Running on an enhanced Star Wars: Rogue Squadron engine, the nice game developers at Factor 5 have taken one last stab at the aging Nintendo 64 system with yet another entry into the wide world of Lucas. At times fun, but at more times frustrating, Star Wars: Episode I, Battle for Naboo has plenty going for it. Unfortunately, these good deeds are deeply overshadowed by a darker side.

Were you one of the millions who enjoyed the very popular Rogue Squadron? If you were, then get ready for more of the same, only this time wrapped around a lucrative Episode I license. This should appeal to newly christened fans and hardball line campers alike, as there's more of a concrete story line to follow than in the sidelined plot of RS.

Just as in the aforementioned classic, Battle for Naboo revolves around the collection of gold medals. New vehicles abound, and there's more than enough variety in the game's locales. The ability to switch craft at any time during the missions doesn't hurt the replay factor, either. If you discover the flash speeder doesn't have enough firepower to finish off that AT-AT tank, you can simply enter a different hanger and take control of a police cruiser.

The graphics are astounding, even better than what RS showcased. The game displays fantastic details everywhere--even the explosions are incredible. The sound, though, is very disappointing, especially when you consider that Factor 5 is behind the scenes. To the curious, Factor 5 has been one of the pioneers of gaming audio for a while now; the company was even chosen to helm the sound capabilities of Nintendo's next-generation GameCube console. With all of Factor 5's credentials, one might expect stellar sound. In many instances, the sound comes out muffled and the voice-overs are distorted.

The control and maneuvering should have been given more fine-tuning as well. This type of game relies on precise c

Average Customer Review: ( 28 customer reviews )
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Pros: Music and Sound are excellent, even better than Rogue. The music is phenomenal, almost CD quality. Sound effects are 100% Ben Burt! Vehicle change is a small pro only because it helps replenish your health after a bruising in the call of battle. But what good is a Naboo Police cruiser when you can fly the Starfighter instead? Pretty cool extras and passcodes. The Commentary passcode is the coolest. Just like commentary on a DVD movie! The last mission is awesome...and hard! Pretty good graphics, but no big improvement over Rogue, really.

Cons: What happened to the detail of the ships and the hangar? Rogue let you cruise around looking at each vehicle before selecting. Naboo has a cheap scaled down version that allows you to cycle through the limited number of vehicles. WHAT! no COCKPIT view either! That is a major minus! Rogue had so many more viewing options. I personally liked looking out of the Falcon's windows up and down. Some of the levels, especially the first ones, are way too short. I almost felt ripped off. The final level is the best but way too short at the same time. I found it TOO easy to get silvers and TOO HARD to get Golds. There is no happy medium. The person who wrote about needing the passcodes in defeating the game is right about this!

I gave it 3 stars because this is still not a major improvement over Rogue Squadron. I guess I am just old fashioned and like X-wings over Naboo Starfighters. N64 Star Wars games in order of greatness: Rogue Squadron, Racer, Battle for Naboo, Shadows of the Empire.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

AmazingDec 20, 2000

I own both Rogue Squadron and Pod Racing, and I have to say this is better than both. The variety of the game is what really makes it a winner. And true to the movie

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

'Rogue Squadron' with an Episode 1 flavourMar 06, 2001
By Benjamin Denes
I was a big fan of 'Rogue Squadron' for the N64. Factor 5 did an amazing job on the audio, and the challenging gameplay made it one of Lucasarts top games. Now comes 'Battle for Naboo', a game which clones the gameplay of the it's predecessor but changes the setting from the classic Star Wars films to the prequel movies.

Yes, I agree that perhaps 'BfN' is a tad repetitive and extremely similar to 'RS', but the game still holds enough variety in the missions and hidden surprises to keep one interested. What I enjoyed the most was the storyline. Rather than tread over characters and scenes everyone saw in the film, 'BfN' takes you behind the scenes, and you get to play out an original adventure. And the climactic battle against the Droid Control ship of Episode 1 is a real pleasure to play.

With an already tried-and-true engine, Lucasarts gives a game that should be played until every secret is found. An excellent game.

P.S. in case there are some who don't know, putting the code TALKTOME as your passwords opens up a DVD type voice-over track for all the main missions. Excellent addition!

11 of 14 found the following review helpful:

Not bad...not bad at allDec 21, 2000

To start, I'd like to say that it overall is a very good game, but there are several down points. First and foremost is the weak liscence. I think it should've been set in the Trilogy era, instead of Episode one(but if you liked the movie, this isn't that big a deal). Second, the space missions are endlessly confusing.Where's the target?Up?Down? Behind your couch? Elevation markers or a 3-d radar would be great.And third,there's still no multiplayer. Now the good points.The draw distance has been extended to the horison, a huge plus.The musical score is phenominal. The voice overs are clear. Everything is crystal clear high-res. So, on to the ratings Graphics-4.5 Play control-4 Design-5 Sound-5 Story-3 Overall-4.5

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