Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo

by Lucas Arts Entertainment

Product Details

• ASIN: B000056FLI
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 3.4 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,048 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Running on an enhanced Star Wars: Rogue Squadron engine, the nice game developers at Factor 5 have taken one last stab at the aging Nintendo 64 system with yet another entry into the wide world of Lucas. At times fun, but at more times frustrating, Star Wars: Episode I, Battle for Naboo has plenty going for it. Unfortunately, these good deeds are deeply overshadowed by a darker side.

Were you one of the millions who enjoyed the very popular Rogue Squadron? If you were, then get ready for more of the same, only this time wrapped around a lucrative Episode I license. This should appeal to newly christened fans and hardball line campers alike, as there's more of a concrete story line to follow than in the sidelined plot of RS.

Just as in the aforementioned classic, Battle for Naboo revolves around the collection of gold medals. New vehicles abound, and there's more than enough variety in the game's locales. The ability to switch craft at any time during the missions doesn't hurt the replay factor, either. If you discover the flash speeder doesn't have enough firepower to finish off that AT-AT tank, you can simply enter a different hanger and take control of a police cruiser.

The graphics are astounding, even better than what RS showcased. The game displays fantastic details everywhere--even the explosions are incredible. The sound, though, is very disappointing, especially when you consider that Factor 5 is behind the scenes. To the curious, Factor 5 has been one of the pioneers of gaming audio for a while now; the company was even chosen to helm the sound capabilities of Nintendo's next-generation GameCube console. With all of Factor 5's credentials, one might expect stellar sound. In many instances, the sound comes out muffled and the voice-overs are distorted.

The control and maneuvering should have been given more fine-tuning as well. This type of game relies on precise controls, but Battle for Naboo suffers from some sloppy movements and inaccurate targeting problems. This, combined with simplistic backgrounds and missions that are too straightforward, helps deflate what could have been a great game into a mere OK title. There's plenty of replay value here, but this game's certainly not for everyone. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• High replayability
• Large variety of ships and locales
• Impressive graphics

Cons:

• The sound is muffled and the voice-overs are distorted
• Imprecise controls

Product Description

Running on an enhanced Star Wars: Rogue Squadron engine, the nice game developers at Factor 5 have taken one last stab at the aging Nintendo 64 system with yet another entry into the wide world of Lucas. At times fun, but at more times frustrating, Star Wars: Episode I, Battle for Naboo has plenty going for it. Unfortunately, these good deeds are deeply overshadowed by a darker side.

Were you one of the millions who enjoyed the very popular Rogue Squadron? If you were, then get ready for more of the same, only this time wrapped around a lucrative Episode I license. This should appeal to newly christened fans and hardball line campers alike, as there's more of a concrete story line to follow than in the sidelined plot of RS.

Just as in the aforementioned classic, Battle for Naboo revolves around the collection of gold medals. New vehicles abound, and there's more than enough variety in the game's locales. The ability to switch craft at any time during the missions doesn't hurt the replay factor, either. If you discover the flash speeder doesn't have enough firepower to finish off that AT-AT tank, you can simply enter a different hanger and take control of a police cruiser.

The graphics are astounding, even better than what RS showcased. The game displays fantastic details everywhere--even the explosions are incredible. The sound, though, is very disappointing, especially when you consider that Factor 5 is behind the scenes. To the curious, Factor 5 has been one of the pioneers of gaming audio for a while now; the company was even chosen to helm the sound capabilities of Nintendo's next-generation GameCube console. With all of Factor 5's credentials, one might expect stellar sound. In many instances, the sound comes out muffled and the voice-overs are distorted.

The control and maneuvering should have been given more fine-tuning as well. This type of game relies on precise c

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucasarts Does It Again, December 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo (Video Game)

As usual, Lucasarts carries on the tradition of making great games. This game has all the great qualities of it's cousin, Rouge Squadron, plus more. The fog effect has been eliminated- a major plus. Lucasarts factored in ground based missions, and level checkpoints. If you liked Rogue, you'll play this game once, and never want to go back.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite Rogue, January 11, 2001

By 

Cecil Moon (Cary, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo (Video Game)

Battle for Naboo is still a very fun game even though I find that it falls short of its predecesor Rogue Squadron. Here are my pros and cons.

Pros: Music and Sound are excellent, even better than Rogue. The music is phenomenal, almost CD quality. Sound effects are 100% Ben Burt! Vehicle change is a small pro only because it helps replenish your health after a bruising in the call of battle. But what good is a Naboo Police cruiser when you can fly the Starfighter instead? Pretty cool extras and passcodes. The Commentary passcode is the coolest. Just like commentary on a DVD movie! The last mission is awesome...and hard! Pretty good graphics, but no big improvement over Rogue, really.

Cons: What happened to the detail of the ships and the hangar? Rogue let you cruise around looking at each vehicle before selecting. Naboo has a cheap scaled down version that allows you to cycle through the limited number of vehicles. WHAT! no COCKPIT view either! That is a major minus! Rogue had so many more viewing options. I personally liked looking out of the Falcon's windows up and down. Some of the levels, especially the first ones, are way too short. I almost felt ripped off. The final level is the best but way too short at the same time. I found it TOO easy to get silvers and TOO HARD to get Golds. There is no happy medium. The person who wrote about needing the passcodes in defeating the game is right about this!

I gave it 3 stars because this is still not a major improvement over Rogue Squadron. I guess I am just old fashioned and like X-wings over Naboo Starfighters. N64 Star Wars games in order of greatness: Rogue Squadron, Racer, Battle for Naboo, Shadows of the Empire.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, December 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo (Video Game)

I own both Rogue Squadron and Pod Racing, and I have to say this is better than both. The variety of the game is what really makes it a winner. And true to the movie