| Introduction
As the release of Episode II is iminent and new GBA
releases
are thin on the ground, we thought we'd take a
fresh look at the last Star Wars inspired GBA title.
Jedi Power Battles was originally a GBC title but with
the continued success of anything remotely connected to this
unstoppable franchise, THQ opted to dust it off and give it the Advance treatment. Wisely sticking with
the original developers, this version promises a more
immerse experience in both graphics and gameplay. Well...
does it?
GamePlay
Your first chore is to pick which Jedi to play, and
although they may all seem to be the same, they do actually
have slightly different powers which are detailed in
the manual. It's then on to the various levels which
start off relatively simple with only the odd battle droids
to hamper your progress. These aren't very intelligent,
so on most occasions one swipe of your blade will slice
them in half. You can also deflect their laser fire
with your lightsaber and providing you hold it at the
correct angle, the droids will effectively be firing at themselves.
Obviously, as the levels progress, things get more
difficult and the droids more powerful and slightly
more intelligent. Usually, it's not the progressive
difficulty that will end your life, but the levels that
are almost entirely constructed of "leaps of faith".
So prepare to find yourself hitting the continue option
on more than a few occasions just to find the right
path. There are also a handful of puzzles for you to
solve along the way, and although they aren't central
to theme of this title, they also aren't taxing, after
all, pressing the correct button to open a door is hardly
a mind bender
Almost the whole game is played in this isometric
world, except for one level which is incredibly... a side scrolling
shooter! This is very much like a scaled down R-Type
and is a nice distraction from the rest of the game.
Again it's reasonably straight forward and most gamers
will finish it on the first attempt but it is still
fun. Completing a level gives you a password but bear
in mind this is only useful for the character your are
currently playing so in order to unlock all the characters,
including Darth Maul, you have to complete the whole
game.
Controls
The control takes a little getting used to not because
it's particularly complicated but because the game's
isometric viewpoint sometimes makes the simplest move
or jump very frustrating. There are also the weapons
as without knowledge of how to use them you'll be lasered
to pieces in no time at all. Thankfully this is far
simpler than the movement control so good use of the
shoulder buttons makes protecting yourself very easy
indeed.
Graphics
Whilst the graphics are a huge improvement on their
GBC cousins they still retain the isometric viewpoint
and while some levels are visually average others are
quite pleasing to the eye. The sprites are far better
in this version and where the previous effort had the
battle droids as stick men they are far more recognisable
here and bear a greater resemblance to their on screen
counterparts. All the cut screens are taken straight
from the movie but as the standard Color version also
featured this quality of screen grab by using Hi-color
technology you are left feeling that maybe a little
more could have been done.
Sound & Music
Everything in the audio department is absolutely
fantastic and headphones are essential to truly immerse
yourself in the Star Wars universe. Every level is accompanied
by a wonderful looped sample of the actual movie score
and if that isn't enough, all the light sabre and laser
sounds are there too. Outstanding.
Final Comments
This really is just an update of the same title that
appeared on the GBC with tweaked graphics and sound,
so if you already own that there's nothing new here.
For anyone that missed out, JPB will give you some much
needed lightsabre action, thrills and spills. Although Jedi Power Battles
could never be considered the best example of a movie
tie-in title, it is the most entertaining Star Wars handheld
game around at the moment and until Episode II is released,
it's probably worth a look.
|
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