Star Wars Battlefront Collection Switch Review
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was an incredibly popular Star Wars series of games that were on the PS2 and Xbox systems and they sold like wildfire. Recent iterations of the series were good but failed to capture that magic that enamored both imperials and rebels alike. Aspyr, the devs behind bringing us the majority of the Star Wars games on the Switch which are always seemingly handled with care, have been tasked with bringing the Battlefront Collection onto current platforms. What’s It Like? Get your power converters from Toshley Station, bullseye some Wamprats in your T-16, and never tell me the odds, Kid, as we review The Star Wars Battlefront Collection on Nintendo Switch.
The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection consists of both Battlefront 1 and Battlefront 2, all in one neat Home Screen Icon. When you load in, you can select which one you want to play. Both titles feature online, offline, and split-screen play. Both games feature additional maps and modes that weren’t present in the original releases, but aside from that, manage to stay true to the classic games. There are differences between the games, as the second one has more refined mechanics which I’ll point out, but moving forward in this review, I’ll essentially be reviewing these games as a package instead of splitting the review into the 2 individual games.
Star Wars Battlefront follows the stories of the Original Trilogy, as well as the Prequel Trilogies, and offers up a very robust campaign across these films. During the campaign, it automatically assigns you to a side such as the Droid army as it marches across the fields in Naboo and takes on the Gungan army and overthrowing the Royal Guard to seize the palace, to commanding the Clones as they fight the Drooid army on Kamino. You also play as the Imperials and Rebels as well taking part in epic battles across Tatooine, Endor, and the most epic battle of all, The Battle For Hoth.
Gameplay for the majority of the campaign follows the tried and true formula of battling to secure checkpoints while whittling away at enemy reinforcement tickets before they get yours to 0. It pits 64 players in 2 teams of 32 against each other in an all out galactic war. There’s a big focus on teamplay, with different classes fulfilling different roles such as the Soldier who is a well-balanced infantry fighter, to a Rocket Trooper who is more equipped to take down vehicles and lay traps. You can also play as heroes in Hero battles, and also temporarily play as them in standard matches in the Battlefront 2 game, giving you a huge advantage in changing the tide of battle. There’s vehicular combat with AT-ATs, CHicken Walkers, Speeders, and iconic spacecraft and for the most part, they all control as you would expect with AT-ATs lumbering menacingly toward their target, while nimble snow speeders do their best to trip them up. You can also choose to battle it out above these planets with exciting space battles that pit you against star destroyers and you have to fight off the enemy, while attacking their capital ships. Should you not wish to be a pilot, you can man your Capitol ship defense systems and have a more grounded experience.
It’s all very well executed, and fighting in these iconic locales gave me a sense of wonder and excitement that I had when watching the movies. Sure, the games have aged, and I’m not quite sure how to put it, but these original titles capture the excitement of the battle in a way the more recent titles couldn’t. I was genuinely excited to pilot a Tie Fighter and harass enemy troops on Tatooine, just as much so as I was scurrying to an objective while AT-TE slowly stomped by to reinforce a checkpoint that was falling. There were times when I was outnumbered by battle droids, and I hid behind cover while picking off what I could to help my teammates before seeing a dreader Droidekkar roll in front of me signaling my doom. The gameplay still holds up to this day and despite games making advances in both graphics and mechanics, the Battlefront games are just good old-fashioned fun.
Aside from the campaign you can also set your own playlist to play offline with bots, which do a decent enough job of keeping you on your feet, as well as split screen on the same console with a friend. I recruited my mother-in-law to help me test out the split screen and it led to some hilarious moments for us and thankfully, the performance didn’t dip despite everything going on on screen. There’s also online matchmaking which gave me a few issues. At midnight when the game launched, there was only one other player on my server (which they fill out with bots) and there was a weird issue where animations didn’t play correctly, and things seemed to have minor lag. This could also be because I’m in Rural Australia and my bandwidth is average at best. I played more matches this morning, well after launch such as a hero battle and standard conquest, and was joined by about 6-12 players with no real issues. You can also host your own servers as well to play your favorite modes with friends or strangers as well, and wherever there is a player deficiency, the bots will fill things out to keep everything exciting.
Graphically, it’s no secret that the game has aged and as this is more a port with modern improvements, the graphics have only seen a resolution update rather than a fully reworked engine. In saying that, I had no problem being drawn into the universe of these classic games. Battlefront 2 also sports slightly better visuals, but despite this, both games and their campaigns were a blast to play and both felt very similar (in a good way) so I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time on one instead of the other. The maps are varied, vehicles are well done, and you can play in both 1st and 3rd person perspectives depending on your preference. All of this runs at a silky smooth framerate that doesn’t dip, and it’s abundantly clear that Aspyr has once again mastered the force in preserving these games as they transition them across to the Nintendo Switch. The hectic action is backed by the classic Star Wars scores, and the sound production while also aging, still manages to capture the excitement of the battle with radio chatter, explosions, and the pew pew of lazers.
For my vision-impaired Imperials and Rebels, the game offers several colorblind modes as accessibility options, which I thought was a great touch. There are no contrast options, however, and the UI isn’t very text-heavy so I don’t think issues would arise there. All of this comes in a well-priced package weighing in at just over $50 AUD providing a lot of varied game modes and replayability. There’s no playable demo to test it all out but in the wise words of Yoda, buy or don’t buy, there is no try.
All in all, the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is a great package for gamers looking to have some large-scale warfare in the palm of their hands. It’s certainly aged since its original release 20 years ago, but the fact that it still provides heart pounding action and exciting moments shows just how far ahead of its time it was, and cements the fact that it most definitely earned its reputation as some of the best games of that console generation. Its gameplay will provide countless hours of Star Wars fun, as well as robust campaigns for a more structured playthrough. Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is a worthy addition to your library, and an essential purchase for Star Wars fans.
So, What’s It Like? Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is like Star Wars, crossed with Battlefield.
