We’re currently living in a golden age of remasters and re-releases, Star Wars or otherwise, if that’s your jam. Given that official preservation of retro video games sucks so much, this is the next best thing for now. After Aspyr’s pretty good streak with LucasArts classics and other IPs like Tomb Raider, expectations for the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection were high. Does it shine as much as other comebacks from a galaxy far, far away though?
It’s difficult to overstate how important the original Star Wars Battlefront games, developed by Pandemic Studios, were and still are. They’re some of the most glowing examples of finding success by simply transferring a tried-and-tested ‘original’ formula to a renowned entertainment property. With EA DICE’s early Battlefield games blowing up, someone though it’d be a great idea to do that but Star Wars. Turns out, they were damn right.
Ironically, DICE ended up rebooting the best-selling Star Wars video game franchise once Disney took over Lucasfilm and everything they owned. Star Wars Battlefront ’15 largely felt rushed to meet the deadline set around The Force Awakens, and its 2017 sequel had a terrible launch and hit many road bumps before finally achieving cult status (it retains a dedicated community to this day).