Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review - Jango Deserves Better

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter released during an era when Star Wars games were a dime a dozen. It was pretty easy to miss a game or two, so I never played Bounty Hunter until now. Nonetheless, I was happy to see it get a port on modern platforms so I could finally experience a game through the eyes of one of my favorite Star Wars characters: Jango Fett.

Well, I have no nostalgia for Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. I suspect this port by Aspyr is hoping for players to relive their experience with the game. Looking at it with a critical lens, in 2024, it's hard for me to see what the hype was all about, and moreover, the port leaves a lot to be desired. It's not a game befitting Jango Fett, that's for sure.

The Port Quality of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Originally launching in 2002, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a bonafide antique. The early 2000s had its fair share of classics, but it can be a bit rough experiencing older games in 2024. That is, unfortunately, the case here. It's a game rife with issues stemming from 2002 game design, and those issues persist today, despite the chance to be fixed in this port.

But before all the doom and gloom, in terms of visual fidelity, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter features a fresh coat of paint. It's not a remaster, but Aspyr likely did the same upscaling as they did in their Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection launch earlier in the year. And hey, it looks pretty great here. Textures are crisp, and lighting is overall improved.

I got a chance to try out both the PS2 and GameCube versions of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter just for comparison's sake, and Aspyr breathes new life into a game that looks rather rough around the edges on its original consoles. Its visuals are by far the best thing this game has going for it.

Even as a port, I'd expect other areas to be improved. Namely the camera, which was notoriously jank back in the day (and I can confirm this having played the originals less than a week ago, as of this review). Aspyr claims to have updated the camera system in this port, which might be true, but it's definitely no better than it was before.

Many deaths or mishaps in my playthrough can be attributed to this reworked camera, which was still jerky and finicky. In short, it's atrocious, and the lock-on system often butts heads with the camera and creates situations where you can walk off cliffs or get pummeled by enemies. Get used to getting frustrated is all I can say.

AI, Saving, What Else Isn't Great?

It would have been great to see an improvement to Star Wars: Bounty Hunter's save system, but it is antiquated. There's a checkpoint system and five lives for each level, and if you die you spawn on these checkpoints. You can't save in the middle of a level, so if you quit, you have to restart the level.

That's just not practical in this day and age, but it's not too surprising in an older game. Other than that, AI is dumber than a box of rocks, and heck, I even had one of the final bosses stand still after a few seconds of fighting. They didn't shoot, they didn't do anything -- the boss simply let me kill them without a fuss.

There isn't any extra gameplay content in this port beyond achievements, as far as I can tell, so don't go expecting to find new surprises. The extras from the original game are still unlockable by collecting bounties and such, but I'm sure that's not a huge incentive for players returning to experience this game again.

Does Star Wars: Bounty Hunter's Gameplay Hold Up?

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is very much a game of its era. Playing as Jango Fett before the start of Episode II, you're on a cross-galaxy trip to capture bounties and put an end to a notorious, intergalactic cult. You'll shoot and jetpack across six different chapters, each featuring its own planets and environments.

It's a very straightforward game. Jango Fett has an arsenal of weapons like the flamethrower, rockets, poison darts, and of course, duel blasters. You'll rely on the latter the most. There's his jetpack, too, which isn't as capable as I'd like -- since it's usable only in short bursts -- but still fun to use.

This adventure is a third-person shooter/platformer hybrid, often tasking players to shoot through an absurd number of infinitely respawning enemies as they navigate to an objective. Levels take advantage of Jango's jetpack, but often times platforming sequences feel like a pain what with all the enemies around.

In the original Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Jango Fett's blasters shot as fast as you could pull the trigger. The base fire rate is improved here by just holding down the trigger, but you're still better off mashing it as fast as possible. Some enemies are spongy and soak up hits, so your finger is likely to feel tired after a few rounds of combat -- that was certainly the case for me.

In between combat, you can scan crowds and enemies for bounties to either capture or kill. You'll earn unlockables this way, though it's purely optional. Thankfully, Aspyr adds some improved controls which makes this game slightly less cumbersome to play on modern controllers.

A big improvement to all of these mechanics is that scanning for bounties slows time down, as opposed to the original. When you're fighting a dozen enemies shooting you at the same time, the slow motion is a great help.

Enemy overload is apparent in the last several levels and is quite a pain. Hordes of enemies run at you and the best solution is to torch them with a flamethrower. The finale should go all out but instead feels more like an afterthought compared to some of the earlier levels.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter | Final Thoughts

If we ignore the lacking quality of this port, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter shows its age. It's really not all that fun playing as Jango Fett, with his limited jetpack fuel and the constant need to mash the trigger. With so many enemies that respawn constantly, there's little to get excited about. Its saving grace is a somewhat palatable story, and decently fun platforming.

Bundle everything together and you have a very shoddy experience. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is intriguing to experience as a fan of the series and character, but does little else. The camera, by far the worst part of this whole experience, makes me hesitant to go back and play this antiquated title for quite a while.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was reviewed on PC with a code provided by the publisher over roughly 9 hours of gameplay. All screenshots in this review were taken by the reviewer during gameplay.