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Fun, challenging and addictive. A must have Mac game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: October 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I will agree with some here. This game is involved and engaging. It does require LOTS of time to complete. You will click your finger off. This is just part of the game. The only game you can compare this to is the game it was built on...Age of Empires II. If you like AOEII, you will like this game as well. If you like Star Wars, you will LOVE this game. That is what makes this game fun, it is NOT like all the other games. I enjoyed Starcraft and Warcraft. But this game is much more than these.

Unlike others below, I have had no problems running the program in OS9 or OSx. Never crashed once. I use a B&W G3 upgraded to G4 with the stock Rage 16mb card.

At first I thought this game was going to involve "micromanagement". With the 4 resources you need, you will never look for something to do. However, I find these things necessary to the game and did not tire in collecting them. I found the standard campaigns to be challenging and fun. Frustrating at times, but rewarding. I think the thing to remember is to keep an open mind and not box yourself into thinking this game has to be like all the others. It is refreshing to have something different. Also, you do not need to just do what the game tells you. You can start a single player custom map and do what you want. The options are many with this game.

Kudos to Aspyr for the conversion of this game and the upcoming Clone Campaigns. Mac users should feel grateful and support companies like this.

Engaging and Challenging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who's a fan of games built from the Age of Empires engine will get a kick out of this game. It's Age of Empires, except with Star Wars characters! While that might not be the MOST original game idea you've heard lately, it certainly got me to buy it. Oh, and the background music is based on John Williams' great movie themes, which means you don't get completely sick of it after an hour of gaming. Granted, the Mac version doesn't have the expansion pack that is out for PC's, but we Mac gamers are used to that.
I've worked my way steadily through the various pre-defined missions and I must say that this game makes you think, hard, about how and when to put your forces to the test against the enemy. Some of the missions are no-brainers, and many of them are fairly linear, but the story lines are solid and the difficulty of the higher-level missions will keep you locked in for hours at a time.
The variation in the units isn't what it could be. Basically, a ground troop is a ground troop, regardless of whether you're playing as the Trade Federation or Wookies. And it seems like too often, you MUST achieve the highest tech level before you can accomplish the mission goals, including upgrading your existing units as much as possible. But for me, that keeps things more intense as I have to search far and wide to come up with the resources to make this happen.
Highly recommended to any Star Wars or Age of Empires fan!

Age of Empires III: A Galaxy, Far, Far Away

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: June 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Galactic Battlegrounds is not the most innovative product available: take a popular computer game franchise (Age of Empires), and alter the theme to incorporate the most popular film series of all times (Star Wars). The result is a fun game which ranks pretty low on originality.

I found the game fun and enjoyable. The campaigns are varied and challenging. The multiplayer feature improves replayability. The artwork is endearing, as are the sound effects. The graphical interface is dated, and sometimes confusing as troops get hidden behind buildings, and aircrafts are more like hovercrafts than starships. They also could have included more movie clips from the film to liven it up a bit.

All in all, if you love Star Wars and/or Age of Empires, buy this game. If you don't already have Age of Empires, but like RTS games, you will probably enjoy it. If you are tired of Age of Empires, then I can't recommend spending your money on this incarnation.

Mostly for Star Wars Fans, but Still Very Playable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you have played Age of Empires II, it won't take very long to get the hang of this game. However, that might make this game boring if you've worn out your interest of that game. Even so, the AE II engine has been completely reworked into the Star Wars Galaxy, with much of the familiar characters, vehicles, and planets of the movies. Playing the scenarios lets you use various main characters such as Darth Vader and Chewbacca. Many sound bytes have been used from the various movies, though a few get overused, especially the "Ahh!!" when some units get killed. The graphics are decent and it ran well on my G4 400 which is getting too slow for most newer games.
Despite the fact that most of the game feels like Star Wars, it would have been interesting if more unique units and features were available since in regular game play, it doesn't matter how many resources you have gathered or how advanced your technologies are, you aren't going to get the Millennium Falcon or a Star Destroyer. At least you can get an AT-AT or X-wing. Overall, I recommend Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, especially for Star Wars fans. I just have to wonder if there is a Spaceballs mod out there somewhere??

disappointed so far

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

REVIEW for MAC.
(Unlike StarCraft), this game runs pretty slow on Powerbook titanium 550.You can only have the game resolution up to 1024x768 on the laptop. I feel there is too much background graphic information which make the game pretty slow. There are some lags when things explode, for example. The game play is smoother (speed-wise) on a G4, 800 tower and you can play at a higher resolution on 1280x1024 which makes the graphics look much nicer.
If you are a fan of Age of Empires II, you will probably enjoy this game. If you are playing StarCraft now and looking for another cool strategy game, you will probably be disappointed. I was disappointed for several reasons:
1. game play is slow, you have to collect 4 different types of resources and then build so many buildings
2. i don't like the idea of having to build walls. it takes forever to attack someone behind walls and it takes time to build walls.
3. fighters move too slowly for me. battles are slow and the gamer usually have to micromanage fighers.

