A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.....
And so begins one of the pinnacles of my childhood - Luke Skywalker fighting the evil Darth Vader. I can still remember playing Star Wars games in the school playground where we would take turns playing the Jedi Knight. We would get the pleasure of beating the hell out of the poor soul who had ended up getting the part of the hapless stormtrooper, chasing him around the playground while he shouted "right, it's my turn to be Luke Skywalker now!""
Nowadays, you can still play Star Wars but, as with everything else these days, it has moved itself online. Here are some online Star Wars games you could play (and I don't mean the drinking game). OK granted, they are not as good as the paid PC games but if you have a spare 5 minutes to kill, these freebies are good enough to satisfy your Star Wars fix.
Star Wars Lightsaber Simulator
Well, this isn't really a game as such. All you can do here is swing a lightsaber about which does get boring after a while. But if you want to practise your Jedi moves before moving onto an actual real game, this is a good one to start off with. Just choose your lightsaber from the bottom, click your mouse to activate it and then use the mouse to swing back and forth. Can you feel the Force yet?
This basic game (but still quite fun and addictive) involves killing droids with your lightsaber by deflecting the lasers (which they are shooting at you) back at them with the lightsaber. It is actually not that easy to do and you lose points if the laser hits you instead. And yes, I got my butt whooped. By a droid. I'll never live it down in the bars of Mos Eisley.
Jedi Versus Jedi - Blades Of Light [No Longer Available]
This one has a bit more to it and the graphics are MUCH better. Hosted by Hasbro who make the Star Wars toys, you have to choose which Jedi you are going to be and then begin fighting the other one. Pressing A & D on your keyboard gives you the fighting moves while pressing the space bar releases the Force (if you have enough that is)
I predictably got my ass well and truly kicked. Can you do better?
Clone Wars
This one involves you aiming your mens guns (who are in fixed positions) so that, when the time runs out, they will then fire and hit your opponent's men, wiping them out. Each side has three men and the first one to wipe out the other side wins. I actually won at this one! Maybe I am not such a write-off after all at this gaming lark.
Gunship Over Florrum
Another offering from the Star Wars website. This one has you in control of a gunship and you have to use your left mouse button to fire at the enemy which are flying your way shooting at you. Use the spacebar to drop bombs too if you have any.
The Star Wars site also offers other free online games called Sharpshooter and LiveFire.
There's a lot of stupid pointless games online as well (including one I found where you have to fire at Imperial Tie-Fighters but they don't tell you where the fire button is - you have to find it yourself!). If you want a decent free game, the Star Wars website is the best place to go but as we've seen, there are a few other sites if you keep looking.
Which sites do you go to when you want to play Star Wars for free? Let us know in the comments.