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If this list serves one function, it's as a visual representation of how much I want to explore the Star Wars universe vs. how little I'd like to do so as a Jedi. The greatest example of a 'better than the sum of its parts' game I can think of, Shadows of the Empire is an action game set in 10 completely disparate parts of the Star Wars universe. There's a level set on a moving train in a planet full of junk, there's an incredible battle of Hoth sequence, there's a speeder bike chase on Tattooine, there's a monolithic Imperial ship to blast through - this game kinda has everything I'd want. It also has its very own score, which is a big plus - relistening to John Williams tracks re-appropriated again and again gets to be such a slog.
If one were to judge a video game purely by it's technical merit, Bounty Hunter would earn its place as a forgotten Star Wars one-off. Despite its clunky presentation and occasionally repetitive level design, though, this game was *weird,* and also sometimes *very* good. The core third person shooting was straightforward to the point of fault, but it was the gameplay accoutrements that made it. The jetpack added a speed and verticality to the gameplay that elevated the game from a simple corridor shooter, there was a Metroid Prime-style scanning device to hunt for capture-able bounties among the hordes of generic enemies, and some truly unusual set pieces. More than anything, Bounty Hunter had an appreciably fun 'fill-in-the-movies'-plot-gaps' story. I like Jango Fett! He's underrated.
Rogue Leader is not a perfect game, but occasionally it looks like one. No game has ever captured the death star trench run as meticulously as Factor 5. Things get less thrilling with some of the original missions, which feature complicated objectives and escort missions involving ships that move with the speed and grace of farm cows. Still - this is a game that recreates all the best ships from the Star Wars canon with the same reverence and attention to detail as a Forza or a Gran Turismo.
I understand Battlefront II was meant to be a large scale online multiplayer game, but I've always enjoyed it best as a one on one local game. The dope-y AI and the ease of access to hero characters, who can devastate an entire army, makes each match hilariously erratic.
The lightsaber combat in Jedi Outcast is...sloppy, to say the least, but it's still the most immersive Star Wars game I've ever played. It's ultimately a linear FPS/third person combat game, sure, but it's still one of the only games in the series that lets you be just a dude in the Star Wars universe, (mostly) set apart from all the military drama of the films.
I'm not gonna go all out crazy and say Dark Forces is better than Doom II, but, well, Doom II sure has a lot of mind-numbing labyrinths to navigate, and Dark Forces sure doesn't.
The Super Star Wars series is stupid tough, but so fun to actually play. This is the only one I've had any meaningful time with, but it's a good time. And props for letting the player pick Leia, actually giving her a role in the action.
Republic Commando is a startlingly well-made FPS. I think it's gotten a bit hokey with age, maybe, but there's only one other game on this list that's ever made me feel as viscerally connected to the on-the-ground feel I've always craved of the Star Wars universe as this one.
Despite the fact that The Force Unleashed aesthetically feels like some ungodly pairing of fan fiction as written by a 15 year old Linkin Park fan and a Star Wars trivia coffee table book, but somehow I like it in spite of that. It's basically a lot of Star Wars wish fulfillment, but, hey! Why not?
LEGO Star Wars is the perfect kids game. It's not too long, has decent replayability value, has mechanics that are simple to learn but require a bit of precision to really nail...and it's sort of adorable! It kicked off a series of well-made games with some nightmarish collectibles, but I like this one on its own merits.