LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game

LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game is a video game based on the Star Wars-themed toy line by the LEGO Group, taking place during the prequel trilogy (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), and a small segment from A New Hope although all with some humorous sidelines. LEGO Star Wars was released on April 5, 2005, a full month before the final Star Wars film premiered, which surprised most people since the game contains a few spoilers about the movie.

It was developed and published by Traveller's Tales and Giant Entertainment for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Windows, with Griptonite Games developing the Game Boy Advance version. All versions were distributed on April 5, 2005 by Eidos Interactive. It was later released on the Apple Macintosh by Aspyr in August 2005, then on the GameCube in October.

While billed as a "kids game" (a fact that contributes to its status as one of the most underrated games of 2005), it peaked at the top of the UK charts during early May 2005, losing the spot to the official game of Episode III, but remaining on the rest of the month on the top spots of the chart.

There are a total of 57 playable characters. Every playable character, modeled like actual Lego parts (but with far more mobility) has its own unique skills. Jar Jar Binks, General Grievous, and Grievous' Bodyguard, for example, can jump higher than most characters. The 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker,and the 9-10 year old Boba Fett can crawl in narrow or small spaces where other characters are unable to go. The astromech droids R2-D2 and R4-P17 are able to hover over chasms, open certain doors, and disable other droids, excluding General Grievous. Qui-Gon Jinn can swing his saber four times by attacking in the right pattern, instead of three like the other characters. Darth Maul uses a double bladed lightsaber that is slightly faster, and General Grievous has four lightsabers, but cannot use the Force. All of the different Jedi and Sith have their own unique style of lightsaber wielding, and can use the force to solve certain puzzles. Any unlocked character can be found walking around in Dexter's Diner, the area from which you choose what level to enter, excluding the Droideka. LEGO Star Wars also has a feature called 'free play', which enables the player to play the same level again, but with the ability to switch between characters and thus get into areas containing extras the player was unable to get before. A player can use any character in freeplay. You can even have good and evil team up, such as Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul, even though Darth Maul is the one who killed Qui-Gon. The free play option will only appear when the player finishes a level. Levels that are played in vehicles cannot be played in freeplay. Some characters, such as Chancellor Palpatine, the PK droid, and the Gonk Droid, can't do anything but walk, but the droids will not be attacked by a computer enemy. (astromech droids have this too.)

Characters in GameCube, PS2 and Xbox versions
There are a total of 57 characters for Lego Star Wars with 56 on the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox systems. That means that all except one is on the consoles. The one missing is the Tusken Raider. Every character has an ability with the exception of 3. Chancellor Palpatine can jump but that's it. The PK Droid can't do anything except move. The Gonk Droid is very slow and can't jump or do anything, but it is invincible. You always get one or more of every kind of ability with you in Free Play.

The 56 characters for GameCube, PS2 and Xbox are:
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi (Padawan)
 * TC-14
 * Jar Jar Binks
 * Queen Amidala (Padmé in queen outfit)
 * Panaka
 * Padmé Amidala (Padmé in royal outfit)
 * R2-D2
 * Anakin Skywalker (Child)
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Knight)
 * R4-P17
 * Anakin Skywalker (Padawan Learner)
 * Padmé Amidala (Padmé in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones outfit)
 * C-3PO
 * Mace Windu
 * Padmé Amidala (Padmé in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones outfit after being scratched by the Nexu)
 * Yoda
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master)
 * Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Knight)
 * Palpatine
 * Commander Cody
 * Chewbacca
 * Wookiee
 * Darth Vader
 * Stormtrooper
 * Gonk Droid
 * PK Droid
 * Security Battle Droid
 * Battle Droid
 * Battle Droid Commander
 * Droideka
 * Royal Guard
 * Padmé Amidala (Padmé in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith outfit)
 * Darth Maul
 * Clone Trooper
 * Geonosian
 * Geonosian Battle Droid
 * Super Battle Droid
 * Jango Fett
 * Boba Fett
 * Luminara Unduli
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi
 * Kit Fisto
 * Shaak Ti
 * Count Dooku
 * Grievous' Bodyguard
 * General Grievous
 * Episode 3 Clone Trooper
 * Clone Pilot
 * Clone in 501st Legion armor
 * AT-RT Clone Walker Pilot
 * Mace Windu (Mace in a gray outfit)
 * Disguised Clone (Clone Trooper in Jedi Robe)
 * Darth Sidious
 * Rebel Trooper
 * Leia Organa Solo

Game Boy Advance version
The Game Boy Advance version of Lego Star Wars has several differences, (mostly for the sake of portability), including less playable characters (15, see chart below), devalued credits (grey pieces are worth 1, blue 5 and yellow 10 credits), fewer levels and only one player character on screen at a time and cutscenes are renders of the home console versions. However, it still remains a fairly large cartridge (128 mbit).

Characters in the GBA version
All lightsaber users are able to deflect blaster shots aimed at them (provided they are attacking the shot), and each character has his own style. They also are the only ones able to use the force to interact with undeployed platforms and switches. Blaster characters can charge a shot by holding the button, making it stronger and able to pass through several enemies. However, as they don't have the shot deflecting abilities of Jedi, their use is quite limited.
 * Qui-Gon Jinn, lightsaber, force cloak
 * Jar-Jar Binks, energy ball, run, jumps higher than most characters
 * Padmé Amidala, blaster, thermal detonators
 * R2-D2 and R4-P17, mine, can hover chasms and interact with consoles
 * Anakin Skywalker, lightsaber, throw lightsaber
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi, lightsaber, force pull
 * Yoda, lightsaber, force immobilize
 * Chewbacca, blaster, punch
 * Darth Maul, dual bladed lightsaber, force push
 * Jango Fett, blaster, homing missile, can jump and hover chasms
 * Count Dooku, lightsaber, force lightning
 * Clone Trooper, blaster, thermal detonator
 * Darth Vader, lightsaber, lightsaber throw, highest jump in the game
 * Tusken Raider, Gaderffii, punch

note: names in italic are only playable after purchase in free play.