply angled character model. The game has to give you a lenient save system and plenty of health pick-ups to counter its imprecise hit detection and generally harsh combat that usually encourages exploitative play over interesting fights. The segments where you can do something more involved like the peaceful route through Otoh Gunga unfortunately still rub up against issues like the bad movement controls. It’s a game where you appreciate the breaks between the actual involved activities, meaning things like boss battles that should get your blood pumping instead make you reluctant to even continue playing since you know there’s likely to be something annoying baked into their design.
And so, I give Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace for PlayStation…
A TERRIBLE rating. I don’t hate the prequel trilogy of Star Wars films, and I do definitely appreciate that they still had elements of creative world-building that showed some thought was still being put into the franchise and its unique science fantasy setting. It still feels important to acknowledge its flaws though, and the tie-in game for the first film similarly has some interesting ideas but fails even more on executing on them. It is a nice idea to have two routes through Otoh Gunga and the Mos Espa exploration sequence, but in one you’re choosing between two routes that are less about their appeals rather than what you avoid and Mos Espa still inevitably leads up to small skirmishes that rely on a rough battle system. The issue is not that the lightsaber has been rendered into a poor choice for most conflicts nor is that fights can be difficult and dangerous. The problem is your counters are often lifeless and practical or can even go awry when the game doesn’t detect your intent properly. The Force push feels like such a solid way to briefly mitigate the danger of a large droid group you encountered in an ambush, and yet it feels difficult to figure out how the game wants you to line it up to actually hit all of your targets. The extra weapons are at least a way to sometimes speed up fights so you’re not left ragged after when playing as someone like Panaka, but we again return to the unfortunate truth that a lot of the appeal of certain items or approaches is avoiding more involved play. You want to get around much of what stands before you rather than engaging with it, the game needing a once over when it comes to polish to make things work as intended and maybe lessen the immediate aggression that forces you to play in less exciting ways to succeed.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on PS1 ends up mostly being a piece of merchandise much in the same way as commemorative cups and t-shirts. It’s got the Star Wars iconography you’d hope to see, and there is some level of artistry put into it even though it is mostly there to ride on brand recognition. There was thought put into moments like the more puzzle-focused sections, and yet not enough was put into key areas because it is ultimately a tie-in that needs to be there close enough to the movie’s release to feed a hungry audience. People had waited 16 years for a new Star Wars movie and gamers were likely going to snap up whatever game released alongside it in that frenzy to return to its universe, so while I must commend Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on PS1 for not taking the most basic adaptational route with a straightforward action game, I can’t condone it’s reliance on game mechanics that make this Star Wars experience much more disappointing than the film it’s based on.