01: Prologue -- Geonosian Arena

Part 01: Prologue -- Geonosian Arena

After you put the disc into your console you are prompted to set up the game save -- if you have not played the game yet, that means designating the save slot that you want to use, which as a general rule would be Slot 1.   The game prompts you to confirm that you want to save in Slot 1 -- or whatever Slot you chose -- and once you do it actually creates a game save on your drive so that there is one ready to be written to when you go to save the game later!

Your game save will contain some useful information, specifically the date and time of the last save, and the percentage of the game you have completed under the heading of Progress.

You are informed that Autosave is active on your game and told that when you see the icon of Yoda on your screen, that means that the game is in the process of saving, and you should not turn off your console or otherwise disrupt the process.

Once you agree to that, the Prologue start sequence begins!

Star
Wars

Prologue
Geonosian Arena

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has traveled to Geonosis in pursuit of the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett.  However he has been captured by Count Dooku, the leader of a Separatist conspiracy against the Republic.  Anakin and Padme received Obi-Wan's distress signal, but they too have been captured.

All three now await their fate in the Geonosian Execution Arena...

-- Opening Act --

The Starting Animation for the Prologue

As the cut scene (hereinafter referred to as "CS") that opens the level plays out, you see the familiar sequence from the movie, though perhaps with a level of humor that is new to you but typical of these games!   I personally thought that Jango Fett offering ice cream to his master was rather amusing, but hey, I am easy to amuse I suppose...

If you are a purist or just interested, you may like to know that the Geonosian Execution Arena is actually just a nickname for this place -- its proper name is the Petranaki Arena, or sometimes the Arena of Justice.  The Arena exists for a very simple reason -- it provides both entertainment to the citizens and a means for the government to get rid of troublesome prisoners while making a bit of coin in the process!

As the first level of the game opens we see that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala have been scheduled for execution, having been convicted of espionage by Poggle the Lesser.  As the event begins we see an Acklay (the spider-like beast), a Reek (the horned beast), and a Nexu (the cat-like beast) as they are forced out of the tunnels that lead to the droid factory and into the arena, where they are intended to kill our heroes!

-- Menu Options --

Before we get on with the level we should quickly review the menu options that you have available to you, and explain them briefly...  Hitting Start brings up the menu, which includes the choices Resume, Options, Extras, and Quite Game.  Resume and Quite Game need no explaining, and Options simply permits you to adjust the Audio Volume, turn the Music On or Off, set the Split Screen Mode between Dynamic, Fixed Vertical, or Fixed Horizontal, set the Brightness, and turn the Motion Blur effect On or Off.  You can also use the Back option to return to the previous menu -- and it will morph to read "Accept" if you make any changes.

The Extras Sub-Menu is a listing of the powers associated with the 18 special Red Power Bricks that you will eventually find in the game through the free play mode for the most part, with each being able to be turned on or off if you have actually obtained the corresponding brick. 

Obtaining the brick is accomplished by solving a puzzle or gaining access to an area that is restricted to a specific character or characters, or requires a specific power -- but finding and obtaining the brick does NOT give you its corresponding power!  To obtain that, once you have found the brick you must also have the amount of studs required to purchase the power, and then purchase it from the store on the ship specified in the list below.

As I mention above, there are a total of 18 bricks, and 18 special powers that are specific to each.  These are:

Red Power Brick 01: Red Power Brick Detector (Resolute Battleship - Cost = 125K)
Red Power Brick 02: Glow in the Dark (Resolute Battleship - Cost = 25K)
Red Power Brick 03: Score x2 (Resolute Battleship Cost = 500K)
Red Power Brick 04: Score x4 (Resolute Battleship - Cost = 2 Million)
Red Power Brick 05: Score x6 (Resolute Battleship - Cost = 10 Million)
Red Power Brick 06: Score x8 (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 20 Million)
Red Power Brick 07: Score x10 (Resolute Battleship - Cost =  40 Million)
Red Power Brick 08: Stud Magnet (Resolute Battleship Cost = 500K)
Red Power Brick 09: Fast Build (Resolute Battleship Cost = 500K)
Red Power Brick 10: Character Studs (Resolute Battleship Cost = 100K)
Red Power Brick 11: Super Speeder (Resolute Battleship Cost = 40 Million)
Red Power Brick 12: Minikit Detector (Resolute Battleship Cost = 750K)
Red Power Brick 13: Super Saber Cut (Resolute Battleship Cost = 300K)
Red Power Brick 14: Regenerate Hearts (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 400K)
Red Power Brick 15: Prefect Deflect (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 100K)
Red Power Brick 16: Dual Wield (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 250K)
Red Power Brick 17: Dark Side (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 150K)
Red Power Brick 18: Invincibility (Invisible Hand Battleship - Cost = 1 Million)

If your goal is to maximize acquiring points and studs (in-game money) your best approach is to concentrate upon the score multiplier bricks, because these multipliers stack!  So, for instance, turning on the first would give you x2 score, while the first two would give x2 x x4, which is an x8 multiplier.  You should be able to see how having all of them turned on will result in an avalanche of studs...

