Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi is a fighting game developed and published by LucasArts, which was released for the PlayStation in 1997. In the game's story, which is set in the Star Wars universe, the Emperor seeks retaliation for the destruction of the Death Star and recruits the mysterious Arden Lyn to battle in the art of Teräs Käsi, an unarmed combat discipline, against leaders of the Rebel Alliance. The game features Star Wars Legends characters, including the Emperor's Hand Mara Jade.

Development for Masters of Teräs Käsi was handled internally at LucasArts. It was both the first fighting game and first PlayStation title for the company, which presented challenges. Industrial Light & Magic assisted with motion capture, used for character animations. While spirits were high during the development and promotion of Masters of Teräs Käsi, the game was met with underwhelming reviews. Criticisms were directed at the sluggish movement of the characters and the unbalanced moves, though the basic concept of combining weapons-based and hand-to-hand combat was praised.

Gameplay

thumb|left|Masters of Teräs Käsi features several characters from the [[Star Wars Legends|Star Wars Legends universe. Here, Mara Jade fights Arden Lyn, who was created specifically for the game.]]

Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi is a fighting game with a 3D gameplay element. Players are able to move their characters not only forwards and back using the left and right but can sidestep by using the up and down on the controller. There are three ways to achieve a victory: knocking out the opponent, forcing the opponent out of the ring, or having the most health when time runs out. Rounds are timed, and the player must win two of three rounds to be declared the winner of the match.

Characters have an array of melee moves and also a few ranged attacks. The Force does not make an appearance in the game in the traditional sense. Instead, all characters build up a "Force meter" as they fight. The player can execute special moves related to the strength of the meter, which can unleash increasingly devastating attacks. In the game's story mode the player selects a character and then fights through a series of opponents in a tournament setting. Upon victory in the tournament players receive a full motion video (FMV) ending for most characters.</small>

Development

The game was first announced at E3 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. Internal company hopes were high during the development cycle. Tony Hsieh, project lead on Masters of Teräs Käsi, felt that it "[would] be hard to go wrong." While promoting the game in an issue of Star Wars Insider, writer Jack Lyon stated: "Short attention span Star Wars freaks will surely dig Masters of Teräs Käsi, LucasArts' first fighting game." Tekken was cited as one of the main influences on the game. A backstory was developed in which Darth Vader uses a mysterious master of Teräs Käsi, Arden Lyn, to eliminate high-ranking members of the rebellion in hand-to-hand combat. A demo was released on disc in the third issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.

Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi received mixed to negative reviews from critics. GameSpots Jeff Gerstmann felt that the game played like it was "stuck in slow motion". He cited sluggish movement, uninteresting combos and overpowered force moves as weak points of the game.

Matt Skorupa of Gamezilla also gave it a more positive review. He stated that the game's character roster and varied environments were selling points for the game. Unlike most reviewers, Skorupa found the button combos simple and "easy to pull off." However, he noted that the main appeal was the Star Wars licensing, and that the game did not stand out enough from other fighting games to appeal to non-fans of the franchise. Douglas felt the game had solid graphics, and that the characters match their film and comic counterparts. He also said the game's hidden characters were "cool as well." In March 2004, GMR placed Masters of Teräs Käsi in its top five Star Wars game of all time. Kotaku's Patrick Klepek described it as "Sluggish, boring, and without much depth". His colleague Luke Plunkett called Masters of Teräs Käsi "possibly the worst Star Wars game ever made." Plunkett felt that it was a wasted opportunity. It was "something that could have been worthwhile" he said.

Since the release of Masters of Teräs Käsi some attempts have been made to re-introduce Star Wars to the fighting game genre. An untitled prototype Star Wars fighter was under development at Studio Gigante in 2005, but ultimately was rejected. The idea of using Star Wars characters in a fighting game would resurface when Yoda, Starkiller and Darth Vader became playable characters in Soulcalibur IV. Another Star Wars fighting game, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels, was released in 2008. Like Masters of Teräs Käsi it received mixed reviews.

In the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story, the character Qi'ra mentions she is trained in the art of Teräs Käsi. The second season of The Mandalorian also appears to depict some elements from the game.

Notes

References

  • Official website archived via the Wayback Machine