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This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Evan Lahti.

As the game prepares to release across multiple platforms in the US on September 12, we've brought you new screenshots from LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy today. Offering less-linear levels than the original, along with other features like being able to swap LEGO pieces between more than 60 playable characters, the title should be a hit among Star Wars' army of fans.

This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Lego Star Wars for the GameCube, despite releasing six months after its sister versions for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, is the same fun adventure you’ve experienced before. It’s got the primary characters for all of the first three episodes; it’s got gorgeous, realistic environments that Star Wars is known for; and it’s got a plethora of little tricks, force powers, extras, and secrets, and thanks to the GC version, it’s now got them – intact – on the market’s most family-friendly console. If this seems like a recipe for success, it is.

Lego Star Wars comes complete with the saga’s first three episodes, a bonus “episode”, and a ton of goodies to collect, including character biographies, tips, and gameplay extras (super large blasters, moustaches, invincibility, and about a dozen more). The game begins by casting players as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (you can “tag” characters to determine whom you’d rather control) and sets them in Dexter’s Diner, the HQ of Lego Star Wars. Characters you unlock as you proceed throughout all the episodes will appear in the Diner and you’ll then be able to use them in free mode, but as you first begin, you’re stuck in story mode with only one episode and one level available: Episode I, level one. Each episode has at least five levels, and each level can only be unlocked by playing through its proceeding one. The fact that Traveller’s Tales connected all the episodes to the Diner and then encouraged players to experiment with the surroundings is more than cute, as it quickly gets the game’s main point across: to proceed in this version of the Star Wars universe, you’ll have to use the force – a lot. Each item in the Diner is surrounded by a green aura as players position Qui-Gon in front of it; the green symbolizes that the item is “force-ready”, which means that players can use the force to float the item and shake it until coins – currency used for purchasing extras – pop out. After you’re done exploding soda cups and attacking Obi-Wan, it’s time to head through the first door and begin your Star Wars adventure.

Each level in Lego Star Wars is gorgeous, intricately detailed, and very befitting of the Star Wars universe. As each episode only sports five-six levels, each level is chosen for portraying some sort of important, action-packed event, so you’ll run through swamps (stopping only to marvel at your reflection in small pools), fly through space (while admiring all the bright explosions and swarming enemy vehicles), and fight through hordes of enemy droids to approach Darth Maul, Count Dooku, or even Darth Vader, and all in style. Though the environments are realistic, they’re full of lego objects and parts just waiting to be assembled by someone strong in the force, and a lot of these objects can be adjusted to enable players to reach secret locations and obtain extra goodies; in this regard, level layouts cleverly accommodate these bonuses without paying for it in loss of realism, as areas feature scorching hot lava pools, gentle patches of smoke, and beautiful overhead skies.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Chances are that when you first heard about Lego Star Wars, you were a bit skeptical, especially if you played the terrible Super Bombad Racing, which was also geared towards children. While the game’s premise, familiar Star Wars characters in Lego form, might not seem like the best idea for a game, it works remarkably well. It’s fast-paced, accessible to a wide age group, and above all else, fun.



The developer, Traveller’s Tales, has done an excellent job of making the game enjoyable for all age groups. Certainly the character design appeals to a younger crowd, as does the basic gameplay, but the older crowd will enjoy the story, inside jokes, and the challenge of going back into levels they’ve already beaten to find hidden items and unlock the game’s many secrets. Lego Star Wars doesn’t focus on just one film in the saga, but instead devotes equal time to the three newer movies, Episodes I, II, and III.

The game begins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in a hub area, where you can purchase hints and unlockable characters using the currency you found in the levels. After heading through the Episode I door, you enter another hub area, where six doors represent each chapter of the movie. The levels follow the basic storyline of the movie, focusing on the exciting parts, and moving things along at a brisk pace. Rest assured there is no playable scene where you must argue about the ramifications of a trade dispute in front of the senate here.

In each level you start with a couple of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Qui-Gon is powerful, Obi-Wan is quick, Jar-Jar can jump high, droids can open doors, Anakin can crawl through ducts, and Amidala can use a grappling hook and fire a blaster. Switching between characters is as simple as walking up to the one you want to use and pressing the triangle button. As you make your way through each level, you’ll use the force to move blocks, open doors, and solve simple puzzles. There is some platform jumping here and there, but thankfully it’s not a whole lot, because the game’s camera really isn’t conducive to that style of gameplay.

