Gameplay:  
Jedi Power Battles loosely follows the events from Star Wars Episode I. From the beginning you can choose one of three Jedi masters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Mace Windu. Darth Maul is playable as well, but you’ll need to finish the game before you can unlock him. Each of the Jedi masters has the ability to execute saber attacks with some minor differences. Obi-Wan may not be as strong as Qui-Gon or Mace, but he can execute a wider array of moves than the other two. Qui-Gon is more powerful than Obi-Wan, but he lacks the number of attacks. Mace may be the most powerful of the initial Jedi, however, once you unlock Darth Maul you’ll never want to go back.

Gameplay is your standard thrash ‘em up, but from an overhead perspective. This is both good and bad. The good is that the game is able to feature multiple droids on the screen, simultaneously attacking you from all sides. It’s pretty cool to be able to thrash them all with a saber strike. However, the bad (which is actually very bad) is that you always have trouble trying to land when jumping from platform to platform. In fact, unless you memorize the stage, you’re most likely going to die during the platform jumps. The overhead perspective in Star Wars makes it extremely difficult to know exactly where the next platform lies, even if you try to match your shadow with the ground beneath. On more than one occasion I found myself thinking that I was going to make the next jump only to end up falling to my doom. This can make the game very frustrating at times, and the fact that you run so fast doesn’t help matters.

The game doesn’t feature battery-backup, so you get a password after completing each stage. There are ten stages in all, each containing various enemies and power-ups. You’ll notice when you first start playing that there are three meters in the upper left-hand corner. The first is your life meter which tells you how much health you have remaining. The second is your saber-reflection meter which fills up as you block saber fire from enemies. If it gets filled up all the way, your Jedi loses health. It’s not that big a deal though, because as soon as you let go of the block button, your meter goes back down to zero. The third meter is your force power meter, which you can fill by collecting power-ups. Afterwards you may execute powerful attacks that will totally thrash your enemies.

Aesthetics:  
The visuals of Jedi Power Battles seem pretty good. Each character has a substantial amount of detail, however, nothing that will totally blow you away. The fact that the game can get dark at times will annoy you, but it doesn’t hinder the gameplay much. The animation in each of the characters is very fluid; the characters will slice, run, and jump with lifelike movement. The backgrounds are fairly detailed, though, thankfully not too detailed as in some games in which your characters blend in with the background.

Sound:
The sound is probably Jedi Power Battles’ strongest point. The music is some of the finest heard on the Gameboy Advance, almost paralleling the music found in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Each stage is filled with an orchestra of music, you’ll think that John Williams is actually inside your GBA conducting himself! The sound effects parallel the music in terms of quality. Each explosion, saber slice, and laser blast sound as if they were ripped right out of the movie.

Multiplayer:
None.

OVERALL:
Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles may only be average, but it has the potential to be a truly great game. Unfortunately, the poor control and cheap platform jumping keep it from reaching true greatness. At times, Jedi Power Battles can be a fun and interesting title. There’s nothing quite like it yet available for the Gameboy Advance, which may help draw some fans in. If you think you have what it takes to master the difficult platform jumps in an overhead perspective, then give this game a try. Maybe you’ll have more luck than I did.

 

The Lowdown on  Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles Aesthetics: Above Average Control: Below Average Gameplay: Average Multiplayer: Sound: Awesome Innovation: 4/6 Lasting Appeal: 3/6 Rating Explanation Overall: Average! "An Average Game"