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Lego Star Wars brings a unique feel to the Star Wars universe while at its core the game is basically a hack and slash action adventure game, environments and characters look and feel as though some one has digitized the Lego Star Wars sets from your favorite toy store. The designers have done an amazing job keeping the not only the feel of both Star Wars and of Lego but keeping the visual style of both. This is no easy task as Lego is know for its bricks where Star Wars is know for its amazing visual effects. These two would not seem to be an ideal combination for a video game but some how not only does it work, it works well. The game's characters are easily recognizable to any fan of the Star Wars universe but with their square bodies and rounded heads are still instantly recognizable as Lego. The real fun in the visuals comes as you play though the game, for example, as each enemy dies rather then a bloody and gory death as in many modern games they meet their ends breaking apart in to their component bricks.

The game has two basic modes. The first is free play mode where you can play though previous levels with a variety of unlocked characters, including those that would be considered ‘evil’ such as Darth Maul and even Lord Vader himself. The other mode available for play is the story mode. Here you play though the prequel movies taking the role of the good characters, from Obi Wan Kenobi to Chewbacca, each having there unique abilities, from Obi Wan’s force push to Jar Jar’s ability to jump up on to high places. These can come in handy opening up areas and getting to those tough to get at items and places. There is a large variety of characters, from Jedi’s to clones, but many are just reskined models. For example R2-D2 and R4-P17 have the same abilities but a different look. This is understandable, though, as many of these characters are just flavor in free play and are there for people who prefer a bit of change.

At its core the gameplay is just a hack and slash game with constant attacking, jumping and a few special attacks. During gameplay players have access to either one or two characters that are easily switched between, each with their unique abilities and attributes. These attributes can prove vital to gathering hidden items and opening areas for further play. The goals are fairly basic and standard in video games, move from point to point, kill the enemies and complete the objective of each level to an eventual confrontation with the big bad guy at the end (hmm come to think of it that sums up most movie plots too). The story mode contains fourteen individual levels each with numerous missions across three stages representing one of the prequel movies. This model makes for a fairly easy game to get though. While you could probably play though the game in one day of heavy play, most players will like the ease with which this game can be picked up and put down. This is one of my favorite aspects of this game, and something I feel is very important in a portable game.

The game is missing some things that I would have liked to have seen, such as the vehicle chases and battles that really make the Star Wars universe. I would have loved to see the pod racing from Episode I or the space battles of Episode III. Sadly these were striped down to a series of cutscenes. While this doesn’t make the game any less, these aspects would have made a good game that much better. However, this omission is understandable as it would be like creating another game with in the game and certainly would have added to the complexity of the game and it's design, something that is not always good on a portable device.

There are lots of Star Wars games and Lego games for the GBA here these two different licensees have combined to create a fun and entertaining game. While this game is not as deep as I might have liked it, it still provides more then enough gameplay to cover you though a long flight. This game delvers on all fronts it’s a fast action packed game with a good though well know story and great visuals. I recommend this game for all fans of Star Wars, Lego, or anyone just looking for a good fast paced action adventure game.