'Star Wars' video games through the ages

Multiplayer letdown
A franchise as storied as this was bound to have its letdowns, and "Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided" certainly fell into that category — particularly when it was first released in 2003.

The massively multiplayer online game looked great but lacked the feel of a dynamic universe. And whether it was intentional or not, becoming a Jedi was nigh impossible, short of quitting your real life job and devoting all waking hours to the pursuit.

"Galaxies" has improved over time, with last fall's "Jump to Lightspeed" expansion pack finally letting players pilot space ships. Another expansion, "Rage of the Wookiees" adds content from the forthcoming movie. Be aware that a vocal group of players are upset with recent changes to the game's combat system, so much so they've petitioned the game makers to change it back.

Fan favorites
Two definitive "Star Wars" video games occur thousands of years before the movies.

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" in 2003 and last year's "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords," both for Xbox and the PC, captured the sense of history, action and drama better than most of the movies. It's a fan favorite wrapped in an intriguing role-playing premise: how you act determines which side of the Force you'll follow.

More recently, the franchise has been spun in countless directions:

"Star Wars: Battlefront" for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC was a first-person shooter where dozens of combatants fought each other with laser turrets and advanced weaponry. Cool ships like TIE-Fighters, however, were impossible to control. A sequel has been announced.

This year's buildup to Sith has already seen some decent "Star Wars" games.

"Star Wars Republic Commando" was a squad-based first-person shooter set during the Clone Wars. Even colored-plastic toy brick maker Lego managed to cross-market its line of Star Wars products with "Lego Star Wars: The Video Game," featuring Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul among the blocky cast of heroes and villains.

Call me a nerf herder for not mentioning more, but there are just too many games to cram into one article.

Some other highlights include "Dark Forces," "Galactic Battlegrounds," "Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast" and the GameCube space shooter "Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II."

As for the future, fret not, young padawan learners.

LucasArts, the video game division of George Lucas' media empire, has plenty of games coming out long after this final movie has left theaters.

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