Star Wars video games have an incredible legacy, as many of them aren't just considered fun diversions for franchise fanatics – they're up there with the all-time greats that gaming has to offer. But the 1999 adaptation of The Phantom Menace for PC and PS1 is not a game with such a legacy. In fact, it got a pretty dismal critical reception, in part because the developers were forbidden from competing with the games that fans do fondly remember today.
Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace released alongside the film in 1999 for PC and a few months later on PS1. Developer Big Ape Productions, which was founded by LucasArts veterans Dean Sharpe and Mike Ebert, had one well-reviewed but largely forgotten release called Herc's Adventures. But, ultimately, the developer had a pretty unfortunate legacy as the eventual creator of The Simpsons Wrestling and MTV Celebrity Deathmatch, both regarded as some of the worst games of their era.
