Anakin vs. the Jedi Order (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith)
As humdrum as this straight movie spinoff generally is, it does allow you to enact every Sith Lords wet dream: an assault on Coruscant's Jedi Temple, sanctuary of all that is wholesome. It's a shame the melee combat isn't a match for the premise, and that you have to listen to Anakin throughout. I'll tear this place apart, he groans, like someone who's discovered the office printer is out of ink.
Wash your robot mouth out in Borderlands (Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!)
Many of the best Star Wars gags are delivered by R2-D2 and C-3PO, which is saying something given that one of them only speaks binary code. The same applies to the blue Claptrap and orange loader bot you discover in The Pre-Sequel!. An excerpt: I don't know where you learned such gusset-ridden sailor talk, but you should know that is anatomically quite impossible.
When Santa met Vader (Lego Star Wars II: The Original Saga)
Love the Lego Star Wars games, but always found them a touch lacking in festive sparkle? Enter the codes CL4U5H and TYH319 while loitering in the hub bar and youll be able to explore the Death Star as trusty Saint Nick. Now all you need to do is insert some appropriate music using the Xbox 360's USB slot - and occasionally bellow things like, "HAVE YOU BEEN NAUGHTY THIS YEAR?" as you chop Stormtroopers into twitching plastic giblets.
The mislaid lightsaber (Star Wars: Republic Commando)
The fondest piece of make-believe ever served up by Star Wars is the idea that swords have a significant edge over laser guns. It entailed the invention of a special kind of laser, which travels at roughly the speed of a migrating pigeon. Republic Commando puts that notion firmly in its place with a single line of dialogue, delivered as you brood over a long-abandoned lightsaber. A weapon for a more civilised age. Well guess what, times have changed. Cold.
Starkiller monkeys around (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II)
Alas, this ones more depressing than noteworthy. Not content with sullying our memories of Darth Vader, LucasArts had to go and drop another vintage character in there: Guybrush Threepwood, silver-tongued star of the Monkey Island games. There's a statue of the guy on Cato Neimoidia, pointing towards a sadly non-interactive wall, and you can even play as him - or rather his Sith alter-ego, Guybrush Threepkiller.
Skull 'n' crossbows (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Jedi vs Spartan? Now there's a fantasy match-up you could pose at any given sleepover party without fear of a corrective beating. Alas, no dev has dared cross the streams, so we'll have to content ourselves with in-jokes. When the IWHBYD Skull is active in Halo 2, marines occasionally compare Brutes to Wookiees.
Star Wars Kid returns (Tony Hawks Underground 2)
Star Wars Kid's YouTube reign of terror has long since ended, though some old folk whisper that he still wanders the halls of Reddit late at night, whirling his home-made saber. Those who harbour a guilty affection for the guy might want to skate up a certain apartment block on Underground 2's Boston level. Crash through a particular window and you'll encounter a bespectacled figure who offers to show you his moves. Don't worry; its less creepy than it sounds.
Square hearts Wedge and Biggs (most Final Fantasy games)
Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles are pilots for the Rebel Alliance, briefly featured in the films but explored at length in spinoffs. And, for some reason, the Final Fantasy series. Almost every game since FFVI includes a duo named for the pair: theyre members of AVALANCHE in VII, appear as guards in VIII, can be recruited as Blitzball players in X and run a shop in the first Xbox 360 instalment, Final Fantasy XIII.
X-Wings over the Pacific (Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault)
We didn't fight in World War II, for reasons of youth and cowardice, but we do harbour many harrowing memories of WWII videogames. There's the odd colourful moment in Pacific Assault's Airfield Ambush mission, however. Head inside the radio hut by the runway, for instance, and you'll be able to listen in on combat chatter between X-Wing pilots during the run on the Death Star. It's not quite the Millennium Falcon under a tarpaulin, but its a nice touch.
The struggle against Darth Traya (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords)
KOTOR 2 has plenty of things going for it, including a sympathetic, if dependably murderous arch-villain in Darth Traya, a Sith Lord who transcends both Jedi and Sith in that she regards the Force itself as an enemy. The scene on Dantooine, when she reveals her agenda to the player at last, ranks as one of gaming's few compelling examples of full-on exposition.
