Adventure Games of the 2000s, Part 2 Codexery

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

A prequel to Attack of the Clones following Jango Fett's bounty hunting career.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a 2002 action-adventure video game developed and published by LucasArts for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It serves as a prequel to the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and continues the comic book Jango Fett: Open Seasons. Set in the Star Wars Legends expanded universe, the game follows former Mandalorian warrior Jango Fett during his prime as a bounty hunter, providing backstory to his role in the film, including how he acquired his ship Slave I, met Zam Wesell, and was chosen as the genetic template for the clone troopers.

Quick Facts

Title
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
Developer
LucasArtsRemaster developed by Aspyr
Publisher
LucasArtsRemaster published by Aspyr
Producer
Joe Brisbois
Director
Jon Knoles
Writer
Haden Blackman
Programmer
Priamos Georgiades
Artist
Ian Milham
Composer
Jeremy Soule
Series
Star Wars
Platforms
PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Released
PlayStation 2 / NA · November 22, 2002 · PAL · December 6, 2002GameCube / NA · December 5, 2002 · PAL · February 7, 2003Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S / WW · August 1, 2024

Facts from the source article.

Lore & Background

The story takes place ten years before Attack of the Clones, shortly after the Battle of Naboo. Darth Sidious orders his apprentice Darth Tyranus to eliminate his former pupil Komari Vosa, a Dark Jedi leading the Bando Gora crime syndicate. Jango Fett is hired by Tyranus to kill Vosa for 5,000,000 Republic credits. To find her, Jango investigates a death stick trafficking ring, encountering his rival Montross, Zam Wesell, and various criminal figures including Sebolto and Gardulla the Hutt. After a series of confrontations, Jango defeats Vosa, and Tyranus reveals the bounty was a test to find a genetic template for a clone army. Jango agrees to be cloned but demands one unmodified clone for himself.

Reader's Guide

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter received mixed reviews from critics. Its gameplay features third-person action with Jango Fett's arsenal of blaster pistols, flamethrower, poison darts, and jetpack-mounted missiles. The jetpack runs on fuel that recharges when not in use, and the flamethrower also consumes fuel. Players can use a helmet scanner to identify bounty targets and capture them dead or alive using a whipcord thrower. The game includes acrobatic maneuvers and auto-targeting, with the ability to target up to two enemies simultaneously. Completing levels and capturing bounties earns credits to unlock concept art. Each level contains a secret feather that unlocks cards from the Star Wars Trading Card Game; finding all feathers unlocks bonus footage. After each level, pages of the Open Seasons comic are unlocked, and completing chapters unlocks blooper reels for cutscenes. The PlayStation 2 version was later re-released as a PlayStation 2 Classics title on PlayStation 3 in April 2015 and PlayStation 4 in January 2016, with a limited physical run by Limited Run Games in June 2019. An enhanced version by Aspyr was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in August 2024.

Did You Know?

A Catalog Spanning Four Decades

The Star Wars video game catalog, as documented through officially licensed and LucasArts-developed titles, stretches across more than four decades of interactive entertainment. The earliest entries date to 1982, when an Empire Strikes Back title appeared on the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, while arcade cabinets brought the saga to coin-op venues as early as 1983. By the mid-1980s, the franchise had expanded to Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and a host of other home computer systems. The 1990s saw the series embrace cartridge-based consoles like the NES, Game Boy, SNES, and 32X, alongside PC platforms such as DOS and Macintosh. The 2000s brought titles to PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, and even mobile phones. This breadth of hardware support—from pinball tables to arcade cabinets to handheld devices—demonstrates how deeply the franchise permeated the gaming landscape of every era. The catalog is organized around two primary axes: games tied directly to the feature films and standalone series that expand the universe beyond the screen.

The Re-release and Remaster Era

A striking pattern in the Star Wars gaming catalog is the persistent cycle of re-releases and ports that keep classic titles accessible to new generations. The Super Star Wars trilogy from the early 1990s found new life on the Wii Virtual Console, while the original Episode I game from 1999 was ported to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2024. The Jedi Knight lineage received a broad 2024 re-release across Nintendo Switch, Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series, and the Racer series followed a similar multi-platform revival in 2020. Knights of the Old Republic, originally released in 2003, was ported to iOS in 2013, Android in 2014, and Nintendo Switch in 2021, with its sequel following to Switch in 2022. Even the 2000s-era Jedi Power Battles is slated for a 2025 re-release spanning Windows, Nintendo Switch, both PlayStation generations, and Xbox. This ongoing commitment to porting ensures that the franchise's interactive history remains a living, playable archive rather than a museum piece locked to obsolete hardware.

The Pillar Franchise Series

Beyond the film-tied titles, the Star Wars gaming universe is anchored by a constellation of standalone series, each carving out a distinct niche. The X-Wing flight simulator line, running from 1993 through 1999, established the franchise's presence on PC with entries like TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance. The Jedi Knight and Dark Forces first-person shooter series, spanning 1995 to 2003, gave players the chance to swing a lightsaber across multiple platforms. Rogue Squadron brought arcade-style dogfights to Nintendo hardware from 1998 to 2003, while the Racer series delivered podracing thrills from 1999 to 2002. The strategy genre was served by Galactic Battlegrounds and its Clone Campaigns expansion. Starfighter pushed the flight genre into the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era. Perhaps most ambitiously, Knights of the Old Republic and its 2004 sequel created a role-playing experience that outlived its original hardware, and The Old Republic MMORPG extended that world with expansions running through 2022. Even the now-shutdown Galaxies MMO left its mark on the franchise's history.

A Pipeline Still in Motion

The Star Wars gaming catalog is not merely a historical record; it is a living pipeline of projects in various stages of development. As of the documented timeline, five titles are confirmed in the works. Star Wars: Galactic Racer, set for 2026 on Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, is being developed by Fuse Games and represents a modern successor to the beloved Racer series. Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, announced in 2025, is in production at Arcanaut Studios. Star Wars Jedi 3, announced in 2024, continues the acclaimed Respawn Entertainment trilogy. A full remake of Knights of the Old Republic, announced back in 2021, is being handled by Saber Interactive for Windows and PlayStation 5. Finally, Star Wars: Eclipse, also announced in 2021, is being crafted by the narrative-driven studio Quantic Dream. Together, these announcements span multiple genres—racing, role-playing, action-adventure, and narrative experience—and multiple studios, signaling that the franchise's interactive storytelling is far from reaching a conclusion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Star Wars: Bounty Hunter?

It is a 2002 action-adventure game created by LucasArts that lets you play as Jango Fett during the height of his bounty hunting career. The title was released for PlayStation 2 and GameCube and exists within the Star Wars Legends expanded universe.

Who do you play as in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter?

You take on the role of Jango Fett, the Mandalorian warrior who would later be chosen as the genetic template for the Republic's clone army. The game traces his life as a freelance hunter before his fateful encounter with the Republic.

What platforms is Star Wars: Bounty Hunter available on?

The game shipped exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube back in 2002. LucasArts handled both development and publishing, and no PC or later-generation ports were ever produced.

How does Star Wars: Bounty Hunter tie into Attack of the Clones?

The game is structured as a direct prequel to the 2002 film, filling in the backstory of how Jango Fett ended up being selected as the clone trooper template. It also picks up the narrative threads from the comic book series Jango Fett: Open Seasons.

What major story events happen in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter?

Across the campaign, Jango Fett earns his iconic starship Slave I and forges a working partnership with fellow hunter Zam Wesell. The story builds toward his recruitment by the Republic, directly setting up his pivotal role in Episode II.

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