Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Screenshot 1 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

In the early 2000s, the Star Wars universe was expanding. While the prequel trilogy was setting its sights on Anakin Skywalker's epic arc from good to evil (or from 'Yippee’-ing child actor to underappreciated grown-up actor, depending on your point of view), LucasArts turned to the video game scene to provide some 'wider reading' for those who wanted to know their Midi-chlorians from Mandalorians.

One such release in this era of new characters and lore was Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, a 2002 (2003 in Europe) GameCube and PlayStation 2 action-adventure that put you in the Beskar boots of badass bounty hunter Jango Fett — before his all-too-brief head-to-head (or, head-to-no-head) with Mace Windu in Attack of the Clones. It's generally remembered for its clunky controls and unfairly difficult combat encounters, but it was a fun romp around the galaxy that provided some much-needed, non-canon backstory for the short-lived bounty hunter.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Screenshot 2 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Scraped up from the fiery floors of Mustafar after being torched by the release of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection on Switch earlier this year, Aspyr set its sights on this Jango-centric tale as its next porting project. The result is a mixed bag, dripping with early-2000s charm but never packing enough to stop it from feeling very, very dated.

For the most part, this is the same old game from 2002, just now on Switch. Aspyr has worked with the original GameCube source code to create a native port complete with a visual facelift and some new features, but everything you remember about the original is still here, warts and all.

The story has been left unchanged. To find the ideal genetic template for the clone army, Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) hires acclaimed bounty hunter Jango Fett to neutralise a rogue Dark Jedi. The ensuing hunt sees Fett get wrapped up in a Death Stick distribution plot, take down gangsters for the Hutt crime family, and instigate prison riots all while picking up optional bounties of his own across some of the universe's most recognisable locales.

While rather safe by today's standards, the central Dark Jedi mystery was enough to keep us playing and it's genuinely exciting to hear Temuera Morrison get the chance to play a proper badass bounty hunter (we're looking at you, Book of Boba Fett). The plot whiffs of the early 2000s, complete with casual misogyny and sidelined female sidekicks, but taken as a product of its time, it keeps things moving along.

It's fortunate that the story provides such a hook because the accompanying combat-heavy gameplay didn't do much to hold our attention. The six chapters have enough variety to feel distinct and different environments, enemy types and mission objectives help keep things interesting. But all of them are approached in the same way: shoot a big group of enemies from a distance before their animations have loaded in, or get swamped by attacks from all sides while trying to find something that vaguely resembles cover.

Jango has a plentiful arsenal at his disposal including grenades, a flamethrower, rockets, and his iconic blaster pistols, but each feels equally useless when the central structure calls for you to hold down 'Fire' and hope auto-aim serves you well. We imagine the intention was to make Jango look as cool as possible when in action, which he undoubtedly does, but we quickly grew weary of trying to use all of these additional weapons.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Screenshot 3 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

At least firing is easier this time around! The original game is renowned for its fiddly control scheme, with attacks and actions mapped to the face buttons leaving the triggers for other bizarre inputs. This 'Legacy' layout is still useable in the new port for those after the full classic experience, too — easily swapped in the settings. However, Aspyr has also added a 'Modern' scheme for those after something substantially less painful and closer to what we'd expect from a contemporary third-person shooter — shooting and aiming mapped to the triggers and weapon selection to the D-pad, for example.

That's not to say Star Wars: Bounty Hunter ever feels like a completely 'modern' experience, mind you. The visuals, while upgraded with more details and fancier lighting, are still very much of a long-gone era and they brought us some low-poly smiles throughout as our thoughts drifted to a simpler time. Still, without the ability to swap between old and new visuals (as Aspyr previously delivered with Tomb Raider I-III Remastered), at a glance it isn't easy to see just how much things have improved.

There is a certain nostalgic charm to this visual clunkiness, and the generally strong performance — bar some noticeable frame drops when using the flamethrower — keeps them mostly on the 'charming' side of the nuisance spectrum. Yet we'd rather the problems weren't there at all. Enemies regularly clip through the environment or walk on thin air, the camera, while redesigned for the port, is still prone to getting stuck in narrow corridors or high ledges, and aiming Jango's weapon at certain angles will make the fearsome bounty hunter jiggle up and down as if his Mandalorian jetpack has been left on vibrate mode. It's not something we love to see in a remaster, but it certainly feels faithful to the original experience.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Screenshot 4 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

While certain quirks made us smile in an, 'Oh, 2002, what were you like?' way, others almost drove us to the point of insanity. Each level offers five retries from start to finish where, if you die, you respawn at your last checkpoint with all progress stored (enemies you had defeated stay dead, for example). After the fifth attempt, the level resets regardless of how far you got. On multiple combat-heavy missions, our 35 minutes of progress were wiped in front of our eyes after being swarmed by enemies or succumbing to an aged platforming challenge. It was part of the original game and it's part of the challenge, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Equally frustrating is the level design. This was originally made in an era before objective markers, constantly nagging NPCs, or yellow paint. While you might have some fun navigating the missions as you would have done back in 2002, unfortunately, there isn't all that much to explore and certain larger levels struggle with a sense of aimlessness where we were never 100% sure if we were heading in the right direction or blasting up the wrong tree.

Aside from the minor visual enhancements, this port also delivers a Boba Fett skin which you unlock after finishing the campaign. It's a nice addition, one that was promised as an Easter Egg in the original game but never materialised, though its use is somewhat limited by the absence of much post-game content. Sure, you could go back and clean up any remaining optional bounties or find each level's secret token (most of which are glaringly apparent on a first playthrough anyway), but the hair-pulling retry system made most missions a one-and-done deal for us. Sorry, Boba.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Screenshot 5 of 6
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Oh, and we can't wrap up without mentioning the most important addition: a flashlight. Yes, Jango now has a flashlight. We found it useful all of two times, but if you remember the original game being particularly dark (which it really isn't), it's now... not as dark.

Conclusion

Over two decades after its original release, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter still brings a decent amount of fun from the galaxy far, far away. The updated control scheme and visuals undoubtedly make this the best way to experience Jango Fett's backstory. But Aspyr's sparing upgrades can't hide a noticeably dated game underneath. With repetitive combat, occasionally confusing level design, and a regularly iffy script, this is a prime example of how far gaming has come in the past 20 years. It's a product of a simpler time, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.