Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force

All in all, without the license, Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force would be an average side-scroller for the GBA. Thankfully, the Star Wars license does add to the game, particularly its presentation, and makes for a better game as a result.

Other than a few cool moments here and there, there isn’t a lot going on that can’t be gotten elsewhere. There are many other excellent side-scrolling games out there that offer a lot more play time, but those games don’t have the Star Wars name.

Thanks to a borrowed "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" engine, Luke's moves are fluid and smooth. Whether he's hoisting himself up on crate or wielding a lightsaber his actions are lifelike and accurate.

It is definitely not the longest, or the greatest, Game Boy Advance title available. The production values here are well put together, but considering the extremely small length, we can only recommend it to rabid Star Wars fans.

While Apprentice isn’t lacking in small challenges, the hardest part about getting through the game is having the patience to move through all the more boring sections, since it does get pretty repetitive after a while.

Makes a better collector's item than it does a great playing video game. Star Wars fans will think it's cool, but only for a limited amount of time.

It offers really smooth and stunning animations at the cost of a really awkward "cel-shaded" render technique that doesn't mesh with the rigidly laid-out backgrounds. The game is fun to a point, but then it starts getting repetitive really early in the level progression.

The combat is shallow and repetitive, and, as a whole, the game is awfully brief--perhaps five hours from beginning to end.

Too simple and repetitive to recommend to anyone but a diehard Star Wars fan.

The sheer amount of repetition in this title makes it seem longer than it already is and considering that it spans three movies worth of content that is quite a feat.

You could fit the amount of innovation this game has into Yoda's shoe. What's that you say? Yoda doesn't wear shoes? Exactly...It somehow loses the magic of the movies and feels flat and lifeless. [Oct 2004, p.146]

Control is solid, but some puzzles are nonintuitive. [Nov 2004, p.133]

It's still a decent game in the grand scheme of things, if you can get past a few fits of boredom and the desire to be Chewie.

Not a terrible game, and it does have redeeming features, but the game design is rather lacking in ingenuity and variety. Most players will find this game to be too repetitive and too easy.

While it's an ambitious title -- especially for the Gameboy Advance -- that attempts to cram in every last Luke-related minute of the classic Star Wars trilogy, Apprentice Of The Force is a touch too repetitive and simple to be enjoyable for all that long.

It definitely has its moments. Unfortunately those rare moments are located between episodes of utter repetition and boredom.

Though the gameplay starts out basic, it does pick up halfway through as Luke gains more abilities, yet never ends up being anything more than average. [Nov 2004, p.89]

The game mechanics are fairly simple and the controls respond well enough; though I did find the dash ability a tad sensitive, often dashing into a bottomless pit when my intention was just to jump over them. All the levels are a simple “make your way from left to right” fare where you are occasionally locked within a screen-width section of the level and must kill a set number of enemies before progressing.

It’s also painful to say that I’ve heard far better music on the GBA. The Casio-style representation of the score is beyond belief, considering that music is 50 percent of the Star Wars franchise’s success.