Combat is a breeze, which is a good thing because you’ll be taking out hundreds of bad guys while saving the galaxy. There’s one attack button, which will swing your lightsaber or fire your blaster, one jump button, and another to use the force push. Despite these simple controls there are many moves available, though many of the lightsaber moves only happen in certain situations. You can reflect blaster fire with a well-timed swing of your lightsaber, and it’s quite rewarding to watch the droid that made the mistake of firing at you pay for that mistake by getting blown up by his own shot.

There are no “lives” to lose in the game; it just costs you some of your money when you die. After you’re killed, some of the Lego pieces you’ve collected fall to the ground (like in Sonic the Hedgehog) and you can scramble about quickly after respawning to pick some of them back up, making your death a bit easier on the wallet.

One of the game’s key focal points is co-op play, which is an absolute blast to play. You and a friend can play through the levels fighting hordes of droids and solving puzzles together.

After you beat a level, you can go back with any character you’ve unlocked to search for hidden items, or collect currency. Some things can only be reached by specific characters, so it will be necessary to head back to each level a couple of times to find everything. Fortunately the levels are so much fun that revisiting them doesn’t feel like a chore; a rare feat for a game that has so much to collect.

In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, all of the characters in the game are made from Lego. It might look a little odd at first, but the unique design actually works, and feels right at home in this game. All of the characters are easy to recognize, even in their Lego forms, and with 30 unlockable characters there are sure to be some pleasant surprises when you unlock them all.

Lego Star Wars is a gorgeous game with backgrounds and special effects that one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see based on the simple character design. The levels are faithfully recreated from their movie counterparts, and they simply look terrific, even the water in the game looks great. The framerate is smooth, and the draw distance is also quite impressive.

Other than the occasional scream when someone dies, there’s no voiceacting in the game, and the characters all convey emotion via facial expressions and body language. This works really well, and when you realize that this means you don’t have to listen to Jar-Jar Binks, you’ll be singing the praises of whoever decided against using voices.

Of course, all of the sound effects from the movies are here; lightsabers, blasters, and droids all sound exactly as they should. The soundtrack is also lifted straight from the movies, and is used to effectively to convey a sense of danger and urgency when it kicks in as you enter a room.



The game’s camera, which is rather unfriendly in the single-player mode, works quite a bit better when two people are playing at once. It’s not really much different, but since it moves so infrequently, it makes it easy to move around large rooms while far apart from one another. It would be nice when you’re controlling the same characters at the same time for them to at least have different colored uniforms, or an indicator letting you know who is who, but that’s not in the game as of yet. You can also “accidentally” kill your partner, which happens from time to time since it can be tough not to hit him when fighting in close quarters. It’s nice to be able to kill him when he screws up and makes you angry, but it’s not so much fun when you’re close together, working to take out a bad guy, or when he bumps you off a ledge when turning on his lightsaber.

In addition to fighting on-foot, Lego Star Wars has numerous vehicles that you can pilot throughout the game. These sequences just aren’t as much fun as the rest of the game; they’re frustrating, and not being able to skip in-race cutscenes makes them grow old quickly. The flying sequences aren’t too bad, but the pod-race is pretty painful if you’re not very good at racing titles.

The game’s so enjoyable that going back to previously completed levels to collect more items is fun, and doesn’t feel like a chore. People that are strongly opposed to collecting items won’t get the same replay value as others, but a little Lego Darth Vader is good incentive to find every item in the game.



If you’ve got someone else to play with, especially a younger sibling or a child, Lego Star Wars is the ideal game. It’s challenging enough to keep your attention, and the unique design allows stronger players to take charge and lead a lesser player through a level. If you’re a parent, this means your kids can save your hide and get you through the hard parts. Even if you’ve got nobody else to play with, but you’re a fan of the series, the game is worth a purchase. Traveller’s Tales and Eidos should be commended for taking a chance on a game concept that many people don’t initially find appealing, and making it enjoyable.

The gameplay hides surprising depth for a game of this genre.

Surprisingly pretty graphics and some nice special effects.

Extra points for not having Jar-Jar speak. Music is of course great.

If you’ve got someone to play with, this game is a blast.

The game makes collecting items fun with some cool unlockables.

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Games based on the Star Wars franchise have always been a hit or miss proposition. For every Knights of the Old Republic there’s a Super Bombad Racing, and for every Rogue Squadron, there’s usually a handful of horrible GameBoy games shoveled out to retail. Many eyebrows, including my own, were raised when Eidos announced that they would be publishing Lego Star Wars, a game featuring the familiar Star Wars saga with Lego characters and ships. But, after some extensive playtime with the game, I am happy to say that the force is strong with this one.

