Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga Review

Long, long ago...

Are we the only people who actually like C-3PO and think R2-D2 is a ****?

For those who aren't familiar, the Lego Star Wars games are all about bright, bouncy platform action. You get to play as a wide range of characters from the movies, each with special abilities. There are plenty of puzzles to solve and there's loads of stuff to collect. The co-op mode lets another player join in at any time, and the new PS3 and Xbox 360 versions offer an online co-op option. The games are designed to appeal to a wide range of ages so the level of difficulty isn't very high.

You're best off reading Tom's review of the original title and Kristan's review of the sequel for the full lowdown. Here we're going to focus on the new stuff included in The Complete Saga.

The big thing, at least as far as the Wii version is concerned, is that lightsaber mechanic. The first time you swing the remote and your character swings their saber is a real thrill. Especially when the remote vibrates and you hear the familiar whooshhzzz sound emit from its speaker.

But the novelty does wear off. Combat was never the strong point of the Lego Star Wars games, and chucking in motion-sensing doesn't improve it. True, slicing through enemies with the remote is highly satisfying and much more fun than pressing a button. However, you quickly realise there's no real skill involved. Your character will perform the same moves no matter how you twist the remote. It's also a lot more tiring than pressing a button; older Jedi must suffer from terrible RSI.

Remote possibilities

The remote's speaker emits a nice noise when Amidala uses her blaster.

You can also use the remote along with the Nunchuk to build Lego structures, shaking them to speed up the process. This isn't essential though, and again, the novelty wears off. It might have been nice if you could use the remote to steer vehicles, for example in the Mos Espa podrace level, but there's no option to do this. After an hour or two you'll probably find yourself sticking to traditional button pushing and analogue stick waggling.

The Complete Saga features a handful of new levels. The press blurb lists the new Zam Wessell chase in Episode II as a highlight. It's not. Your vehicle is tricky to control and there's no sense of speed. You spend a lot of time blowing up generators just so you can get on with the race, and the fiddly controls make this tedious.

Some of the characters have new abilities - for example, Qui-Gon can use the Force to throw a single droid at a big group to take them out. All the prequel characters can build, but you can use Jedi to do this anyway. There are new power-ups, such as the one which extends the range of light sabers. They're nice additions but again, they don't change the game fundamentally.

In the mix

Dun-dun-duddleun, dun-dun-duddleun, dun-dun-duddleun, Dun-Dun-Dun

New playable characters include Watto, Zam Wessell and Boss Nass. There are more than 120 in total, and you can mix and match their body parts as in the other games to create new characters. Fun for kids but we were never big fans of this feature, what with being 30, and being quite mature actually despite Pat going on about how Star Wars is rubbish and one day we'll grow up and realise this and can we stop talking about the ripped robe theory and get on with executing the European content plan please.

All things considered, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga isn't worth buying if you've already played the first two games. Waving the remote like a lightsaber is initially fun, but the mechanic isn't complex enough to keep you engaged for very long. There are some decent extras, but they don't really change the gameplay.