The Star Wars franchise boasts as many video game adaptations as any out there. Though unofficial offerings began as far back as 1978, the first licensed Star Wars game ever released was The Empire Strikes Back for the Atari 2600 way back in 1982—just five years after the first film was released. Star Wars has continued to be a major presence in video games, rivaled only by other major franchises like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
Since The Empire Strikes Back offered the first look at the Battle of Hoth in video games, Star Wars has branched out into a multitude of different genres including first-person shooters, MMORPGs, action-adventure, and a handful of platformers. With well over 100 titles bearing the Star Wars name, any tier list will have to omit a few of the completely forgotten titles, and focus on the titles—good or bad—that fans actually played.
S-Tier
- Knights of the Old Republic: It's a strong sign that a title is well-regarded when a remake is warranted almost 20 years later. While it may feel clunky and dated now, Knights of the Old Republic had it all: an immersive world, a sprawling story, and one of the most memorable Star Wars villains in the terrifying Darth Malak.
- Knights of the Old Republic 2: The best decision that Knights of the Old Republic 2 made was to stay faithful to the original but different enough to be its own game. It lived up to the success of the first game, introduced a handful of interesting party members, as well as presented a story-first experience that resonated with fans.
- Pandemic's Star Wars Battlefront 2: The initial hype behind Star Wars Battlefront 2 was absolutely massive, but it managed to measure up. It was the perfect blend of chaotic, action-packed fun that Star Wars fans had been craving for years. It allowed players to slot into a plethora of different fighters and take part in epic battle sequences, which was a recipe for success.
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga: Like The Complete Saga, The Skywalker Saga is a no-expenses spared Star Wars title. It includes basically every single thing from every movie. It's chock-full of references for die-hard Star Wars fans, a myriad of different planets to visit, and, most importantly, the ability to explore every main Star Wars film in depth.
- Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy: Even if Jedi Academy was just a short combat demo, it would still rank as one of the best Star Wars games ever made. There are very few Star Wars games that boast such satisfying combat.
- Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Outcast made the odd call of forcing players through an FPS before getting to the beloved lightsaber combat. For a better story, fans will want to check out Outcast; for pure lightsaber dueling, it may be best to stick with Academy.
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: A Star Wars game with Soulslike mechanics is hard to beat. With a confirmed sequel and potentially more, Fallen Order has the chance to be the next major Star Wars game series.
A-Tier
- Star Wars: Republic Commandos: There's no doubting Republic Commandos' impact on Star Wars games. It stepped outside the box of what fans expected both in terms of genre, presenting as a tactical FPS, and cast, placing the player in the shoes of a squad of clone troopers. The result was a game that stood out from its peers and remains a certified classic.
- X-Wing/Tie Fighter: While these games aren't strictly related, they're two sides of the same coin. They put players in control of either a Tie Fighter or X-Wing, and presented smooth, endlessly playable space combat. It's been almost 30 years, and they still offer better control than many modern games.
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 1 and 2: Clearly, Star Wars flight simulator games are well done. Rogue Squadron successfully built on the foundation laid out by Tie Fighter and X-Wing.
- Pandemic's Star Wars Battlefront: If Battlefront 2 never existed, the original would be an S-tier purely for its influence on later games. As is, though, Battlefront 2 improved enough over the original in terms of the enemy's AI and the single-player component, that they can't sit in the same tier comfortably.
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga: Like the original Battlefront, The Complete Saga is a masterpiece, but outdone by its successors. While The Skywalker Saga may be the most successful LEGO Star Wars game yet, The Complete Saga's dated graphics lend themselves better to the LEGO aesthetic for some fans.
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: There's plenty to love about The Force Unleashed; like every high-ranking Star Wars title, it was super ambitious. Most importantly, it showcased a darker side of the Star Wars universe, and let players decide how the story ended.
- Star Wars Galaxies: In many respects, Galaxies was the ultimate sci-fi MMORPG, it offered an insane degree of player control. It allowed fans to own cities, adventure with their guildmates, and genuinely live in the Star Wars universe.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: In 2011, Galaxies was closed up to make way for the second-wave MMORPG The Old Republic. It offered improve playability over Galaxies, but limited player interaction with the world stifled fans' immersion.
- DICE's Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2: A Star Wars Battlefront 3 should still happen. DICE was so close in both of its efforts to creating amazing Star Wars titles. Unfortunately, whether it was lack of content or an unpolished feel, both of DICE's Battlefront titles were held back from greatness.
B-Tier
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire: While Shadows of the Empire houses the two ultra-famous boss encounters with IG-88 and the ever-popular Boba Fett, its clunkiness between moments of greatness sets it back quite a bit. If Shadows of the Empire were to get a remaster, it could fare extremely well.
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2: In the same position as Shadows, Dark Forces 2 is a marvel of level design and pacing, but has aged poorly.
- Star Wars: Dark Forces: Even though only two years separate Dark Forces and its sequel, they might as well be from entirely different eras. The original Dark Forces plays much like Doom, with a few new innovations.
- Star Wars: Bounty Hunter: A fluid third-person shooter that unfortunately feels quite empty and mindless at times. Like many titles in the B-tier, Bounty Hunter feels like the perfect candidate for a modern revisit.
- Star Wars Episode 1: Racer: A nicely polished racing game that had a lot of worthy adversaries in the N64-era. While its first-person point-of-view was a bit difficult to handle, it was just as good as any title on the market at the time.
- Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace: The Phantom Menace deserves praise for its Tatooine level alone. It offered a level of depth that simply didn't exist in games of its type; many fans spent hours killing everything in sight at Mos Espa.
- Super Star Wars Trilogy: The original trilogy on the SNES was seriously fun, but held back by a sometimes steep difficulty curve. Still, it was many fans' first exposure to Star Wars in video games, and deserves special praise for that alone.
- Star Wars: Empire At War: Empire At War is an absolutely great choice for fans wanting to see epic-scale Star Wars battles in action. The space battles outshone their terrestrial counterparts, though.
C-Tier
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2: C-Tier may be a bit harsh for The Force Unleashed 2, but it was a major step back from the original. Its playability is not in question, but its extremely short length—about five hours—was borderline unforgivable.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The definition of mediocre. For its time, it wasn't terrible, but there are plenty of options that fans should visit before picking up The Clone Wars.
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3: Rebel Strike: As a stand-alone game, Rebel Strike is better than the C-tier, but taken in context of the first two games, it didn't improve enough and included on-foot missions that felt out of place with the Rogue Squadron legacy.
D-Tier
- Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi: The only interesting aspect of Masters of Teras Kasi is its roster. Otherwise, it's one of the worst designed fighting games ever made with terrible hitboxes and generally clunky mechanics.
- Star Wars: Rebel Assault 1 and 2: The rail-shooter concept hasn't aged well in general, and both Rebel Assault titles are evenly bad examples within the genre, meaning neither of these Star Wars titles can be recommended.