When i was little, i thought that some of the best movies ever made were Terminator 2 and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. As you probably know, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was a mixed bag for the fans, for me, it was just a fine movie.
I remember of having watched it in theaters when i was 5 years old (i watched it in the opening day), since that i was very little, i thought that the movie kicked ass and the best scenes of the movie where the Pod Race scene and the Lightsaber duel with Darth Maul (Played by the Ray Park, one of my favorite stuntmans), Darth Maul is badass (and let's not forget of the double lightsaber !) and he is memorable only for the amazing skills that Ray Park shows in the lightsaber duel (Seriously, Ray Park should play a main character in an action movie).
If you are considering in giving a second chance to The Phantom Menace, you should probably watch The Phantom Edit, a fan edit that includes the following changes (copy and pasted from Wikipedia): * Re-editing of nearly all scenes featuring Jar Jar Binks and removing some of what Nichols dubs 'Jar Jar Antics.' * Removal or re-editing of most of the Battle Droid dialogue * Limiting of exposition throughout the film * Trimming scenes involving politics * Re-arrangement of shots and scenes to match the original Star Wars trilogy's presentation style * Removal of "Yippee" and "Oops" from Anakin's dialogue * Removal of dialogue that specifies the nature of midichlorians as a biological basis for Force sensitivity.
George Lucas approved the edit (hmmm, what have you been drinking George Lucas ?), but then he changed his mind, saying that the edit was infringement (Why i am not surprised ?). Believe me, The Phantom Edit is worth watching.
The Games The Phantom Menace had 2 memorable scenes: the Pod Race (inspired by Ben-Hur) and the final Lightsaber duel, i thought that it would be awesome if these scenes would turn into a videogame. I found demos (for PC) of Star Wars Racer and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on a CD-ROM that came in bundle with a videogame magazine (that my brother bought)
First, let's take a look at Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (realeased in 1999). So, i installed the demo and i expected nothing but a game where i go around destroying droids and opening doors, it was better than expected and i was dissapointed when the demo ended, because i wanted to play more.
My parents gave me the Playstation version as a christmas present, so, i was happy because i finally could see the whole game. As weapons, you have: lightsabers, blasters, rocket launchers and jedi powers (honestly, i never found them useful) and deflecting lasers with the lightsaber is surprisingly easy.
The first level was awesome as i remembered....but the rest of the game is another story. So, i started the Naboo jungle level and you find the antichrist...i mean...Jar-jar binks, unfortunately, if you kill him, you get a game over screen. Besides this, the level is incredibly confusing and it's BORING as hell (the first level was highly action packed), i just hoped that the whole game wasn't like that....but it's actually worse !
There are many lame puzzles, lame A.I, annoying bugs (at least in the playstation version), hard jumping controls and more stuff that makes you regret of having bought this game !
The rest of the level sucks, but there is something very interesting that i found about the Mos Espa level: You must help Anaking in repairing the Pod for the race and you must find a few mechanical devices, so, yeah, first i was going around in the town without any clue of what i could do and i found an old "lady" asking me to rescue her son, without giving a damn of what could happen, i killed the lady, surprisingly, there was NO GAME OVER SCREEN and you can actually get the mechanical device that she was supposed to give you in case you rescued her son....why i can't do the same thing to Jar-Jar ?
But anyway, don't do it, because if you kill innocent people, a bunch of (annoying) guards will come after you and kill you, you can actually escape from them, but it's almost impossible ! Want an idea of what i am talking about ? look at this video
Unfortunately, i couldn't finish the game, the Coruscant level (when you control Captain Panaka and you are supposed to protect Queen Amidala) is fustrating, because of a bug, Queen Amidala got "stuck" somewhere, at this point, i realized that the game sucked so much and i will never and i say NEVER try to finish the game.
Star Wars: Episode I - Racer (1999) With a logic of a 5 year old kid, i said to myself "Wait...there is only 1 race scene in the movie....how they can make a whole game based on just one scene ?" Well, not only there is the Mos Espa track from the movie, but also other new race tracks ! I installed the demo and i expected just a racing game....but i got something even more awesome. I never played something like that and i was blown away by the fast paced adrenaline-rush awesomeness that this game was !
The game kicked ass and i wished that i had the full game, unfortunately, this cruel destiny decided that i had to torture myself with that abomination of an "action game" called "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace"...i only played the full game when i was already in my early teen years and i just couldn't believe how i loved playing the demo OVER AND OVER AGAIN !
Oh yeah, there is a sequel called Star Wars: Racer Revenge (realeased in 2002, for the Playstation 2), i never played it, but i would be happy to give it a try.
There is also a kickass pinball, one of the best pinballs ever made.
It's just me or the title of the article reminds me of ice creams cups and lesbian girls.......?
