The Star Wars dogfighting games you can play right now, ranked

You can keep your Force powers; in Star Wars, space dogfighting is really where it’s at.

Star Wars: Squadrons is bringing that long-overlooked genre back to Star Wars video games on Oct. 2. Two teams, five pilots on each side, the Empire duking it out with the Rebellion in post-Return of the Jedi spaceways. Hook it into my veins.

There’s a long, illustrious history of Star Wars dogfighting games that… just kinda stops in 2002. We’ve seen a few things come along since then to fill the void, but it’s not inaccurate to say that some of the best examples out there are more than 20 years old. For the most part, though, you can still play them all.

But which one to play? Let’s look at your options. Hell, just for fun let’s rank your options. Just be aware going in that most of these titles are more than a decade old, so we’re firmly in retro gaming territory here. The flipside, of course, is you also won’t need some beastly gaming PC for most of them – though for pretty much all of these PC games, you’ll probably want some kind of joystick.

9. Star Wars (1983)

This one’s in dead last not because it’s bad – it’s a simple game that’s aged well – but rather because you’ll need to open your wallet extra wide if you want to play it. The classic Star Wars arcade game from Atari, which recreates the trench run from A New Hope using fancy-for-the-time vector graphics, is technically playable as a browser game on a variety of websites. But to really recreate the experience of the original, the only viable option is Arcade1Up’s $500 Star Wars arcade cabinet.

It’s big, it’s expensive, and you’ll have to put it together yourself (an admittedly fun project, I can confirm firsthand). But it’s also a top-notch re-creation of the real deal. As an added bonus, the machine also includes the similarly cool Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi arcade games.

Where to find it: Amazon

8. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (1997) 

Bump this one up a few spots if you have a group of friends who are willing to go through the trouble of learning about and setting up online play through a service like GameRanger or Voobly. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was a game ahead of its time in 1997, delivering an experience crafted around multiplayer dogfighting when broadband internet wasn’t really a thing yet. It’s part of the X-Wing series, which accounts for fully half of this list, and it’s a thrilling game when you get a group together. But I wouldn’t recommend it for solo fliers.

Where to find it: Steam, Humble

7. Star Wars: Starfighter (2001)

There are really two different kinds of Star Wars dogfighting games: the more technical (and usually PC-only) flight simulators, and the arcade games, which were generally aimed more at the console crowd. Star Wars: Starfighter falls into the latter category, and it’s a perfectly fine PlayStation 2-era game set during the Clone Wars years. You steer your Prequel Trilogy spacecraft in third-person, taking on Separatist forces in a series of story missions. It’s not the best of the third-person dogfighting Star Wars games, but hey, it’s still Star Wars.

Where to find it: PlayStation 3 Store, Humble, Steam

6. X-Wing (1993)

X-Wing is the one that started them all. That doesn’t mean it’s the best by any measure, but it was a game that sparked the imaginations of many a young Star Wars-loving PC gamer. You strap yourself into the cockpit of a variety of Rebel Alliance fighters as you take on the Empire during the Original Trilogy timeline. It’s certainly not a pretty game by modern standards, but the level of control you have over your ship systems makes X-Wing (and the games that followed it) a much more engrossing simulation. 

And hey, maybe one day the high-def remake mod will finally happen.

Where to find it: Steam, Humble

5. Rogue Squadron 3D (1998)

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron did for arcade-style dogfighting what X-Wing did for flight simulators. It was the first in a series, and its basic framework heavily informed Starfighter and its sequel. You fly Rebel Alliance ships from a third-person perspective, blasting Imperials out of the skies and spaceways. Your performance in each level is rated, and the better you do, the more ships you unlock for repeat runs through each level. The PC version of this Nintendo 64 classic runs surprisingly well, just make sure you have a controller handy, as the mouse/keyboard controls are awful. Sadly, Rogue Squadron‘s two sequels never lived beyond the GameCube era.

Where to find it: Steam, Humble

4. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (2002)

My memories of Rogue Squadron are fonder (and I prefer the Original Trilogy setting), but if we’re being honest with ourselves Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter is just a better game. You play as Clone Wars-era Jedi Master Adi Gallia as she chases a Separatist-aligned merc across the galaxy. You get a variety of cool ships to fly, along with actual Force powers. Jedi Starfighter is also notably the only retro game option on this list that you can still play on consoles. (In fact, that’s the only place to play it; there was never a PC release.)

Where to find it: PlayStation 4, Xbox Games Store

3. X-Wing Alliance (1999)

We still haven’t reached the best of the best in the X-Wing series, but X-Wing Alliance is damn close. It was the last game to be released in that series, so it’s the best-looking one of the bunch. It’s also got the widest assortment of ships you can pilot, including a big Millennium Falcon-like freighter with multiple turrets. Plus, there’s a mission builder and a story that takes you all the way to the destruction of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. There’s no reason not to play this game if you like Star Wars, even if it’s not the best of the best for X-Wing games.

Where to find it: Steam, Humble

2. Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)

The only non-retro game on this list, and also the only one that’s not just about dogfighting. But that’s how well Star Wars Battlefront II nails the Star Wars space combat experience. The Starfighter Assault mode pits two teams of 12 against one another in a variety of familiar deep space and near-orbit environments. It also fills the spaceways with a bunch of AI-controlled ships, both to make each battle feel bigger and to give you more things to explode. It’s just one mode in a much larger game and the attack/defend objectives are very simple, but the overall fidelity of the experience and smoothness of the gameplay makes Battlefront II‘s Starfighter Assault a big winner, and one you can play on any modern machine.

Where to find it: PlayStation 4, Xbox Games Store, Steam, Humble

1. TIE Fighter (1994)

It may lack the flash of the more modern Battlefront II and it’s not as features-packed as its successor, Alliance. But TIE Fighter lets you step into the cockpit of the Empire trademark attack fighers in all their high-speed, shield-less glory. You get to sample several different varieties of TIE, including the funky-looking TIE Defender. There’s also a fine-tuning of the ideas introduced in X-Wing, with great results. But the real appeal of TIE Fighter is a story that lets you fight on the side of the Empire – and even right alongside Darth Vader at times! – as you bring the fight to the Rebel scum. This is a game that shows its age for sure, but it’s a classic that’s still worth playing. Just make sure you have a joystick or controller.

Where to find it: Steam, Humble (All four X-Wing games are also available in a bundle.)

Disclosure notice: Mashable and Humble Bundle have the same parent company in Ziff Davis.