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 many 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", 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.

Gameplay
There are a total of 59 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 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 and his bodyguards. 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 free play. You can even have good and evil team up, such as Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul, despite the fact that Darth Maul is the one who killed Qui-Gon Jinn. The free play option will only appear when the player finishes a level. Levels that are played in vehicles cannot be played in free play. Some characters, such as Chancellor Palpatine, the PK droid, and the Gonk Droid, can't do anything but walk, but the droids, including protocol droids and astromech droids, will not be attacked by a computer enemy.

Much of the game revolves around collecting "studs," small LEGO pieces that are used as an in-game currency.

Characters in the GameCube, PS2, Xbox and PC versions
There are a total of 59 characters for LEGO Star Wars, 56 in the GameCube, PS2, Xbox and PC versions. The three missing are Gungan, Tusken Raider and STAP, playable in the GBA version. Every character has an ability, (with the exception of Chancellor Palpatine, the Gonk droid, and the PK droid); when ever you enter free play, you get one character per ability, not including the two you choose. There are also some characters in the cutscenes that appear but are unplayable such as Boss Nass, Mawhonic, Watto, and Kaminoans.

Levels
Featuring a total of 17 levels, as well as one bonus level, the game plays out in a fairly standard 3D platform fashion. However, each episode also features a vehicle-based level, which runs to a predefined route. In the case of Episode I and III this takes the form of a behind-the-vehicle view, whereas in Episode II the action is played out in an isometric view.

Sequel
A sequel, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, has been released covering the last three movies in the saga, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The sequel was released on the 12th of September, 2006.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which combines the levels from LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II, was released. The original prequel levels were updated to include powerbricks, vehicles, and other aspects found in LEGO Star Wars II. Additionally, new playable characters, such as Watto and Boss Nass were added, and the deleted level involving the pursuit of Zam Wesell.