There are many ways to fail a diplomatic mission. You can insult the other side. You can misunderstand the negotiations. You can discover that the conference room is filling with poisonous gas while an army of battle droids waits outside. Or, in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, you can accidentally swing a lightsaber at the wrong person and turn the entire Trade Federation ship into a workplace dispute. Released for Windows and PlayStation in 1999, The Phantom Menace was Big Ape Productions’ attempt to squeeze George Lucas’ first prequel into a third-person action-adventure. Players moved between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Queen Amidala, and Captain Panaka across an expanded retelling of the film, mixing lightsaber combat, blaster fights, puzzles, exploration, conversations, trading, and side objectives. It was ambitious. It was awkward. It had a camera that occasionally behaved like it had also been hit with a Force push….
