Celebrate Star Wars Day With the Best Games Based on the Franchise

It's that time again — "May the 4th Be With You", AKA Star Wars Day, is upon us, and there's perhaps no better way to celebrate the occasion than with one of several of the best games to utilize the Star Wars license. Notably, video games based on the Star Wars IP have been around almost as long as the medium itself, with legendary arcade cabinets and titles for first generation home consoles like the Atari 2600 releasing hot on the heels of the 1977 original and then coinciding with the releases of both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Of course, as technology has improved, so have the games themselves, which has led to Star Wars games being some of the best licensed games to have ever existed, based on their gameplay and enjoyable mechanics as much as their faithfulness to the iconic IP.

As is customary, Star Wars Day (which includes not just May 4th but also, cheekily, May 5th, or "Revenge of the 5th") also happens to see several sales pop up for games taking place in the legendary sci-fi universe. Currently, players can head over to Steam to get almost every single one of the games on this list at a heavily discounted price, which is also true of the ongoing sales on Star Wars games over on the PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop, and Xbox Marketplace. From third-person action-adventure games to RPGs, flight-sims, first-person shooters, and beyond, there's practically a Star Wars game for everyone.

• Release Date — December 2, 1996
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — Nintendo, LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)
• Original Platforms — Nintendo 64, PC
• Modern Platforms — PC

Originally released for the Nintendo 64 at the tail end of the console's launch window in 1996, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a great game for its time. While its third-person on-foot segments leave a bit to be desired, the title is noteworthy for delivering one of the all-time great levels in any Star Wars game — the iconic opening sequence in which players get to participate in the Battle of Hoth from behind the yoke of a Snowspeeder. Getting to use a tow cable and take down an AT-AT was truly impressive, and that one level would help inspire one of the best Star Wars game series of all time with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

• Release Date — May 18, 1999
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — Arcade, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PC, Sega Dreamcast
• Modern Platforms — PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One

While the arcade version of Star Wars Episode I: Racer is vastly superior to the console and PC ports (including an awesome movie-accurate cabinet cockpit and controls), the versions players got to experience in the comforts of home are no slouch. Part kart racer and part high-speed futuristic racing game a-la Wipeout, Star Wars Episode I: Racer faithfully recreates one of the more thrilling sequences from the film by putting players in control of one of several different pod-racers across an impressive variety of tracks spanning the Star Wars universe. The solo arcade/grand prix mode is great fun on its own, but Episode I: Racer is even better head-to-head against a friend.

• Release Date — April 4, 2000
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast
• Modern Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Despite being a perfect fit for a hack-and-slash arcade-style action game, the Star Wars franchise surprisingly has few games based on the IP that fit that bill, with the one exception being the excellent Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles. Originally released for the PS1 and the Dreamcast, Jedi Power Battles would end up becoming a cult classic thanks to its incredibly fun co-op mode and wide variety of playable characters from the Star Wars prequel films. Today, players can hop into the recently released remaster, which includes all the content from the original release as well as some new tweaks to the controls.

• Release Date — September 16, 2008
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 73% (Mixed or Average)
• Original Platforms — iOS, Nintendo DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
• Modern Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

Games based on Star Wars tend to focus heavily on allowing players to play as the Rebel Alliance and its iconic heroes. It makes sense, given that they're the good guys of the franchise. But every so often, we get an excellent title that lets us step into the shoes of a villain in service of the Galactic Empire, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed takes that a step further by letting us play as Darth Vader's Jedi apprentice — Starkiller. While it hasn't aged quite as gracefully as some of the other third-person action adventure games set in the Star Wars universe, The Force Unleashed is still a great Sith power fantasy with a surprisingly excellent story filling in the gaps between the Star Wars films.

• Release Date — August 30, 2024
• Developer — Massive Entertainment
• Publisher — Ubisoft
• Review Aggregate Score — 75% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

The most recent Star Wars game to release is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the title's gameplay and mechanics lean into a side of the Star Wars universe we don't often see — that of getting to play as a Han Solo-like scoundrel instead of a Jedi. On the other hand, Star Wars Outlaws' story takes a while to get good, and some of its forced stealth sections result in some frustrating trial and error. Thankfully, Ubisoft has addressed the issues related to players' frustrations with the stealth segments and even improved the title's technical performance since launch. Today, Star Wars Outlaws is the only true open-world Star Wars game and a genuinely fun time to boot.

• Release Date — November 12, 1993
• Developer — Sculptured Software, LucasArts
• Publisher — JVC Musical Industries
• Review Aggregate Score — 78% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — SNES

Often considered to be the best of the three Super Star Wars games on the SNES, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a classic side-scrolling action platformer. Like both Super Star Wars and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Empire Strikes Back allows players to control various heroes from throughout the film in the different iconic locations and setpieces that you'd expect, and it even mixes up standard platforming and shooting with some impressive vehicle sections courtesy of the SNES' Mode 7 chipset. Notoriously, Empire Strikes Back is also the most difficult of the SNES Star Wars games, complete with a fittingly challenging final boss fight against Darth Vader that does the best of the original trilogy's films justice.

