Just like many Star Wars fans throughout the world, I have mixed feelings towards EA’s take on the Battlefront games. On one hand, sure, they looked great, and that one VR mode available on the first game was excellent, but on the other, it seems like they have decided to use those two games as testing grounds for the stupidest and dirtiest business practices back in the day, be it charging $60 for no single player content, or the infamous loot box scandals seen in Battlefront II. To this day, I don’t think many had given up on the original Battlefronts, the ones developed by Pandemic Studios and released by LucasArts nearly twenty years ago. In my opinion, those are still the better Battlefront titles.

I grew up playing Battlefront and Battlefront 2 to a nearly insane degree, especially considering the fact the latter had an amazing port on the PSP. It was my favorite, and most played game on that system, and possibly my favorite game ever put on a portable. Yes, I’m that much of a lunatic. This is why I flipped over the announcement of a brand new Star Wars: Battlefront collection available on modern consoles, but most specifically the Switch. I was going to be able to experience Battlefront on a portable once again! What a dream come true! But there was a problem.

The problem in this case was called Aspyr. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the fact their schtick is mainly re-releasing classic Star Wars titles from my childhood on modern consoles. I’m a hardcore defender of gaming preservation, so I deeply respect their work. It just so happens that most of their titles are released with some kind of problem. Republic Commando suffered from terrible framerates. Knights of the Old Republic II was released with missing content. Most of their games, with the exception of KotOR II, have been patched, though, but you never know what to expect from these ports.

The fact that Nightdive, the gods of retro remastering, have also started working on Star Wars titles, with their magnificent Dark Forces remaster, immediately made Aspyr’s work feel cheaper, crappier. And I’ll be honest, these Battlefront titles have issues. Well, not exactly ISSUES, but they haven’t been touched that much. At the same time, I haven’t found bugs, glitches, or any other major problems. What little Aspyr has added, however, is pretty significant. Amazing, to be fair. And it’s still Battlefront. Two of them, in fact. On the go, with online multiplayer, and everything you know and love from these classics.

Well, let me start off with the negatives. Rip off the bandaid as quickly as possible and all that jazz. Little has been done in terms of improving these games’ visuals. For the most part, they have only received resolution improvements, and a few bug fixes (though some very occasional graphical glitches still occur). The framerate, however, is solid. Maybe it’s just the fact I grew up playing the PSP port, in all of its 20fps glory, but a stable 60 is such a breath of fresh air for these two games. Also, this game was reviewed on the Switch, meaning that the less improved visuals did not look all that bad on a smaller screen. Space battles, for instace, still looked very exciting and adrenaline-pumping.

I guess I should also point out that, in true Aspyr fashion, menu interfaces and loading screens look stretched, as if all they did was stretch their 4:3 presentation onto a 16:9 aspect ratio. Thankfully, this is something that is only noticeable during menu navigation. Given how these games are all about fast-paced, “pick up and play” action, you will just spend a minimal amount of time staring at these ugly screens.

The other issue lies on the controls. Then again, this is a completely fixable, and therefore minor, complaint. The default control scheme for both games is admittedly terrible. The button placement is all over the place, lacking a proper logical explanation. Crouching with B? Jumping with A? Thankfully, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection allows you to fully customize controls to your liking. Before you jump into a match, make sure to spend a good ten minutes or so changing the control scheme for infantry, Jedi, vehicles and ships, in order to not have a hard time whilst playing the games per se.

You also need to understand that, if you’re used to modern physics in recent shooters, you will complain about how fast-paced, light, and arcadey both Battlefronts game are. Then again, if you are buying this collection without, at least, acknowledging that these games are older (also, better), well, I’d say that’s on you. Those two titles are all about fun factor and fan service, and the best thing about them is that each of the two has its own strengths. The fact a Battlefront 2 exists doesn’t invalidate the first game’s existence. On the contrary.

Yes, the original Battlefront has a lot less content, but I would argue that it’s the one with the better visuals and gameplay. The reason for the latter? Given how it doesn’t have space battles, it’s the only one of the games where you can use starfighters in ground maps other than Hoth. I vividly remember having tons of fun playing the Dune Sea level in Tatooine, where I could hop onto an X-Wing and deliver hellfire from above onto stormtroopers and Tusken Raiders, all whilst fighting the occasional TIE Fighter in a small, but action-packed map.

