Really, what's more iconic than Lego Star Wars? There are few games from my childhood that continue to feel fresh and exciting all these years later as a - I'm almost scared to utter this next bit - grown-up. Put it this way: there's a reason that Traveller's Tales have pretty much developed solely Lego games since they found their footing with Lego Star Wars in the mid-2000s. It's because it WORKS. These games are funny, addictive, rewarding and offer hours of fun for the completionists.
Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga is a sort of collection of TT's previous two games, Lego Star Wars The Video Game and Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy. The former was the very first game I ever called my own when I got it with my cherished PlayStation 2 back when I was a kid. My younger brother, the fabled (and often bullied) co-op partner got the latter for his birthday the next year. Safe to say these games remain a picturesque memory of days gone by. Don't take it for granted.
Anyway, this P.C port of The Complete Saga is faithful and more or less still feels sturdy all these years later. The game is almost universally-praised not just because it's fun, but because, in my honest opinion, not even other official Star Wars games have managed to perfectly encompass the brilliance of the stories of the six movies like it does here, even if it sort of functions as one big parody with no dialogue. The magical thing about Star Wars is that the movies are undeniably so action-packed and full of excitement that it translates seamlessly into great level design and gameplay. I won't lie, some of the levels in The Complete Saga do stink, but the majority are unique and pretty well-crafted. Once you've finished the level in story mode, you're free to revisit with any character you want and go after the collectibles to discover. The Complete Saga includes a timed challenge mode (which, to be fair, is totally doable without the need for a guide) as well as super story mode, taken from Lego Star Wars II. These two features don't appear in any further Lego games because they were obvious padding that don't appear to have been well-received.
On consoles, this game allowed online two-player action. As this port is sadly something of a product of its time before P.C gaming became more mainstream, that feature isn't included here, but offline co-op does remain. Mentioning this does prompt me to discuss the shortcomings of The Complete Saga that continue to bother me all these years later. I'll keep it as brief as I can:
- The studs, for some reason, take a little longer to be picked up due to a noticeable delay in their 'activation' after they appear. Seriously, play Lego Batman or Indiana Jones and you'll feel a distinct difference. It feels absolutely gross and damages one of the most satisfying gameplay elements in the game.
- Some audio issues including out-of-sync cutscenes and even entirely missing sounds.
- Because these are two games smashed together, episodes IV, V and VI feel noticeably larger when compared to I, II and III. Personally, I actually like the game's first half better, but that could be nostalgia talking.
- Bizarre decision-making with some of the stud offerings in the game. Break open an innocuous plant and receive two blue studs and a bathtub's worth of other studs. Blow open a metal object with thermal detonators and you get a pitiful gold stud for your effort. It's really, really, distracting and inconsistent design.
And getting a paragraph of its own (you saw this coming, right?) are the VEHICLE LEVELS. Good lord, I want to know what drugs Traveller's Tales were on when they approved these. The design and structure of these stages is so jarring that it feels like someone abruptly opened a different game while I wasn't looking. Your hitbox for collecting studs is way too small, enemy fighters have the precision of terminators, and four hearts just feels overwhelmingly inadequate for levels like this. I actually remember the achievements for Lego Star Wars II on the Xbox 360 requiring you to beat every level without dying. I have no idea how I did it, but I do remember the vehicle levels being borderline impossible. To make the sluggish controls worse, they even make you take collision damage, the jerks. Levels like Falcon Flight and - God help me - Bounty Hunter Pursuit seem designed with the sole intention of pissing you off. I don't know what they were thinking with that second one I just mentioned - I DARE you to try and 100% that level without a guide. Visually an impressive level that tries to be pretty faithful to the Zam Wesell chase scene in Attack Of The Clones, the whole thing is entirely let down by some extremely unprofessional and overzealous game design. I hate to admit it, but yes, there's unfortunately a few levels you'll come across in this game that challenge your supposedly positive opinion of it all. I mean, do people even really LIKE chapters like Speeder Showdown, Retake Theed Palace, Into The Death Star or Mos Eisley Spaceport?
Look, all I'm trying to say is that the game certainly has its high-points and its low-points. I can safely say the enjoyment far outweighs the frustrations, but do be patient and be aware that full completion will likely take at least 24 hours of playtime. The Complete Saga does make some improvements to the original games, of course. There's noticeable colour-correction on some of the scenes in Geonosis, Bespin and Utapau that didn't look quite right in the older games. There's also a huge number of characters to buy and play as, even including some useless morons like Boss Nass and Dexter Jettster.
In a world where we are reminded that things like the Star Wars sequel trilogy exists, there's nothing better than retreating to a game from a time when the Star Wars franchise hadn't been completely destroyed by some of the mis-steps of the prequels. This game offers arguably one of the best ways to play through all of the (proper) Star Wars movies in a consistent and fun way, with the very best of John Williams to keep you company along the way. Go be the True Jedi you deserve to be.
