Lightsabers and The Force are some of the most completely arbitrary things in the whole SW universe anyway, and their use has always been more about good appearances than good mechanics. This is especially true of the games it spawned, even my much loved KOTOR and KOTOR2.
The problem is that Lucas combined the ability to perform magic with a weapon wielded by these people that, as kara said, results in instant maiming or death upon a strike. Regardless of skill level match, these fights should be settled incredibly quickly because the slightest mistake should result in an immediately-decisive end. I don't think even fencing is an appropriate analogy - a much better one is a gunfight. Two gunslingers meet at high noon - whoever gets hit first loses.
That, unfortunately, does not make for good viewing. Instead, we get utter stupidity like the Grievous battle, etc. The original Trilogy's lightsaber battles make much more sense, in that (except for the odd spinning flourish) they tend to be much more cautious, with each participant being on the defensive to ensure they don't get struck during the fight.
While we're talking about the utter idiocy of Padme's death, recall that in the original series, Leia says she remembers parts of her mother. O RLY? Because Episode 3 makes that spectacularly unlikely.
