Star Wars is one of the most enduring and beloved popular culture monopolies in contemporary society, taking root in every entertainment medium imaginable. The latest success story of Star Wars in games has been the Star Wars Jedi franchise, which not only discerned the adoration fans share for action-adventure but also Soulslikes. Many more Star Wars games are currently in development still, and it will be interesting to see which genres they take on, though one gaming genre has long seemed ripe for another Star Wars entry: fighting games.
It might not be the most obvious gaming genre for Star Wars to branch into, but there are already multiple tenable instances of it doing so, and that leaves a lot of potential for a dedicated Star Wars fighting game on the table. Of course, the PS1’s Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi made that leap, though it was arguably unsuccessful in its attempt. Many more fledgling attempts have been made since, but none have blossomed into a staple fighting game like Dragon Ball FighterZ or Guilty Gear have, and that’s a crying shame.
Star Wars is Itching to Make It Fully into the Fighting Game Space
The most prevalent or notable example of Star Wars’ marked push into fighting games is perhaps through a whopping three DLC additions in Soulcalibur 4. This was initially done with Darth Vader and Yoda arriving as exclusive characters for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively before they both became paid DLC on each other’s platform and meanwhile, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s Starkiller appeared ubiquitously.
Each character has their own moves, and all three even feature a unique Force meter that becomes an interesting mechanic to micromanage and consider. Soulcalibur’s Star Wars characters were already a monumental step in the direction of a modern fighting game, but that is surely not the only time that a Star Wars fighting game has been considered as thoroughly.
Indeed, the licensed adaptation of Revenge of the Sith is essentially a multiplayer fighting game dwelling beneath the guise of a single-player story campaign. Revenge of the Sith’s duels are highly cinematic but also incredibly interactive, engaging players in dynamic saber lock clashes and offering its own mix-up potential with different lightsaber and Force attacks.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed's own duel-based gameplay would then emulate this in its multiplayer mode on the Wii, followed soon after by the Wii’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels, while Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2’s multiplayer mode was nearly a full-blown platform-fighter. Nowadays, though, it would be fascinating to see what current-gen consoles could achieve with a Star Wars fighting game that is all-encompassing and not restricted to particular eras in the franchise.
There is an argument that could be made about how impractical or illogical it would be to have a Sith Lord go up against a droid, for example, but nearly every other fighting game has already proven that fans are largely happy to suspend disbelief when it comes to balancing characters’ established power levels—Superman would otherwise mop the floor with the Joker in Injustice, after all. But having a dedicated Star Wars fighting game release for this generation of platforms would also be a phenomenal opportunity to showcase characters throughout all franchise media, including the likes of Bastila Shan, IG-88, or Sabine Wren.
This way, fan-favorite characters can be included despite how underpowered they may be in comparison to others. It would be ridiculous to assume that Jar Jar Binks could defeat General Grievous in an actual duel, but anything could be possible in a fighting game depending on each Star Wars character’s mix-up options and frame data, especially if Jar Jar is equipped with boomas.
