In this review, we use the force in the GameCube game Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. We find out how well this action adventure game plays.
This game was released in 2005 and would be the start of a fairly long series.
The game starts off with Episode 1 and continues all the way to the end of Episode 3. In general, the game follows the storyline as seen in the three movies. The only difference, of course, is that everything is made of Lego.
You play as many different characters. You can play as one of a number of Jedi knights. Jedi knights is generally what you start off with. They have the ability to double-jump, use light sabre’s, and, of course, use the force. In this game, using the force simply involves your character facing an object. If the player can use the force, an aura will appear around that object. You simply use your ability button to use.
There are three different types of objects you can use the force on. The first is just general objects. These objects will move around a bit before relinquishing the items within (generally studs, the currency of the game, but occasionally, they will release hearts to refill your life bar). Other items are simply movable objects. You can move certain items around on the screen on a predetermined path. Sometimes, you are moving around objects to build a stack to reach high up items. Other times, you are completing a display that often drops items as well. Finally, there are switches you can unlock. Either this will relinquish items or it’ll open up new areas in the level.
The second kind of character you can be are androids. Generally, these are R2-D2, C-3PO, or variations of the two characters. Androids generally have the ability to unlock certain doors. Their picture will appear above the doors they are able to unlock. R2-D2 type characters also have the ability to hover over longer gaps.
A third kind of character you can play are friendly soldiers. These characters generally have guns. While this is a great way to take out enemies more directly, they also don’t have as much of an ability to defend themselves as Jedi knights do with their light sabres. A distinctive advantage these characters have, however, is the ability to use grappling hooks. Simply find a red circle and use your ability buttons to grapple onto hooks above. You can reach new areas that are otherwise inaccessible by other characters. Do note that these characters cannot double jump.
Finally, there is Jar Jar Binks. This silent character (yes silent) has the ability to jump higher than any other character. Useful for grabbing particularly high items.
Along the way, you’ll encounter a small number of items you can pick up along the way. The most common item are studs. Silver studs are worth 10. Gold studs are worth 100. Finally, blue studs are worth a whopping 1,000 studs. Obviously, the more valuable the stud is, the rarer it is in the game. These are often found lying around or (more commonly) hidden in objects that must be messed around with with the force or destroyed.
A second item you can pick up are hearts. Generally speaking, you have a maximum capacity of 4 hearts. Get hit and you lose a heart. To restore this health, simply obtain a heart. Sometimes, hearts are found in objects, but most of the time, they are dropped by enemies. Lose all of your hearts and you’ll die. This will cost you some studs, but you’ll reappear and get the chance to reclaim some of these studs.
The final object you can pick up are canisters. Every level has 10 of them. For the most part, it is impossible to collect all of them on the first go around. Instead, you’ll ideally want to go back to those levels in free play mode if you want to obtain every canister.
In your first go around, you’ll have a stud bar. If you fill this bar, you’ll obtain a special part for a vehicle you’ll be building. The more studs you collect, the higher the bar is, so you have an incentive to collect as many studs as possible with this aspect alone.
Along the way, you’ll face a number of different enemies. This can include enemy droids, soldiers, and other hostile enemies. Sometimes, they come in a few at a time, but other times, they’ll attempt to swarm you. Simply take advantage of your characters abilities to take them down. One note is the fact that enemies will generally ignore androids. Just keep in mind that friendly characters will only stun enemies in single player mode, so you do have an incentive to eliminate the threats instead.
In addition to this are a number of different bosses. As you would imagine, there are different methods to take down bosses. What they all have in common, however, is a life bar similar to yours. They’ll have a series of hearts that varies in capacity. Work this down and you’ll take down the enemy boss.
An aspect of this game that you’ll encounter right away is the fact that you have access to Dexter’s Diner. This area acts as a multi-room hub world you can use to access the different levels. Each level you unlock will unlock a respective door. Note that the diner also has plenty of opportunity to top up your collection of studs. Go outside and you’ll see the parking lot that showcases the different ships you are collecting.
Inside, you’ll have a number of different options as well. One of those options is to collect rewards through the “extras” menu. This is where all that stud collecting comes into play outside of building ships. Some upgrades are merely cosmetic. Other upgrades, however, net you some nice advantages in-game. It all depends on how completionist you want to go with this game.
There are a few levels that get you to drive vehicles. One is a pod racing challenge that gets you to race against other pod racers. A few other levels has you flying through auto-scrolling levels similar to the standard bullet-hell style games.
Once you beat a level, you’ll be given the option to re-visit these levels in free play mode. Free play mode allows you to go through the level without cutscenes. A huge bonus is the ability to select from a handful of different characters while in-game. This means that some areas that were inaccessible on the first run will now suddenly be accessible in this mode. Simply scroll through the characters using “L” or “R” at any time.
