Summary

• Star Wars games offer a wide range of in-universe experiences, from lightsaber dueling to piloting starfighters.
• Output of truly great Star Wars games has been slow in recent years, but there are still plenty of retro titles that hold up.
• The best Star Wars video games cover nearly every genre, from real-time strategy to RPG.

Even from its earliest years, the monumental Star Wars franchise has extended to video games. Although its nascent arcade offerings are humble compared to modern games, even some older Star Wars games are classics worth playing. Star Wars may be best known for its blockbuster films, but the franchise's video game sector has been far more prolific, and the medium offers a level of interactivity that can't be matched. The galaxy far, far away captures the imagination like few fictional settings can manage, and games allow players a wide range of in-universe experiences, including dueling with lightsabers, piloting a starfighter, and marching into the battles of the Clone Wars.

Following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm – and by extension, the Star Wars brand – in 2012, an exclusive license to publish games for the franchise was granted to Electronic Arts. While a tighter grip on the IP was par for the course in Disney's early years at the helm, there were noticeably fewer Star Wars games being released compared to the deluge that came out of the now-defunct LucasArts prior. With EA's exclusive license now expired, more variety is on the horizon, including Ubisoft's truly open-world Star Wars Outlaws, but newer Star Wars games, playable on modern hardware, are surprisingly few and far between. Luckily, even many retro titles contain the best storytelling in all of Star Wars.

How we choose entries for our Best-Of LIsts.

Screen Rant has taken into consideration the aggregate of critic scores via Metacritic, reviews from Steam, and Screen Rant's own reviews. Screen Rant has been critically analyzing and evaluating media for over two decades, and has a particularly keen focus on the Star Wars franchise at large. Alongside certain older titles' legacies, audience expectations of what makes an exceptionally great Star Wars game have also been weighed, as well as the merits of both gameplay and story as it pertains to game.

20 Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994)

Space Combat

Star Wars: TIE Fighter is a sequel to 1993's Star Wars: X-Wing, flipping the player's allegiance to Empire, putting them in the cockpit of seven different Imperial starships (when counting those included in TIE Fighter's two expansions). TIE Fighter's main campaign primarily takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, commencing shortly after the Battle of Hoth and ending prior to the Battle of Endor. Although dated visually, TIE Fighter's lauded gameplay still holds up relatively well, and appearances from the likes of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Mon Mothma, and then-Vice iral Thrawn give its story significantly engaging stakes.

19 Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995)

First-Person Shooter

1995's Star Wars: Dark Forces may be a bit dated for modern audiences, but it's a watershed release for the franchise's earlier video games. It's the first Star Wars first-person shooter, but perhaps more importantly, it introduces Kyle Katarn, a beloved character of the now de-canonized Star Wars Expanded Universe (now referred to as Legends). Dark Forces mostly takes place after A New Hope, seeing reluctant mercenary Katarn uncovering the Galactic Empire's Dark Trooper program. While Dark Forces is readily available on PC through Steam, many interested players may want to wait for the remaster from Nightdive Studios, which is expected to release on all major platforms.

18 Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire (1996)

Third-Person Shooter

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is another fairly dated game that can still be enjoyed on PC. Originally a Nintendo 64 game released in 1996, Shadows of the Empire is only one part of a larger multimedia project undertaken by Lucasfilm to fill in the gaps between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Starring Dash Rendar, the game begins with the Battle of Hoth but includes a multitude of storylines and a variety of gameplay. Primarily a third-person shooter, Shadows of the Empire does well to incorporate its original characters with those from the films, including Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando.

17 Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (1999)

Racing

Adapting one of the quintessential set pieces from The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer puts players in the pilot seat of a podracer. With high-speed racing gameplay akin to F-Zero, Racer includes the podracers Anakin faces on Tatooine in the movie (plus some additional, original characters), but includes tracks from all over the Star Wars galaxy. Though originally released in 1999, Racer has more recently been ported to more modern hardware, complete with the original console version's two-player split-screen capability.

