Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
That's no moon... it's a Lego Space Station...
Posted November 13, 2007
Star Wars turned 30 this year, and LucasArts is celebrating by releasing Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga on multiple platforms, including the Nintendo DS. The Complete Saga retells the stories of all six Star Wars films via action sequences populated with Legos. It seems like a silly concept, but it works rather well and is downright humorous at times. Unfortunately, the DS version of Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy was a poor effort, to be honest… so the release of this game meets with some skepticism from fans of the franchise. Is the Force finally with DS owners?
Gameplay
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga puts players in the roles of key characters during key sequences from each of the six movies. Each movie is broken up into five chapters that are basically dramatizations of each film’s biggest sequences. You’ll relive the duel with Darth Maul, fight on Geonosis, participate in the final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and much, much more. In order to get through each episode, you’ll have to do battle against the worst that the Separatists and the Empire have to throw at you while doing a bit of puzzle solving and item collecting along the way.
Certain characters have exclusive abilities. Jedi characters use lightsabers and can use the Force to manipulate objects. Blaster-wielding characters can use grappling hooks to reach otherwise inaccessible places. Droids can unlock certain doors. Even young Anakin has the ability to crawl through small spaces and reach certain areas. You’ll need to use each character wisely to uncover all of the hidden items that each episode contains, and you’ll need to play through each chapter more than once to find everything. There are minikits (which are used to build exclusive vehicles), red Power Bricks (which unlock special features), and a slew of Lego Studs, which are the currency used to buy all sorts of items from the shop at the game’s hub, the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Most of the chapters are action sequences, with a decided emphasis on combat and a few puzzles thrown in that must be solved in order to proceed. In terms of combat, there’s not a lot of frustration to be had because players have unlimited lives and respawn at the point where they were killed. Some of the boss battles are a bit more involved; for example, battling Darth Maul requires use of the Force as well as lightsaber action. The puzzles range from building bridges or walkways from adjacently-placed Lego pieces to activating switches. There are multiple paths through many of the episodes, which also encourages replays of each chapter. A few vehicle-based sequences help to break up the action, such as the Mos Espa Pod Race and the Death Star Run. These sequences move from a side-scrolling perspective to a top-down look, which takes some getting used to.
The play control here is easy to learn and handles like a charm, for the most part. The B button handles jumps and the Y button attacks. The A button is for special abilities, like using the Force for Jedi characters. The controls can change subtly for certain characters; for example, holding down the Y button allows Jedi characters to deflect blaster fire. There are a few times when double jumps don’t seem to register, which makes certain jumping sequences a little tougher than they should be, but this is a minor gripe.
If you have a friend that has a copy of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, you can tackle the game cooperatively, much like the console versions. When playing solo, the other characters are computer-controlled, and sometimes don’t do the brightest things. Playing with a friend negates this effect and certainly makes the game even more fun. Multiplayer action is limited to two players only, however.
Graphics
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga does a respectable job of executing the general look of the console-based games, considering the limitations of the Nintendo DS platform. It looks about on par with a early-generation PlayStation game, with a frame rate of about 30 frames per second and some considerable pixelization. The Lego influence is obvious in a lot of the chapters, and yet it’s very easy to see the replication of the settings from each of the films.
The cutscenes that tell the story before and after each chapter unfortunately did not make a good transition from other versions. Rather than using full-motion video to keep the original cutscenes intact, this game uses a more archaic method of storytelling sequences, with weak and limited animations. It all looks very forced and, in turn, these sequences lose some of their humor as a result. There isn’t an option to skip over these cutscenes, either, which is unfortunate.
Sound
Much like the console versions of this game, the Nintendo DS version of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga has some excellent sound. Authentic sound effects are constantly heard; blaster fire, TIE fighters, lightsabers, and more sound great either through the DS speakers or through headphones. Compressed samples from John Williams’ movie soundtracks are here and really add to the experience. Due to memory limitations, the music tends to loop some and becomes repetitive after awhile, but that’s fine when you hear those familiar themes in their original form, instead of in a computer-generated format. There aren’t many voice samples in the game, but you won’t find voice work in any other versions of this game.
The Final Verdict
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a great portable game, with solid play control, good graphics, excellent sound, and loads of replay value. Playing through the entire game the first time will take several hours, and then replays of each chapter extend that time. Aside from the main game, there are unlockable minigames, the ability to create mixed and unique characters built from parts of existing characters, and an army of characters that can be bought at the shop. The game doesn’t rely on difficulty to extend its replay value, either. You don’t need a strategy guide to play it; it’s one of the most accessible games around and appeals to gamers of all skill levels.
