Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy review

Last year, LEGO Star Wars taught us what should have been apparent to everyone from the dawn of the universe - LEGO, Star Wars and video games go together like chocolate, peanut butter and creamy nougat. So it comes as no surprise that this new and improved version of last years kid-friendly darling captivated us from the introductory text crawl (you know... that part where the yellow letters march up the screen telling the harrowing tale of one of the most celebrated trilogies in the galaxy).

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy uses the same basic gameplay as the first with some tweaks to fix up some nagging vehicle control issues. The concept is simple: you control a LEGO version of one of the bajillion characters from Episodes IV, V or VI (or your own custom creation built from parts) and toddle around some deceptively simple platforming levels taken directly from the films. You jump, shoot, slice things up with a lightsaber, slap LEGO bricks together into ladders and stairwells and other helpful constructs and solve surprisingly challenging puzzles. There are vehicles strewn throughout the game that you can hop on at almost any time, although some are much more fun than others (AT-ST Walker = laser-blasting awesomeness).