16 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008)

Action-Adventure

In some ways, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed epitomizes the way the franchise's video games danced around the stories of the mainline films, often creating characters and storylines that were unnecessary, but nonetheless captivating. The Force Unleashed (and its sequel) illuminates the rise of Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Prior to the Inquisitorius being created in the newer Star Wars canon, it was Starkiller's job to hunt down the Jedi who managed to survive the Great Jedi Purge.

A planet-hopping game with plenty of lightsaber dueling, The Force Unleashed was also important because of its Rebel Alliance origin story, which unveiled the machinations of a Darth Vader intent on overthrowing the Emperor. Unfortunately, The Force Unleashed's most recent version is a Nintendo Switch port of the motion-controlled Wii release, which doesn't translate very well to the Switch's Joy-Cons. Anyone hoping to enjoy the game now is likely better off opting for the PC version, or finding a copy to play on original console hardware.

15 Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (2002)

Action-Adventure, Third-Person Shooter

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter continued the tradition of the franchise's games filling in gaps between the mainline movies, providing context to Jango Fett's role in Attack of the Clones. The story has now been de-canonized as part of the Legends continuity, but has yet to see a replacement or re-telling. Bounty Hunter's plot revolves around Fett being hired by Count Dooku, aka Darth Tyranus - a job that evolves into a test to see if the bounty hunter is a suitable template for the clone army that will be created on Kamino.

Originally releasing on PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, Bounty Hunter may be a bit clunky by modern standards, but more than makes up for its lackluster elements with a captivating story and its novelty. So far, a game based on The Mandalorian is the stuff of dreams, and Bounty Hunter remains the closest in-universe substitute. Jango Fett remains an incredibly popular character alongside his cloned offspring, Boba, and Bounty Hunter gives players the pleasure of utilizing his dual blasters, jetpack, and wrist rockets.

14 Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (1997)

Third-Person Shooter

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 is the direct sequel to Dark Forces, but contains a key turn for protagonist Kyle Katarn: the discovery of his connection to the Force. Dark Forces 2 starts out as an FPS much like its predecessor, but the player is quickly given access to a lightsaber and an array of Force powers for the remainder of the campaign. Taking place shortly after Return of the Jedi, the game takes Katarn on a deeply personal journey to confront the Dark Jedi that murdered his father. It's a fascinating evolution in both gameplay and story from its prequel, and introduces online multiplayer to the series.

13 Star Wars: Battlefront (2004)

First/Third-Person Shooter

The original Star Wars: Battlefront is only limited by its scope. Released before Revenge of the Sith even hit theaters, Battlefront has a somewhat disted campaign, introducing battles via clips from the five then-released Star Wars films as the story progresses through the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War. Despite feeling a little barebones by modern standards, the gameplay of 2004's Battlefront still holds up, and the Galactic Conquest and Instant Action modes provide plenty of variety and replayability.

12 Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)

First/Third-Person Shooter, Space Combat

The return of Battlefront following Disney's acquisition was met with much excitement, especially since DICE, the developer behind the long-running Battlefield series, would be taking the reins. Ultimately, the 2015 reboot didn't quite live up to the towering legacy of their predecessors, but its 2017 sequel, Star Wars Battlefront 2, is in a wonderful state. After an incredibly rocky launch, which included most important game in the Star Wars timeline.

11 Star Wars: Squadrons (2020)

Space Combat

2020's Star Wars: Squadrons is perhaps the most authentic adaption of the films' iconic space battles. There is a rather thorough single-player campaign, with a dual focus on main characters who are starfighter pilots for the New Republic and Galactic Empire, but the multiplayer is where Squadrons really shines. The first-person dogfighting gameplay has some real complexity to it, giving Squadrons a rather steep learning curve and high skill ceiling.

Those who pick up Squadrons in 2023 may have some difficulty getting started, though, since limited modes have lead to a waning player base in the three years since release, and those who have stuck around are primarily very good at the game. Technical issues may arise as well, with many Steam reviews citing the games inability to launch, which is contributing to its "Mixed" review status.