9. Star Wars Episode I: Racer (N64)

Based on the best bit of The Phantom Menace (apart from the Darth Maul bits and all the soundtrack), Star Wars Episode 1: Racer tapped into the same vein of high-octane antigrav racing as WipeOut and F-Zero X. While not quite as smooth or accomplished, it utterly captured the energy of the movie sequence and threw in a deep upgrade and trading system and a dual-handed, two-pad control scheme more closely mirroring the onscreen pod controls, which really let you relive the thrill of boosting past Sebulba, Ben Quadinaros, and... erm, the rest.

The Game Boy Color got a limited top-down version, but the N64 iteration is one of the best games ever to bear the Star Wars brand. Watto’s banter and post-race rendition of the Cantina theme is also excellent. Happily, a Switch port of the game is now available with some HD spit polish and a lovely smooth frame. Utinni!

8. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii)

Also on 3DS and DS, LEGO Star Wars III features some ingeniously designed battles, action sequences, puzzle, and platforming bits in the vein of the other Lego games. They've always been targeted at younger players, but their humour and personality is enough to keep other gamers entertained for the (admittedly short) duration if you enjoy gaming in a galaxy far, far away. The basic gameplay is, well, basic, but the opportunity to take control of virtually any character you could hope for makes up for the lack of variety somewhat, and if you're a compulsive collector of bricks, coins, and galactic trinkets, this should be right up your alley.

7. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Switch)

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a stellar experience, a great big celebration of everything Star Wars.

The upgrades to the series' core gameplay here — the combo-focused combat, flashy space battles, boss encounters, over-the-shoulder shooting action, and cover system — all combine to make this the best Lego Star Wars has ever felt to play. Throw in a humongous open-world setting that's bursting at the seams with secrets and collectibles and you've got an absolute smorgasbord of all things Star Wars to dig into. Yub nub.

6. Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GCN)

The best thing about this game is the other games it features. Included on the disc is almost the entirety of Rogue Leader now playable in split-screen two-player mode. It also features the original Atari Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi arcade games. These alone make it worth picking this game up if you see it cheap.

Rebel Strike itself, though? Hmm. Factor 5 decided to throw platforming sections into the mix for this sequel, but their lacklustre execution dragged down the entire experience and was lightyears away from the quality of the arcade-style flight gameplay. Consequently, Rebel Strike is a game of great highs and crushingly-dull lows. You think the on-foot sections might be passable, then you play them and realise no, they're just terrible. Delete the marquee game from the disc, though (at least the on-foot bits), and this is actually a fine Star Wars package.

5. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster (Switch eShop)

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster brings back this 1995 'Doom clone' in style — another resounding success for Nightdive Studios (who also handled the excellent Quake and Quake II remasters, among others). It returns LucasArts' curious, nostalgia-laced FPS with loads of new bells and whistles, including enhanced gameplay, revamped visuals, and a wealth of accessibility options. This is easily the best way to experience Dark Forces and revisit an oft-forgotten era of Star Wars before the prequel trilogy and before the sequel trilogy booted the Expanded Universe out the 'Legends' airlock.

4. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii)

Combining the original two Lego Star Wars trilogies that released on GameCube into one, the now-misleadingly named LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga offers hours of low-barrier family fun with dozens of playable characters blasting and lightsaber-ing their way through your favourite galactic locales, all to the sound of John Williams' iconic score.

This Danish plastic take on the series was infused with charm from the beginning. Reimagining key scenes from the six movies in silent slapstick (and with DS versions of all of them scaling the games down in a generally admirable fashion), the Lego iterations of the characters and the comedic, playful tone of the entire game made it a great co-op experience to blast through with friends or younger relatives. The moveset might be small, but that can't be said for the cast of characters available, and we can honestly say that leaping around with a Force-infused Yoda — who usually hobbles with a cane — like some crazy lightsaber-wielding frog is some of the most fun lightsaber combat we've ever engaged in.

It might lack depth, and the fancy-pants new version on Switch might be better overall, but the original 'complete' Lego Star Wars package remains one of the most accessible games you'll ever play, and it constantly brought a smile to our face. What more do you want, jam on it?

3. STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic (Switch eShop)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic may have lost some of its luster as the years have gone on, but the foundations of a well-written and enjoyable RPG haven’t aged a day. If you can get past things like awkward controls, middling presentation, and a complete lack of handholding, the 30-ish hour campaign still offers up an engaging romp through the beloved Star Wars universe. As long as you can stomach archaic game design elements, KOTOR on Switch will deliver the Force feels to any fans of Star Wars or RPGs in general.

2. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64)

Factor 5's first foray into the cockpit of a Rebel fighter, Rogue Squadron gave N64 owners some real fodder to use in playground arguments about which consoles had the best games. With the Expansion Pak plugged in, this was a real looker for the time, and the console's spindly analogue stick suited its arcade-y flight mechanics perfectly. With plenty of audio dialogue and all the customary Star Wars sound effects, this was a cracking game which still holds up well today.

Its GameCube sequel prettified the visuals (and still looks gorgeous all these years later), but the base mechanics in the N64 original still feel fantastic, so if you're looking for a galactic dose of quality flyboy action, Rogue (Squadron) One is standing by.

1. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GCN)

The N64 original put an arcade-y spin on Star Wars flight games like X-Wing but its sequel took things to a whole other level. 

A GameCube launch title and technical showpiece (alongside Wave Race: Blue Storm), Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader blended original space missions with key moments from the classic trilogy and really showcased the capabilities of the console. 

The visuals and audio are still impressive — most impressive — today, and the feeling you get from locking S-foils by squeezing the analogue trigger down to a click and blasting into vast space battles against dozens of enemy fighters is the closest we've come to feeling like we're 'in' the movies.

It's challenging, too. Turns out that finding tiny whining spacecraft against a starfield backdrop is hard (let alone hitting the damned things!), but the tight controls and authentic feel of Factor 5's game make finally nailing that wily TIE worth the effort. 

Other games have come close, but Rogue Leader is still the benchmark for flight-based Star Wars games on consoles. Given the chance, we'd jump on an HD re-release faster than a mynock on a power cable. Red Five standing by.

Phew! We had a bad feeling about that, but that last dozen or so games gave us new hope for the future of Star Wars in interactive form. And we got through without a single mention of Baby Yoda! Sorry, Grogu.

Don't agree with this ranking? Have we missed anything? Remember, this is a reader-ranked list subject to change even now, so feel free to get rating the ones you've played and see how that affects the order.

We'll be adding future Star Wars games as they're released. Let us know your personal favourites below.