Surprisingly fun and addicting, the sequel to the first Lego Star Wars captured my imagination, and took quite a few hours to beat! There are many things to do, and you must be fairly skilled at puzzles to succeed. Keep in mind, this game is made for little kids too, so it's not that hard. Even if you're really good at it, it'll still take a lot of time, and you'll get a lot of gameplay out of it. This time, you play through Episodes IV, V, and VI, re-enacted with little Lego characters. These little Lego people throw in many more antics than were in the movies, but this new humor adds a nice touch, although it is a bit lame at times. At first, I was a little annoyed by these cutscenes (especially because you can't skip them!), but after a while, they were quite enjoyable, and gave me a nice break from all the action. The gameplay itself doesn't always follow the Star Wars action, but it's the only way you can actually get six levels out of each episode, and I'm okay with that (no matter how inaccurate it gets). As the campaign itself isn't that long, you will find yourself having to play it over multiple times to discover all of its secrets. For example, there are 'extras' that you must first unlock by finding them (one per level, eighteen in all), and then buy them in the Mos Eisley Cantina. You can also find Minikits, pieces that, after finding all ten per level, will create a mini-model of a Star Wars vehicle (which are actual Lego sets, too). Additionally, there are many characters, basically everyone ever seen in the original Star Wars trilogy, which you can also buy in the cantina. Once you have the characters, you can play as them either in the Cantina or in a Free Play level. What's cool about these characters is that they each have a specific class (jedi, sith, bounty hunter, etc.) that can do specific things and get you into special areas. The Mos Eisley Cantina is the place where you start off, showcase everything you've done so far, and buy new features for studs (the currency in this game, which you pick up in the levels). The studs cool little idea, represented by shiny silver (worth 10), gold (worth 100), blue (worth 1000), and purple (worth 10000). You can get them by doing different things like destroying things, building things, and finding them in random places in a level. While most characters and extras cost between a couple thousand and a couple ten thousands, the really good things (score multipliers and special characters like the ghost jedi from the end of Episode VI) cost in the millions! As you can see, it takes a while to fully complete this game. The best thing of all is the gold brick, a special item that you earn by doing different tasks. In each level, you'll get a gold brick for beating the level on Story Mode, getting a certain amount of money on both Story Mode and Free Play, and completing the Minikit (getting all ten hidden pieces). You also have to buy some gold bricks from the cantina, and do some odd tasks/special missions to get the rest. In total, you can have 99 of them, when you'll get a special 'thing' (I'm about 10 bricks away from actually getting it for myself). Before then, you can build special portals to secret levels and special missions. I love how many things there are to do with this game, and I'm already about 90% done with it! Because of the fact that the money isn't always shared, there's a lot of 'I call those ones!' which, obviously, leads to, 'Hey! That was mine!' In summary, it's worth your money, and a great buy for any age!
