I’ve always loved the original Indiana Jones movies. How could I resist the chance to play through the movies on my Nintendo DS — and as a Lego creation to boot?

Being a linear sort of person, I looked around the starter area first. Upstairs are doors for each of the first three movies. Only the first door is unlocked to begin with. Downstairs are my classroom and museum.

The museum has an area where I can actually make my own Lego characters. The only problem is that I can’t make something using character parts that I haven’t unlocked by playing through the story. And much like the movies, so far there are only male characters to play. Oh, well. If Indiana weren’t so awesome I would pout; but he is, so I won’t.

I find there also are areas to access extras, multiplayer options and hints, and the classroom has a place to play minigames — but pretty much everything is locked to my starting character ... (right, I’m not pouting ... really).

I haven’t really played many adventure games of this nature. I’m used to clicking on things or mousing over them. I’m not used to smacking things around and having them explode into little Lego pieces. You should have seen Indy’s classroom and the museum area after I went to town with his whip. I think there might have been a few miscellaneous items and the walls left standing. Everything else was history.

One of the cool things about this wanton destruction is that destroying things earn you little Lego studs, which are your currency in this game. Some items break apart to yield hearts that restore your health. In addition, as you’re working through the adventure, destroying some things yields parts that you’ll then use to build something else more useful. If you destroy something and the pieces start bouncing around on the ground — run to them and get to work. Building is simple — just keep clicking A until the object is finished.

While we’re at it, let’s talk about the controls. This is a DS game. It definitely uses both screens and requires the touchscreen capabilities, but amazingly, you do not need the stylus. Everything is done incredibly well, so you can use simple movements of your thumb as you hold the game to do the necessary motions. You’ll use the A, B, X and Y to attack, jump and switch between characters. The arrow pad lets you move around. You’ll even use the mic to blow out torches! The controls are so intuitive and awesome — I love it! And even if the controls weren’t so easy — the in-game tutorial also is done incredibly well. My only tiny complaint is that sometimes the text stays on screen a bit longer than I like, which makes it tough to see the next target for my whip behind it.

There are two save-game slots, which is very nice for sharing the game with a family member. The only downside to saving is that you can only really save at specific points in the adventure. I guess that makes sense. I can’t imagine how much electronic memory it would take for the game to remember every plant you smashed to bits if you could save just anywhere.

I really like that if you run through a section and are not happy with your performance, you can easily choose to replay that section. My first time through the beginning sequence of Raiders was dismal. I didn’t yet realize that everything in sight was meant to fall pretty to my cracking whip. If you don’t want to replay the level and just want to have fun, go back through freeplay mode. It’s all up to you.

While most of the action is up to me, it’s great that there are little Lego movie cutscenes of certain parts of the action. When you make it to the end of the first chapter of Raiders, you get a little Lego movie of the run through the jungle to the waiting plane. Sadly we didn’t get to see poor Indy have his memorable encounter with the pilot’s pet snake Reggie. At the beginning of the first chapter, the little movie is hilarious. I love the way the little native dudes shake their little Lego heads as the one adventurer walks straight into the pit.

I did find it kind of amusing that the characters around you are vulnerable to friendly fire. My little native guide steps out of the way when I get too crazy with the whip, and I have accidentally hit Indy with the guide’s little shovel more than once.

While my first few run-throughs were in story mode, you definitely need to go back through in freeplay also. Some of the places can obviously only be accessed by characters or critters than aren’t part of your starting lineup, and some goodies can only be accessed in one mode or the other.

The music is wonderful. If you enjoyed the music in the movies — and how could you not — it’s right here again for your gaming pleasure.

At this point I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of Lego Indiana Jones. I can’t believe how much game and music they’ve packed into this tiny little cartridge. Just the Raiders of the Lost Ark portion is broken into six chapters. If you are even remotely a fan of Indiana Jones, Legos or both, you need to get this game. It rocks!