t is a dark time for Naboo. The greedy Trade Federation has laid siege to
the planet, deploying an armada in orbit and a vast droid army on the ground
in an attempt to force it into surrender.
While Queen Amidala and her Jedi advisors have left to plead their case for
intervention before the Galactic Senate, a handful of freedom fighters have
remained behind to try and beat back the cowardly federation.
Star Wars: Battle for Naboo is a "prequel" to Lucas Arts' earlier
Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64. It's a vehicle-shooter type game
in which players fight their way through more than 15 missions. These
missions include recon and convoy duty, search-and-destroy sorties and
out-and-out dogfighting. As with Rogue Squadron, an overarching
storyline unites the missions, but this time around players get to take the
battle to the ground as well as the sky. Featured vehicles go beyond the
spacecraft like the Naboo N-1 Starfighter to include light and heavy battle
speeders and Trade Federation gunboats.
Players can pilot the craft using third-person rear or first-person
cockpit perspectives as they take on the role of the main character, Lt.
Gavyn Sykes of Naboo's Royal Security Force. Like the earlier game,
Battle for Naboo's difficulty levels are based on meeting certain
goals. Completing the basic objectives wins a bronze medal and unlocks the
next level. Completing the more difficult goals--like achieving a high level
of accuracy, or completing a mission with three out of three lives intact--wins
silver and gold medals.
Sequel delivers sharper graphics
Rogue Squadron was an excellent console game set between A New
Hope and Empire Strikes Back, but drawing upon the entire original
Star Wars trilogy for inspiration. Battle for Naboo, however,
is based solely on The Phantom Menace, making it a more focused, more
limited and ultimately less satisfying game than its predecessor.
On the technical side, the game looks and sounds great. The developers have
improved on the graphics of the original--Battle for Naboo looks
sharper and plays better without overstressing N64's aging hardware, and it's
hard not to be thrilled as Duel of the Fates plays in the background.
The ability to choose different craft at the beginning of a mission returns
in this game, and players will be pleasantly surprised at the added
opportunity to change vehicles mid-mission.
Compared to Rogue Squadron, though, the game seems less grand. While it does
introduce new enemies, ships and technology, it doesn't have the advantage
of pulling from a fully developed, fan-loved trilogy of its own. The action's entertaining, but using light assault speeders to destroy droid hover
tanks just can't compete with the sheer coolness of tripping up an Imperial
walker with a snow speeder, or flying an X-Wing on the Death Star trench
run.
Ultimately, players' enjoyment of Battle for Naboo will be based on
what they thought of Episode One. Kids who loved the Phantom Menace
and can't wait to be like Anakin will love the game, while folks who prefer
their trusty ol' X-Wings probably won't be as enthralled.
One of my favorite parts of the game was its opening: Jar Jar Binks walks
out onto the screen, only to be crushed by a falling 3-D N64 logo.
-- Ken
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