20 Years Ago, A Video Game Proposed The Biggest 'What If' In Star Wars History

May 2005 was a very big month for Star Wars fans. Not only was the six-film saga seemingly coming to its ultimate conclusion with the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, it was also the final attempt to make a good game based on these significant blockbuster films. After several mediocre game adaptations, gaming fans had high hopes for publisher LucasArts’ last final attempt. Thankfully, prolific developer The Collective, known for their work on licensed games, delivered.

However, the miracle of a good Star Wars game based on the film it released alongside wasn’t the most memorable part of this game. Instead, it is the game’s insane alternate ending that sticks with its players two decades later.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith is a video game based on the pivotal act in George Lucas’ science-fantasy epic. Unlike 1999’s The Phantom Menace for the original PlayStation and PC, which shifted perspectives among the movie’s many characters, Revenge Of The Sith would focus exclusively on the two Jedi starring in the film. Players take control of either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker as they hack-n-slash their way through droids and Sith (and eventually other Jedi) across 17 levels.

By significantly narrowing the scope of The Phantom Menace game’s mix of RPG mechanics, platforming, and floaty combat, Revenge Of The Sith is a much more approachable game. It’s also a lot more fun. Whereas I’d spend hours trying to find my way to the Gungun City in the 1999 game, Revenge Of The Sith has players powering through waves of robots using their lightsaber and force powers within minutes of starting the game. The game is pretty standard third-person action fare for the PlayStation 2 era, but it takes full advantage of the Star Wars universe.

Up to this point, this was probably the best portrayal of Jedi combat ever in a console game. Maneuvers have all the flair of the prequel movies, down to the twirl of lightsabers and the swiftness of the two protagonists’ combos. Players also get to upgrade force powers like push, grasp, healing, and saber throw, using the XP they earn throughout their missions.

Where the game really excels is in its boss fights. One-on-one duels with Count Dooku and General Grievous, and of course whoever the player battles on Mustafar (more on that later) feel like the Star Wars fighting game we all wanted instead of Masters Of Teräs Käsi. There’s a good reason for thatb — Revenge Of The Sith includes an entire Versus mode for up to two players to duke it out. There’s a roster of nine fighters, comprised mostly of the bosses you face in the game’s story, plus a few extra that will make any Star Wars fan giddy.

But that’s not all. Hitting the credits unlocks a handful of co-op levels and bonus missions featuring playable versions of iconic characters like Yoda, General Grevious, and even Darth Vader. These multiplayer modes were an awesome surprise for those who expected nothing more than a straightforward action-adventure campaign.

But the contents of this surprisingly strong package are outshined by the game’s alternate ending. When players reach the final battle of Revenge Of The Sith, they play through those events as depicted on film. They overcome a pretty grueling battle on the lava planet, finally dispatching the newly christened Darth Vader and leaving him for dead. We see Palpatine transform Vader into the hulking Sith Lord we all know and sort of love, and Obi-Wan hands off Luke to his adoptive parents on Tatooine. After the ending, however, players are offered the chance to change Star Wars history forever.

You pick up where the Mustafar battle begins, this time playing as Anakin. You go through the same rigamarole until you reach the most joked about moment in Star Wars history, with a grim twist. Anakin leaps from the floating platform, this time landing behind his Master, and hits him with a fatal blow from behind. As Vader’s music swells, he unceremoniously kicks Obi-Wan’s corpse into the lava river presumably to catch fire as he does in canon, and heads back to his ship.

And the insanity doesn’t stop there, far from it. At the Mustafar landing dock, Emporer Palpatine meets with his Sith apprentice praising him for a job well done. He hands Vader a newly forged lightsaber, telling him that “the galaxy is ours now.” Vader ignites the crimson-red lightsaber and immediately stabs Palpatine in the chest. “No, the galaxy belongs to me.” The clone troopers flanking the two Sith fall in line before the screen cuts to black.

Revenge Of The Sith sets up an alternate timeline I desperately wish we could further explore. Does Anakin save his wife’s life and fulfill his wish to rule the galaxy with her? If she does survive bearing the twins, would she, an adamant defender of democracy, embrace her authoritarian lover? Looking beyond what we knew of canon at the time, what would Ahsoka make of her best friend becoming Emperor of the galaxy? What does an Empire run by Anakin Skywalker even look like?

It’s been 20 years and I can’t stop writing fanfiction in my head of the fallout from this imaginative deviation from the source material. It blows my mind that The Collective was even allowed to do this with the precious canon of Star Wars, but it’s a remarkably more memorable experience because of it. It puts a bow on one of the most fun video game movie tie-ins ever released.