LEGO Star Wars came out of nowhere. When the original game was released back in April of 2005, who could have predicted that a LEGO-based videogame, even one using the venerable Star Wars license, would be anything other than a throwaway game for the 12 and under crowd? Obviously, it was much more than that – and so too is the sequel.
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is actually the ideal sequel: it's better in almost every possible way from the graphics and gameplay to its perfect sense of humor. At its heart, this is still the same type of game as the first – developer Traveller's Tales didn't go out and try to reinvent the wheel. It's still a platform game with double jumps, coin hoarding, innumerable things to unlock, and a few devious puzzles. It's just that its guts are a bit cleaner this time around.
For starters, there are no more "redo" levels that make you want to smash your controller into tiny little pieces. Anyone who played the first game will remember the pod race and its ability to cause you to lose clumps of hair, particularly when playing with a youngster at your side as they drive the pod racer off a cliff, which in turn forced a restart of the race. Here, however, nothing gets in the way of the fun. The developers could have made some of the missions agonizingly hard, such as the Hoth Battle in Episode V or the attack on the Death Star at the end of Episode IV—but they didn't. When you die, you simply pop right back in the game and keep on blasting, the only real penalty being a loss of money, which can be easily replaced. LEGO Star Wars II drives home the fact that so many developers just cannot seem to grasp: a game does not need to be significantly difficult to be a lot of fun. This is not a terribly hard game (although unlocking some of the 360 achievements is tricky) but it strikes the perfect balance between difficulty and enjoyment.
There are a few new features that are worth discussing outside of the fact that you get to use characters from the original films from an aged Obi-Wan to a smooth (even in block form) Lando. The new character builder allows you to morph characters together in a weird sort of Frankenstein's Monster fashion. JEDI Greeo! Vader in Leia's metal bikini! The combos are endless (and a bit scary). Your little LEGOs can also build things and they go to work in a hilarious haphazard fashion, throwing blocks together as fast as they can leaving you to wonder just what the heck it is they are constructing, which could be anything from a portal used by R2 to open a door to a lawn mower or a truck. Characters may also hop on mounts such as the huge Sand Walker Mammoths or a Land Speeder.
Tooling around the desert in a speeder is just plain fun. In addition, there are more missions that use ships and it's no longer a set piece design; instead you have full range of motion with your vehicle/X-Wing/or even the Millennium Falcon. Some of the missions are even Zaxxon-esque.
As fun as the game is, it is its sense of humor that drives it home – that forces a silly grin on your face every time you play it. Usually this is done via the game's cut-scenes, each of which put a nice little satirical twist on infamous scenes from the movies. It's hard to hold back a chuckle when Obi-Wan gives Luke his father's old lightsaber, only to see him lop 3PO's head off as he practices. Traveller's Tales knows this series backward and forward and the developer strikes all the right notes with its spot-on humor; it pokes fun at something that you love without being mean about it.
Star Wars II is, just like the original, the perfect game to play with your kids. It's not too hard but the design allows for immediate jumping in and out of the game so if an area is too tough for your five-year old, they can drop out, let you make the tough jumps or solve some of the games trickier puzzles, and then they can press start and get right back in the action. It's hard to find games to play with your little ones, but both LEGO Star Wars games are simply must buys if there are young gamers in the house.
The graphics on the 360 are nice and clean and the LEGOs full of chunky and yet perfect animations. Does it look "next-gen?" Compared to other games that strive for the ultimate graphical experience, no, it doesn't. It does look clearly better than the Xbox or PS2 versions (although the PC edition looks about on par with the 360.)
The biggest drawback is a lack of online play, which seems a strange oversight. Seeing as how it's perfect as a co-op game it would seem like a no-brainer for there to be online play over Xbox Live, but for some reason it's not part of the package. The camera angles can also get a tad weird at times; this was a problem with the first game and while it's better here it can still be a bit problematic on certain levels. This can be enhanced when playing two-player because the characters have to stick together or suffer from being dragged across the screen...sometimes off a cliff.
Quibbles aside, LEGO Star Wars II is a smashing success for gamers both young and old and even those Star Wars fans that are still left with a hangover after being subjected to the new movies. This is, without a doubt, one of the best Star Wars games ever made, regardless of the age group. Now, what's next? LEGO Dr. Jones, anyone? - William Abner
