Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

"The Crowd Pleaser Achievement = Instant Win."

Good ol' Star Wars. Good ol' Lego. For those living under a rock these two forces combined to make two of the funnest platform games ever made. Taking our beloved Star Wars characters, putting them in Lego form, and letting them go crazy. The games were great. And then someone got the idea that we should combine the two games into one, and repackage it for all 3 consoles. Which is a good idea....assuming you haven't already bought the first two games. And if you have (like I did), you're probably gonna get frustrated that a new version has come out, with all kinds of extra content.

Combining the games means you get all 6 episodes, and their characters as well. From Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi, everyone is represented. They even added a new level to Attack of the Clones, which was originally 5 levels long in the first Lego game. This new level is the scene in which Anakin and Obi-Wan chase down the bounty hunter (Zam Wesell). Other than that the episodes remain intact as they used to be. You will notice a huge difference in the humour of the first 3 episodes, compared to the other ones. The first game was cute and funny, but the second game really made things hilarious and it's obvious when you cram both games in one.

Anyhoo the gameplay has not changed much. You still take your lego characters, whack every piece of furniture or thing in your way, collect Lego Studs, and try to take out any stormtrooper/battle droid that should cross your path. Jedi characters can manipulate items using the force to create bridges or steps or destroy stuff as well. Characters who are blaster happy can do diving rolls and use grappling hooks to scale up walls. Bounty Hunters can blow up silver Lego pieces. Sith can manipulate red lego pieces. "Small" lego characters can climb through small vents to reach areas the older characters cannot. Droids are used for operating door panels. Jar Jar Binks can jump really high. *cough* ......anyhoo, you need to utilize all of these characters abilities to successfully find every hidden minikit piece, and cheat lego blocks, so you can get the 100% and earn achievements.

Every character is there to be represented. EVERY ONE. Anyone you thought was missing from the past two games is probably in there now. Characters like Boss Nass, Zam Wesell, Dexter, even a black R2 robot who I've never heard of is playable. Needless to say the character selection screen is pretty damn enormous. Heck, I had trouble finding the type of Luke Skywalker I wanted to use. There are a ridiculous amount of characters to play with. And to add to these characters, you can create two of your own! Like Lego 2 you can use a created Lego character....but this time it is 10 times better than before. At least better than the Gamecube version, which I played and assume is exactly the same as the PS2 and Xbox games. This time, EVERY lego piece that belongs to a character, is useable for your created character. Want the pure black head that Boba and Jango Fett have? It's there. Want Han Solo's Endor outfit? It's there. The only thing that's wrong with the create a character feature? Still no double bladed lightsabers. How can I make a cloakless Darth Maul if he's missing his trademark weapon? But I digress.

The game isn't all on foot. You'll also pilot ships and get into big space battles....where you can move in any direction except up or down. These sequences aren't really my cup of tea to be honest. The only reason I don't like them is because it's so dependant on you collecting bombs and blowing passages to get through to the next area. It's even worse in Episodes 2 and 5 where you actually have to drag a bomb by rope to reach it's destination. I don't find that business fun. And some Lego 1 gamers are probably asking, Episode 2? Well, the Complete Saga has remodeled the podrace sequence of ep.1, and the Geonosis battle of ep. 2 to have the same flying mechanics of Lego 2's space battles. But not to worry, there are a ton of extra bonus levels you can unlock, and two of them are the original levels from Lego Star Wars 1. The original battle of Geonosis is sooo much funner than the new one.

Extras a plenty in the Complete Saga. I'm telling you, ANYTHING that was in the past two games is still alive and well in this game. Even that teaser "A New Hope" level from the first Lego game is there to play. They even threw in an extra Episode 1 level that isn't part of the main room. In it you control Anakin as he destroys the Trade Federation's main battleship. It's fun...if you like the ship bombing stuff anyway. There are a plenty of new cheats to find and unlock, and you will be spending a long, long time collecting all of the hidden secrets in every level. Along with Mini-Kits, cheat blocks, Jedi meters to max out, and bounty hunter missions (which are painfully easy on every Ep. 1-3 level by the way) you now get time trial matches which weren't in the original games. Basically you've given a certain time limit to find 10 or so different pieces in your selected level. It's definitely challenging and a nice little addition to those who've mastered the first two games.

