Join Obi-Wan Kenobi on his quest to free Naboo from the clutches of the evil Trade Federation . . . in colour!!
Obi-Wan's Adventures' main menu features just three options, the first of which is called "Start Game". This is where you go when you first start out on this title and want to get in to the adventure, select it and you will be taken to the first level of the game. Like I said there are nine game levels in total, and between each level you will receive guidance/instructions from your master, Qui-Gon Jinn, while movie stills from the Phantom Menace are displayed. At this point you will also find out the name of the next level and the password that you can use to get to it on future gameplay. The following number of paragraphs are descriptions of each game level, along with the passwords required to access them.
The first level is called "The Trade Federation Ship". After negotiations fail to end the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo, you have to make your way through the corridors of their Droid Control Ship, engaging many battle droids and droidekas along the way. Eventually you come to a series of conveyor belts that need to be navigated, then to a sequence of rooms that feature some electrified flooring. You'll finally pop out in to the ship's hangar and destroy hordes of battle droids before the level ends.
Level two is called "The Trade Federation Landing Craft". To get off the Droid Control Ship Obi-Wan sneaks aboard one of their Landing Crafts. Once on board you need to skulk down it's corridors, dispatching battle droids and droidekas, soon shutting off the controls to the ship's repulsorlifts. Moving along you'll navigate some sections of electrified flooring as well as these strange barricades that you have to move using the Force. After then jumping a series of platforms Obi-Wan comes to the ship's control room and destroys it, bringing the craft in for a hard crash landing! The password is BQVQK.
Third comes the "The Naboo Swamp" level. After crashing the ship you then forage through the Naboo forest, taking on battle droids as well as these annoying native birds. Avoiding some auto turrets you'll then come to the edge of the swamp, which is being patrolled by some STAP riding battle droids. Continue along, jumping your way across numerous swamp sections before finally meeting up with Qui-Gon Jinn and ending the level. The password is WNLRM.
"Naboo Swamp & Sacred Place" is the fourth level, and it's a vehicle level! Piloting a Bongo you'll cruise through the Naboo swamp, using the sub's built in laser cannons to blast many battle droids in to oblivion. There are also many auto turrets and floating mines you need to avoid as they can't be destroyed. Eventually you'll come to a building which must be your destination, as the level then ends. The password is SDGNK.
The fifth level is simply titled "Coruscant". Taking Naboo's problems straight to the Galactic Capital you head to Coruscant, once there you have to make your way down her expansive pedways, engaging a lot of security operatives in the process. Eventually you come to a transparisteel doorway and enter it, ending up in some sort of building. You'll confront more security operatives before getting in a turbolift and heading to a level that's filled with catwalks and valves randomly belching hot steam. Traverse this treacherous area with a lot of jumping, while battling more security operatives, and you'll then enter a different turbolift that deposits you out on to another pedway. After dealing with more security you finally arrive at the steps of the Jedi Temple. The password is CNLML.
Level six is "The Catacombs of Theed" and it sees you travel back to Naboo to free the Queen and her people. Once on the planet you scout ahead by forging a safe passage below the city of Theed, using the ancient catacombs as your method. Along this route you'll eliminate all sorts of battle droids and STAPs, while also having to avoid falling rocks. Eventually you'll make it to the catacombs surrounding the lower levels of the palace, having to figure out a couple of tricky traps before gaining access to the doorway you need, ending the level. The password is BXGTG.
Seventh comes "The Streets of Theed" level. The doorway you entered at the end of the last level takes you up to the streets of Theed, where you'll proceed to plow through scores of battle droids and droidekas, exploring the many courtyards and rooms on the side as you go. Along the way your task is also to free as many of the captive Naboo that you can. Ultimately you'll discover a hangar and hijack one of the Trade Federation's own AATs, which you are planning on using to storm the palace. The password is QSRVJ.
The eighth level is called "Queen Amidala's Palace". After gaining entrance to said palace with the AAT, you end up in the area of the gardens. Immediately you have to engage hordes of battle droids and droidekas, while also avoiding the auto turrets scattered throughout the area. Finally entering the palace you'll make your way down it's hallways, soon coming to a staircase. On the next level you encounter lots of droidekas, but eventually Obi-Wan blows out a window and then climbs out on the ledge. Jumping up a series of these ledges you'll gain access to the very top level of the palace, which leads to the control room. Proceed onwards to secure said control room and in doing so rescue Queen Amidala. The password is TKGJZ.