If you are itching to beat everything this game has to offer, free-play mode is a must – especially while collecting every canister. If you get all 10 canisters, you’ll not only complete a ship, but also get a sizable bonus of studs while you are at it.
Once you beat the three episodes in the game (17 levels in all with two episodes featuring 6 levels while one of the episodes features only 5), you’ll essentially beat the game and be into bonus content at that point.
For me, this was a bit of an oddball game for me personally. The reason for this is because I was skeptical going into this game. When I beat it, I ended up wanting to enjoy this game then I did. This is because this game does feature a nice new take on a Star Wars game, but it ended up being a flawed experience.
The first problem I noticed with this game is the fact that, sometimes, studs would fall through the world. In one instance, my character ended up flying down through the floor, causing me to die in the process. This doesn’t happen that often, but it is present in this game.
Another problem with this game is that the story-telling is a bit spotty throughout. Sure, there is an intro for each level, but the rest of the game features miming cut-scenes. You do get many of the iconic cut-scenes throughout the first three episodes, but the story really only makes any kind of sense if you’ve already seen the movies. Perhaps the developers leaned heavily on the idea that everyone playing this game has already seen the movies. For me, that ends up being a weakness. I understood the story largely because I had already seen the movies. Still, this is a weakness in this game throughout.
Another problem in this game is that it is really easy. There is some minor challenge, but knowing that you simply resurrect in place and can keep playing with little to no consequence, it takes a lot of the challenge out of the game. The only time there is a penalty for dying is in any vehicle mission. This ultimately sets you back to the last checkpoint.
Additionally, the hit boxes can be a bit finicky. Even in the diner, there are a couple of objects that you can lock on to to use the force. However, it requires a bit of wrestling with other objects just to allow you to lock on. This can be a bit annoying at times in all honesty.
Another issue I found with this game is the length. This one took me two half days to complete, so it’s not as though you’ll be spending several days playing through this game. Probably the only thing that saves this is the free play mode that basically forces you to play every level a second time. At that point, it is a case of recycling the game just to make it to a reasonable length.
Finally, the levels often come across as a bit overly simple. It gets the basics of an action adventure game, but apart from atmosphere, I don’t see anything that makes me think this is particularly innovative in the end.
While there are a number of minor negatives to attribute to this game, there are certainly positives. You actually get the drama of the Star Wars movie mixed into a Lego universe. While this seems like something that wouldn’t really work in theory, in this game, it somehow just does. By the time I got to the end of the game, I felt like this is one of those games where it felt like someone’s imagination had run wild. That is largely the point of Lego and it translates really well here.
Another positive I found with this game is the overall variety found in each level. It isn’t the same kind of level over and over again. Instead, most of these levels have their own unique environments. So, in the realm of variety, this game does work quite well.
Finally, this game is very approachable. Anyone can pick up the controller and just start playing this one. The learning curve is generally nice and messages to pop up giving you hints along the way. So, you are never really lost on anything as you play.
Generally speaking, this is an interesting concept of mixing a Lego universe with a Star Wars universe. In this game, that mixture works quite well while giving you the impression that someone’s imagination has clearly run wild. Additionally, the learning curve is quite pleasant which makes this game approachable to many different players. There are some bugs that cause things to fall through the floors, the game is a bit on the easy side, and it is a bit on the short side. Additionally, the level designs are a bit on the simple side. So, there are certainly flaws in this game. I wouldn’t get overly crazy over this game and say it is amazing, but at the same time, you won’t regret playing this title either because it isn’t a bad way to kill a few hours. So, a decent one.
Graphically speaking, this game is pretty solid. The models are largely what you would expect a Lego interpretation of everything would be. There’s some decent glass effects. Additionally, there is a nice variety of environments to see. So, generally speaking, this game offers a nice solid visual experience.
One of the games stronger suits is the audio. Specifically, this game boasts of a nice strong musical soundtrack. This is largely thanks to the game simply borrowing largely from the original film score. So, it’s pretty solid on that front. Additionally, the game uses a lot of the original sound effects from Star Wars for that authentic Star Wars feel. Probably the only thing that this game is lacking is voice work. For me, some voice acting would probably seal the deal for me. Unfortunately, this game falls short on that.
Overall, this game does offer some decent entertainment even if it is a flawed experience. The game is a bit on the easy side, there are glitches with the floors and some of the hit boxes can be annoying. Also, the level designs are a bit simple, the story telling can be a bit spotty, and the overall game ends up being a bit on the short side of things. Still, this game manages to offer a nice authentic Star Wars experience and blend it into a Lego theme quite nicely. The graphics are solid and the audio is good. So, a decent game all around.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Beat the game.
General gameplay: 18/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 70%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
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