I remember way back in the days of The Phantom Menace, there was an oft delayed game that came out of the film. Whilst it was generally appraised as "terrible."there was some charm to it. Indeed, it wasn't a great game.

There were faults. There were the largely terrible graphics and slightly clunky lightsabre gameplay. But my god, if it wasn't one of the most in-depth games of the star wars universe at the time. In fact, far more than most film-to-game adaps now, it stretched as far as offering a fair few RPG ****elements. No game since has really offered the same real sense of mooching around Tatooine, being able to chat with residents. Indeed, after a couple of action packed levels (the opening level on the federation ship and then the Naboo swamps), the atmosphere of levels such as Tatooine- waiting at the podracing track- is incredible. The distant roar of crowds and the bustle as you amble through bars and chat with drunks... It does feel very much like being in the universe- even if the graphics are shocking by today's standards.

Nevertheless, the aforementioned Naboo swamps level has some of the most shocking platforming gameplay I've ever played. It re-appears a few times in the game and every time feels like the biggest chore. It kills the atmosphere when you have to pillock around pushing crates and whatnot whilst the atmospheric sounds begin to sound a bit silly- its hard to believe in a world when you're pushing a great big cube around to enable you to jump to a higher platform.

Its a pretty pants, to be honest. But nothing since has really touched that star wars depth and atmosphere on a console... The Force Unleashed was cruely maligned, despite offering gameplay that every star wars fan has wanted for decades (i.e. that feeling of being a badass jedi/sith with the force at your disposal). Indeed there was a strong atmosphere there too. But just NOTHING to compare to that feeling of being Qui-Gon Jinn and having a chat with Watto, bargaining for parts in my favourite game that no one loves.