Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force for Game Boy Adv Reviews & Ratings by IGN

It's almost as if it's an annual tradition to release a Star Wars branded action game on the Game Boy Advance. This time around, since 20th Century Fox and LucasFilm's going to make a mint on the DVD sales of the original three Star Wars movies, Ubisoft is right there with a GBA game that bunches these three movies into an original action game. This game is definitely the best Star Wars branded GBA title so far, but even the best isn't quite good enough.

Features

• Levels and missions based on Episode IV, V, and VI
• Unlockable extras
• Link cable support for two players
• Cartridge save (three slots)

Ubisoft's Montreal GBA team, the ones that brought forth the capable Prince of Persia: Sands of Time to life on the handheld, helmed this latest incarnation in the Star Wars franchise. It's not hard to see the influence, as the majority of Apprentice of the Force uses the same side-scrolling platform engine as well as a similar-but-odd "black outline render" character design for most of the sprites in the game. There's even a force power that allows players to slow down time and move faster than everyone for a short period -- definitely lifted from the design pages of Sands of Time.

The majority of Star Wars Trilogy takes place in a side-scrolling action environment where players assume the role of Luke as he evolves into the Jedi master he's destined to become. At the very least, the designers portrayed his evolution pretty well in the game; Episode IV has Luke at his weakest, and really only gives players the option of a blaster as a weapon. By Episode V, Luke's force powers have strengthened, and by Episode VI, Luke's lightsaber skills sends him into a slashing frenzy that shows off some really cool animation sequences. Admittedly, this limits the levels just a bit since players can't, for example, use some of Luke's cooler and handier powers and abilities in the early missions.

Since the story is told from Luke's perspective, only the events that Luke was a part of in the three movies are actually represented as action sequences and level designs in Star Wars Trilogy, which does mean a lot of potentially cool level designs are left out of the game; no Milennium Falcon missions, for example...though it does make a "surprise" appearance at the end of the first Episode. Like that actually ruins anything for you...

The side-scrolling missions are competently designed, giving players an evolving character from episode to episode. Players will either blast or slash incoming enemies in a platform environment, as well as use force powers to move objects or enhance Luke's jumping and running skills. As fun and challenging as it is, it's a shame that these missions take up about 80 percent of the game. Levels tend to go on for a bit longer than they should, and definitely lack a certain, creative flair: run into room, get ambushed by Stormtroopers, repeat. Some missions do spice up the action by giving Luke an escort, be it R2D2 or the princess, which then puts another element into the mix by requiring players to protect them while marching through the area. Overall these side-scrolling challenges would be better off shorter, interspersed with some other game themes, since it's a slight drag to finish one extensive level of side-scrolling platform action and move into a new area that's exactly the same thing. Luckily the game saves the player's position between missions, letting them take a breather from the same-same action.

It's not all the same, though. There are smaller challenges peppered throughout the game. But movie sequences that make up most of the best action in theaters are reduced to basic and mundane minigame-style challenges. The trench battle of Episode IV and the speederbike scenes of Episode VI are really basic horizontal shooters with really no creative spark embedded in their design. The X-Wing sequences are a nice little challenge that borrows heavily from Time Pilot and Sinistar, but they're just not quite as fun as they could be, or as fun as the games that inspired them.

The storytelling aspect of Apprentice of the Force is one of the weaker elements. Yes, we've all seen the movies countless times, but that's no excuse for lame, still screens with poorly rendered character faces to represent who's talking. It's definitely a step backwards from the stunning movie stills of Episode II released on the GBA a couple years back. The ending in particular is so anticlimactic that you'll wonder if the game's really over. And Star Wars Trilogy's audio, while no slouch in sound effects, has some really lame MIDI versions of the familiar Star Wars themes. It's definitely not the worst stuff heard on the system, but the GBA has sounded way better than this.

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