As you might hope from LucasArts, the cut-scenes are well made and could have come straight from the film

Not so long ago, at a PC right in front of us, this reporter was bellowing with frustration. Let's hope that the film isn't as annoying.
Steve Owen

I am a Star Wars fan. Not an obsessive. I don't still use my Return of the Jedi duvet cover, for instance. But I love the original trilogy and I am definitely looking forward to the release of Episode One.

So it was with some trepidation that I installed The Phantom Menace, fearing that it would spoil the story (it is directly based on the film, apparently), and might even put me off going to see the film (it didn't, despite my reservations regarding the game).

Phantom Menace is a bit of a genre-crossover, a mixture of arcade adventure, with some action sequences and puzzles from the Tomb Raider mould thrown in. In fact, comparing it to the Lara trilogy just hints at how good the game could have been if developers Big Ape had spent a bit longer on the control system and level design.

There's no doubt that given the structure of the movie and the strict guidelines it imposes, Phantom Menace isn't at all bad. Set pieces, FMV and some of thegraphics are gorgeous, but for every piece of eye candy, and every element of surprise and excitement, the image is shattered with some clumsy puzzle or ridiculous and tedious jumping exercise.

I thought we'd finally kissed the pixel-perfect jump goodbye, but Phantom Menace welcomes it back with a big hug and a box of Quality Street. While Tomb Raider often includes something similar, it doesn't do it with such a fiddly control system or from such a painful viewing angle. Jumping from one sinking tower to another using a control system that periodically ignores the buttons you press isn't exciting. It's just tiresome and unwelcome.