Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II

More than a Jedi mind trick to make you buy Nintendo’s new whiz-bang console, this is the closest a video game has come to recreating a Star Wars movie. The familiar setup lets you take the helm of any Rebel Alliance vehicle (X-wing fighter, Landspeeder) and re-create the franchise’s most memorable combat sequences (except for maybe Mark Hamill’s battle against obscurity). The real “Force” is the GameCube’s level of graphical detail, which lets you zoom from armadas of Star Destroyers down to the stains on a Tatooine bathroom tile. (Dammit, Jabba, did you even try to aim?) Top it off with the schmaltz of John Williams’ score and you’ve got a title worth turning to the Dark Side for.