As a huge proponent of video game preservation, especially in the form of making it as easy as possible to play older titles on modern hardware, this is exactly the type of thing I ​love to see. What we have here is a PS1/Dreamcast offering that's been ported to the eighth and ninth generation of PlayStation consoles with a little bit of up-rendering, a rewind feature similar to the one found in Duke Nukem 3D's Xbox 360 release, and the ability to create and load save states straight out of an emulator. The reason I find all of that so cool in this particular instance is because this is a game nobody was exactly clamoring to see get resurrected in a such a manner. It has zero historical significance, likely only received this treatment because of brand recognition, and will appeal solely to weirdos like myself who actively enjoy getting their hands on these types of niche, retro relative obscurities. I genuinely wish this would happen to more of the strangely intriguing, yet largely inconsequential and forgotten efforts of yesteryear.

Why wasn't there a demand for this to be dug up from the past, though? Well, to be quite frank with you it's because it isn't that great. Demolition is a vehicular combat sim with some serious balancing issues. A portion of the racers are simply flat-out better than the rest due to more effective special abilities and smoother handling on the battlefield, and it's hard to have much fun with the options that leave you at a blatant disadvantage. Also, the need to rely almost exclusively on your most powerful attacks to do any real damage forces you into hit-and-run strategizing while you wait for your weapons to charge and power gauge to refill, which causes skirmishes to go on long after their initial amusement has worn off as foes constantly recharge their shields unless you cheese the AI into sticking around your general vicinity.

However, while these flaws would provide an unavoidable deathblow for basically any of its alternatives, the property this option is attached to imbues it with an undeniable charm. The maps are all set on iconic locations found in the galaxy far, far away and each feature plenty of entertaining interactable elements. The selectable characters themselves are comprised of a handful of exciting or just plain goofy choices, including Boba Fett hovering around on his jetpack and a dude riding a freaking rancor, and cleverly manage to pull a variety of recognizable ships from both the OT and prequel trilogies in a very lore appropriate way. You could accurately argue it's nothing greater than a bunch of pure fanservice in lieu of actual, meaningful quality, but it's still enough for me regardless to recommend that at the low price of merely $4.99 any hardcore Star Wars devotee willing to not take things too seriously grab this, pop in some cheat codes to unlock everything, and just screw around to see what all it has in store, preferably with a buddy, even if for the silly FMV cutscenes alone.

6.5/10