Lego Star Wars: The Video Game

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales Griptonite Games Aspyr Media Giant Interactive Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Eidos Interactive LucasArts
Platform(s)	GameCube, PS2, Xbox, GBA, PC (Windows), Mac
Release	April 5 2005 (PC, PS2, Xbox, GBA) October 26 2005 (GameCube) August 2005 (Mac) April 21 2006 April 22 2005
Genre(s)	Action,Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, two-player simultaneous

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game is a video game based on the Star Wars themed toy line by the Lego Group, that takes place during the prequel trilogy (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), with a bonus segment from A New Hope. Lego Star Wars was first released on April 5, 2005, a full month before the final Star Wars film premiered.

It was developed by Traveller's Tales for the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 video game consoles and Microsoft Windows personal computers, with Griptonite Games developing the Nintendo Game Boy Advance version. These initial versions were published in April of 2005. A Mac port, developed by Aspyr, was released in August 2005. A Nintendo GameCube version of the game was released on October 26, 2005. All versions were published by Eidos Interactive and LucasArts.

Though Lego Star Wars was billed as a "kid's game" and received the "Game of the Year" award from Kidzworld.com It received positive reviews and peaked at the top of the UK charts during early May 2005. It later lost the spot to the official game of Episode III but maintained a consistently high chart position throughout the month.

A sequel, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, was released in September 2006. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is due to release on the 6th of November.

Synopsis

See also: Star Wars Episode I, Episode II, and Episode III

The story of Lego Star Wars is similar to those of Episodes 1-3, with minor differences. Scenes that do not include much action in the movie are either lightly touched on in the game or removed from the game entirely.

Gameplay

Lego Star Wars contains a total of 56 playable characters. The playable characters are modeled like actual Lego parts (but with far more mobility) and are divided into groups according to certain skills.

Characters

There are a wide variety of characters included in the game, all of which are unlocked by completing levels or by purchasing them at Dexter's Diner. Every character, other than the PK Droid, the Gonk Droid, and Chancellor Palpatine has a special ability, such as extra high jumping, control of the Force, or the ability to grapple. Droids, while not being armed, can travel through the game unimpeded (ie. they won't be intentionally attacked by enemy characters); as well, protocol droids and astromech droids can open special doors. Also, unlike other armed droids, player-controlled Battle Droids will be ignored by hostile Battle droids but not Droidekas. The Gonk droid is also indestructible.

Unlocked characters can be imported into the game's sequel, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, as an extra costing 250,000 Lego studs.

Original Trilogy characters

Because Lego Star Wars is based on the Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I, II and III), Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa and other characters from the original Star Wars trilogy are not shown, appearing in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

This game was released before Revenge of the Sith, possibly driving sales up as the basic plotline was present in the game. To prevent inadvertent spoilers however, most reviewers warned that this was the case in their reviews.

Dexter's Diner

Dexter's Diner is the area from which the player chooses what level to enter, view any vehicles whose parts they have found. Lego Star Wars also has a feature called 'free play', which enables the player to play the same level again, but with the ability to switch between characters, thus get into areas containing extras the player was unable to get before. In Free Play mode, a player may use any character they have unlocked. The player may also match up good and evil characters, such as Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. The free play option will only appear when the player finishes a level in Story Mode. Story Mode allows players to only switch between the players involved in that scene or map. Levels that are played in vehicles cannot be played in free play, but are able to be replayed in story mode like all the others. Some characters, such as Chancellor Palpatine, the PK Droid, and the Gonk Droid, can't do anything but walk, although they are never attacked in the case of PK Droids and Gonk Droids, giving them the ability to traverse the levels unharmed. Also in the diner, you may purchase unlockable extras for studs.

Levels

Each level in Lego Star Wars loosely follows the various sequences from the Star Wars prequel films, with game play segments linked together by various cutscenes. There is no spoken dialogue; rather, the characters act out their parts using gestures and pantomime. The game begins with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn about the Trade Federation ship, and ends with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's duel on Mustafar.

Bonus level

In each level, a certain number of Lego studs need to be collected (the number varies per level) in order to obtain a piece of the super kit. Unfortunately, the player has to get all the studs in one try. The studs can be collected in story mode or free play mode. After all 17 kit pieces are collected, a fourth door, marked by a question mark, unlocks in the main room of Dexter's Diner. This room contains the bonus level, a short prelude into Episode IV: A New Hope. This level is available for both story and free play modes, however there are no cutscenes, no mini-kit pieces to collect, no Lego stud meter and no areas that can only be reached in free play mode.

In the bonus level, the player plays as Darth Vader and an Imperial Stormtrooper (plus they meet up with C-3PO), upon entering the Tantive IV blockade runner (which is also the model of the super kit collected to unlock the level). In the level, the player encounters a few Rebel soldiers, and is capable of collecting over 100,000 Lego studs. The level ends upon finding Princess Leia and R2-D2. To be continued... follows completion. This is different than the LSWII:TOT Episode IV opening level, as you play as Leia and Captain Antilles in LSWII.

Game Boy Advance version

File:Lego Star Wars GBA - gameplay.png

Yoda rescuing a clone trooper from two battle droids in Kashyyyk (GBA version)

File:Lego Star Wars GBA - characters.png

Freeplay character selection (GBA version)

File:Lego Star Wars GBA - freeplay.png

Anakin Skywalker, battling his future self Darth Vader (controlled by the player) in freeplay mode (GBA version)

The Game Boy Advance (GBA) version of Lego Star Wars has several differences (mostly for the sake of portability), including fewer playable characters (only 15), devalued studs (grey Lego studs are worth 1, blue 5, and yellow 10 stud credits), fewer levels, only one player character on screen at a time, and cutscenes consist of still frames of the home console versions.

All lightsaber users are able to deflect blaster shots aimed at them (provided they are attacking the shot) and each character has their own style. They also are the only ones able to use the force to interact with undeployed platforms and switches. However, unlike other versions of the game, blaster shots can only be deflected if they are headed straight towards the player at the front, not the back or sides of the character. Blaster characters can charge a shot by holding the button, making it stronger and able to pass through several enemies. However, as they don't have the shot deflecting abilities of Jedi, their use is quite limited.

See also

• Lego
• Star Wars
• Lego Star Wars
• Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

External links

• Lego Star Wars: The Video Game at MobyGames
• PC Demo (198MB)
• Gamespot review
• IGN review
• Gamespy PS2 review