BRING BACK MORE OF THE SILLINESS OF YESTERYEAR’S LONG-FORGOTTEN STAR WARS GAMES.

Respecting canon is all very well, but I’d like a bit more Daft Vader, if that’s okay with Disney

Don’t hold your breath, but the stealth release of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on PS4 last month shows there’s plenty of life in the sci-fantasy franchise, and best of all it falls outside of Disney’s ‘no expanded universe’ mantra. With any luck this could open the door to some old-fashioned Star Wars silliness.

While I really enjoyed EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which managed to capture beautifully the fantasy of the franchise, it still exists within the constraints of Disney’s new Star Wars spin-offs. So it was great to play Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on PS4 as that brings back all the quirks of a game made in 2003. We get to lightsaber through Mos Eisley, Coronet City, and Darth Vader’s old fortress on Vjun for some fan-shivering locations and events. Jedi Academy plays loose with Star Wars lore and isn’t afraid to crowbar in a reference or two with the abandon of JJ Abrams soaked on Fuzzy Tauntaun. These old Star Wars games never feared taking things too far, and were more fun because of their merry licence abuse.

If you ever wanted to feel the warm fuzzies of going on a galactic quest with Luke Skywalker, battle a postReturn Of The Jedi Boba Fett, and discover that when a McGuffin is needed there’s nothing better than a Sith resurrection plot (JJ Abrams has been taking notes), it’s all here. The real reason these aging Star Wars games worked? They weren’t ashamed to pick from what works and add a Jedi paint job. Behind the fan service the Jedi titles are solid Quake games.

FORCE IN

There’s a back catalogue of these games that would be welcomed onto PS4 with open arms by anyone who grew up on bobble-headed bombad racing and bounty hunting.

While we wait for the inevitable Fallen Order sequel I for one will be holding out for PS4 remasters of Star Wars: Dark Forces and maybe even the Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic duology. Aspyr has already confirmed a remastered Star Wars Episode I: Racer will be following Jedi Academy, so we could be in for more Star Wars from gaming systems far, far away (in the past).