Kinect Star Wars puts the Star Wars universe in your living room, and it asks you to move your whole body to play it. That is the idea. Whether it delivers on that idea depends on which mode you pick.
Trailer, via XBOX.
Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising
The main mode, Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising, drops you into the prequel trilogy timeline as a Jedi Padawan. You swing a lightsaber with your hands, throw objects with the Force, and steer vehicles using full-body motion. The gesture recognition works well enough that you feel like you are wielding something. The story covers the period between Episode I and Episode III, and it leans on familiar characters and battles from those films.
Duels of Fate
Duels of Fate lets you face off against other Padawans and famous villains like Darth Vader in one-on-one lightsaber duels. It is a solid addition to the main mode, though it shares the same motion controls as everything else in the game.
Podracing
The podracing mode simulates the dual throttle controls of a podracer. You extend your arms fully to push forward, and pull them back to slow down on one or both engines. It is a clever use of the Kinect hardware, even if the racing itself is simple.
Rancor Rampage
Rancor Rampage lets you control a rancor monster and tear through Star Wars locales. Arm movements sync between you and the rancor, and you can call in special attacks. It is the destruction-based mode, and it is the strangest fit for the franchise.
Galactic Dance-off
Galactic Dance-off combines Dance Central-style motion games with Just Dance cues. You mirror the moves of famous Star Wars characters while staying in sync with the on-screen prompts. The parody songs are the highlight here, and the mode feels the most fun in the game.
A Mixed Reception
Kinect Star Wars was the last game published by LucasArts before Disney shut down its internal development. The game was announced at E3 2011 and released on April 3, 2012. It received generally mixed reviews.
“Kinect Star Wars” harnesses the controller-free power of Kinect for Xbox 360, allowing fans to physically hone their Jedi skills, wield the power of the Force in their hands, pilot iconic starships and vehicles, rampage as a vicious rancor monster or even dance with iconic Star Wars characters.
The motion controls are the core of the package, and they work best in the Jedi Destiny mode. They fail you in the destruction-based modes like Rancor Rampage, where the game asks for precise input that the Kinect simply cannot deliver reliably. The dance mode is the exception — it is where the Kinect’s strengths actually match the task.
Kinect Star Wars is a game about ideas that are better than the execution. The concept of a Star Wars game built around full-body motion is sound, but the technical rough edges keep it from landing. The best moments — the lightsaber fights, the podracing, the parody dance tracks — are scattered across four modes that do not always hold together.
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