Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels - Wii

2:16pm Tuesday 18th November 2008

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IN a time now far, far, far away, I used to be a skinny, single, carefree student with a ridiculous haircut, a huge overdraft and a Playstation.

Oh, how times have changed: I'm married now with two kids, a dog and a waistline expanding in proportion to my mortgage.

I hadn't had the time or the inclination to play a computer game for ages, and even back in the day I was pretty much addicted to driving games.

But for Father's Day this year my wife bought me a Nintendo Wii with the Sports game in a desperate bid to get me to do some sort of exercise.

Now, for those who don't know, the Wii is the computer console that involves jumping around like a loon and waving your arms in the air.

Being English I suppose I have our natural reticence to looking a prat, but once you get over this the Wii is great fun.

In some ways it's a bit like morris dancing: Looking in from the outside it looks bloody stupid, but for those taking part it makes perfect sense.

And so on to Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels.

Firstly, it's good to see that American English has infiltrated the furthest recesses of the universe.

Secondly, no matter how you spell it ... it's still cool and a bloody lightsabre!

For those of us of a certain age, it's the gadget you dream scientists can make a reality ... that and the pizza that once eaten then turns into a six-pack of beers and then ... you know where I am going with this.

Anyway, apart from possibly Bond's watch, or Kirk's transporter, there really is no cooler thing. So I was pretty excited by the thought of Lightsabre Duels.

Using the remote control as your weapon there's lots of arm waving and it makes the right noises too!

The graphics aren't the best ... but that is not the Wii's thing - it's about fun and getting involved in the game.

This was hugely enjoyable. I won't bore you with too much gameplay detail but suffice to say there's a choice of characters, various difficulty levels (starting at rubbish i.e me and going right up to Jedi master), and loads of special moves, which seemingly require you to have opposable digits on both hands and feet to work them.

Apparently this game ties in with The Clone Wars, whatever they are. Don't let that put you off: Push the coffee table against the wall, pull the curtains so the neighbours can't see and practice your best Alec Guinness voice.

Then plug in your Wii, wait for the unmistakable sound of your lightsabre powering up and give your opponent a right battering.

Oh, and by the way, you can even fight a friend. Obviously, me and missus haven't attempted this yet, as I've still a smidgen of male pride left.

Happy duelling.

Score: 7.5/10