Lego Star Wars is being developed by Traveller’s Tales, a group with several Disney games under their belt, so you might assume that this game is being designed with kids in mind. Well, yes and no. The developers have done an excellent job of making the game enjoyable for all age groups. Certainly the character design appeals to a younger crowd, as does the basic gameplay, but the older crowd will enjoy the story, inside jokes, and the challenge of going back into levels they’ve already beaten to find hidden items and unlock the game’s many secrets.

One of the nice things about Lego Star Wars is that it doesn’t focus on just one film in the saga, but instead devotes equal time to the first three episodes. This preview will focus on Episode I, with later updates taking a look at the other movies covered in the game. I’d happily talk about Episode III now, but Eidos would of course, be forced to lock me in a room with Jar-Jar for the rest of my life.

The game begins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in a hub area, where you can purchase hints and unlockable characters using the currency you found in the levels. After heading through the Episode I door, you enter another hub area, where six doors represent each chapter of the movie. The levels follow the basic storyline of the movie, focusing on the exciting parts, and moving things along at a brisk pace. Rest assured there is no playable scene where you must argue about the ramifications of a trade dispute in front of the senate here.

In each level you start with a couple of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Qui-Gon is powerful, Obi-Wan is quick, Jar-Jar can jump high, droids can open doors, Anakin can crawl through ducts, and Amidala can use a grappling hook and fire a blaster. Switching between characters is as simple as walking up to the one you want to use and pressing the triangle button. As you make your way through each level, you’ll use the force to move blocks, open doors, and solve simple puzzles. There is some platform jumping here and there, but thankfully it’s not a whole lot, because the game’s camera really isn’t conducive to that style of gameplay.

Combat is a breeze, which is a good thing because you’ll be taking out hundreds of bad guys while saving the galaxy. There’s one attack button, which will swing your light saber or fire your blaster, one jump button, and another to use the force push. Despite these simple controls there are many moves available, though many of the light saber moves only happen in certain situations. You can reflect blaster fire with a well timed swing of your light saber, and it’s quite rewarding to watch the droid that made the mistake of firing at you pay for that mistake by getting blown up by his own shot.

There are no “lives” to lose in the game; it just costs you some of your money when you die. After you’re killed, some of the Lego pieces you’ve collected fall to the ground (like in Sonic the Hedgehog) and you can scramble about quickly after respawning to pick some of them back up, making your death a bit easier on the wallet.

One of the game’s key focal points is co-op play, which is an absolute blast to play. You and a friend can play through the levels fighting hordes of droids and solving puzzles together. The game’s camera, which is rather unfriendly in the single-player mode, works quite a bit better when two people are playing at once. It’s not really much different, but since it moves so infrequently, it makes it easy to move around large rooms while far apart from one another. It would be nice when you’re controlling the same characters at the same time for them to at least have different colored uniforms, or an indicator letting you know who is who, but that’s not in the game as of yet. You can also “accidentally” kill your partner, which happens from time to time since it can be tough not to hit them when fighting in close quarters. It’s nice to be able to kill them when they screw up and make you angry, but it’s not so much fun when you’re close together, working to take out a bad guy, or when they bump you off a ledge when turning on their light saber.

In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, all of the characters in the game are made from Lego. It might look a little odd at first, but the unique design actually works, and feels right at home in this game. All of the characters are easy to recognize, even in their Lego form, and with 30 unlockable characters, there are sure to be some pleasant surprises when you unlock them all.

Lego Star Wars is a gorgeous game with backgrounds and special effects that one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see based on the simple character design. The levels are faithfully recreated from their movie counterparts, and they simply look terrific, even the water in the game looks great. The framerate is smooth, and the draw distance is also quite impressive.

Of course, all of the sound effects from the movies are here; light sabers, blasters, and droids all sound exactly as they should. The soundtrack is also lifted straight from the movies, and is used to effectively to convey a sense of danger and urgency when it kicks in as you enter a room.




Count me in as one of the converted when it comes to Lego Star Wars. After enduring Bombad Racing, it’s tough to think such creative license could be successfully applied to the Star Wars franchise, but Traveller’s Tales looks to be doing an outstanding job. It’s already the best co-op I’ve played on the PlayStation 2, and even though it’s not finished yet, it’s one of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played.