General Strategies

While the walk-through will take you through the game's various situations and puzzles, you must still master the basic techniques of The Phantom Menace if you hope to complete the game successfully. Understanding concepts, such as when to sidestep, which weapon to use, and how to effectively wield the lightsaber, can keep you alive during the game's many tense situations. Study these tactics, and you'll stay alive long enough to solve puzzles, find those hidden secret areas, and save the peaceful planet of Naboo. Additionally, you'll find some handy cheat codes (for the PC version) to complete those particularly difficult areas.

Control and Movement

Whether you're playing as Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Queen Amidala, or Captain Panaka, when you face dozens of battledroids, you'll need both quick reflexes and a solid control scheme to get out alive. For the PC version, a gamepad (such as Microsoft's Sidewinder gamepad) will be your best choice. Playing with the keyboard is difficult; all the moves you must perform can be overwhelming. A joystick might be effective, but accessing the sidestep move could be tough. For the PlayStation, you're stuck with the gamepad, but that isn't a bad thing.

You'll want the attack, jump, run, and sidestep buttons within comfortable reach - you'll be using them often. When playing as Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan (which you will for the majority of the game) practice using combinations of the attack, jump, and run buttons when wielding your lightsaber. For instance, when fighting up close, using a jumping slash (by hitting the jump then the attack button) can keep you out of harm's way, especially when facing off against Darth Maul, the powerful Sith lord.

Next: The best weapon for the job