What’s more fun than a barrel of LEGOs? A barrel of LEGOs that come to life, form themselves into the shape of your favorite characters, and then caper about for your amusement.

LucasArts’ LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, is the sequel to the best-selling LEGO Star Wars adventure game, where LEGO versions of the cast of Star Wars reenact their movie adventures at your command. This sequel, which focuses on the events of the original three Star Wars movies, also marks the first time the LEGO franchise has made an appearance on the Sony PSP.

And what an appearance: Impressive graphics, exciting game play, lots of puzzles to solve, and a rapier wit that keeps things interesting even in the repetitive parts.

A Wretched Hive. Let’s face it: Any way you slice it, LEGO characters are cute. If all this game had done was put blocky versions of Han Solo and Darth Vader through their paces, it’d still be an entertaining game.

But, the folks at LucasArts went a good deal further than that, adding multiple puzzles and goals to each level that make the replay value on this game the highest we’ve seen in years. They were also very careful to recapture the self-deprecating humor that made the first installment of this LEGO adventure game such a surprise hit.

Game play itself couldn’t be simpler: You start off in the Mos Eisley Cantina of Star Wars, Episode IV, fame. You’ll be seeing a lot of the Cantina as it acts as your way station between missions and it’s the place where you upgrade and customize your collection of LEGO characters.

Within the Cantina you’ll find three parlors, one each for the three movies covered in the game. Within each parlor there are several doors, each one leading to a different movie-based level. From the Attack on the Death Star to The Battle of Endor, you can pretty much reenact all the key sequences from the movies in full LEGO splendor.

Beware purists: LEGO Star Wars II takes many liberties with both story lines and landscapes to build out its adventures. Those not easily offended by such off-script antics as Ben Kenobi and LEGO Luke’s tour of a sandcrawler’s interior, will delight in these bonus sequences, not only because they give you more to do and see, but because they open up the opportunities for much frivolity.

As you maneuver your 3-D character through the beautifully-rendered 3-D landscape, you’re primary goal (besides surviving to the end) is to collect as many studs, the coin of the LEGO realm, as you can. Studs can be traded in between missions for a whole host of things, from buying characters to unlocking new abilities.

Studs hide in the strangest places, and are often exposed by acts of wanton destruction. Just like in a Star Wars movie, you’re often rewarded for unleashing maximum carnage on everything, even the scenery. Somehow, because you’re only blowing up LEGO constructs, your murderous rampages feel surprisingly guilt-free. And, really, there’s nothing quite as satisfying and hitting a stormtrooper square in the chest with a blaster bolt and watching all his LEGO bits bounce off in different directions.

At it’s heart, LEGO Star Wars II is your basic 3-D platformer, with the typical move/jump/shoot commands for most characters. Jedi add a few power moves, such as jump attacks, and can generally jump higher and further than “normal” characters can. Jedi can also use the force to move objects and confuse the weak-minded, assuming you’re playing more for stealth than body count.

Bounties Hunted. We mentioned studs above, but there are many other things to collect and build in LEGO Star Wars II. Find a pile of LEGOs? Step up and assemble them into something. These items are often useful, sometimes critical to completing the mission, and always entertaining, whether you’re constructing an air turbine that lifts your character up to a previously unreachable area or an AT-ST walker to blow away the Imperial troops guarding the level exit.

In addition to studs and mini-construction projects, there are also “kits” you can collect to build cool-looking models. Completing a kit (which usually requires you collection 10 kit parts on a level) will also reward you with beaucoup bonus studs.

Then there are the red bricks, which unlock game “specials” (some useful, like more powerful blasters, some just plain silly, like a disassembled C-3PO for Chewbacca to carry on his back.) There are also gold bricks, which you must collect over many adventures to assemble a secret super project of great value.

A unique aspect of LEGO Star Wars II is that it’s impossible to do everything there is to do on a level in one pass. Many of the bonuses are only accessible to certain characters, who often are not part of the storyline for that mission. To get those extra bonuses and truly complete the level, you must return in free play mode, when you can change to any unlocked character at will. Free play mode is only available once you’ve successfully completed a level in story mode.

In Pieces, You Will Be. One of the most compelling parts of Star Wars Lego II is collecting, and playing, of the 100-plus movie characters in the game. Many characters you get for free just by successfully completing a mission (Luke, Leia, Han Solo); others you must complete a mission and fork over some studs to get (Greedo, Imperial Officer, Stormtrooper).

Once you get a character, be sure to run him or her (or it) through their paces in free play mode. Many characters offer no special bonuses, some are downright awful from a game play perspective (did you say “Gonk Droid?”), but others have abilities that are unique and critical – we’ll leave you to discover those on your own.

Even if a character doesn’t help you achieve game objectives, all characters have endearing personal quirks you can only experience by playing them. I encourage you to do so as it is one of cleverest aspects of a very clever game.

For those who feel cheated by not being able to play characters from the second trilogy, (you know, the bad trilogy), the PSP version of Star Wars II also includes some levels from the first incarnation of the game. While I don’t care for those movies, I did enjoy playing Darth Maul and wrecking havoc on everything with that super-cool double lightsaber of his.

And no collection of LEGO characters would be complete without a trip to the Bacta tanks in the back of the cantina. Here you can swap body parts between characters, creating some truly bizarre hybrids. Darth Leia? No problem. R2 Ben Fett Solo? Uh-huh. The only limit is your imagination and the depths of your depravity.

Geek-o-Meter: Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy not only scores a 10 on the Geek-o-Meter, it’s also our top pick for a PSP game this holiday. Cute, clever and complex game design, terrific graphics, incredible replay value and a wicked sense of humor all make this game a winner. Its broad appeal also makes Star Wars II unique as a game appreciated equally by men and women, children and adults. And as for humor, let’s just say, ” The Farce Will Be With You, Always.”

The Specs

Title Type

• 3-D Platformer/Adventure Game

Franchise

• Star Wars

Platform Reviewed

• Sony PSP (also available for the Nintendo DS, Gameboy Advance, Sony PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Windows PC)

Price

• $39.99 U.S.

For More Information

• www.lucasarts.com/games/legostarwarsii/

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 23rd, 2006 at 11:33 am and is filed under HOME, ENTERTAINMENT, GAMES - PSP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.