It is also the one with, in my opinion, the better presentation. Its UI looks more crisp, its menus look more appealing, and who can forget about its utterly iconic loading screen? Thankfully, everything has been kept as it was. I also assume that the first Battlefront looks better than the second due to its having less content, allowing Pandemic Studios to focus on slightly sexier textures back in the day, as there were less worries on fitting everything into a 4.7GB DVD.

Now, let’s talk about the sequel. Battlefront 2 might be a bit uglier, with a less sexy presentation, but no one can deny the fact it is the most appealing game of the collection. Battlefront 2 was a freaking staple. Back in the day, the sheer amount of content, variety of modes, units (including being able to play as heroes, which wasn’t possible in the original), it was sublime. You could fight in space against a Star Destroyer. If you were a lunatic, you could play as a Wampa mutilating a Rebel army. You could still do Hoth, Naboo, and Geonosis. Finally, there was THE mode. The magnum opus. Hero Assault, you beauty.

Back in the day, there was this little mode in the Mos Eisley map called Hero Assault. In it, you were able to play as any of the heroes in the game, in a “Forces of Good vs. Forces of Evil” deathmatch. An army of Lukes, Leias, Obi-Wans and even Aayla Securas fighting against Vaders, Palpatines, Fetts and Anakins. All whilst being bombarded with some of the best Star Wars songs of all time, including “Lapti Nek” and “Jedi Rocks“, from Episode VI. I am glad to inform that all of these songs are still featured in this remastered collection, without a semblance of compression of sound mixing issues. In fact, I don’t think there is a single instance of compression in this collection at all, since its file size is a ridiculous 30GB. For Switch standards, that’s insane.

Okay, back to Hero Assault. That was the best mode in Battlefront 2, but was limited to a single map, Mos Eisley. One of the very additions to this collection, courtesy of Aspyr, was the inclusion of Hero Assault on ALL ground levels. Wanna play one of the greatest modes in gaming on Hoth? Have at it. Want to bring the party to Theed? No one’s gonna stop ya. Wanna go full imbecile and do that inside the Death Star or the Tantive IV? Why not? Have fun. Furthermore, this collection features both Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress, previously locked away as exclusive DLC on the original Xbox version of the game.

Another new inclusion is XL mode. It almost breaks the game as a whole, but it’s really fun. In essence, these are the modes in which 64 players can join a map at once. The thing is, old-school Battlefront 2 maps weren’t designed to have that many people at once, so these battles become absolutely chaotic. If you’re into that kind of no-nonsense dumb fun, there’s little to complain about the XL maps.

So what you have here is a friendly reminder of why Battlefront was one of the coolest gaming sub-franchises of the mid-2000s. Aspyr didn’t exactly do a lot to remaster these games in this collection, but at the very least, they didn’t compromise them. The very few additions (bigger player count, online multiplayer, and a vast improvement on the Hero Assault variety) are still very welcome. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is a must-have for a Star Wars fan with a Switch. Being able to play two of the best Star Wars games of all time on the go reminded of the glory days of playing Battlefront 2 on the PSP. The difference being not having to deal with a downgrade in visuals and performance. I wil most certainly play this collection to the freaking death. Battlefront is back, baby. It’s finally good again.

Graphics: 6.5 This can barely be considered a remaster, as the only noticeable improvement has been the resolution. Well, I guess the framerate is also rock-solid, and it looks great on a smaller screen. Still, expected a bit more from Aspyr in this regard.	Gameplay: 7.5 The default button placement is admittedly terrible, but the controls are 100% customizable. I came up with a setting that was ideal to my tastes, and level looked back. The framerate is solid, and the gameplay loop is easy to pick up and enjoy.
Sound: 9.5 Every single iconic sound effect, voice clip, and Star Wars song you can imagine is obviously included in this package. The Hero Assault mode songs are still absolute bangers. Lapti Nek!	Fun Factor: 9.5 Not a lot was done in order to improve these games’ visuals, but they are still legendary titles with near-infinite amounts of replayability. The handful of new modes are also welcoming additions. Being able to play Hero Assault in every map in Battlefront 2 is amazing!
Final Verdict: 8.5

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch. The original Battlefronts, without the improvements in this collection, are available on PC (Steam), PS2 and Xbox.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection was provided by the publisher.