Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a remaster of the 2002 action platformer. You play as Jango Fett when he’s still a bounty hunter, before the creation of the clone army. He’s voiced by his live-action actor, Temuera Morrison, and the story is an interesting and surprisingly funny look into the life of one of the films’ more mysterious characters. This remaster is a faithful port of the original game, but unfortunately carries over its flaws, too.
The third-person shooter’s six chapters consist of three levels each; chapters three and up ramp up the difficulty considerably. Using Jango’s jetpack you have to navigate increasingly tricky platforming sections, and the old school design means there’s no minimap or quest markers, so you have to navigate using your intuition. The levels look sharper in the remaster, as do the cutscenes, but some visual bugs and poor framing could’ve done with some work.
Combat is simple yet enjoyable. Jango has numerous weapons that change between levels, but he always has his handy blasters. Ranged enemies dodge and flank, but melee ones simply charge you in a straight line, making them easy pickings for the flamethrower. It would’ve been nice to see some improvements to enemy AI, because as it stands, the main way they get more challenging is by becoming more numerous, but there is at least good variety with them. The lock-on camera is the hardest enemy, though, often glitching and making Jango sway wildly.
The game becomes almost Soulslike in its enemy placement, putting them around corners and having them drop down from the ceiling. You get five lives each level, and once they’re gone you have to start it again. It’s classically retro and a welcome change from today’s overly forgiving games. The losses are brutal, but the victories are sweet, so by the end of the story you feel like you’ve overcome a great challenge and proven your worth as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.
Overall, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter missed an opportunity to add much-needed polish, but if you want to revisit a childhood classic, you’ll be happy with this faithful remaster.
