Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes – Essentials (PSP)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes bridges the gap between season one and two of the animated TV series. In the game the player learns more about the mysterious bounty hunter Cad Bane and hunts down the all-new Skakoan super villain Kul Teska in a gameplay style very similar to Lego Star Wars.

The game is fully built around drop in/drop out-coop for two players. This means each mission in this 3rd-person-action-adventure features two famous characters from the TV series including Obi-Wan Kenobi, the padawan Ahsoka and Captain Rex but separated by class. The players either control commandos or Jedi characters – never both mixed as they have totally different abilities and limitations. If no second player is available, the AI will automatically take over the second character and help overcome the many obstacles waiting ahead – mostly in form of several different kinds of separatist droids. While the players can use their lightsaber or blaster to fend them off, the Jedi characters also have the ability to ride the droids by jumping onto them from behind. This is not only useful to blast through enemy lines but is also used to solve specific riddles preventing the characters from moving on. In addition the droids can be forced to dance with every other droid on the screen following his lead making them defenseless. These dances are unique for each droid and need to be bought first in the shop. Also available there: funny masks and combat upgrades like stronger blasters or a more powerful force-push.

To buy these things, the players have to unlock them first and then need to invest points which are gained by killing enemies as well as by successfully completing missions or the mini-games. These mini-games are scattered around the levels and turn up once a specific section has been completed. They mostly involve killing as many enemies as possible in a short amount of time. Each kill in succession both during normal gameplay and the mini-games also ranks up the multiplier adding even more points to the account. Once a player dies, he will respawn at the nearest checkpoint either immediately if he plays alone or after the second player has reached one – both times without any penalties.