If you prefer an easier route to obtaining these bricks and their powers you can enter cheat codes by selecting the first sub-menu option -- but as this is a guide about doing it right, we only include the cheat codes in the appendix, and suggest that you at least attempt to obtain them the normal way before resorting to use of a cheat code, as you will feel much greater satisfaction by earning them!

The Prologue Challenges

-- Back to the Level --

As you gain control of Obi-Wan, you are prompted to press and hold 'B' to use The Force to draw the Ackly nearer to you, at which point it takes a swipe at you and severs a chain.  You can now use The Force on the column you are still chained  to, turning it into a sort of step-like form that allows you to jump up each level to the top -- but be sure that you collect the studs that fall out when you use The Force on an object or destroy it, because they add up!

At the top of the column you use 'B' again to destroy the protrusion on the next column, and then use 'Y' to change to the next character, which is Anakin, who then uses 'B; to climb to the top of his column, collecting studs as he goes.  Be sure to get the blue stud, as it is worth 1,000!

Press 'B' now to use the chain to restrain the Reek, and then use 'Y' to switch to the Anakin and use The Force to topple the column.  The Reek breaks loose at this point, so you switch back to Padme, and restrain it again, then change to Obi-Wan to use The Force on it, then jump upon its back using 'Y' in order to ride it!

Holding down 'A' while riding causes the beast to charge -- and you are then prompted to use its charge as an attack against the other beasts, with a helpful red arrow appearing on the screen to guide you in your attacks!  Bear in mind that there are objects strategically placed in the area that can be destroyed to gain studs as well as special items like Minikits for destroying X-Number of specific objects in a set.

You will need to ram the beast that is designated by the red arrow a total of 4 times to complete that challenge, but you should also try to obtain the other optional elements of the area as well,

There are also puddles of studs on the ground nearby that you can ride over to collect.  While obviously collecting studs is not a priority for the level, it is a good idea to do so anyway, because as mentioned earlier, they add up, and besides you are going to need them, and to obtain the True Jedi Rating for this mission you will need to collect 85,000 Stud Points!

Destroy the five objects at the front of the arena to unlock the kit 1/10, then collect the pools of studs before you finally ram the beast four times to trigger a CS in which rescue arrives.  Now it is time to complete the melee part of the level, but hey, you have help now, right?

-- Taking Out the Akley --

You will notice that you are now being chased around the Arena by the Akley -- in order to kill it you need to use teamwork, so first, using your Jedi attack the glowing leg until you cut it off, after which you need to use Padme to tether the beast, and a Jedi character to jump on its back and damage it, thus removing one of the health hearts it has.  Rinse and repeat this process until the Akley is dead!

-- Killing Jango Fett --

Your next challenge is to kill Jango Fett, which you accomplish by targeting him with your light saber (holding X) and then using the left joystick to actually target him, and releasing X to throw your saber, which will damage him.  Do that three times to remove his health hearts and trigger a CS in which another Jedi helpfully removes his head.

-- Having an Escape --

The next challenge is to make use of the trio of transports that have just landed in the Arena.  You do that by running over to each one and using The Force to open its door, after which the designated Jedi who are supposed to escape on it will climb on board.  Open all three doors, then return and close the doors of the three starting with the first so that they can take off, thus rescuing the characters who have climbed on board.

Once you have done this you will trigger a CS of the end of the battle and escape, and then the game will present your very first conclusion wrap-up screen in which all of your hard work is quantified in the form of counting up the studs you collected, showing you how many kit parts you collected, and how many Gold Bricks you unlocked as a result of your play.  You also see which (if any) characters you have unlocked by completing the level -- in this case you have unlocked Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala so good on ya mate!

For completing this stage you unlock the Achievement "This is just the beginning!" (10 GS) and the Free Play Mode for this level!  If you failed to obtain enough studs to unlock True Jedi, you can return later to replay the level to do that.  You may find it a lot easier to return after you have a multiplier block, as that will make acquiring the number needed oh so much easier!