Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels
A Wii lightsaber dueling game set during the Clone Wars.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels is a fighting game for the Wii, created by Krome Studios and released by LucasArts. It is the second Star Wars fighting game ever made, after 1997's Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi. The game launched on November 11, 2008, timed with the premiere of the first season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That same day, a companion title, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance, came out for the Nintendo DS.
The story in Campaign Mode follows events from the film and four episodes of the show's first season: "Duel of the Droids," "Cloak of Darkness," "Shadow of Malevolence," and "Destroy Malevolence." It ends with an original scenario where Anakin Skywalker sneaks into a factory to eliminate EG-5, a new Separatist droid built to hunt Jedi.
Playable characters include Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, EG-5, General Grievous, Kit Fisto, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Plo Koon. Many voice actors from the series reprise their roles, such as Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Matthew Wood, Corey Burton, Nika Futterman, Tom Kane, Phil LaMarr, and Terrence Carson.
The Wii Remote is used to simulate lightsaber swings, while the Nunchuk controls Force powers for boosting strength or moving objects in the arena. Matches are one-on-one, with four difficulty levels named after Jedi ranks for single-player fights against AI. Each character has unique attack combos performed by a series of uninterrupted Wii Remote gestures. Quick time events can appear, requiring correct gestures to deal extra damage. Duels are best-of-three rounds, with two health bars that deplete one after another, similar to Killer Instinct; the winner's current health bar fully refills when a round ends after draining one of the loser's bars.
In Campaign Mode, players can only control Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano, each in their series costumes. They face Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, General Grievous, and the Jedi hunter droid EG-5. Challenge Mode lets players choose any unlocked character and complete duels with specific goals. Meeting a goal shows a blue Jedi crest. Each character has four challenges, which vary in difficulty and unlock characters and battlefields.
The game received generally mixed reviews, according to Metacritic.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Krome Studios
- Publisher
- LucasArts
- Director
- Steve Stamatiadis
- Producer
- Don Meadows; Ken Fox
- Designer
- Kev Harrison
- Programmer
- Chris Lacy
- Artist
- Furio Tedeschi
- Composer
- Kevin Kiner
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game's Campaign Mode takes place during the film and select episodes from the first season of the television series, specifically "Duel of the Droids", "Cloak of Darkness", "Shadow of Malevolence", and "Destroy Malevolence". It concludes with a scenario original to the game involving Anakin Skywalker infiltrating a factory to hunt down and kill one of the newest Separatist Jedi hunting droids, EG-5. Players can only fight as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano in Campaign Mode, each in their costumes from the series, battling against Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, General Grievous, and the Jedi Hunter droid EG-5.
Many of the series' voice actors reprise their roles, including Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Matthew Wood, Corey Burton, Nika Futterman, Tom Kane, Phil LaMarr, and Terrence Carson. The game makes use of the Wii Remote to simulate lightsaber combat, with players also using the Nunchuk to utilize Force powers to enhance strength and manipulate objects in the duel arena. Duels are fought one-on-one, with four levels of difficulty themed after the ranks of the Jedi Order for single-player battles against AI opponents. Each character has different attack combos triggered by inputting a series of several Wii Remote gestures without interruption. Quick time events can occur during a duel, allowing a player to deliver extra damage by performing the correct gestures.
Reader's Guide
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels received generally mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. As the second Star Wars fighting game ever released, it followed the 1997 title Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi. The game's release was timed to the premiere of the first season of the television series, and it was accompanied by a companion game on the Nintendo DS. In Challenge Mode, players can choose any unlocked character and enter a series of duels with specific goals; meeting those goals awards a blue Jedi crest. Each character has four challenges, some more difficult than others, which unlock characters and battlefields. Duels are fought as a best-of-three series with dual health bars that deplete one after the other, similar to Killer Instinct, though the winner fully replenishes their current health bar when a round ends with one of the loser's health bars fully depleted.
More in Star Wars Games
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced