Lightsaber Duels is the upcoming Wii exclusive Star Wars title based on the recently released Clone Wars movie and the upcoming TV series. The Wii game features a single player mode and a two-player duel mode. While I didn't see the one player mode, the two-player mode is designed to allow you to replay the battles seen in the film with the motion controls of the Wii Remote.

The characters on display included Anakin, Obi-Wan, and new faces from Clone Wars. Each has different attributes: some are faster or slower, some with different combos and power. There are six characters initially, with a total of eleven available after they are unlocked by playing the single player mode.

Swinging the Wii Remote swings the lightsaber up, down, left, or right and repeatedly swinging gives combinations of these attacks. Aside from actually moving the lightsaber, the other actions are mapped to button presses. You move the character with the analogue stick on the nunchuck, jump, block, grab, and the force are mapped to buttons. Countering is done by holding block and swinging the Remote in the opposite direction. The game prompts you to hold the Wii Remote horizontally for better gesture recognition, this is especially important when the characters are locked together in close combat mode.

There are two meters for each character. One measures health and the other is the amount of force remaining. Once you use a move that requires the force, it drains the meter requiring you to wait until it is restored with time. Force moves are unblockable and will always cause damage if they connect. The only way to avoid them is to run or dodge. An additional meter increases with the number of combo moves you manage and when this is full it gives you a stronger force attack, with each character doing something different.

Your force powers include the ability to lift and throw objects on the stage. The stages are interactive and change from round to round. Each match is played as the best two of three rounds, so as it progresses parts will fall, get cut to pieces, electrocute you, or become more difficult to navigate for avoiding damage.

Occasionally during the duel, the lightsabers will clash in such a way that a special lock mode is activated. In this mode, the two players are required to complete a sequence of gestures to win the lock and score a hit on the other player. There are three types of these encounters, I saw one where each player races to complete a single gesture the fastest, and another when a sequence of moving the Wii Remote in one of the four directions fastest was required. This was one of the times when it helped to have the Remote horizontal so that the correct direction would be registered.