If you ever wanted to feel old, how’s this for a shocker: The first Star Wars prequel turns 20 this year. That’s right, the George Lucas slapstick caper featuring Jedi, a bumbling doofus and an awesome lightsaber fight that really falls apart if you examine it too closely has reached the two decade mark, and what a time it was to be alive back then!
Star Wars fever was running wilder than Wrestlemania, my bowl of Cornflakes had actual plastic busts of the Episode 1 characters that I accidentally ate and Woolworths sold a Phantom Menace chocolate that oozed a silver substance because that was merchandise! I mean, who didn’t want to eat the head off of a Jar Jar Binks chocolate and see it bleed Terminator blood?
Anyway, the video game side wasn’t too bad either. The main Phantom Menace video game was a top-down action spectacle that had you controlling either Not Quite Gone Jim or Only One Cannoli as they swung their glow sticks through Trade Federation droids and other dangers. The other game that most folks remember was the glorious pod racing spin-off that had you piloting a chariot that was being pulled forward by a pair of space engines. Back in the day, this was awesome:
Twenty years later, and that nostalgia is being revisited. Hearing the pleas of the millions who still cry out for a proper remake of the classic game, modder RobJin has answered their prayers with a spiffy update that takes the original game out of the gutters and gives it a fresh coat of Unreal Engine 4 paint. The result? Nostalgia racing forward at maximum speed:
I think it says a lot when one of the best Star Wars games in recent memory comes from a single person instead of a gigantic company that has been holding onto the license for years now, but I’m done beating that pile of bantha poodoo. There’s probably close to zero chance that we’ll ever see pod racing get the love and care it deserves from EA, leaving fans such as RobJin to pick up the pieces and put them back together.
If the action above looks mighty tempting, then good news! You can download the demo for the game, right through this link. Y’know, before Disney sends in a legion of Deathrooper lawyers to Order 66 this project back into the ground.
Last Updated: March 12, 2019
Llama In The Rift
March 12, 2019 at 09:38
Community: Lets re-create an awesome Star Wars game just like project Apeiron.
Disney in best Palpatine voice: Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side….
Deon Du Plessis
March 12, 2019 at 09:57
Thank the flying spaghetti monster there are only four more years left of EA’s exclusive Star Wars licensing deal with Disney.
I am gobsmacked that they’ve done so little with the license in the six years they’ve had it, especially as it’s effectively a LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY. I thought EA *loves* money.
Oh, no, wait, it’s a licensed product and therefore EA would have to share any money made with Disney. Guess that explains it – they don’t want to share.
Yay capitalism and children whose parents didn’t love them enough.
For the Emperor!
March 12, 2019 at 10:04
Perhaps EA just accepted the license to make sure there are fewer games to challenge them in the market? Imagine their sales if they had to compete with a competent developer/publisher with the SW license!
Deon Du Plessis
March 12, 2019 at 10:24
You know, this being true wouldn’t surprise me at all. It’s the kind of cold, calculated strategy I could totally see the analyst lizards at EA coming up with.
Admiral Chief
March 12, 2019 at 10:11
Download no longer available….
Raptor Rants
March 12, 2019 at 10:24
Still available, Google Drive is just overwhelmed. It’s on cooldown. Keep an eye
G8crasha
March 12, 2019 at 11:13
“Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.”
G8crasha
March 12, 2019 at 11:13
“Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.”
G8crasha
March 12, 2019 at 11:13
“Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.”
Deon Du Plessis
March 12, 2019 at 10:38
That was depressingly quick.
G8crasha
March 12, 2019 at 11:13
“Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.”
Deon Du Plessis
March 12, 2019 at 11:20
Hmmm, interesting. I’ll take this as good signs that A) people are REALLY interested in the demo and B) that EA’s army of lawyers aren’t behind it not being available (rendering my comment below moot). Bonus!