When I sat down to review the Playstation 5 remaster of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter I was struck with an interesting thought. While the quality of the Star Wars prequel trilogy can be largely debated, there’s no denying that the prequels, and possibly Star Wars: The Clone Wars, specifically gave us some of the best video games in the franchise.
In the wake of those movies, we got Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, Pod Racer, Republic Commandos, the excellent The Clone Wars game that was effectively Rouge Squadron and, of course, the origin of the Lego Star Wars franchise. Of course, also part of that list was Star Wars: Bounty Hunter which put players in the role of Jango Fett and finally allowed them to do something they could only dream about with Boba—actually be cool and useful in multiple situations.
I kid, of course, since the degree to which Boba was done dirty has been the subject of some debate (and a fair bit of retconning). Honestly, I never played Star Wars: Bounty Hunter when it was first released back in 2002, mostly because when it came to Star Wars stuff, I was far more interested in the Sith side of things than any of the other faction players—Bounty Hunters were more my brother’s speed.
“…Star Wars: Bounty Hunter kind of owns”
But I’m older and more mature now, and I have a far deeper appreciation for Star Wars, so I was ready to take a look back at what I missed and honestly, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter kind of owns. It’s exactly the kind of shlocky fun Star Wars games used to trade in, and while it’s not free from some 2000s-era jank, it’s been updated to utilize some of the PlayStation 5’s unique features.
If you never got to play Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, the plot is fairly straightforward—set somewhat before the events but effectively leading into Attack of the Clones, players take on the role of Jango Fett, father of Boba Fett, who Count Dooku contracts to stop a rouge Jedi who may be on the brink of unravelling his sinister plans.
Jango gets caught up in one crazy adventure after another in the pursuit of this bounty in a story that mixes action, mystery and Western elements for a non-stop thrill ride that constantly keeps you wanting more. In a lot of ways, it’s evocative of the best elements of early STAR WARS and was a prime example of how much good content came out of the now-defunct “extended universe.”
“One of the more unique elements of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is how Jango will intuitively fire both his guns, mainly focusing on one and naturally aiming at whoever is in the vicinity.”
The gameplay is your standard 2000s third-person action affair, but looking back, there was a surprising amount of nuance to it. As you’ll recall from Star Wars Episode II: The Clone Wars, Jango’s signature style was dual-blasters, and his use of jetpack for everything except flying directly into a Sarlac Pit—okay, I swear I’ll stop taking shots at Boba now. This is used to pretty solid effect in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter as players blast their way through levels, taking advantage of both the air and the ground for tactical advantages.
One of the more unique elements of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is how Jango will intuitively fire both his guns, mainly focusing on one and naturally aiming at whoever is in the vicinity. It gives the combat a fast-paced and fluid feel—that would only be topped by Devil May Cry 2 a year later. Additionally, players can make use of Jango’s flamethrower and Bola Wire which is not only useful for immobilizing enemies but also capturing optional Bounty targets within a level.
And I think special mention needs to be placed on how much unlockable content was in this game. I don’t mean cosmetics or anything like that, but tangible bonus material like pages to a companion comic called Open Seasons, trading cards that were produced by Wizards of the Coast and even Blooper Reels they made for the game. In a time where most side content comes as purchasable DLC, it’s worth remembering this game made IN-UNIVERSE BLOOPERS that could be unlocked by finding things IN. THE. GAME.
“I was pretty pleasantly surprised with Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, especially after my last foray into the world of Star Wars ports.”
Furthermore, I have to admire how, after reviewing so many ports on the Switch that do nothing to utilize the system, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter actually makes use of the PS5, mainly with the DualSense controller. While I really wish it could’ve had gyro-aiming for the down-the-sights aiming—the game calls it FPS mode, but you stay in third-person, so that’s just a lie—the game displays your health via the controller LED lights, certain character dialogue comes from the speakers, and certain weapons have more resistance from the triggers.
Obviously this is a cleaned-up version of a game from 2002 with some HD paint on it, so it looks about as good as it’s going to on the PlayStation 5. The textures are pretty nice, and it holds up pretty well visually, and the audio is crisp with the SFX, and the voice acting still sounds great, all backed by the iconic John Williams score from the movies.
I was pretty pleasantly surprised with Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, especially after my last foray into the world of Star Wars ports. It’s a fun enough game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and was pretty inventive for its time. If you missed out on it back in the day—or maybe because you hadn’t been born yet—I’d say if you like Star Wars, this is definitely worth a look.
