If you've got a burning passion for Star Wars, then Star Wars Trivia will probably end long before your fire has gone out. Although the questions are diverse, from the obvious to the ridiculously hard, there's just not nearly enough trivia in this trivia game. The game is fairly entertaining, and there's still potential for the content to multiply (thanks to the presence of downloadable gamepacks), but in its current state, Star Wars Trivia just isn't long enough.
Now that the sextuplet is finally complete, Star Wars enthusiasts will be able to, if possible, piece together all the details of George Lucas' rich storyline. This means a virtually endless number of questions regarding the events of the movie, the screenplay, and the production. Unfortunately, Star Wars Trivia doesn't seem virtually endless, and you'll be done with the available question packs pretty quickly. Each of Star Wars Trivia's "gamepacks" asks questions from one of the six movies, which are split up into three rounds of 15 questions each, giving you a short break between each of the quickly paced question-and-response sessions. The default gamepack concentrates on the first movie (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope), and the three gamepacks currently available for download are based on Episode V and the newly released Episode III. You can only keep two gamepacks downloaded at a time, and you can never erase the default one. So not only is swapping out questions necessary, but also it's time consuming. The questions don't rotate within the pack, although they do appear in random order. To maintain the integrity of high scores, the game doesn't reveal right answers when incorrect guesses are made, so players will have to play through several times, guessing if they're unsure. However, since the gamepacks always contain the same questions, and since there are multiple-choice answers, it won't take much work for the score-monger to achieve his goal.
A particularly nice feature of the scoring system is that you're rewarded if you can guess the answer without looking at the multiple-choice responses. An initial countdown for the question allows you a few seconds to read through and prepare your answer without any sort of punishment for time passed. After selecting to buzz in, which then reveals the multiple-choice answers, every tick of the clock takes points off your score. Effectively, if you can prepare your answer mentally, then you're only punished for the amount of time it takes you to seek out and press the correct answer. Meanwhile, those who must use the process of elimination will obviously take up a little more time. A few questions are presented in elimination format, however, and a lower score is almost guaranteed as a result.
If you get a high score, you're rewarded with a spot on a world leaderboard. Although seeing your name among the Star Wars Trivia elite is satisfying in some respects, it doesn't mean much when there's no punishment for playing through the game multiple times. For purity's sake, it would have been nice if the game had averaged all scores so that you're only ever really as good as your first time through.
Regardless of the flaws of the setup, the current batch of trivia questions is varied both in topic and difficulty. The default gamepack is easier than the downloadable ones, but the questions range from specifications about vehicles within the movie to memorable moments of dialogue and their orators. Every gamepack also features at least one question regarding a background picture featured on the screen, although on one or two occasions, the difficulty lies in the obscurity and clarity of the picture and not in the question about it. Furthermore, the game uses the familiar Star Wars yellow for all the text, which can sometimes be quite difficult to read. Since you're scored from 1 to 10 based on how quickly you can respond to the question, not being able to get a good glimpse of the text is an unfair disadvantage. Other than these few gripes, the game's presentation is quite solid on the Motorola V551, although the lack of movie images is quite noticeable. The Star Wars "Main Title" plays on the main menu, which is a nice touch, but it ends when you begin playing the game. The in-game sound effects are not quite as appealing, as the ticking timer and correct-answer indicator consist of stock sound effects. When you answer a question incorrectly, however, you're treated to a few bars of the "Imperial March," which works very well.
The best thing about Star Wars Trivia is the questions, and the worst thing is that there aren't enough of them. The game has promise because there's the possibility for more downloadable content, but in its current state, it's just too minimal to be worth the download.
