Star Wars has, and always will be, a mixed bag when it comes to video game adaptations. While you’ll find a few swings here and there the end result is usually a miss. This holds especially true in the 90s. Typically Star Wars has been adapted into action platformers or first person shooters. Would you believe me if I told you there was a force powered fighting game for the original PlayStation console? It’s true. Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi was released to poor critical reception. I thought maybe reviewers were just disappointed at the use of the license. I decided to take a look for myself. Nope! Turns out Masters of Teras Kasi is legitimately bad.
Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi takes place in between A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back in the series timeline. I really like that this game has a full motion video title scroll which makes it feel just like the movies. This text describes the Emperor going to new lengths to defeat the rebel alliance. He has hired an assassin named Arden Lyn to rid him of key rebels. She is trained in the art of a forgotten fighting form called Teras Kasi (hence the name of the game) which makes her quite the formidable foe. The rebel alliance catches wind of this and sends their best fighters to put an end to this new plan. Yeah, it’s pretty bad and I’m not even a Star Wars superfan.
The scenario is bland. It makes no sense in the context of the movies. To make matters worse it relies on the crummy, over bloated (and since done away with) expanded universe as well. They threw in characters like Mara Jade (I don’t know about her and I kind of don’t care) as well as Jodo Kast. These guys represent the worst of Star Wars (the expanded universe in the 90s was awful) so I just ignored them. Besides this the roster has some other problems. The developers ran out of people to throw into the game pretty early and it shows.
You have your mainstays like Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Han Solo, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader (though he’s a hidden character). After this the development team ran out of ideas. Arden Lyn is a decent original design and fits in with the Star Wars universe well enough. Why however is Leia Organa a playable character? It’s off-putting to be punching and kicking as her when they seem so out of character from her in the movies. Then you have a generic Tusken Raider named Hoar, and Thok (he’s one of those Gamorrean pig warrior things). Darth Vader is a hidden character for crying out loud. You also have a Storm Trooper in the roster, but he too must be unlocked.
So the roster is pretty bad. With that out of the way let’s get to the combat engine. Unfortunately it’s terrible too. Let’s start with the good. As a 3D fighting game Star Wars: Master of Teras Kasi has the usual sidestep and ringout options we’ve come to love about the genre. The gimmick here is that while combat is by default hand to hand all but two of the characters have a weapon they can use. You press a button to pull out said sidearm, and then you have different special moves at your disposal. It’s actually a really cool idea in theory, and I can’t recall any other fighting game from this time that allowed you to switch like this. With that out of the way it’s time to get down to business.
The gameplay engine is bad here. I mean, really bad. I’m surprised to hear that this game used motion capture because everyone moves incredibly stiff. On top of that they’re all slow. I actually thought the game was glitching because of the speed at which they move. Getting close enough to land physical strikes on your enemy is one thing, but sitting still while watching them carried out is just as annoying. Star Wars: Master of Teras Kasi is not a fighting game you can button mash through. This is only because of how slow everything is; only every fifth button press is going to register if you’re mashing them in rapid succession.
Special moves are also a real chore to pull off. The really good ones require you to fill a force bar at the bottom of the screen before they can be used, and they’re usually so strong they’re extremely cheap. Performing these arts takes some real getting used to because they each require an unusual amount of different button inputs. It’s off-putting, and even as someone who plays a lot of fighting games I had a tough time remembering how to pull them off. While your general goal is to diminish your enemy’s life bar to nothing you can also win via ring out. Most stages are set up in a square or circle, but some (such as Dagobah) is weird because it seems like it should be much bigger given the fact it’s outdoors.
In terms of graphics Teras Kasi is pretty good. The characters are a bit blocky but that’s a common issue with fighters on the original PlayStation. I’ll give it a free pass on that. The characters are pretty well designed and most are instantly recognizable. The art staff did struggle a bit with human faces (Luke and Leia look disturbing close up) but it’s not that big of a deal. The backgrounds are generally really nice with quite a bit of animation. I just wish they were used for a better game. The soundtrack is pretty much a mish mash of recycled Star Wars music, but you really can’t go wrong with John Williams at his best. They really should have picked better voice actors though.
I can’t think of anyone I would recommend this to. I know how rabid the Star Wars fan base is, but the really loyal ones will be outraged. Masters of Teras Kasi is a poor representation of the franchise in the video game realm. A fighting game could have been decent had it been put in the right hands (we need more Jedi and less Throk). Unfortunately, Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi is best left forgotten in time. Just avoid this one, which should be easy, seeing as how it’s unlikely to ever be re-released thanks to licensing issues.
