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Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga gathers the popular real-time strategy game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its dynamic Star Wars: Episode II mission expansion Clone Campaigns in a single package. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga challenges players with more than 50 battle campaigns representing the classic and prequel Star Wars universe.

Powered by the award-winning Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings core game engine, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga allows players to deploy vast armies of Storm Troopers, Clones, Naboo, Battle Droids, Rebels, Gungans, and Wookiees. Players manage their units, structures, and resources in single- or multiplayer campaigns on Tatooine, Naboo, Endor, Hoth, and Geonosis.

In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Star Wars: Jedi Knight, Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Outcast features rebel agent Kyle Katarn in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future. LucasArts is developing Jedi Outcast in partnership with Activision's critically acclaimed Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers, and the lightsaber in both single- and multiplayer modes. Jedi Outcast features expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber, with new attack and defense moves. Tap into the powers of the Force, including jump, push, Jedi mind tricks, and more. Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, and blaster rifle to name but a few.

Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales such as Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations. Multiplayer options include deathmatch, saber-only deathmatch, and team capture the flag.

In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Star Wars: Jedi Knight, Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Outcast features rebel agent Kyle Katarn in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future.

LucasArts is developing Jedi Outcast in partnership with Activision's critically acclaimed Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers, and the lightsaber in both single- and multiplayer modes. Jedi Outcast features expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber, with new attack and defense moves. Tap into the powers of the Force, including jump, push, Jedi mind tricks, and more. Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, and blaster rifle to name but a few.

Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales such as Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations. Multiplayer options include deathmatch, saber-only deathmatch, and team capture the flag.

Star Wars Galaxies is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that lets you assume the role of nearly any type of character in the Star Wars universe and interact with thousands of other players' characters as well as established characters from the movies. You can be a shady smuggler, like Han. You can be a cold bounty hunter, like Boba Fett. You can even be a Jedi, like Luke. You can create and develop any character you like and seek out adventure and excitement as you see fit. Best of all, the game never ends--it persists and changes online, even when you're not playing. Interaction with other players is what this game is all about; you can get together with your Rebel friends and raid an Imperial bunker, or work with other Imperial troops to squash Rebel scum. You can instruct young Jedi in the ways of the Force, or you can work with other bounty hunters to hunt down outlaw Jedi and bring them to justice. Or you can manage a cantina or parts shop and marvel at the galaxy's vast variety of heroes, scum, and villainy.

A TIE fighter is a single-pilot, Imperial spaceship meant for ship-to-ship combat. As the pilot of various types of these howling fighter craft, your duty will be to gun down as many rebels as possible. See the immortal conflict between the Imperial Navy and the Rebel Alliance through the Empire's eyes.

As a member of the Rebel Alliance, climb into the cockpit of an X-wing and battle the Empire for freedom as you fly against deadly TIE fighters and menacing Star destroyers. Fight in three combat tours of duty, including two add-on tours of duty: Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing. You'll pilot three spacecraft with full instrumentation and 17 cockpit views per craft and dodge the weapons of the evil Empire in both deep space and on surface missions. Includes X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Flight School with 14 playable levels.

Let's just for a second forget that Star Wars: Episode I, Racer has anything at all to do with the film on which it's based. Would it still have any appeal if you take away the movie license? The answer, almost surprisingly, is yes. This sci-fi arcade racing game is packed with high-speed thrills and a unique style of track-circling action that should get any racing fan's adrenaline pumping.

The game is based on the pod-racing scene from Episode I, which was arguably the best and most exciting segment of the film. Players enter a series of pod races as either Anakin Skywalker or one of his 20 different alien rivals--including Sebulba, once you get far enough into the game to unlock this bonus character. Races are linked in four different circuits, each more difficult than the last. The highest circuit, in fact, can be extremely tough.

Each race is a white-knuckled ride on the wild side, as the game does an excellent job of conveying a feeling of ferocious speed. It helps that Racer utilizes spectacular 3-D graphics to depict the racetracks and their alien surroundings. But racers can't waste time admiring the scenery: tracks are not always well marked, and it's all too easy to get lost and fly off the track.

As with most Star Wars games, the sound effects and music in Racer are top-notch. True, Anakin's cutesy voice can be annoying at times, but the other racers sound great when they complain as you pass them on the track. Watto the shopkeeper, the floating alien guy who sells new parts and upgrades for your pod, is a great character who chatters away humorously as you shop his store.

Overall, Racer is a game that can easily stand on its own merits rather than ride the coattails of Star Wars: Episode I. Intense speed, unique racing action, and excellent 3-D graphics make this one a sure-fire winner. --Michael E. Ryan

Pros:

• Unique, high-speed racing action
• Excellent graphics
• Pod upgrades
• Great sound effects and music

• Becomes extremely difficult at the highest levels
• Tracks can be confusing at times
• The voice of Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker)

The third Episode I game from Lucas Learning is actually an educational title aimed at players ages 10 and up. The Gungan Frontier is a simulation (similar to SimCity) in which you must help the Gungans colonize the water moon of Naboo. It seems that the original Gungan city, home to Jar-Jar Binks and Boss Nass, is getting a little overcrowded and the Gungan High Council wants you (playing as either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Queen Amidala) to help them set up a new city on the moon. To do so, you'll have to populate the moon with plant and animal life from Naboo, creating and maintaining a balanced ecosystem.

The game has two difficulty settings and can be played at three different speeds. To do well in the game, you must continuously monitor the plant and animal populations and make sure that the Gungans do not harvest too many natural resources. As you play, Boss Nass, R2-D2, and Jar-Jar will keep you posted on your progress. The game also offers a Create-a-Critter feature that lets you design your own plants and animals for use in the game. You can't customize their appearance very much, but you can modify all of their vital statistics and give them a name. The game is designed for younger gamers, but adults may find it equally engaging. --Mike Ryan

Watto's shop is full of spaceship parts, all waiting to be mixed up as you design a fast-flying salvage ship to retrieve junk from space. Trouble is, you're short of credits--and Watto's prices are high. That's where Jabba the Hutt comes in: within his personal casino of games of chance and strategy, you can attempt to earn enough credit to build some new wings and go flying.

Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy is designed to challenge and develop a wide range of strategic, mathematical, and geometric skills through a series of well-crafted games. In Dueling Dice, players practice addition in a variation on blackjack: they try to reach exactly 30 droids without overshooting. Holochex pits you against Jabba the Hutt in checkers games on different-shaped boards that use monsters instead of static game pieces; though more simple than chess, it is complex enough to hold players' interest at length. And in Digotto, players try to create a lowest or highest number, digit by digit, and decide where to place each number as it is generated. The last game is Ratt's Race, a board game that poses basic computation and geometry challenges.

Once you have the credits in hand, it's off to Watto's junk shop to purchase parts for your ship. Careful, though: you must balance the various engineering requirements within your limited budget. In the ship hangar, you can actually put the ship together. After that, you can leave Tatooine and clean up space junk in the wider galaxy.

As math games go, Jabba's Game Galaxy is quite challenging. The random element of most featured games (Ratt's Race is the big exception and the big moneymaker) makes it impossible for even skilled players to be guaranteed regular victories; winning enough money to assemble a ship requires significant time and effort. Though some of the animations are repetitive and slow down play, the overall quality of the graphics and sound is excellent. The range of activities gives the game wide appeal--especially for boys, who may relate better to the all-male cast of characters--and the pseudo-gambling milieu is mitigated somewhat by the use of Star Wars villains (as opposed to the more lovable characters) in this slightly shady setting. (Ages 6 to 9) --Alyx Dellamonica