by THQ

I can’t believe that there actually was a time when I looked forward to the coming of a new Star Wars game. I bought an N64 largely to play Shadows of the Empire. I remember counting down the days to the release of Rebel Assault II. It didn’t really matter much that the games weren’t all that good—it was Star Wars, and that was enough. But it seems that you can’t find time to breathe between all of the Star Wars games coming out. Lucas was careful not to release the Episode I toys too early because he feared overexposure. I wish that he would exercise the same caution in releasing the games. The fact that Obi Wan Adventures was published out of house should tell me that they’re releasing so many Star Wars games that Lucasarts can’t keep up. In just the past couple of months we’ve seen Jedi Power Battles for the Dreamcast, Star Wars Demolition for the Playstation and Dreamcast, Battle For Naboo for the N64 and now Obi-Wan Adventures for the Gameboy Color. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ll be seeing Starfighter for the PS2, a Star Wars themed kart racer for the Dreamcast and PS2 and Obi-Wan Adventures for the PC. I’m sure I missed a couple of titles, but the above list should be enough evidence that Lucas is milking this franchise more than any evil trade federation could imagine.

In an attempt to cash in on the much anticipated Obi-Wan Adventures for the PC, THQ has published their take on Jedi Power Battles for the Game Boy Color. The gameplay is almost identical to Jedi Power Battles with a lot less jumping. In fact the jumping in Obi-Wan Adventures is little more than hopping or skipping. I actually found myself getting embarrassed at the lameness of his leaps.

You have three basic weapons: your lightsaber, a blaster, and the force. I never found any real use for the blaster while playing the game, but you will need the force to complete a few of the puzzles on some of the levels.

The graphics are actually pretty nice. They are a couple of notches above what I expected from the Game Boy. Obi-Wan is nicely animated, there’s a lot of action going on in the backgrounds, and the Destroyer Droids unravel themselves with a nice flourish.

The levels are short; it’s more of that Star Wars junk that people seem to be getting sick of, and Obi-Wan can’t jump well enough to make a decent show at hop-scotch. The only things that Obi-Wan Adventures has going for it are the graphics and the chance to wield a lightsaber on the Game Boy Color. Star Wars fans will be pleased, but I’m starting to learn that it doesn’t take a whole lot to please that bunch (Phantom Menace did make over 400 million at the box office).

Jason Frank