Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance is an action/adventure game developed and published by Lucasarts. It was released for the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

 entertainment system on November 11, 2008. It is set in the science fiction universe of Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

and is a tie-in to The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)

-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...

TV series.

Gameplay

The game utilizes complete use of the Nintendo DS stylus to control the characters' movements and actions, especially during lightsaber combat; there are also special action sequences in which the player must drag the stylus across certain parts of the screen to advance further into the game. "Jedi Alliance" features ten levels in which the player must select two of the following Jedi

Jedi

The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...

 characters —Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka "Snips" Tano is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe and is the primary protagonist in the 2008 animated film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the following series. When the series began she was depicted as a 14-year-old Togruta female...

, Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...

, Mace Windu

Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, most famously portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films. However, Windu has also been voiced by other actors in assorted video game and animated projects....

, Plo Koon, and Kit Fisto—to proceed through a story original to the game. Each character has special abilities that can uncover new areas and collectibles throughout the game. Each pair can employ unique combo attacks, which become stronger the more that pair is used. During some moments, R2-D2

R2-D2

R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...

 and C-3PO

C-3PO

C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...

 are also playable, though their abilities are limited.

After completing missions and various challenges in the missions, the player can unlock new costumes for the characters, as well as concept art for the game.

Setting

The game is set in the familiar Star Wars universe and takes places on new planets seen in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and series such as Cristophsis, as well as the capital planet Coruscant and the home planet of the Nightsisters, Dathomir. The initial level takes place on a republic transport cruiser named the Sedawan, newly designed for the game.

Story

The story revolves around the theft from a republic cargo transport, the cargo being crystals used in the construction of the Jedi Knight's standard weapon; the lightsaber. Two Jedi of the player's choice are sent to investigate the theft and stumble upon a plot involving the Separatists and a women-only clan of force users known as the Nightsisters.

In the search for the stolen crystals the Jedi travels to various planets, and eventually discovers that the separatists have built a battle ship that utilizes the crystals to fire a beam of immense power. Your main goal is then to destroy the ship before its weapon can be used.

Development

Following the release of The Clone Wars animated series, the game features a new original story set in the series continuity. Jedi Alliance was produced alongside the animated TV series in the same studio in Singapore, and features the same voice actors. The game's original title was "Day of the Nightsisters", in reference to LucasArt's classic, Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle but was changed. The game's antagonists the Nightsisters were first introduced in the Star Wars story The Courtship of Princess Leia

The Courtship of Princess Leia

The Courtship of Princess Leia is a 1995 bestselling Star Wars book by Dave Wolverton. It continued the streak of New York Times Bestsellers, which started with Heir to the Empire...

. A regular shadow technique on the Nintendo DS was a simple dark circle, but the development team wanted something more realistic. Due to hardware limitations a new method had to be made and was implemented in the game. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels for the Nintendo Wii and Jedi Alliance was released at the same time to coincide with the airing of the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. Prima Games

Prima Games

Prima Games, a division of Random House, is the largest publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. It is an imprint of the Random House Information Group, based in Roseville, California...

published an official game guide on the same release date, which contains an extensive walkthrough for both Lightsaber Duels and Jedi Alliance.

Reception

Critics pointed out that it was a very well made action game, from designs to details, music and sound. Cheat Code central said that the story was an "interesting tale with entertaining dialogue". PAL GN praised the game for having a strong story, solid visuals and great implementation of voiced dialogue, but criticized the game-play for being overly simplistic and its combat system inefficient.

External links

• Fun Facts about Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance