Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Star Wars has had an interesting relationship with the video game industry and as the visual effects have grown more sophisticated so has gaming hardware. Unfortunately what hasn't transferred to the numerous games is the excitement of the big screen action and outside of the classic SNES series (based on the original trilogy) there's been little to celebrate. This is particularly true of the handheld outings with the Gameboy rights being passed from one publisher to another from Star Wars Racer on the GBC to this year's Trilogy collection on the GBA. This is the first offering on the DS however and, with studio promises that the final movie will not disappoint, here's hoping that the game will also deliver an experience worthy of the franchise.

Gameplay

After selecting to play Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker it's straight into the action with the majority of the game taking on a 2D battling perspective. This is a lot like Final Fight, Double Dragon or other arcade beaters and while you're fighting you should also be collecting as well as utilizing your various Force Powers. This is because the better you perform the more you'll be rewarded once the level has concluded. You're marked on things such as time taken and tokens collected but also on fighting style and use of Jedi Powers. The credits earned can then be traded for more abilities but it's important to note that both Obi-Wan and Anakin are rewarded with every different enhancements and will also choose different paths through the game.

The rest of the game switches to a rather impressive 3D Space Battle Mode that is much more striking than the various screen shots would lead you to believe. These generally involve clearing the area of enemy crafts or taking down a specified number of fighters and while they can present a reasonable challenge they're never long enough to become tiresome which occasionally happens with the 2D sections. As a bonus there are a great many archive ships to unlock from the various Star Wars films, which will no doubt delight fans who might wish to jump behind the controls of a Tie Fighter or even the Millennium Falcon.

Controls

Clearly being a Jedi is a reasonably complicated matter and as a result there are a substantial number of moves for you to master if you're to have even a vague chance of success. Obviously there are the basics of getting around and combat, but there are also a number of Force Moves to utilize at any given time from pushing objects to choking opponents. Fortunately this is made easier thanks to on-screen pop-ups which dominate the early parts of the game and although this does tend to slow things down it also provides some helpful hints and tips. The 3D Space Combat sections are far more intuitive and arcade based and if you've ever encountered anything like this before then you'll be in hot pursuit of an enemy fighter in no time at all. Actually shooting it down before it gets you though is an entirely different matter.

Graphics

Unlike the previous Star Wars outings that have featured, rendered visuals, especially for the main characters, the developers here have opted for a more traditional cartoon look. This works wonderfully making for vibrant levels, which are never tiresome to look at regardless of the fact that a many of them are repeated. The animation is also well above average but after producing handheld versions of Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia, it's the least you'd expect from Ubi Soft's Montreal Studio. The 3D Space is just as impressive and, while they don't have the kind of detail a console version would have, the frame rate is never compromised making it both smooth and very playable.

Sound

Due to the DS's increased Cartridge capability the developers have managed to include an impressive amount of sampled audio to this version which shows that, despite the various perfectly good interpretations of the Star Wars theme over the years, there's nothing quite like the real thing. This even continues throughout the levels with some of the lesser-known incidental music providing a great backdrop to the on-screen action. Of course the game wouldn't be complete without authentic weapons and fans will be pleased to know that the satisfying sound of the Lightsabre is here in all its glory. Notably absent are any voice samples apart from Yoda mumbling in one section, although this is a small omission to an otherwise impressive sounding title.

Dual screen

Yet another weak offering of the Touch Screen functionality with this feature demoted to either selecting moves in the 2D sections, or shields in the 3D Space Combats. The rest of the time the bottom screen is given over to a variety of maps or statistics displays which while occasionally useful is surely not its best use.

Final comments

On first encounter Revenge of the Sith appears to be like so many movie tie-ins we've seen in the past: a shoddy, poorly thought out platformer (and with the DS version) little more than a slightly enhanced GBA Version. The reality is thankfully very different and it's fair to say that this third outing of the Star Wars prequel is possibly the best of the handheld versions to date managing to capture at least some of the on screen action and excitement of this Space Opera. It's fairly lengthy too with an added 'wow' factor delivered thanks to the enjoyable 3D Space Battles. There's also the ability to play these 3D battles in multiplayer mode thanks to the DS's wireless functionality and all true Jedis will no doubt want to achieve that 100 Percent Completion Rating. Overall this DS Version is a welcome surprise and while this is doubtless not the last we'll see of the Star Wars Universe it's certainly satisfying to know that the developers and publishers got it right at least once.

Pro: Excellent 3D Dogfights
Con: 2D Sections a Little Repetitive
Final score: 7.1

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