Aspyr has done a full port of STAR WARS: Bounty Hunter, the 2002 PlayStation 2 & Game Cube “classic”. A thoroughly competent port can’t save what is still a mediocre title. Playing as Jango Fett you will catch or kill bounties, jetpack around, and be frustrated by the poor controls. Aspyr has done its best to modernize things, but you can only put so much shine on an older title. Still, if you have fond memories of the original this port might be for you, so let’s get into more detail.
Jango Jango Jango
The game begins about 10 years before The Attack of the Clones movie, a title it shares a similar amount of quality. You are famed bounty hunter Jango Fett and throughout six chapters you’ll learn more of Jango’s backstory, like how he got his ship or met up with Zam Wessel. The overall narrative of the game is fine, mostly voice acted and the quality isn’t too rough given the period it was released. There are a lot of tie-ins to the prequel trilogy, especially the clone program that gave Jango his ‘son’ who was his clone, Boba.
To modernize the title Aspyr has done an admirable job fully porting it for new hardware. There is no emulation being done as the entire game itself is natively running. I played on Series X and while the texture work looked dated at times it held up well. The game ran smoothly, looked clean, and at a high resolution. It was considered a looker back in its day and as long as you keep your expectations in check for how large a PS2/Gamecube level can be it holds up. There is a new modern control scheme that attempts to do the same, with less satisfying results.
Bounty Bounty Bounty
Jango Fett is a Bounty Hunter first and foremost. Levels are small puzzle boxes early on and open up as you go through the campaign. It is linear though there are designated bounties in each level that require you to mark them before you choose to either catch or kill. Alongside the bounties are a feather collectible which you can find in each level. Outside of that, you’ll mostly be running forward, shooting your twin pistols, and trying to figure out where the hell you’re supposed to go.
Level design is hard, especially when disc space is limited and the fancy new 3D models and CD-quality audio want to eat it all up. Early on Jango loses his jetpack and has to run and jump around the first few stages. It never feels great, even with a new control system built around modern dual-joystick controllers. Aiming feels loose and I ended up relying on Jango’s decent auto-aim as I hip-fired. You’ll gain your jetpack quickly, though it doesn’t have much fuel early on.
Jango has an assortment of tools and extra weaponry. The most useful one for bounties is the tool to tie up your target. Changing through items is a bit of a slog as the game has to completely slow down and you menu through each item. The UI was built for 480p resolution devices so everything is large and requires you to remember which icon is which on the fly. I never found the combat or traversal to be fun. Flying felt like a chore for far too long, with you unable to gain any altitude unless you chose to fly straight up and didn’t move the sticks at all.
Port Quality
While I do not think the game translates that well to modern devices I cannot fault Aspyr for the job they did on the port. Graphically it looks as good as possible, given the original’s release date. Choosing to bring it all over as a native port instead of through emulation has helped keep the image quality and framerate as clear and high as possible on Series consoles. The voice acting in the game is mediocre, but like the graphics it’s clear. STAR WARS has always been known for its incredible music and you’ll get all of that famous fanfare here.
Bug-wise I had no issues in my time playing. The port felt rock-solid, never having any major issues with how it ran. I just wish I found it more fun to play. Launching at $20 it’s not the worst remaster price point. A playthrough should take most roughly 7 hours or so, and longer if you feel compelled to find every secret item and bounty.
Wrapping Things Up
STAR WARS Bounty Hunter is a competent port of a mediocre title. Aspyr has done its best to make the game look and run as well as it can while modernizing the controls. At $20 it will come down to how nostalgic you’re feeling for one of gaming’s biggest franchises’ more mediocre entries.
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