Last year, nerds everywhere rejoiced at the surprise hit, Lego Star Wars, which managed to combine two nerd loves: LEGOs and Star Wars. There were clones to defeat, force powers to use, lightsabers to wield, simple puzzles to solve, replayability in spades, and fantastic drop-in/drop-out multiplayer. So, how does one improve upon such greatness? By tweaking the original, adding features, and letting us play through the original Star Wars trilogy as acted by tiny, blocky, plastic people. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy has a lot going for it: it’s simple, it’s entertaining, and it’s a better game than its predecessor.
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, like its prequel, offers two play modes: story and free play. Control is wonderful in both modes and is only marginally different between the two. One button attacks, another jumps, a third performs context-sensitive actions (force powers, assemble LEGO pieces, toggle switches, etc.), and a fourth button toggles between available characters. The only difference in controls in free play mode is that shoulder buttons are used to toggle characters because only one or two characters are on screen (one in single player, two in multiplayer).
Controls are responsive, and never get in the way of the action and the humor, each or which are major selling points of the game. Action is fast-paced and frantic, but fair. It’s completely possible to complete every level of the game without ever taking a hit. It’s not probable (especially in two-player), but it can be done.
The development team clearly had a lot of fun creating LEGO Star Wars II, as scenes popularized by the classic films are lovingly recreated in LEGO form. Some liberties are taken along the way, but they’re all entertaining and none are liable to make fans as angry as Lucas’ did with his own edits (yes, Han shoots first here, calm down).
The mechanics and puzzles make the game a blast to play through, but LEGO Star Wars really shines when there’s a friend in the room to play with. Accidental slaps that turn into deathmatches just aren’t the same with an AI teammate, especially since AI shots are just for show: their blasters and sabers are set to A