• Release Date — April 29, 1997
• Developer — Totally Games
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC

The third and final game in the trilogy of excellent Star Wars flight sims developed by Totally Games, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, was where many players fell in love with the Star Wars franchise. Similar to both the Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: TIE Fighter games that preceded it, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter features a wide variety of modes that, as you might expect, let you pilot both Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire aircraft. The "Balance of Power" campaign that's part of the package is also just half of the experience, as X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter has a now-legendary multiplayer component that elevates its excellent spacefaring dogfights. For the best experience, we strongly recommend playing this one with a joystick.

• Release Date — March 8, 1995
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — MS-DOS, PlayStation
• Modern Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

The success of Doom in 1993 created a seismic shift in the games industry that led to a slew of first-person shooters hoping to follow in its footsteps, with many of these titles going on to be labeled as "Doom clones". However, not all "Doom clones" were necessarily bad, as evidenced by the spectacular MS-DOS release of Star Wars: Dark Forces. Dark Forces may take inspiration from the popular shareware Star Wars mods for the original Doom, but LucasArts actually went the extra mile and developed its own proprietary engine for the game, the Jedi Engine, rather than use GZDoom, Build, or other popular FPS development tools of the era.

As a result, Dark Forces ended up being much more than just "Star Wars Doom", introducing unique elements like being able to aim up and down and introducing players to one of the Star Wars extended universe's best characters in Kyle Katarn. The original still holds up as a great game and can be purchased on Steam for relatively cheap, but the recent Nightdive Studios remaster goes above and beyond to preserve one of the FPS genre's early highlights post-Doom.

• Release Date — December 20, 2011
• Developer — BioWare
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC

An MMORPG set in the expansive Star Wars universe is practically a match made in heaven, and that it was none other than legendary RPG developer BioWare who got to spearhead that project is even better. Star Wars: The Old Republic takes many cues from BioWare's work on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, shifting many of the gameplay mechanics and progression elements to make more sense as an MMO rather than a single-player experience, and giving players impressive amounts of freedom and customization regarding how they go about interacting with the game's world and characters. It doesn't hurt that the Old Republic setting that takes place three millennia before the films is fertile ground for some compelling Star Wars storytelling.

While The Old Republic was originally a premium title that players had to purchase, the game has since shifted to a free-to-play model with in-game purchases. Since that shift, The Old Republic has barely missed a step, with the game's community still thriving and finding its impressively vast array of content still just as fun to get lost in as ever.

• Release Date — November 15, 2019
• Developer — Respawn Entertainment
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

The first game in what is now set to be a trilogy of titles from Respawn Entertainment, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is one of the best third-person action games to let players specifically take on the role of a Jedi. While past Star Wars games focusing on the Jedi power fantasy focused more on the Force powers and acrobatics of the ancient order's knights, Fallen Order hones in on its Lightsaber combat to great effect, ultimately coming off as a sort of Sekiro-lite thanks to its excellent parry and deflection system and thrilling duels. Best of all, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order features an incredible Star Wars story that's only further propped up by some excellent voice acting and facial capture performances, diving into the era between Episode III and Episode IV.

• Release Date — October 28, 2005
• Developer — Pandemic Studios
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox
• Modern Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

For years (and, to be fair, still to this day for some), Star Wars: Battlefront II represented the best of what Star Wars games had to offer. Coming from Mercenaries and Full Spectrum Warrior developer Pandemic Studios, the original Star Wars: Battlefront games are fast, fun, and hectic squad-based third-person shooters that are a ton of fun in single-player mode but ultimately shine brightest when playing multiplayer online with dozens of other players (assuming you played on PC or Xbox). Once thought lost to time thanks to EA's newer Battlefront games (which are decent enough but pale in comparison to the originals), Star Wars: Battlefront II is now available again on PC and modern consoles, and it's just as fun today as it was 20 years ago.

• Release Date — December 3, 1998
• Developer — Factor 5
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — Nintendo 64, PC
• Modern Platforms — PC

That first level in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire proved that a 3D, arcade-style Star Wars flight game was a viable concept on the Nintendo 64, and Factor 5 would partner with LucasArts to make it a reality with one of the console's absolute best games: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. Taking place across 16 unique missions set between the events of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Rogue Squadron features 5 different Rebel Alliance starcraft (the X-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing, V-Wing, and Snowspeeder) that each has its own unique weapon loadout and handling, and there are even some secret bonus missions and unlockables that let you play out iconic moments from the films like the Death Star trench run and, of course, the fateful Battle of Hoth. The game still holds up great on PC and is regularly less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

• Release Date — July 20, 1994
• Developer — Totally Games
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC

Ask anyone of a certain age to name their end-all, be-all, favorite Star Wars game of all time, and there's a strong likelihood that you'll get Star Wars: TIE Fighter as the answer. The middle game in Totally Games' now-legendary trilogy of PC flight sims in the Star Wars universe, TIE Fighter was one of the first games based on the Star Wars universe to let players play as not a member of the Rebel Alliance, but as a pilot in the Galactic Empire. Together with that unique premise and perspective, TIE Fighter delivers an excellent story-driven campaign that is absolutely bursting with content (13 tours of duty between events spanning the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back through the conclusion of Return of the Jedi) and is one of the more mechanically dense and satisfying flight-sims of the era.

