Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga Review

The game Lego Star Wars is just what it sounds: a kid's take on the classic sci-fi series using Lego stand-ins instead of rendered people. As such, you should expect this game to be simplistic, childish and somewhat repetitive (it is, after all, listed as a family game). Once you realize this, the game is a blast.

Each of the six episodes is divided into six parts. At first the player only has access to Episode I Part 1, but once that is beat Part 1 of each of the other five episodes is unlocked. Beating Part 1 in an episode gives you access to Part 2, beating Part 2 unlocks Part 3, and so on.

Each part takes between 15 and 30 minutes to beat, on average, so you can actually accomplish something if you only have a limited amount of time. The first play-through is always in "Story" mode, where your characters are pre-selected. Beating it on "Story" mode unlocks "Free Play," where you get to choose a roster of characters. This effectively doubles the length of the game, because a lot of the bonus items are unattainable in story mode (for example, an item might be located behind a door accessible only by a stormtrooper, but story mode is played using Obi-Wan and an R2 droid). Most of the bonus items are actually pretty decent. There is also a HUGE cast of characters, about half of which unlock as you play through the game and half available for purchase, but they fall into a half-dozen or so categories, so there is not much of a learning curve. "Death" in the game consists of being penalized about 2,000 studs (the game's currency) and being almost instantly respawned, with one level excepted (see below). This makes the game much more accessible to younger players and gamers with less-than-lightning-quick reflexes.

The game also comes with a healthy dose of humor - the "I am your father" scene is PRICELESS, in my opinion. This humor is a big part of keeping the adults interested.

Now, a few cons from the game. There are a few levels where you pilot vehicles full-time. The perspective is a bit weird, the screen is quite busy, and controls handle clumsily. On top of that, the game tends to turn you around at weird points. I was actually glad when I reached the end of these levels, because they are decidedly less fun to play than the character levels. Speaking of character levels, there's a lot of places where you can fall to your death, but many of them are not obvious until you hit them. Finally, the last part of Episode III inexplicably changes the "death" mechanic from an instant respawn to a checkpoint restart (even on co-op and even if the other person is still alive). This is incredibly frustrating, as the level requires the most precise timing of the game - it involves jumping between platforms that are sinking into lava.

Those relatively minor annoyances aside, this is a fun game. Yeah, it's simplistic, but it's entertaining, and that's what video games are supposed to be.Get more detail about Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.