Aww, his cute little head just got cut off.

For some this is a dream come true. Instead of buying multiple games to just get part of the story, this one game has all of the first three Star Wars (Episodes I to III) films in one package here. There is just one problem though; everything here is made out of Legos! Yes, it's those same lame Lego blocks that many of you used to choke on as a kid are now part of a Star Wars game. The idea sounds fairly unusual and even a bit stupid but Lego Star Wars is actually pretty fun, well sometimes.

One of the coolest parts about Lego Star Wars here is that you don’t just get one story. Like I said earlier, you get to play through episodes I: The Phantom Menace (good movie), part II: Attack of the Clones (sucks!), and even part III: Revenge of the Sith (freakin' awesome!). Although you wouldn't think playing through a mini Lego-based game would not have too many spoilers but to my surprise some the intermissions actually showed some of the important moments like death scenes and key plot twists here. If you are one of those hardcore Star Wars fans that want to be surprised, please stay away from this game. However, if you don't have any patience and can't wait to see those movies then maybe Lego Star Wars is your answer?

Because the game takes place across three Sci-Fi adventures, you can play as several different characters in the Star Wars universe. Not all the characters control the same either. Jedi characters like Mace Windo are quick melee fighters that can wield light sabres, action characters like Queen Armadillo (or whatever her name is) use grabbing hooks and guns, Droids can open locked doors, and much more. You will need to master all of these different abilities to be successful in the game but believe it isn't all that hard.

Going through the stories is pretty easy because there isn’t too much getting in your way. If you die, no problem, you may lose some cash but you also have unlimited lives too. The puzzles are pretty creative but way too easy to solve. Not only that but the stages are very short and you can even buy invincibly in the shop if you make enough money. The easy difficulty is great news for younger kids or Star Wars fans that normally don’t play video games but average players may be disappointed with the lack of depth here.

Since everything appears in these goofy Lego blocks the developers really took advantage of the look to create a funny experience. It is possible for friendly characters to destroy other friendly characters if they feel like it for example. As for the graphics themselves, the game also has some nice floor reflections and it was cool to see the giant star ships in built in Legos but in its overall appearance compared to other Gamecube games just looks like a substandard Playstation 2 game.

Sadly, the graphics are not the only thing that disappointed me. Although it's cool that the game has the Star Wars story here, LSW has no voice acting. It's really hard to imagine a Star Wars game without any dialogue but at least it has those awesome movie soundtracks the movies are known for. You also get the occasional yells like when a robot says 'Oh no' or screaming when you hit an annoying guy like Jar Jar Brinks (yes, you can kill him here) so it isn't all bad, eh?

Sure, Lego Star Wars sounds like a pretty dumb gimmick and cash grab just so another game developer can release yet another Star Wars game on the Gamecube here but when it is all said and done the game is actually a pretty good value. You get to see how each episode of the trilogy merge into one another, the game has a good balance of action and puzzle solving plus the game's oddball sense of humour can be pretty funny at times. Once all the games are finished (which won't take very long) there are a lot of unlockables likes extra characters, secrets, and even another bonus level. Although the overly easy difficulty and whole theme are not for everyone, still Lego Star Wars good enough to be way more fun then actually Legos themselves (They're not paying me so I don't care).

LEGO STAR WARS overall rating: 65/100
Publisher: Eidos
Creators: Traveller's Tales
Original release: April 5, 2005

For 1 to 2 players
Rated (E) for Everyone
visuals: 5/10
audio: 6/10
gameplay: 5/10
features: 7/10
replay: 7/10

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-StarSoldier1 2006
(Ryan Genno)