Honestly, if you go back and play Star Wars: Starfighter today, the first thing that hits you isn't the graphics. It’s the voices. It’s 2001. George Lucas is deep in the Prequel era. Most tie-in games back then felt like cheap cash-ins, but the Star Wars Starfighter cast was something else entirely. They didn't just hire random people off the street; they grabbed industry titans who would go on to define the sound of the galaxy for the next two decades.
It’s weirdly nostalgic. You’ve got the humming of Naboo N-1 engines and the chatter of pilot banter that actually sounds real. This wasn't just "press X to shoot." This was a narrative experiment. It was one of the first times LucasArts tried to tell a story parallel to the films without relying on Luke or Han. To do that, the acting had to carry the weight of an entire original trio.
The Trio That Anchored the Star Wars Starfighter Cast
The game centers on three very different pilots. Rhys Dallows, Vana Sage, and Nym. If you look at the Star Wars Starfighter cast list, the names might not jump out at you immediately if you aren't a credits-watcher, but their voices are everywhere.
Rhys Dallows was voiced by Clive Revill. Wait. Let that sink in. Clive Revill was the original voice of the Emperor in the theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back. Talk about a legacy hire. Having a guy who once voiced the most powerful Sith in the galaxy playing a naive Naboo rookie is the kind of meta-casting that only happens when the developers are true nerds. Revill brings this sort of earnest, slightly posh vulnerability to Rhys that makes his growth from a "flight school washout" to a hero feel earned.
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Then there’s Vana Sage, voiced by Grey DeLisle (now Grey Griffin). This is where the game’s pedigree really shows. Before she was Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender or Vicky in The Fairly OddParents, she was Vana. She plays the mercenary pilot with a cold, detached professionalism that perfectly balances Rhys's panic. DeLisle has this uncanny ability to sound like she’s talking through a flight helmet even when she isn't. It’s a texture thing. It makes the cockpit feel cramped and dangerous.
Finally, we have Nym. The Feeorin pirate. He’s the muscle. He’s voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. If you’ve watched a cartoon in the last thirty years, you’ve heard this man. Richardson has a bass voice that can shake a subwoofer, and for Nym, he leaned into that gravelly, "done-with-everyone’s-nonsense" energy. Nym wasn't just a generic alien; Richardson gave him a sense of history. You could hear the years of dodging the Trade Federation in every line.
Why the Supporting Actors Mattered
It wasn't just the main three. The broader Star Wars Starfighter cast included people like Tom Kane. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Kane became the voice of Yoda and the narrator for The Clone Wars series. In Starfighter, he’s doing heavy lifting in various roles, proving that the game was essentially a training ground for the voice actors who would dominate the franchise for years to come.
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The Trade Federation villains—those nasal, cowardly Neimoidians—were handled with the perfect amount of camp. They felt like they stepped right out of The Phantom Menace. Most games at the time would have used one guy for every "alien" role. Not here. They understood that the auditory landscape of Star Wars is just as important as the visual one.
Beyond the Voice: The Sound Design Connection
The casting worked because the direction was tight. Darragh O'Farrell, who directed the voice recording, is a legend at LucasArts. He knew that for players to care about a Feeorin pirate and a disgraced Naboo pilot, the chemistry had to exist in the audio files. You can tell the actors weren't just reading lines in a vacuum. There’s a rhythm to the mid-dogfight banter. When Vana snaps at Rhys to get a droid off her tail, the urgency is palpable.
It’s a stark contrast to some modern games where the dialogue feels "pasted on." In Starfighter, the cast felt like they were in the room—or at least, in the cockpit next to you.
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The Lasting Legacy of the Performance
Looking back from 2026, we see this game as a turning point. It proved that "spin-off" characters could hold their own. Nym was so popular he ended up in Star Wars Galaxies and got his own sequel, Jedi Starfighter. That doesn't happen if the performance is wooden.
The Star Wars Starfighter cast set a standard. They showed that even in a game about blowing up droid control ships, the human (or alien) element is what keeps people coming back twenty years later. It’s why people still mod the PC version to run on modern rigs. They want to hear that trio bicker one more time while "Duel of the Fates" swells in the background.
How to Experience the Star Wars Starfighter Cast Today
If you’re looking to dive back in and hear these performances for yourself, you don't need a dusty PS2. Here is the best way to get the most out of the experience:
- Get the Steam or GOG Version: The PC ports are the easiest to access, but they can be finicky on Windows 11. Use the DGVoodoo2 wrapper to fix graphics stuttering and ensure the audio syncs correctly with the cutscenes.
- Listen for the Cameos: Pay close attention to the wingmen during the Naboo invasion missions. You’ll hear voices that went on to play major roles in Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront.
- Check out the Sequel: If you want more of Kevin Michael Richardson’s Nym, jump straight into Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter. It expands the cast to include Jedi characters like Adi Gallia, but Nym remains the emotional core.
- Compare the Era: Watch a few clips of The Phantom Menace and then play the game. Notice how the voice cast manages to make the Trade Federation feel more menacing and less like a joke than they sometimes did on the big screen.
The voice work in this game isn't just a footnote. It's the blueprint for how Star Wars games eventually transitioned from simple arcade experiences into the cinematic masterpieces we see today.