This game was a childhood favorite of mine as both a gamer and a hardcore Star Wars fan. What makes it so revolutionary is not only that it's the very first fully 3D Star Wars game, but also one of the first fully 3D third person shooters ever created.
The music was amazing, from John Williams legendary soundtrack from the original trilogy to the new music by Joel McNeely. In fact, this was one of the few N64 games with a fully orchestrated soundtrack. The sound effects were superb, with classic sounds from the movies like blaster fire and creature sounds that sounded clear and intimidating.
Admittingly, though, the game hasn't aged too well. As typical for early 3D platformers, the controls for Dash were clumsy and frustrating with his floaty jumping. Many of the levels required well timed jumps over bottomless pits that made them tough to beat, especially when collecting certain challenge points. The levels look empty, have few details, and are as coarsely textured as the enemy models. But the combat still holds up fairly well as you fight enemies like Stormtroopers and probe droids with your blaster, seeker missiles, pulse rifle, and other weapons.
The vehicle-based missions, like the asteroid field and the final battle against Prince Xizors Skyhook were way more fun and less cumbersome. My favorite was the first level in which you pilot a Snowspeeder and toppled over AT-ATs during the Battle of Hoth, which was like a dream come true for me as a kid. It even set the stage for the Rouge Squadron series. The bosses were challenging, ranging from original Star Wars figures, such as Boba Fett and IG-88 to more original ones like Xizor's Gladiator droid and the terrifying Giant Dianoga that undoubtedly gave many gamers nightmares.
Flaws, aging, and difficulty aside, this game is still worth playing today if you're a Warsie who enjoys classic games. You can try it on the PC on Steam and experience the game that marked the Star Wars franchise successful leap into the realm of 3D games.