The ninth and final level is titled "The Final Battle". Starting off in the palace hangar you'll first dispatch a bunch of droidekas before heading in to the palace's power core, where Darth Maul immediately rushes to engage you! It's a tough fight but keep at it and you'll outduel him, bringing both him and the Trade Federation to justice. The password is LPZCP.
Getting back to the main menu the second option available is called "Options". Here you can adjust two of the game's main settings, including toggling the Music between high/low/off, or toggling the game's Difficulty between easy/hard.
The third and final option on the main menu is "Password". Once you've been playing Obi-Wan's Adventures and have made some progress, this is where you go to enter the five digit password that will take you to the level in the game where you last left off.
Once out amongst the game environments and facing down legions of the Trade Federation's droids, there are only three items you need to look out for. The first comes in the form of a spinning black blaster icon, picking it up will add 10 shots to your blaster's ammo total. The next one is a yellow orb with a small red object rapidly spinning around it. These pickups represent Force power and will add 1 sphere to your Force power gauge. The final item is a larger yellow orb that has a red cross in the middle of it. This pickup represents health and will add 3 spheres to your health gauge.
The information contained on Obi-Wan's Adventures' game screen is all located along the bottom portion of the screen. In the lower left hand corner you will see an icon indicating whether your currently equipped weapon is either your lightsaber, the Force, or your blaster. Just to the right of this icon are two gauges. The top gauge is filled with 10 blue spheres and represents your health gauge. Lose all 10 and you will perish, having to use your next life (you get 3 lives in this game, no continues). The gauge just below this one is filled with 10 red spheres and represents your Force power. Using the Force drains this gauge, causing you to have to refill it with the Force orb pickups. Finally, in the bottom right hand corner of the screen are two numbers. The top number indicates how many shots you have left available for your blaster, and the number below this one represents how many lives you have remaining.
The game controls are very simple for this title. The directional buttons on the D-pad are what moves your character around his environments. Press the B button to jump, while the A button serves as your action button. This encompasses using all of your weapons including your lightsaber, the Force and your blaster, as well as interacting with environmental objects such as control panels. Press the A and B buttons together to jump and then perform a lightsaber hack or blaster shot upon landing. The L button is used to switch the display mode to widescreen, whereas the R button switches it back to the regular (original) display mode. Select is used to switch between lightsaber/Force/blaster, while the Start button pauses the game action.
The display behind Obi-Wan's Adventures is pretty solid. The game takes on kind of an angled overhead view, from further away, so the characters are smaller rather than larger, allowing you to see a good portion of the level at any given time. I would imagine that for it's time this game was received well as it was in colour and the graphics were probably considered average to above average. The graphics are solid, they could have used a bit more detailing and some extra polish, but they are certainly good enough. Like I said there's nothing really ground-breaking about this game, but overall it is just very solid. The music is good, the standard analog GameBoy soundtrack of the age but given a Star Wars tilt. And as for the controls, they are spot on, very easy to use and respond well.
The pros and cons are pretty even for this game. First of all, for pros, the game comes across very well. For being such a simple game it looks, sounds and plays really well. It's also very fun, another adventure transporting you to the magical Star Wars universe! I like how long most of the levels are as well. GameBoy games were usually pretty short back in the day, but this game's levels (although there are a couple that are very short) are mostly in the medium/medium-long category. As for cons, although the levels are a good length, there are only nine of them in total, which I thought was a bit too few. I noticed that some of Phantom Menace's main locations, such as Tatooine, were completely left out of the game. Maybe if two or three more levels were added, encompassing some of these other planets and themes, it would have made the game even better. The only other con I could think of was in terms of the characters represented in the game. You only get to control Obi-Wan Kenobi throughout the action, which is fine, but it's the utter lack of other main characters which leaves me scratching my head. The only other characters you encounter are Qui-Gon Jinn (during the cutscenes in between levels), Darth Maul, and Queen Amidala briefly at the end of one level. There are no appearances by Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3PO, Jar Jar Binks, or any of the other main characters. I thought this was strange, for them to not even show up even just briefly.
As for tips and tricks, this game is pretty straightforward, there is nothing much I can tell you here that you won't be able to figure out for yourself. There are a few points in the game though, where you may find yourself wondering how you are to proceed. Sometimes it's a matter of activating a series of control panels in the correct order, hacking and slashing with your lightsaber to open up a hidden passage, or figuring out how to complete a puzzling type of environmental challenge. Outside of these few instances the game is pretty easy and simple though!
To summarize, although Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan's Adventures is not ground-breaking by any means, nor does it fall short in any one aspect of significance. Just another solid chapter to file away in the great library of Star Wars gaming!