• Release Date — April 28, 2023
• Developer — Respawn Entertainment
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

The sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor picks up five years after the events of the first game and continues to follow Jedi Knight Cal Kestis as he works against the Empire and struggles to rebuild the Jedi Order following the devastating Order 66. Like the first game in Respawn's action RPG series, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor mixes freeform exploration and traversal with methodical, deflection-based combat that focuses on a variety of different Lightsaber stances and blade types. While Survivor is fairly similar to Fallen Order in a lot of ways, it essentially ups the quality of each of those elements to stand out as a sequel that's bigger, better, and features an equally (or perhaps more) compelling story.

• Release Date — December 6, 2004
• Developer — Obsidian Entertainment
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — PC, Xbox
• Modern Platforms — Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch

Despite the fact that Knights of the Old Republic II featured a famously rushed development, you have to give credit to Obsidian Entertainment for squeezing blood from a stone to deliver a Star Wars RPG that's almost on par with the original. For many fans, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords is actually the better game in the franchise simply for how it expands upon the lore of the first game, doing a great job at building out the world, characters, and conflict of the compelling Old Republic era and letting players once again determine what kind of hero (or anti-hero) they'll be through their choices that affect both the world around them and their companions. And, lest we forget, the expansions to the game's combat sandbox via new Force powers and Lightsaber types make what's already great encounter design even better.

• Release Date — March 28, 2002
• Developer — Raven Software
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Original Platforms — GameCube, PC, Xbox
• Modern Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch

Hands down, the best game in the 4-game saga of Kyle Katarn, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, is one of the first games to near-perfectly tap into the "feeling" of what it must be like to be a Jedi Knight. While the title starts off with Kyle having lost his Force sensitivity he discovered as part of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, the game quickly sees Katarn reacquainted with the Force, which gives way to the ability to readily switch between third and first-person modes as you juggle using a Lightsaber and Force powers or traditional blaster rifles. Like the best Star Wars games do, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast mixes both great gameplay and a compelling original story set in the Star Wars universe to stand as a great game all on its own, regardless of its license.

• Release Date — April 5, 2022
• Developer — Traveller's Tales
• Publisher — Warner Bros. Games
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

In terms of "bang for your buck", you could hardly go wrong with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which features an almost head-spinning amount of content to dive into that's playable solo or with a friend and is just as fun for adults as it is for kids. While there were LEGO Star Wars games before The Skywalker Saga (many, in fact), the latest LEGO Star Wars package is the best the franchise has ever looked and played, and it retains the classic charm and whimsy that the series is known for. Better yet, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga regularly goes on sale, offering up nearly 100 hours of Star Wars-themed fun spanning all 9 main films for just $10.

• Release Date — October 9, 1997
• Developer — LucasArts
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Platforms — PC

While Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast might be the superior game in terms of its content and mechanics, there's something to be said for the major strides forward that Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II makes over the original Dark Forces. For starters, Jedi Knight is the first 3D Star Wars game to let players use a Lightsaber, and its introduction of a local network multiplayer mode was a major step forward for the Dark Forces series of FPS titles at the time of its release. Ultimately, though, it's the incredible story and revelation of Kyle Katarn being a Force-sensitive Jedi that helps to elevate Jedi Knight as being more than just another sequel, with both it and Jedi Knight II often touted as two of the greatest games ever made, Star Wars or otherwise.

• Release Date — November 18, 2001
• Developer — Factor 5
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)
• Platforms — GameCube

As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Factor 5 took that idiom to heart when it developed the sequel to Rogue Squadron, Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, which is not only one of the all-time greatest arcade flight games but also arguably the best launch title on the Nintendo GameCube. Unfortunately, Rogue Leader is one of several GameCube titles that remain exclusive to the console, meaning players have no way to play the game other than on native hardware or via emulation. That said, it's impressive how well Rogue Leader still holds up today in terms of its audiovisual presentation, delivering one of the best-looking and sounding games in the Star Wars universe that perfectly taps into the thrill of dogfighting the Empire.

• Release Date — July 16, 2003
• Developer — BioWare
• Publisher — LucasArts
• Review Aggregate Score — 94% (Universal Acclaim)
• Original Platforms — PC, Xbox
• Modern Platforms — Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch

BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is often held up as the pinnacle of Star Wars gaming, and that its crown has yet to be snatched after more than 20 years since its release speaks volumes about how monumental of a game it was at launch. Truth be told, Knights of the Old Republic was the reason many Star Wars fans picked up an Xbox when it released, and nothing could have prepared us for the experience that lay in store.

Knights of the Old Republic took players back to a new and exciting timeline in the Star Wars universe, separate from the films, all while giving them the freedom to shape the story through their actions. Will you be a noble Jedi Knight or a nefarious Sith? The decision is ultimately yours, and it helps Knights of the Old Republic stand as both one of the best Star Wars games ever made and one of the all-time great RPGs.