Lego Star Wars

Unquestionably youth oriented, this game wreaks of quirky hilarity and fantastically simple gameplay. For those of us that were a little, or a lot, disappointed with Episodes I and II this game will remedy those woes by letting you play through them sans the painful dialogue, stilted acting, and the inability to kill Jar Jar. Here's the rundown: you (and a friend if you like) play out the battle scenes from each movie, including the upcoming Episode III, as two Lego men. Cutscenes are limited to pantomime that is actually more funny than you'd expect. It sounds stupid, I know, but it isn't. Not convinced? Almost everything in the game's world is constructed of Lego building blocks. This mechanic allows for cool force manipulation, easy puzzles, and enemy deaths that videogame hate groups will hate because they're so damn p.c. that they'll have nothing to bitch about. Force push a droid or gungan or what-have-you and watch his arms pop off, the torso separate from his legs, and his head fly in some direction, all without any gory blood or dismemberment effects. The fighting is the antithesis of complex, as in there's only one button that attacks. Jumping and attacking yields some different effects, but this is no Virtua Fighter, to be sure. If it sounds intriguing but not purchase worthy you couldn't be more correct. The game can be beaten in a single sitting; about 4 hours. But unlocking everything will take a bit more time, which is good to keep our little brothers and sisters happy. And every character you encounter in the movies can eventually be used to play any level. Teaming Yoda and Darth Vader up to kick some ass on Naboo is actually cooler than you think. Plus an unlockable Episode IV level completes this simple, yet inexplicably fun game.