Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide Mac Review (1999)

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From the archive: this review first ran on the Mac Gaming Alliance (MGA), the Mac games site that lived here on DimensionZ in the late 1990s. It was published December 1999 and is reproduced as originally written, with the original screenshots (click to enlarge). More in the Mac Gaming Alliance archive.

LucasArts takes it’s first step towards it’s return to the Mac with the Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide.

Episode One Insider’s Guide is a two CD set loaded with every single scrap of information on The Phantom Menace in existence. It combines text, pictures, audio, and movies to provide a full multimedia Episode One experience.

Insider’s guide is nicely divided into sections for easy browsing on information. It includes a lot of information not seen in the movie or book. The Insider’s Guide provides names and backgrounds on pretty much every character you see on screen in the movie. So detailed and informative in the guide, that it includes names for practically everything, characters, ships, weapons, you’ve seen, it names it.

The discs are divided evenly between in-story information, and behind-the-scenes information. Disc 1 deals with the characters, technology, vehicles, and locations. It is a massive amount of background information on even the most remote part of the movie. As usual, Lucas has created the entire universe, not just the parts that the movie focuses on, but an entire universe of people, places, and things. All of the information on the characters, technology, vehicles and locations is organized by groups. Different sections for the Sith, Trade Federation, Naboo, etc… Most major entries include galleries of pictures, audio clip, and video clips from the movie itself.

Disc 2 deals with more of the behind the scenes information. It includes hundreds of behind the scenes photos detailing the making of the movie, along with many behind the scenes video so you can see and hear the making of the Phantom Menace. Also on disc 2 is the “Expanded Universe” section. This section has listings for every single movie tie-in, from toys to books to games, they’re all listed and include photos.

The interface, although lacking several of the usual Mac amenities, is nice and friendly. The information is easy to navigate to find what you’re looking for. I found the buttons on the bottom of the the window not to be as useful as they first seemed, especially the “Next” and “Up Level” buttons which I found a a little awkward in actual use.

The only thing that really annoyed me about Insider’s Guide is that it only runs in 640 by 480 resolution. If your resolution is at a higher setting, it will run in a window. Now some people may prefer that it didn’t force you to change resolutions, but I would have preferred an options box at the beginning asking me if it could change to the lower resolution. That’s isn’t a detractor from the actual guide, but just a pet peeve for me.

In conclusion, Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide is an informative and fun look at all of the aspects of the movie. It is not a stellar first step back to the Mac market for LucasArts, but it is a step in the right direction. I can’t wait for Pod Racer on my Mac, and Insider’s Guide is a nice appetizer in the meantime.

Find a copy

Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide has been out of print for years, but used copies of the original Mac release still turn up, and some classics have been re-released for modern systems. Search for Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide on Amazon.

Ratings use the MGA’s original 1–5 apple scale. Prices, system requirements and web links in this review are from the time it was written.