Star Wars has had plenty of notable video games over the years, and two titles that continue to hold a special place in fans’ hearts to this day are the Battlefront games.
They first debuted on Xbox and multiple other platforms in 2004 and 2005 and were praised at the time for allowing Force-sensitive individuals to relive iconic mass-scale battles from the original and prequel trilogies, while also taking control of both Jedi Masters and Sith Lords.
This brings us to Aspyr’s repackaged title, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection. Admittedly, the developer’s Star Wars re-releases have a mixed history – with several titles living up to expectations and others, at times, falling short. It’s even had some drama in the lead to this particular release, so how does this latest version of Battlefront hold up?
On Xbox, what you’re getting here over the backward compatibility releases is the return of online play. In general, that’s the main selling point from the perspective of Team Green, as the servers in the original console releases are no longer accessible. There’s also some bonus content included in this repackaged collection, but the original Xbox versions were already spoilt with some updates and DLC back in the day, so this arguably isn’t quite as exciting as it might be for players on other platforms.
When you first boot up the collection, you’re presented with a screen asking you which game you want to play. While it’s nothing special, it immediately sets the scene. If you are a returning player, it should be just as you remember. In each game, you’ve got familiar menus, options, maps, characters, modes, and experiences (with a few additions here and there). It all appears to be mostly intact and this includes local split-screen multiplayer and co-op options.
Where you’ll really begin to notice the differences is out on the battlefield. Load times are speedy, the resolution and textures look sharp, and the frame rate appears smoother. While we’re admittedly no Digital Foundry, Aspyr seems to have found the right balance – delivering a package that feels authentic to the original experience and still feels like a glow-up.
The battles also play out as you would hope, and while there are some minor bugs Aspyr is already aware of, our own experience so far has been mostly fine across various modes and maps when using different classes and characters. As already mentioned, local split-screen play returns, and it’s still a blast with friends and family.
Unfortunately, what we haven’t been able to properly test out during the review is online. While the mode was live, we didn’t encounter any players due to the game not actually being officially out yet, so we were unable to experience full-scale 64-player battles. What we were able to test was a handful of players (made up of Pure Xbox staff members) across multiple maps and modes, with bots filling in the remaining 60 or so slots. It was great fun and largely stable, although gameplay did have the occasional stutter during some moments. One downer in this department is it doesn’t support crossplay (at least right now), which could potentially shorten online play’s lifespan.
Overall, what you’re getting from Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is a complete package. Yes, instead of a live service, battle pass, or locked heroes and villains (we’re looking at you Star Wars Battlefront II), it’s all there. Just don’t expect certain other modern systems that you may have become accustomed to in newer games.
Conclusion
On Xbox, there is definitely going to be some debate about whether or not fans should consider checking out the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection. If you’re not in it for online play, and only want to participate in solo and local play, we would argue the affordably priced backward compatibility versions offer more than enough. If you do want to relive the glorious online battles of yesteryear in a fresh package though, the extra credits of the Classic Collection may be worth the asking price.
