In 2003, a time before microtransactions and corporate greed in the video gaming industry, Raven Software released Jedi Academy, the third and final entry to the Jedi Knight series. Jedi Academy offers an incredible take on the Star Wars format.

Jedi Academy has a single player and multiplayer mode. In the single player, players take control of Jaden Korr, a fully customizable lightsaber wielding prodigy attending Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. Players are tasked with various missions around the Galaxy as they fight with not only a lightsaber, but various force powers and weapons the player can unlock as they progress. Wielding either a single saber, dual sabers, or even a Darth Maul style staff saber, players begin to feel unstoppable at the hands of Jaden Korr.

The story picks up when the disciples of Ragnos, an ancient Sith Lord, begin interfering with Jaden and his fellow classmate, Rosh. Tempted by the dark side powers of the Scepter of Ragnos, Rosh turns against the Academy. At the end of the story, players have a choice to either strike down Rosh and take the Scepter and its powers, or spare Rosh and fight to bury the powers of Ragnos for good.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is where the lightsaber mechanics shine. To swing the saber, players must move in a specific direction. The developers took the time to make sure every single directional swing could be linked together in one combo, making swings fluid and dynamic. On top of swings, players can also do ripostes, high jumps, rolls, cartwheels, run up and off walls, and even perform powerful saber katas.

Upon the release of The Force Awakens, this 2003 game reached a peak player count of 2,300, and it settles at an average of 300 players year round. Jedi Academy has a large number of game modes, but the most popular ones are free-for-alls which are entirely unbinding, as they have no score limit. Jedi Academy gets a 9/10 in my eyes, as it established a never-seen-before and never replicated Star Wars gameplay experience, way ahead of its time. The only flaws Jedi Academy has are very minor ones. For the modern gamer wanting more out of a Star Wars experience, Jedi Academy will always be the timeless answer.