This game is easily deserving of a spot on your holiday wish list, provided you can wait that long to play it. LucasArts and Travellers’ Tales have been a great job of making the Lego Star Wars experience portable and a genuine blast to play.
Gameplay
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga puts players in the roles of key characters during key sequences from each of the six movies. Each movie is broken up into five chapters that are basically dramatizations of each film’s biggest sequences. You’ll relive the duel with Darth Maul, fight on Geonosis, participate in the final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and much, much more. In order to get through each episode, you’ll have to do battle against the worst that the Separatists and the Empire have to throw at you while doing a bit of puzzle solving and item collecting along the way.
Certain characters have exclusive abilities. Jedi characters use lightsabers and can use the Force to manipulate objects. Blaster-wielding characters can use grappling hooks to reach otherwise inaccessible places. Droids can unlock certain doors. Even young Anakin has the ability to crawl through small spaces and reach certain areas. You’ll need to use each character wisely to uncover all of the hidden items that each episode contains, and you’ll need to play through each chapter more than once to find everything. There are minikits (which are used to build exclusive vehicles), red Power Bricks (which unlock special features), and a slew of Lego Studs, which are the currency used to buy all sorts of items from the shop at the game’s hub, the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Most of the chapters are action sequences, with a decided emphasis on combat and a few puzzles thrown in that must be solved in order to proceed. In terms of combat, there’s not a lot of frustration to be had because players have unlimited lives and respawn at the point where they were killed. Some of the boss battles are a bit more involved; for example, battling Darth Maul requires use of the Force as well as lightsaber action. The puzzles range from building bridges or walkways from adjacently-placed Lego pieces to activating switches. There are multiple paths through many of the episodes, which also encourages replays of each chapter. A few vehicle-based sequences help to break up the action, such as the Mos Espa Pod Race and the Death Star Run. These sequences move from a side-scrolling perspective to a top-down look, which takes some getting used to.
The play control here is easy to learn and handles like a charm, for the most part. The B button handles jumps and the Y button attacks. The A button is for special abilities, like using the Force for Jedi characters. The controls can change subtly for certain characters; for example, holding down the Y button allows Jedi characters to deflect blaster fire. There are a few times when double jumps don’t seem to register, which makes certain jumping sequences a little tougher than they should be, but this is a minor gripe.
If you have a friend that has a copy of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, you can tackle the game cooperatively, much like the console versions. When playing solo, the other characters are computer-controlled, and sometimes don’t do the brightest things. Playing with a friend negates this effect and certainly makes the game even more fun. Multiplayer action is limited to two players only, however.
Graphics
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga does a respectable job of executing the general look of the console-based games, considering the limitations of the Nintendo DS platform. It looks about on par with a early-generation PlayStation game, with a frame rate of about 30 frames per second and some considerable pixelization. The Lego influence is obvious in a lot of the chapters, and yet it’s very easy to see the replication of the settings from each of the films.
The cutscenes that tell the story before and after each chapter unfortunately did not make a good transition from other versions. Rather than using full-motion video to keep the original cutscenes intact, this game uses a more archaic method of storytelling sequences, with weak and limited animations. It all looks very forced and, in turn, these sequences lose some of their humor as a result. There isn’t an option to skip over these cutscenes, either, which is unfortunate.
Sound
Much like the console versions of this game, the Nintendo DS version of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga has some excellent sound. Authentic sound effects are constantly heard; blaster fire, TIE fighters, lightsabers, and more sound great either through the DS speakers or through headphones. Compressed samples from John Williams’ movie soundtracks are here and really add to the experience. Due to memory limitations, the music tends to loop some and becomes repetitive after awhile, but that’s fine when you hear those familiar themes in their original form, instead of in a computer-generated format. There aren’t many voice samples in the game, but you won’t find voice work in any other versions of this game.
The Final Verdict
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a great portable game, with solid play control, good graphics, excellent sound, and loads of replay value. Playing through the entire game the first time will take several hours, and then replays of each chapter extend that time. Aside from the main game, there are unlockable minigames, the ability to create mixed and unique characters built from parts of existing characters, and an army of characters that can be bought at the shop. The game doesn’t rely on difficulty to extend its replay value, either. You don’t need a strategy guide to play it; it’s one of the most accessible games around and appeals to gamers of all skill levels.
This game is easily deserving of a spot on your holiday wish list, provided you can wait that long to play it. LucasArts and Travellers’ Tales have been a great job of making the Lego Star Wars experience portable and a genuine blast to play.