Review: Star Wars Black Series Kyle Katarn from Dark Forces, Gaming Greats, Galaxy Collection Fan Channel Wave
- Mephitsu
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
"I'm no Jedi. I'm just a guy with a lightsaber and a few questions."
To date, the Star Wars Gaming Greats series has delved into the varied history of Star Wars video games with substantial releases from newer properties like Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor and the Battlefront games. It has also gone back to titles like Bounty Hunter on the N64, Republic Commando, and the Old Republic series. We can now add another game to that list with the latest release in the Gaming Greats series, Kyle Katarn from the Dark Forces video game from 1995.
Kyle Katarn is part of the first Fan Channel Wave of 2026 alongside Jedi Master Dooku from Tales of the Jedi, the Seventh Sister from Rebels, and Quinlon Vos from The Clone Wars.
Katarn arrives in the standard packaging, but badged under the Gaming Greats line, which means an extra hexagon-shaped sticker on the window to the bottom right. The Gaming Greats turquoise blue colour coding is used on the text, and around the side to the art panel that features Kyle stood, looking into the shot, while above him sits the holographic map interface seen in Dark Forces II. The release is number 29 in the wider Gaming Greats series, and the side art adds to the growing montage continuing on from the 2025 release of Nightsister Merrin from Jedi: Survivor.
The back of the box repeats a cut-down version of the side art and a short synopsis of Dark Forces as a Star Wars Legends storyline. It details Kyle Katarn as a ‘fearless mercenary-for-hire’ and his mission for the Rebel Alliance to ‘investigate the imperial Dark Trooper program and steal the Death Star plans’. Like all Gaming Greats, and the only sublime to do this, the game logo is added on the back of the box to the bottom of the image of Katarn. Inside the box, the figure and accessories are set in the usual plastic tray and behind this is the colour-coordinated backing card, which features another embedded image of the holographic map symbols seen on the main artwork.
While badged as a Dark Forces Kyle Katarn, the figure is more of an homage to Kyle’s outfit from across his video game catalogue, most notably from Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and from Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. This is made up of a relatively plain, horizontally ridged, cream open-neck shirt with a black vest visible underneath. To the side of the shirt are two brown panels, and from the neck hang a pair of black drawstrings. The right-hand sleeve of the outfit sports a brown pauldron with a simplistic three-oval design, while both wrists have brown textured bracers complete with twin studs at the hand end picked out in silver.
The waist joint is covered by a softer plastic belt in brown with two clasps and painted silver buckles. There is also a silver canister to one side, just above a hook for Katarn’s lightsaber hilt. To the other side is a slanted working holster for his blaster. The trousers are plain brown, deeper and darker than the belt, bracers, and pauldron, which end with a pair of black boots. These include a thigh swivel, which does mean Katarn has the issue with mismatched plastic tones between the top of the legs and the lower thighs. The thigh swivel means these legs are reused, and the source is that of Master Sol from the Acolyte collection.
The headsculpt is an extrapoloation of Kyle from both the likenesses in game, but with some influence from actor Jason Court, who played him in the cut scenes. This includes a sculpted beard and a hair style with parting that looks more like the one from Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy. The styling is realistic to fit in with the rest of the Black Series and uses facial printing tech for the eyes, mouth, and some shading around the mouth and nose.
Kyle Katarn has two different weapons, reflecting the gameplay from Dark Forces II onwards. We start with his lightsaber, which is a new hilt piece, cast in grey plastic with a painted black ridged frip and a gold collar just beneath the emitter. The finish does look cheap, and a simple brush of metallic paint would have enhanced the weapon immensely. There is a plug at the opposite end that fits into a socket on the belt, allowing the saber hilt to be slung over the figure's right upper leg. The fact that Kyle has a saber and the design of the hilt as the one used in the second game further positions this release of Kyle Katarn as being predominenly based on Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, despite the box synopsis and logo.
The saber will fit into either hand, but the better fit is in the right, with the left hand featuring a half grip/half pointing position, which is good for gesturing, but lacks the security in the gripping part. It comes with the correct blue blade in translucent plastic that slots and clicks into the hilt.
You also get, as is the theme across the full wave, a blue ‘swoosh’ effect blade. This triangular piece slots into the same slot on the saber hilt and replicates the blade sweeping through the air. It works reasonably well, but is heavier than the standard blade, which can cause stability issues or some drooping with the small peg unable to hold the increased weight at some angles.
Katarn also comes with a blaster to reflect his Bryar blaster pistol from the game. Rather than create a new piece, the team have re-used the established live-action MW-20 Bryar pistol from the Andor figure from Disney+. While the original was a nice gunmetal finish with painted details, Katarn’s version is left in the base grey plastic with a black painted grip. Like the plain finish on some parts of the lightsaber hilt, it looks cheap. The blaster can be holstered in the angled holster on Kyle’s belt and then held in the right hand with the trigger finger slotted in place.
Articulation is 19 points in total, giving Katarn an all round, but standard, level of mobility for posing and wielding either of his weapons. The arms can get into two handed light saber poses thanks to the butterfly shoulders, which are hidden behind the outer sleeve of the torso. The elbows bend to 90 degrees, and the shoulders extend out and up, with the right pauldron flexible and hinged to move with the arm. The neck is duel jointed, allowing the head ot look up and down as well as tilt, without the need for a visible pin. The waist permits an average level of forward and backward movement.
Legs can bend fully at the hips and knees, allowing Kyle to kneel and sit. The ankle rockers are tight and secure, and stability is good, while a hole at the front (rather than the back) of each foot accepts a stand if required.
Kyle Katern joins the other Star Wars Legends video game big hitters from recent years, such as Starkiller and Dash Rendar. Like these, the look is extrapolated and hybrid in nature, with this version of Kyle Katarn more aligned to his second outing in Dark Forces II, allowing Hasbro to include his lightsaber as well as blaster. The look to this source material is accurate enough, although the figure overall feels a layer of paint apps short of being truly impressive.
The torso feels plain, and with no wash or highlights, the texture of the shirt is lost. The Pauldron is also plain, as is the belt with sculpted details left unpainted. The weapons are also left, as is becoming a concerning trend, in a cheap looking base plastic and are one gunmetal silver finish away from being impressive.
Gaming Greats releases in the mainline are usually brand new figures, but Kyle Katarn does feature re-use in full of the legs although that is in no way negative. When we consider this saving in tooling, an extra layer of paint on either the figure or weapon to match the complexity of say Dash Rendar or Prince Xizor, isn’t too much to ask. Like Dooku in this same wave, the other issue with Kyle Katarn is the context of other figures around him - and while he will display fine on his own, with Mara Jade, or with some generic Stormtroopers, it would be nice to see the collection build out slightly in the future, perhaps with the original Dark Troopers, Jan Ors or General Rom Mohc.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
If you are reading this via a 3rd party website that is importing our newsfeed, please come and visit us directly and give us a follow on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Check out our direct news feed for more action figure news, reviews, and store reports
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...