I wish it was build on StarCraft game engine where soldiers move fast and attacks fast and battles can last from a few seconds to minutes.
I see a lot of potential in Star Wars, but I have to play a lot more to enjoy it. But then, I dont know how it can beat StarCraft.

A great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As a fan of Star Wars and Age of Empires II, I eagerly awaited the release of this title for the Mac. Overall I am pleased with the game, though there are some faults. One problem I have had is getting computer opponents to build mech units. If you're waiting to see the Galactic Empire mount an attack with its dreaded AT-AT walkers, don't hold your breath. It takes a long time for your opponents to progress through enough research to have assault mechs.

Aside from this, the game is spectacular. My favorite units are the Jedi Masters... just as in AOE and AOE II, you can convert units to your side. Imagine, a TIE Fighter flying with the rest of the Rebel fleet! Clone Campaigns has added the Republic and the Confederacy to the six original civilizations, helping to spice up the game once it gets a bit stale. With the ability to build scenarios and campaigns, a Star Wars fanatic can re-create almost any historical battle from the five movies (even the attack on the original Death Star, if you decide to cheat and can handle the fact that the fighters are half the size of the Death Star).

Even without lots of mechs, this game is still very enjoyable. If the computer enemies built more diverse armies that would challenge you more, I could give this game five stars.

This is very first game I bought for my new Macintosh

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game a few months ago just after I got my G4 PowerMac. This is a very fun game to play. It is kind of like Rise of Nations in the Star Wars Universe. This year I have become a big time RTS fan. When my older brother saw how cool this game is while I was playing it, he bought the PC version for himself. I recommend this game to those who both like Rise of Nations and Star Wars.

I am very happy,
Webmaster Mark

ugh....soooooo boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 17
Date: September 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I used to like this game. was kind of fun. not it bores me out out of my wits. Let's start out with the graphics. Ok, the Millenium Falcon is huge in the movie, but in the game...(sigh)its the size of about ten people. Lets look at the Jedi and Sith. The only difference between the two is that they fight differently with different colered light sabers. If a jedi comes to an enemy building, why the heck would he hack at it with his LIGHTSABER? Its also a frame rate of oh, 3?! Now lets look at the mechs. There are, count em, 4 DIFFERENT MECHS! AWESOME! The Pummel has...whoa...2 ATTACK! there are also about 10 maps. the campaigns are just disproportionately boring. Chewbacca has a crossbow, yet he shoots lasers! How can ewok hang gliders hover? Why can't they just fly in a circle like airplanes in Empire Earth? Also theres about 10 different animals. The terrains are boring. Grass and dark grass. If you walked by and said hi to a Gungan medic, would she\he\whatever say stupidly, "Just a fleshy wound!"? Echuu Shen-Jon is a black character, but in the game he's white. C-3PO Can't walk that fast! Ok, Ok, Ok lets just leave it at that there are no Pros and many Cons. I hate this game. People who think this game is "The BEST GAME IN THE UNIVERSE", should breathe deeply and rethink their life.

Don't hold your breath.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: July 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This was possibly created by the most inept minds in the industry. A realtime strategy game based on Star Wars? This game has many flaws, which I won't go into detail with, but some other ones that really stick out.

1. The graphics. Come on. This is the 21st century. We should expect good graphics for any game on a Mac. These graphics are wicked blocky, and most of the explosions look pasted on at best.

2. What kind of Jedi hacks buildings with his lightsaber? I didn't see Obi-Wan hacking the Mos-Eisley cantina. Or maybe Darth Vader duking it out with a a in the Death Star.

3. The havesting of minerals, or money, whatever it was, seemed really unrefined. you couldn't have machines come through and annihilate an entire forest for wood, could you? I mean, it is far in the future! In Warcraft III you had more hi-tech harvesting tools, i.e. the goblins with buzzsaw wooden mechs.

Aside from this, I urge you to go with a Warcraft title, or Starcraft before you try your hand at the destruction of games as we know it. Although, if you like this kind of Star Wars [stuff], go with this. It's not too bad.

So and so...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: June 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I got this game a couple of days ago. Basically each civilization gets about 20 similar units. You have to chop trees to harvest carbon and mining for ores and crystals. Those are your basic requirements. I finished the training missions and didn't get very far (only on level 3 of the Trade Federation). I am playing on the hard level of difficulty. I can say it takes forever to finish. The units move kind of slowly and clumsily and the game drags on forever. Very often the CPI units are behind laser turrets which are in turn under the cover of a shield generator. Penetrating that was difficult. The ranged units are pretty much useless against structures. Have to rely upon melee attack. I don't know whether I will ever finish this game. Got to get a life as well.......

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