Back in 1996, LucasArts unleashed Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It wasn’t the best-looking title in the franchise – its biggest hallmark was the Battle of Hoth (on Nintendo 64 hardware, no less). I enjoyed the alternate take on famous Star Wars events, whether you were going one-on-one against Boba Fett, racing a bunch of enemies on swoop bikes to save Luke Skywalker or the triple-threat space battle between a Star Destroyer, Skyhook and Rebel forces.
That same feeling applied to titles like Star Wars: Republic Commando, Knights of the Old Republic, Rogue Squadron, X-Wing, OG Battlefront – heck, even The Force Unleashed. Each title had problems, some more than others, but each had soul in the…