The Phantom Menace was on my mind last week because the video game based on the movie got rereleased and I decided to see how the game felt over twenty years later. I played The Phantom Menace sometime around when it first came out in 1999 and my father bought it for my brother and me. I have vague, but fond, memories of the game. The game was hard — it took years of playing off-and-on to beat — and there are parts of it that have lodged deeply enough in my brother’s and my minds that we still quote a line from it to this day.
Playing this game twenty-odd years after the first time, I’m struck by how much of it I remember. Maybe not remember per se, like I probably couldn’t have given you a direct rundown of the game’s levels, but a lot of it exists in fragments in my mind. Like the corridors of the Trade Federation ship that gave me the strongest déjà vu when I played Jedi Survivor. Roaming the Tatooine level, Anakin led me to a shortcut and I suddenly felt a visceral sense of dread. Sure enough, it was a dumb jumping puzzle that would have taken me far too long had the release version not had a handy rewind feature.
It’s not unlike going back to a hometown, revisiting this game. There’s a great deal of nostalgia to walking around and exploring a (virtual) place where I spent so much time, but even though it hasn’t changed, I have. And also video games in general, to be honest. I still enjoyed replaying The Phantom Menace, frustrating as it was in places, but I think much of that stems from my own fond memories. The game is clunky; its combat lacking and level design frustrating. There are too many times when you have to escort a companion past an army of Battle Droids, trying to head off their suicidal tendencies because their death means game over. But damn if the game isn’t trying something. It recreates swathes of the film, if not accurately then with the goal of making it feel right. The crappy combat is interspersed with some interesting attempts at more social-focused levels with some light-RPG elements before adding light-RPG elements to everything was the norm. Is it good? Not really. But does it try? Very much so!
I like being able to revisit old games I once knew quite well — or even didn’t know all that well — and let the memories come rushing back. It’s special to be able to revisit these virtual worlds and re-experience these spaces. To that note, Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles needs to be rereleased next. Because I remember that game being empirically fantastic and wanna see if it’s true.
Essays, Not Rants! 