Back in Microsoft’s 2010 E3 conference, one of the highlights of the day was the presentation of the Star Wars game for Kinect. At the time, the Kinect was making its debut that year, so gamers were anxious to see how the new technology would implement gaming and full-body capture into one solid product. After a few tech demos including re-hashed sports games and main menu action, one game that caught people’s eyes was Star Wars (At the time, an unnamed Star Wars game).

The big screen showed off a Jedi fluidly swinging his lightsaber back and forth, deflecting laser shots and cutting through battle droids like butter. However, the part that was even more impressive was that there was a young man on stage mimicking the same movements as the Jedi in the game. When I first saw this, I was immediately impressed. Sadly, if you look closer, you’ll notice that the presentation was very fake. The movements were most-likely pre-rendered CGI footage judging by the video, and even if it wasn’t, the gameplay was surely pre-recorded before the night before things got under way. Fans were a little disappointed, and the game continued to show off some snippets over the next two years.

"Look at me everybody! This is what acting looks like!"

Okay, enough of the history lesson. Now, Kinect Star Wars is a full-fledged product. It’s out for Kinect right now, and so far the reviews, well… let’s just say it didn’t bomb as bad as the Death Star did. But it has received some good and bad scores. While some of the concepts are neat and it looks flashy, it doesn’t exactly live up to the footage from 2010 by a long shot, and some of the mechanics don’t work the way they should. With all things considered, I’m surprised LucasArts didn’t decide to scrap this game and make Battlefront 3! But that’s for another time.

Some people may not know it, but Kinect Star Wars is actually a group of mini-games, with the lightsaber slashing stuff being part of the main story mode. So, you’ll surf through the main menu and sift through all of the available modes. And you’ll see great classic Star Wars activities, including pod racing, lightsaber dueling, a strange rancor-destruction game, and…dancing?

I never knew Threepio was so...flexible...

It’s true. Star Wars has been touched by the gift of dance. Start up Galactic Dance-off and dance with your favorite characters such as Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Lando Calrissian. Yuck! I’ve had it up to here with LucasArts' excuses for Star Wars games. Force Unleashed 2 was a let down, the Old Republic is pricy, and now this? It may not sound so bad to witness your childhood heroes become degraded to nothing more than hipster-music-dancing fools…or maybe it is?

Speaking of music, the songs are actually popular songs that you may have heard on the radio (If you still bother using one). The twist here is that the songs have been modified lyrically so that they relate to the Star Wars universe. So don’t be surprised if you fail to remember the words to “I’m Han Solo,” “Hologram Girl,” or “Princess in a Bottle.” You may even see some new dance moves like “The Trash Compacter” or “The Speeder.” I warn you: if you cringe easily and you’re a hardcore Star Wars fan, then you may want to consider avoiding searching up gameplay footage.

Trust me, as a pretty big Star Wars fan, I couldn’t help but shudder as I saw Han Solo dance to a Jason Derulo song. It’s almost like a big “screw you” from George Lucas because everything related to Star Wars goes through him no matter what. That means he saw this, and thought it was okay! Who would ever want to give the green light to the sinister Emperor Palpatine doing a dance-off with Lord Vader himself to random pop themes? It makes me wonder if the man is still stable with himself.

And maybe by now you’re thinking that I absolutely detest Kinect Star Wars because of what they’ve done. And to a point, you’re right. But somehow, there’s a part in me, deep down past all of the pride and shame that tells me it’s okay. A part of me finds it all to be kind of quirky, even a little amusing. And I have to hand it to the developers for making a fully-functioning dance game in a game with four other modes. It’s really quite a daunting task. And I hate to admit it, but some of these lyrics are just so darn catchy! The songs are all ones we know, and for some odd reason, hearing Star Wars words in between like subliminal messages is sort of memorizing. I hope this isn’t some sort of brainwashing technique.

Changing a song about a booty call to being metaphorically more meaningful than a hologram is a win in my book

Think about it; Kinect has always had a focus on all-age gaming, and with that there have been slews of kid-friendly games on Kinect. It shouldn’t be any surprise that Kinect Star Wars is just trying to get in on the action. That’s another thing: it’s a kids game! Well, it practically is. Hell, there’s a kid on the front cover. This game was designed to attract people of all ages, and that definitely includes children. The dance mode was created out of light-hearted fun, and hopefully some of the fans can understand that. And if you don’t like it, then don’t buy the game. Simple as that. Or, if you want to have a little bit of fun, don’t be shy to drop into Galactic Dance-off for a little while. Not for the squeamish, of course.