games The Lego Star Wars series is a bright, shiny path to not one, but two galaxies far, far away: the one George Lucas created for us back in the 1980s, and our old childhood galaxy, where we created entire universes out of colorful plastic blocks.
The sequel to last year’s surprise hit changes little from the original game, except the thing that matters most—the chance to play through the parts of the Star Wars saga everybody actually likes. Instead of a l’il Lego Jar Jar Binks leaping about the screen (admit it—he’s annoying even when he can’t speak), Lego Chewbacca rips the plastic arms off of Lego Stormtroopers, and Lego Lando Calrissian makes like Bruce Lee. Now that’s the Star Wars I know.
With all the smiley plastic and toy-riffic sensibility, Traveller’s Tales could have opted for the easy route and made this a strictly lightweight kids’ game. Thankfully, they gilded the mix with more slapstick humor than a crowd of drunken Ewoks. Whether it’s busting helmeted stormtroopers kickin’ it in a hot tub, or the way Lego Princess Leia has to force Lego R2-D2 to gag down the Death Star plans, it’s clear the designers had more than the milk-and-cookies set in mind when they threw this thing together. Even the puzzles go way beyond child’s play, requiring creative character swapping or Jedi Force powers to create on-the-fly solutions out of Lego-block scraps.
In addition to all that depth, Lego Star Wars II still clutches the diploma from the Mario School of Collectibles. Nearly everything in the environment hides a cache of Lego studs, so if you’re looking to score the ridiculously vast catalog of bonus vehicles and unlockable characters, you’ll need to blast walls, droids and even the Lego gadgets your characters build along the way. Many secrets can’t even be accessed in the game’s story mode—all the more reason to go back and tackle the Death Star again in free play mode. Maybe as Lego Greedo or Lego Boba Fett this time.
Unless George Lucas breaks his promise to spare us further desecration of his sci-fi legacy, the Star Wars well is now effectively tapped, but Lego (the company, not the snappy plastic block) still holds the rights to some awfully delicious licenses: Harry Potter, Batman and Spiderman. The Caped Crusader is reportedly next in line to get the Lego videogame treatment. If it has half the thrill of Lego Luke’s epic odyssey, I, for one, can’t wait.