The gameplay has pretty much stayed the same though some elements of the levels from the first 3 episodes have changed. They've added Stormtrooper and Bounty Hunter doors and even changed where some of the mini-kit locations. They've also added a new powerup to the game. Through the levels now you'll find this pink orb that not only makes your attack power stronger, it makes you invincible and faster overall until it wears off. Now why they did this I have no idea. Were people finding the game difficult? It's not like you can ever die. Anytime your health gets depleted you just respawn. You'll lose Lego Studs, but that's really the only consequence. You can still die quite a bit and earn the True Jedi rank. This is a game for the whole family....difficulty is pretty much non-existant if you ask me. Which is kind of a problem because you don't really get a sense of accomplishment from beating the game. It's more a matter of "finally" than it is a "Yes I did it!". If they were gonna repackage the game like this, why not throw in a lives option so that you can actually get a game over?

And one last complaint I have with the game is that your AI partners in single player just aren't much of a help. Sometimes your force powers or building abilities take quite a while to get what you want done. Enemies will then take this oppurtunity to constantly respawn and cause you trouble. If you get hit during a bit 10 second building animation, the building blocks just reset back to as if they weren't touched, which means you need 10 seconds of peace to do whatever. Your AI partners are there for show. They never get aimed at by enemies, they can't hurt enemies or even knock them over. Bad guys always go for you. Unless you're a droid anyway. If you aren't a droid, their priority is ALWAYS on you. It's a pain....especially in a particular Death Star room on Ep. 4. Just saying. But hey, if you got a buddy he can take some of the fire off of you. 2 Player co-op ladies and gents! But it does beg the question....why not 4 player co-op? But I digress.

The presentation of this game is pretty damn superb. If you haven't seen the cutscenes yet I'd recommend buying the game just for that. To see classic Star Wars moments reanacted by some speechless cute lego characters...it's a sight to behold. The only thing I don't like about the graphics....as great as they are, the legos are so shiny and glossy that it's kind of annoying. I don't know of any Lego that's that shiny. Nevertheless, the game looks as it should. They've detailed such simple building blocks very well, and hey if you're expecting a Bioshock kinda game....you're insane. Audio wise we get treated to the brilliant John Williams soundtrack, which is so surprising with a Star Wars game. I never thought I'd see that! I kid but it's used really well. Fits every level it's in, and it's truly a joy to your ears. Also Ep. 3 music is actually in the Ep. 3 levels this time around. See back when Lego Star Wars came out, Revenge of the Sith hadn't even come out. So they didn't have any episode 3 music to use...now they do, and it's nice to have.

The game is what it is. Lego Star Wars 1 and 2 on the same disc. But it's got so many extra parts and improvements that it kinda makes me mad I already bought the first two games. Regardless if I've played the game already, it's still a brilliant tribute to Star Wars, and if you haven't played this you absolutely need to. Also I have to give mention to one achievement they put in the game. Crowd Pleaser. How do you unlock it? Kill Jar Jar Binks 20 times. My eyes lit up when I saw that. That's all kinds of awesome. Oh and the trailer for Lego Indiana Jones is on the disc...and the best part? When you watch it you unlock Indy himself! Han Solo and Indy in co-op anyone? This game is amazing.

IN THE END...
A brilliant tribute to Star Wars....that you might've already played. The extras and improvements make for a perfect Lego game. It has great gameplay, great humour, and tons upon tons of replayability. Just hope you didn't buy the first two already.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/08, Updated 02/01/08

Game Release: Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (US, 11/06/07)