The Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles remaster dares to answer important questions like “What if Darth Maul and a loader droid went rogue on the Trade Federation?”

After a sudden announcement back in October and a handful of goofy trailers, Aspyr’s remaster of Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles has finally arrived, and I’m pleased to report it might be the ultimate couch co-op Star Wars game.

When I asked Aspyr’s Chris Bashaar, Director of Product, about the main goal behind this refresh of a divisive Star Wars title, he was pretty straightforward: “It’s about honoring the fun, quirky spirit that made the original so memorable.” The developer team clearly has many members who grew up playing this off-beat retelling of The Phantom Menace, and it shows as soon as you boot the re-release up for the first time.

I was surprised from the get-go by one simple decision: All the ten story levels plus the bonus ones are unlocked instantly. The original Jedi Power Battles release already felt arcade-y, but the remaster is even more flexible. Jump into whichever you want and rack up enough points to unlock the more difficult achievements and grab extra progression bonuses for each character. Of course, the average player may want to experience the game in order, but having the option to do the opposite is refreshing, especially once you’re familiar with it. Picking a new character doesn’t mean resetting all the progress (only switching difficulty settings does so, oddly enough).

Opening every level from the beginning is only the tip of the iceberg, as every major addition or change present in this remaster seems to be made with chill hangouts in mind. The few diehards of the PS1 and Dreamcast releases have always highlighted the game was much more fun when played in co-op with a friend or relative, and Aspyr appears to have zeroed in on that aspect of it. Most of the new unlockable characters (based on NPCs and each with its own moveset) are unlocked after beating the entire story once, but the main driving force behind this remaster, as far as I can tell, was to deliver a pick-up-and-play retro Star Wars experience that puts uncomplicated fun and comedy front and center.

The Dreamcast port, released only a few months after the more popular but rougher PS1 release, already made a number of big changes to the game, especially when it came to checkpoints and some tricky bits of platforming. This new iteration kept those tweaks around and went a step further to make jumps more reliable and some bad sections not as punishing. My inner child, who spent way too much time mastering each level, does miss some of the original PS1 version’s rough edges, but even if this remaster is mainly targeting seasoned millennials, making concessions and easing newcomers into a fairly demanding beat ’em up and platformer hybrid was the right call.

After one quick (I’m no tourist) first playthrough with the hilariously broken Mace Windu (seriously, he’s got the best Force specials by far), more than a dozen of Glup Shittos became available. Moreover, a cheat code can unlock the Trade Federation’s loader droid (aka the first boss in the game), which is playable through the entire thing even if its missing plenty of animations and shouldn’t be able to ride a speeder bike. It’s great stuff, like emptying a box of old Kenner figures and coming up with wacky what-if scenarios. Make Jar Jar’s head comically large with another cheat code and you’ll only raise the hilarity factor. What about some Darth Maul on Darth Maul action? Sure, skip to ‘Duel of the Fates’ final battle whenever you want to see how that pans out. F**k that timeline up.

It must be noted that, for the most part, many of Jedi Power Battles’ wonkier bits, such as moments of odd collision detection, audio cutting out, and suicidal NPCs that like to fall to their doom before you even engage them, are a thing in this remaster. Many players won’t be happy about this and will instead ask for more a more sanitized and reworked remaster bordering on remake. That was never the goal here, and I feel that completely rebuilding the game would’ve robbed this underrated-but-not-quite-good action-adventure romp of its charm.

The fun and humor were only elevated when I jumped into co-op (thanks to Parsec on PC, as Steam Remote Play isn’t available at least right now) alongside another friend who knew the game in and out. He was as surprised and pleased by the additions as I was, but we were instantly zapped back to much simpler times and started to speedrun through the levels despite some chaotic moments.

Yoda is still laughing every time you fall to your death. Those droids can still block two combos in a row only to uppercut you into oblivion. Captain Panaka still low-key rocks. If you liked the original, you’re getting an XXL, smoother version of that experience. If you never came across it, you might wonder what the f**k is going on as soon as you start playing. As old Qui-Gon Jinn said: “Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don’t think. Use your instincts.” We don’t get Star Wars video games like this anymore, so let’s celebrate.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is now available on PC (Steam and GOG), PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S plus One, and Nintendo Switch. A review code was provided by the publisher for coverage purposes.