Game Boy Advance

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

I love Lego building blocks. Seriously, who doesn't? They're so damn versatile and allow you to create almost anything you could ever imagine — that's the kind of toy that will literally endure forever. I've spent hours whiling away my time building elaborate castles, constructing unique vehicles, as well as piecing together various ships from the Star Wars universe.

Last year, Amaze surprised the heck out of us -- or rather, me -- with its Game Boy Advance rendition of the wonderfully clever, original Lego Star Wars console game design. Sure it had to be developed with restrictions, and sure the game wasn't quite as variety filled as the bigger console productions. But darn it, those guys did a great job capturing all the elements that made LEGO Star Wars so darn cool on the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. What a shame those games had to be based on the -- shudder -- prequel trilogy instead of the Original Series.

Anyone with a Game Boy Advance that's remotely interested in the Star Wars franchise will probably get a kick out of Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. Watching the three original Star Wars stories play out with characters and scenery composed of Lego bricks is a whimsical treat. But even beyond the charming Lego theme, it's a solidly designed action adventure game. The GBA version may not be as flashy or have as many features as its console counterparts do, but it still contains a healthy amount of the play variety that its so-called big brothers have.

Richtiges Star Wars-Flair entsteht durch die für Game-Boy-Verhältnisse sehr gelungene Musikuntermalung (der Original-Soundtrack ist enthalten) und durch kurze Zwischensequenzen in untertitelter Spielgrafik. Luke Skywalker & Co. werden durch LEGO-Figuren aus der Schräg-von-oben-Perspektive liebevoll in Szene gesetzt. Wer ausschließlich einen Game Boy besitzt und Fan der Filme ist, kann zugreifen, alle anderen holen sich lieber die Fassung für den Game Cube.

If I had to complain about this game, its probably that the plot is so divergent that it becomes familiar settings with totally made up adventures. The graphics can also be a little bland and uninspired at time (which we've seen often from LucasArts). The soundtrack is so catchy its silly and the renditions of the Star Wars themes are tons of fun, but the sound effects are mainly lacking and/or not there at all; the focus is mainly on the soundtrack. All in all, LucasArts was forced to strip a great deal for this portable version of the game. However, they have still surprised me with just how much content they DID get into this game, as this will keep you busy for longer than you'd expect and is actually quite a fun little time. In the end, it's a decent title, considering it very likely could have been a tiny, weak offspring from a winning franchise.

Contrairement à la version DS, on ne trouve ici ni problèmes de maniabilité ni bugs, simplement un jeu dont l'action est de loin trop répétitive pour tenir en haleine sur le long terme. Un gameplay creux à oublier.

For as fun as the console version of the first LEGO Star Wars game was, its GBA counterpart was equally mediocre. Unfortunately for GBA players, things have taken a definite turn for the worse with this much anticipated sequel.