Admittedly, the 2000 PlayStation title Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles wasn't the first “classic” that came to mind when wondering what Aspyr would remaster next. But hey, it's coming to Switch next year, and eShop pre-orders are open now.
In the new pre-order trailer (above), we get another look at the Star Wars arcade brawler, complete with new features. This includes all the unlockables available from the jump, 13 new characters for the game (hello Weequay fans), and some of the classic cheat codes from later editions of the game — Qui-Gon's head has never looked so lush.
The entire game is set to Switch on January 23but those who want to buy early can do so via North American eShop for $17.99 (and that includes a 10% pre-launch discount). We would imagine that it will appear on other regional eShops in the coming days.
Below you can find a full overview of the game's features and a handful of screenshots.
– Jump into side-scrolling arcade action in the Star Wars galaxy: Play as Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Adi Gallia and Qui-Gon Jinn and face classic enemies in iconic locations from STAR WARS: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
– All secret characters unlocked and more to discover: Play with all the secret characters and levels from the original game unlocked from the start, including Darth Maul, Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala and more. There are also 13 new characters you can unlock after your first playthrough, such as Rifle Droid, Tusken Raider, Ishi Tib and Weequay!
– Play with a friend in Classic Couch Co-op: Fight side-by-side with a companion in two-player co-op for the entire 10-level campaign and bonus mini-games.
– New features and modes for modern platforms: Use classic or modern controls, change lightsaber colors, enter classic cheats like Big Head Mode, dive into VS and training modes from later game releases and discover more surprises in this 25th anniversary celebration STAR WARS Episode I: Jedi Power Battles.
It all looks, well, like another Aspyr Star Wars remaster, but if the gameplay loop is fun enough, we can see this being a good bit of lightsaber fun — once we get over the initial sting of it not being a Rogue Squadron II remaster, of course.
Aspyr's last Star Wars project, Bounty Hunter, delivered a faithful remaster of the 2002 action game, albeit one that felt very dated 2024. Let's hope Jedi Power Battles isn't such a blast from the past (in all the wrong ways).
