It's ok... Jedi Outcast and Academy were interesting, but they never captured what Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the SIth had. Their gaming engine, while visually weaker, was just better than JO and JA for some reason. Had a bigger following.
JO and JA came along when consoles really took over the genre too... While playing with a mouse/keyboard is incredibly faster, the games just fell prey to the X-Box taking over ultimately.
Like all LA stuff of the time, they felt a little rushed too... Not as complete and epic as games like Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, or even X-Wing: Alliance (which was as rushed as it could be since it was never finished and still pushed out the door, but was still epic and high quality).
I'd say they're worth playing through because they give you a more complete story on Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors, and all that jazz. JA is better than JO, if you ask me, but others feel the opposite on that.