Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi

"Short attention span Star Wars freaks will surely dig Masters of Teräs Käsi, LucasArts' first fighting game."

―Jack Lyon^[2]

Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi is a fighting game released for PlayStation in October 1997.

Publisher's summary[]

The 3D fighting genre fulfills its ultimate destiny with Star Wars Masters of Teräs Käsi, an intense one-on-one combat experience for the Sony PlayStation. The story revolves around the mysterious Arden Lyn, a master of the ancient art of Teräs Käsi, as she leads a group of the most feared champions of the Galactic Empire to eliminate the leaders of the Rebel Alliance. Join Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, plus a few surprise characters in a Star Wars environment like you've never experienced.

Opening crawl[]

Prologue

A MASTER OF TERAS KASI

After the stunning defeat and loss of the Death Star
handed to the Galactic Empire, the Emperor demands
drastic measures for a swift retribution against the
Rebel Alliance.

The Emperor calls upon the services of a mysterious
young woman, Arden Lyn, wise in the ways of an ancient
and almost forgotten fighting art know as teras kasi.

Under the watchful eye of Darth Vader, Arden Lyn
is assigned the duty of eliminating key members
of the Rebel Alliance and thus neutralizing the
thorn in the Empire's side. But the Alliance hears
of this threat and they prepare for battle...

Gameplay[]

Characters[]

Secret characters[]

Stages[]

Development[]

During the time of its conception, the game was a joint project of LucasArts and fighting-game giant Capcom. The project was eventually dropped; Capcom's work with them would result in them creating their first 3D game inspired by the series, Star Gladiator.^[source?]

Continuity[]

The game introduced Arden Lyn to the Expanded Universe. According to Leland Chee, who maintains the Holocron continuity database,^[3] the game was "made purely for fun" rather than to fit within the continuity of the Expanded Universe.^[4]

Reception[]

The game, while a welcome concept at the time of its release, was not well received. Some complaints include an inferior fighting engine, an improper usage of lightsabers and unbalanced characters. Screwattack rated the game the 10th-worst fighting game in their top ten worst fighting games.^[source?]

Eventually the concept would have been revisited in a now-cancelled untitled fighting game but finally was with the inclusion of Darth Vader, Yoda and Galen Marek in Soulcalibur IV.