Why do people hate this game?

I always hear in forums and podcasts about how much everyone thought this game sucked.  But why?  I remember playing this so much when I was a kid, I loved it!  It was probably the game I played the most on my N64 besides goldeneye.

So whats wrong with it that makes everyone hate it?

I agree with you, I was really into this game when it came out.  In fact, I remember playing through it two more times after I finished it so I could play as the X-Wing and TIE fighters in the final level.  Though this is one of those games that really didn't hold up through time (like pretty much every game in this era) and playing it now is pretty difficult to stomach.

I've always heard good things about this game. Because it was.

i played this game on the pc back in the day...I have nothing but fond memories for it.

It was cool. I never was able to defeat Boba Fett, though...

I loved it too. I just cheated my way through it though. It was pretty hard!

This is a reach, but I think my favorite level might have been the junk planet. It was just completely insane and out of place.

I enjoyed this game too...and was able to beat it without cheats ;D

Mmmm I miss this game, loved it.

 
Good game.

I thoroughly enjoyed it on the N64.  Sure it's not the best game in the world, but it was fun to play.  ^__^

I miss this game, though I don't think I'd want to play it with that old control style. It was pretty challenging and a lot of fun.

This game was good, but a little rough around the edges. Kids tend to be a lot more lenient though. 
 
With that being said, The IG-88 fight in the trashy junk yard will forever be engraved in my brain.

The original bashers thought the game didn't have enough flying. It's one of my fav. N64 games.

I thought it was awesome back in the day. I tried it out not quite a year ago while on a N64 binge and realized that, as far as 64 games go, it didn't hold up as well as most of them. The controls are stiff and unresponsive, lots of cheap platforming deaths, and this is before mechanics like lock on so combat is frustrating. One could also argue that it is also one of the worst offenders for n64 fog and blurry textures that repeat over and over again.
It was fun for its time though.

It was good. It's just there were other, better games. The mix of different game play styles didn't help.  
Dark Forces (et. al.) was a better shooter. 
Rogue Squad was a better flying game. 
X-wing / Tie was an incredible sim.

I loved that game too, so many great levels! the AT-ATs on Hoth, the swoop bike chase, manning the turrets on the millennium pseudo-falcon and my favourite was the crazy space battle at the end, I enjoyed that more than anything in Rogue Squadron. Plus! I still remember how great the music was in that game even after all this time.  

For the time it was awesome and I have many memories of playing this over and over. But I think the control would take a while to get used to after playing a bunch of modern day games.

i have fantastic memories of this game as well, especially using gameshark codes! i think its an awesome game!

It was cool at the time.  Has not aged well.

Such great memories, but i doubt it will hold up. Why people hate it i do not know.

I loved this game when it came out. I wouldn't mind giving it another shot to see if it holds up. I suspect it wouldn't.

Shadows of the Empire is the hipster Uncharted 2. That train level was amazing! As a kid I also remember being psyched about the jet packs. Seeing the Falcon fly by in the FPS Hoth level also blew my elementary school mind.

Nothing but love for that game... Random trivia: one of the Storm Troopers was on the side of the EU N64 box at the time!

Loved that game. Especially loved the cheats you can use to play as the enemy characters and do all kinds of weird stuff.

Because they're stupid as dirt, that's why.

You're all crazy! That game wasn't awesome. I wouldn't say it was horrible but wasn't even good for it's time, it got very bad to average reviews. It's not a case of it aging badly, it was considered a clunky game when it was released. There were some awesome games at the launch of the N64 and SOTE definitely didn't shine in that lineup.

Because the controls are not very good, the level design is a little poor, and the geometry makes platforming a little messed up. People have said that stuff and more so I don't understand the confusion.

Oh yeah, Internet.

Because it was made to see if people were still into Star Wars, hence the prequels exist.

I loved this game!

I played it when I was 12 and I thought it kind of sucked. I liked the idea and it almost worked, but fighting the controls the whole time was just too much for me. There were better games out in 1997. A lot better and they controlled and looked a lot better too. If you didn't have anything to compare it to at the time then yeah, it probably was really good. But if you'd played Quake or whatever else then it was hard to get around the shitty controls and sparse maps. Though I only played it on the N64 and god damn that controller was bad. Who thought it'd be a good idea to make someone choose between the D-pad or the analog stick rendering half of the controller useless?

Wait people thought this game sucked? I thought people thought this was one of the best Star Wars games. I really enjoyed it as a kid despite not being able to beat it.

This game hasn't aged well and even at the time of release wasn't all that great, but I really liked it in spite of that. It was released at a time in my life when my Star Wars fandom was at an all time high (several years before The Phantom Menace would start to diminish it), and it did an excellent job of really exploiting my love for the franchise.

I really enjoyed the vehicle levels but found the ground combat lacking.

I feel this game was great, but doesn't hold up at all by today's standards. I went back and tried playing it like 2 years ago and just couldn't

I don't remember anything bad but I also don't remember anything good either unlike SW games.

I thought it was *ok*.

I had fun with it, but it certainly was a 3 star ish game then and not something I'd ever expect to be talking about 16-7 years later. I'm amazed people remember this game.

Dash Rendar was a really superfluous Han Solo stand in. One of those eyes of the viewer character just created a video game adaption. It was basically a way for Lucas Arts to let you play through the original trilogy again. That whole kind of tacked on cheap imitation vibe set by him being the star I think is one factor that might make people not like this game much.

The on-foot controls were meh. The shooting was pedestrian, the platforming was outright bad (oh god the sewer levels). The space ship controls were fun though.

before it came out all I could really remember Star Wars games wise were the Super Star Wars SNES ones and Rogue Squadron which were both great series. So this one didn't stack up very well when compared to those, but it wasn't a bad game.

Good game for the time. But just like with ever changing tech, it doesn't hold up. But back then, it was an experience. Good story, great graphics. I am so glad that I am in my 20's and can look back and remember how and where games have been.

I actually really liked it. I think it may have been one of the first games that I bothered to play hard mode on.

Yeah this game was totally alright far as I remember.

I remember playing this back in the day,and it was very good for these times at least.

The sewer monsters and yeti things used to scare me so bad :'(

I loved this game.