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W
hen LEGO branched out
the franchise. I had been brought up on Star Trek,
into franchise titles, I don’t
after all, and was still of the “enjoy this or that”
think even they imagined
mindset, rather than “enjoy everything” one.
there would be so many
titles, let alone two every
I
t might not be the most revered game, or
LEGO Star Wars changed how I felt towards
year! But that first one on PlayStation 2, LEGO
the conflict between the Jedi and Sith. Not that
Star Wars, was fantastic. I bought it, the sequel,
the movies are particularly dense (bear in mind, I
then two copies of the Complete Saga -- or rather,
hadn’t actually seen Episode 1 at this point), but it
my now-wife insisted on a second copy so I didn’t
made it a lot more accessible for me. I had obviously
have to hook up the PlayStation 2 every time.
heard of the characters by 2005, but after hearing
how terrible they were compared to the original
come from the greatest part of the Star Wars
There was something completely magical about
canon, but I still hold dear fond memories of
trilogy, I hadn’t gone out of my way to learn more.
minifigures wielding lightsabers. I’ll admit, I had seen
The Phantom Menace’s official videogame.
the original trilogy but still felt pretty ‘meh’ about
The humour with which LEGO Star Wars
presented the franchise won me over, and I
Picture it: an impressionable young seven-year
old who has had his mind blown by Darth Maul
wound up eventually watching the movies. It was
and Jar Jar Binks (not so much the talk about tax
released a couple of months after my son was
and trade agreements). Then imagine the jealousy
born, so the bright colours were something for
that erupted when he discovered that his best
him to watch too, as I laser blasted, pod-raced and
mate next door now has the game on PC. Evening,
lightsabered my way through the prequel trilogy.
after evening, after evening I would head over and
And up until this point, my now-wife had been
help out with his playthrough, reminiscing about
a gamer, but we had few titles to share. She would
scenes from the film and the “amazing” graphics.
usually just watch me, and as she was also new to
Granted, they look like shit now, but so
Star Wars, she wasn’t too interested until I made
does everything from the ‘90s. Blocky character
her try it out. We spent many hours just listening
designs, bland environments and plenty of
to R2D2 scream as he fell into a pit yet again,
technical glitches, but back in the day it was a
mainly because it made her crack up each time,
AAA experience that I couldn’t believe. Throwing
or one of our characters having to run away as the
droids around using the force, deflecting
other shouted “Grenade!” and tossed a thermal
blaster shots with your lightsaber, and dialogue
detonator at a nearby rock. Being limited to the
choices were enough to blow my tiny mind.
single-screen that didn’t split was hilarious fun.
The Phantom Menace as a film on today’s
You can keep your Super Star Wars’, your
standards may not be much to write home about,
but for me, the game will always be something
Jedi Outcast’s and Force Unleashed’s -- just leave
that conjures up memories of epic proportions.
me with my LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game.
By Andrew Duncan
By Dom D’Angelillo
56 //Star Wars Battlefront Special Edition
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