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> Results: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
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This is an almost unpublicized game from a heavily hyped franchise. The history of handheld Star Wars games has been mediocre. Licensed games are generally bad. Movie tie-ins are generally bad. Star Wars handheld games are generally bad. So is there any reason to bother with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on Nintendo DS?
Yes. This game is better than any previous handheld Star Wars game. The game consists of two basic game modes: side-scrolling action and space battle. The side-scrolling action also has front-to-back movement, and is pretty much the same as the Game Boy Advance version of the game. This mode also contains four boss battles. These are fought in pure side-scrolling mode, with the hero on the left and the boss on the right. The space battles are unique for the Nintendo DS version, and are very well done. Gameplay consists of two paths. One follows Anakin and the other path follows Obi-Wan. As in the movie, they begin and end together but are divergent in the middle of the game. The game is repetitive. Each character battles four bosses. Three of them are based on major fights from the movie, and one extra boss is added to each for filler. While these extra bosses make sense in context, they did not feature in the movie at the same level of importance. The controls are intuitive and work very well. There are two basic setups, one each for the side-scrolling action and space battles. You can customize anything you want, which is always nice. Also helpful is that you can easily find out the controls for a combo right from the pause screen, in case you forget in the middle of action.  The game plays great. The side-scrolling action features graphics similar to the GameBoy version, but is remarkable in that the framerate is extremely smooth, regardless of what is happening or how many enemies are present. The graphics, while not taxing for the DS, are as good as anything I've seen on the GBA. The screenshots don't do it justice. You travel from area to area, taking out loads of enemies, who often come at you in clusters from both sides. Along the way you gather advancement points and fill a special meter. Anakin gets ﾑRage' based on number of hits, and Obi-Wan gets ﾑfocus' based on his Force power usage. As the meter fills, special combos become available, which are unlocked as you progress through the game. The space battles are simply amazing. They look and feel like a lower-resolution version of the Gamecube's Rebel Strike. You are given objectives and enemy ships of increasing difficulty to battle. There is excellent use of the touch screen to show the radar, health and shield status, and to allow you to move shield power from front to back. There are adequate power-ups around in both game-types. Replayability comes from multiplayer, replaying space missions, and incentive-based repeated play of the entire game (or whatever levels you select). At the end of each level, you are rewarded for customization points found, time through the level, and the amount of Jedi moves. The total of these items awards you with customization points that you allocate to advancing Force Powers as you choose. This light role-playing feature is great fun and allows you to customize your character with broad effect. In addition, each completion gives you a character statistic point to increase the health bar, Force bar or increase the damage done per hit. Also, by completing the game at the Padawan or Jedi level, you unlock the ﾑMaster' level, and get a bonus amount of customization points. So if you complete the Padawan level, you take your character with all powers and customizations into the Jedi level, where you start with an extra 50 customization points. As you pass a space mission, it becomes unlocked for you to repeat at any time. Multiplayer is for space battles only, but that isn't a bad thing since it's so reminiscent of the Star Wars GameCube games like Rebel Strike. You can play against other DS owners or bots. You choose a ship and a setting, set the time and number of kills and then you choose the ships and teams of the opponents in bot matches. You can also choose a bot by name. Doing this is special because beating a named computer flown bot unlocks their ship for you to use in later multiplayer games. The ultimate ship to unlock is the Millennium Falcon. The gameplay is very good against bots, they vary in difficulty, and the settings are enjoyable, making the multiplayer a worthwhile addition. Repetition is the game's most serious problem. Especially early in the game, you feel like you are repeating wave after wave of the same thing. Then, if you switch characters, you get exactly the same areas. It can become tedious at times. Another criticism is that the touch screen is not active in boss battles. In normal combat, the touch screen allows easy access to the four special combos (or however many are unlocked), but in boss battles it becomes a portrait screen which says ﾑObi-Wan vs. Anakin' or whatever battle is in progress. Since boss battles are when you need every tool at your disposal, this is frustrating. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is very good start for Star Wars gaming on the Nintendo DS. It is a fun and varied experience with built-in replayability, augmented by some excellent multiplayer. It is not very long, but is enjoyable despite the repetition and lends itself well to repeated plays. 
This game gives players all of the story and action of Episode III without the need for a PG-13 rating. You battle many of the same characters and see the story between levels, but there is nothing scary or inappropriate. Even the ﾑImmolation scene' is done through cinematics in a way that I would have no problem showing a 5-year old. I was concerned about this based on the movie, but this is no less appropriate for the 6+ crowd than LEGO Star Wars. That said, it's rated E10+ because the entire game is focused on violence and it stays true to the themes that made the film PG-13, so it's very much a judgement call for the parent whether younger children should play.
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