Defensively, players can expect to find the ability to dodge, block, and parry attacks. Dodging requires quick reflexes and the simple press of the A button. Blocking is relatively easy to perform as well by just holding down the B trigger, but this only slightly reduces the amount of damage you would normally take. Parries are a little more difficult and rely heavily on both timing and luck. When blocking, if you manage to swing your Wii-mote at the same time as your enemy, you will parry their attack and leave them open to a counter offensive.

As a direct result of the game’s crummy motion controls and severely shallow combat, most of the game’s best two out of three styled fights devolve into little more than awkward and lengthy waggle fests. Why would you attempt to memorize the whole five combos per character if they don’t work ninety-five percent of the time and swinging wildly works much more effectively? Sure, you can hurl an object at your opponent, when it works, but there is very little benefit in doing so. Even the game’s random quick time events, which come in the form of lightsaber clashes that require either Wii-mote shaking or specific motions, fall flat due to the poorly detected motion controls.

The real travesty of Lightsaber Duels is just how inadequately the combat is done when the rest of the game is so well produced. Like I mentioned earlier, the graphics are quite good. The sound in the game is excellent, with characters trash talking during lightsaber clashes, narrated cinemas before every fight in the campaign mode, and all the authentic Star Wars music and sound effects one would expect. There are even a decent assortment of modes including campaign, challenges, free play, quick play, and battle. While the campaign is a tad too short and challenges such as beating an enemy within a specific amount of time can get somewhat tedious, when you compile all of them together the game feels like a fairly complete package. If only the actual fighting mechanics of the game made it a worthwhile gaming experience instead of it feeling like a well-produced but pointless test of your waggling abilities and patience.

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Lightsaber Duels is a complete missed opportunity. While it would have been nice to have one to one motion controls for the combat, they weren’t a complete necessity. The game could have still worked well and handled respectably without them. Sadly, the combat is just a mess. Since it is the entire crux of this fighting game, there’s just no real reason to play it. If you are looking for a good fighting game or a fun Star Wars game, there are already much better options available on the Wii. I know everyone, including myself, really want a Wii lightsaber dueling game, but like the immortal words of Obi-Wan “This is not the game you’re looking for.”

By Adam Brown
CCC Staff Contributor