Aspyr's Next Star Wars Remaster Is Now Available To Pre-Order On The eShop

We'll admit, the 2000 PlayStation title Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles wasn't the first "classic" to spring to mind when we wondered what Aspyr would be remastering next. But hey, it's coming to Switch next year, and eShop pre-orders are now open.

In a new pre-order trailer (above), we get another look at the Star Wars arcade brawler, complete with its new features. This includes all unlockables available from the jump, 13 fresh playable characters (shoutout to the Weequay fans) and some of the classic cheat codes from later releases of the game — Qui-Gon's head has never looked so bulbous.

The full game is set to land on Switch on 23rd January, but those who want to make their purchase early can now do so via the North American eShop for $17.99 (and that includes a 10% pre-launch discount). We'd imagine that it'll be cropping up on other regional eShops in the coming days.

You can find a full rundown of the game's features and a handful of screenshots below.

- Jump into Side-Scrolling Arcade Action in the Star Wars Galaxy: Play as Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Adi Gallia, and Qui-Gon Jinn and face off against classic foes in iconic locations from STAR WARS: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
- All Secret Characters Unlocked & More to Discover: Play with all secret characters and levels from the original game unlocked from the start, including Darth Maul, Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala and more. There’s also 13 new playable characters to unlock after your first playthrough, like the Rifle Droid, Tusken Raider, Ishi Tib, and Weequay!
- Play with a Friend in Classic Couch Co-op: Battle side-by-side with a companion in two-player couch co-op for the entire 10-level campaign and bonus mini-games.
- New Features & Modes for Modern Platforms: Use classic or modern controls, toggle your lightsaber colors, enter classic cheat codes like Big Head Mode, dive into the VS and training modes from later releases of the game, and discover more surprises in this 25th-anniversary celebration of STAR WARS Episode I: Jedi Power Battles.

It all looks, well, like another Aspyr Star Wars remaster, but if the gameplay loop is entertaining enough, we can see this being a good slice of Lightsaber-wielding fun — once we've got over the initial sting of it not being a Rogue Squadron II remaster, of course.

Aspyr's last Star Wars project, Bounty Hunter, provided a faithful remaster of the 2002 action game, albeit one that felt very dated in 2024. Let's hope Jedi Power Battles isn't such a blast from the past (in all the wrong ways).