5 Best Star Wars Video Games Of All Time, Ranked

Star Wars has been a video game franchise for nearly as long as it's been a film franchise, with the very first game adaptation — "The Empire Strikes Back," for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision — coming out in 1982. In the 44 years since, there have been dozens upon dozens of games across genres, including enough Star Wars pinball games to make a list of the best, and the most important one of all, "Super Bombad Racing."

We could talk all day about that "Obi-Wan" game on the original Xbox, or how good the one-on-one dueling mode in the "Revenge of the Sith" tie-in was, or the way the "Star Wars Trilogy" arcade cabinet sucked up quarters for the Vader fight, but there's no time. In an effort to whittle a massive list of games down to the five best, we have to make some brutal cuts, leaving a long list of honorable mentions.

On the MMO side, "The Old Republic" is still going strong, and the defunct "Star Wars Galaxies" deserves credit for its brash ambition and weirdness. The "Force Unleashed" games, while flawed, remain cult classics, and strategy fans will fondly remember the large-scale showdowns of "Empire at War." On the more recent front, "Star Wars Outlaws" turned a rocky launch into one of the best sandboxes we've ever had, thanks to a series of patches and updates. And then, of course, there's both "Republic Commando," and "Knights of the Old Republic II," which was close to being amazing, only to get shipped out the door before it was truly finished.

But enough with the also-rans. These are the five best Star Wars video games of all time, ranked.

There have been so many "gamer's games" in the Star Wars universe that we often neglect the ones meant for the new, younger fans. Yes, Star Wars is for everyone, but it's also specifically for kids, and there is no Star Wars video game series better suited to that demographic than "LEGO Star Wars."

There are more modern entries, with the recent "Skywalker Saga" getting a lot of praise for its sheer volume of content. But there's something so beautiful and elegant in the older Lego Star Wars games' simplicity, and the clear pinnacle was the third entry, which brought both of George Lucas' Star Wars trilogies together with some enhanced features, a massive roster of playable characters, and hours upon hours of bonus content.

For an entire generation, "The Complete Saga" was the primary way of living and reliving those six films. Not only was it a blast to play, and incredibly accessible, but the LEGO version of the Star Wars universe was a natural fit for all of the side characters, ship designs, and other bits of extraneous lore that make the franchise so fun to play with.

You can't have a list of the best Star Wars games and not have a "Battlefront" entry. In fairness, there is room for discussion about which entry deserves the honor. While the second game to hold the "Battlefront II" title had one of the worst launches of any major game, a years-long update campaign eventually turned it into a fantastic team-based shooter. But sadly, lack of support in recent years has left that game in another rough place, so we look back to the GOAT — the original "Star Wars: Battlefront II."

Released on the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox in tandem with "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, the game was a sequel to Star Wars' version of the popular "Battlefield" games. Focusing on large-scale multiplayer battles with lots of vehicles and tactical objectives, the first game was a hit, but the introduction of space battles and Jedi and Sith character classes in the sequel turned it from great into one of the best Star Wars games of all time.

Kids of the 2000s know how many duels were fought in the heroes-only mode in Mos Eisley, or how good it felt to land inside the opposing team's cruiser during a dogfight over Hoth. And while both original trilogies are playable, this game was always special for the prequel fanatics among us who just wanted to play as one of the countless clone troopers whose untold stories are so fleeting.

There is a parallel universe where "Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II" is in this spot on the list instead of "Jedi: Survivor." The two games seem linked through time — past and present pictures of that most sacred Star Wars gameplay element, the lightsaber. A critical hit in its day and a classic even now, "Jedi Knight" — and its beloved Starkiller — paved the road that Cal Kestis now walks with developer Respawn. But in the interest of representing a larger swath of genres rather than packing the list with games that let you be a Jedi, saber and all, "Survivor" is the one that made the cut.

Building off of a strong foundation in "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," the sequel weeds out some of its predecessor's bugginess, maximizes the "Metroid"/"Dark Souls" hybrid gameplay, and delivers arguably the best story a mainline Star Wars game has enjoyed. The performances are fantastic, the environments are a delight to explore, and the combat offers a bevy of options. All of this combines to form a deeply compelling whole.

Not every modern triple-A Star Wars game attempt has been successful. "Outlaws" and "Battlefront" took a long time to get into proper shape post-launch, and while "Squadrons" has its supporters, it also didn't take the fandom by storm. "Survivor" is a prestige game worthy of one of the biggest media franchises in history, and it's also easily the best Star Wars game to come out in the last decade.

There have been a lot of Star Wars space flight sims and arcade-styled starship games over the years, and understandably so. Short of the lightsaber duel, space combat is the primary gaming attraction that the franchise has adopted from the start, and every fan has their own favorite adaptation, just like we all have our own favorite powerful Star Wars spaceship. Those from an older era of Star Wars games, or who just have more affection for more sim-type games, will point to "TIE Fighter" as their fave, but our pick is somewhere between that game's hyper-technicality and a more arcadey feel.

The "Rogue Squadron" games are all great, but it's the second installment, 2001's "Rogue Leader," that takes the prize. Flying an X-wing has never felt better in any game before or since, and if that's not your jam, don't worry. There are plenty of other ships to fly. Saying that a game has both the definitive Death Star trench run level and the definitive Hoth level seems intense, but that's just how good "Rogue Leader" is, how tight the controls feel, and how exciting and diverse the levels are.

For a 25-year-old GameCube game, "Rogue Leader" still looks pretty good, and it sounds fantastic, too. Of all the early 2000s games on this list (hey, it was a golden age), this one may just hold up the best.

In 23 years, Star Wars has not put out a better, more influential game within the franchise than "Knights of the Old Republic." Yes, the dice-roll RPG combat is dated. Yes, the writing is better now in games like "Jedi: Survivor" and "Fallen Order." But the shadow cast by "KotOR" more than two decades later is still larger than any other game that's ever been set in the galaxy far, far away.

Forget that this is one BioWare's best-reviewed and most beloved games to date, with massive influence across the western RPG genre. Forget that without its success, we don't get Bioware's "Mass Effect." A number of fans are still clawing for a live-action Old Republic movie, and the view counts on "Old Republic" cutscenes continue to steadily rise. Check the forums and see how many fans name the Old Republic as their favorite part of the entire franchise, or are still litigating the pros and cons of the companion characters. Then try to name another Star Wars game that came close to that level of impact.

Our amnesiac protagonist Revan remains one of the most popular Star Wars video game characters ever, and even though the graphics and gameplay don't hold up as well as you'd like, this is still a deep game with a lot of fun to be had. A game this revered doesn't just lose the crown; it has to be taken. So far, no other Star Wars game has made a clear case for the throne.