Starting with the release of A New Hope in 1977, the Star Wars film franchise set the world on fire. Merchandise soon became a major part of the culture that formed around Star Wars fandom as the devotees tried to immerse themselves more and more in the universe. As the decades passed, tens of video games set in the Star Wars universe released across various consoles to help fans of the films and expanded universe do just that. Some of them retold the tales of Luke, Han, Leia, and Vader, while others shined the spotlight on the previously unexplored tales of the galaxy.
With Star Wars Battlefront releasing this week, we asked our readers to tell us what their favorite Star Wars video game of all time is. The poll, which posted at the beginning of the week, saw varied responses, but two favorites quickly emerged. Knights of the Old Republic and the original Star Wars Battlefront could probably have been assumed as the first and second favorites among our reader base going in, but the rest of the votes can be kind of shocking. Classic titles like X-Wing and Dark Forces fell at the feet of more recent titles like The Force Unleashed and Shadows of the Empire. At the same time, even more recent games like BioWare's MMO and this year's Battlefront (which the jury is still out on for many readers) received very little love in this poll. You can check out the distribution in chart form below, and see just how the votes fell below that.
- Knights of the Old Republic - 38.2%
- Battlefront (2004) - 20.5%
- The Force Unleashed - 11.6%
- Rogue Squadron - 6.5%
- Jedi Knight - 4.5%
- Republic Commando - 3.7%
- Shadows of the Empire - 3.1%
- Battlefront (2015) - 3%
- X-Wing - 2.4%
- Dark Forces - 2%
- The Old Republic - 1.4%
- Racer - 1.3%
- Jedi Power Battles - 0.7%
- Galaxies - 0.4%
- Super Star Wars - 0.3%
- Trilogy Arcade - 0.3%
We then decided to turn the tables and ask the Game Informer staff that same question. The responses from the editors and interns was much more lopsided, with Knights of the Old Republic pulling away as a clear favorite. You can see the visual representation of those results below.
- Knights of the Old Republic - 50%
- Rogue Squadron - 12.5%
- X-Wing - 12.5%
- Shadows of the Empire - 6.25%
- Super Star Wars - 6.25%
- Jedi Power Battles - 6.25%
- Racer - 6.25%
Does Knights of the Old Republic deserve the praise our participating readers and staff members threw its way? As far as our reviews go, it received among the highest praise of any Star Wars game, grabbing a 9.5/10 when we reviewed it in 2003. Do you think there's a better Star Wars game? Did the placement of any particular games surprise you? Let us know in the comments section!