The LEGO games have been a staple of gamers' childhoods for years. Whether players rememberLEGO Batman,LEGO Marvel Superheroes, orLEGO Lord of the Rings, those memories are likely to be full of nostalgic warmth. But there’s one series of LEGO games in particular that has endured through childhoods and continues today:LEGO Star Wars.
TheLEGO Star Warsseries of games found immediate widespread success upon the first game’s release in 2005. Capitalizing on the hype of the prequel trilogy and coinciding with the release ofRevenge of the Sith, the firstLEGO Star Warshit the market at exactly the right time, with exactly the right type of product.LEGO Star Warsbrought the accessible and joyful nature of LEGO to a video game, and combined it with one of the most popular franchises on the globe, creating a game that both kids and adults loved. And withLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaon the horizon, it seems like the perfect time to analyze just what made the original so great for kids, and whyThe Skywalker Sagashould keep some elements, even despite the apparent departure from the core formula.
RELATED:PS Plus Adding LEGO DC Super Villains in December 2021 is Great for The Skywalker Saga
Simple Action and Puzzles
At its heart,LEGO Star Warshas always been an action-adventure series with simple puzzles. In fact, the vast majority of beloved,classic LEGO gamesfollow the same simple gameplay formula. Whether you’re playing as Batman or Anakin Skywalker, the gameplay formula is the same; journey through a level (usually based on an iconic location or scene,) punch or slash cute LEGO enemies in a PG-fashion, and collect as many studs as possible along the way. Occasionally, there are environmental puzzles, often only tasking the player with moving an object, pressing a panel, or stepping on the right thing at the right time, but nothing is too mentally taxing.
But that’s exactly what made those originalLEGOgames so good. These original games,LEGO Star Warsin particular, gave players of all ages and skill levels an easily accessible gaming experience, based around beloved IPs, making it the perfect starter game. The level design slowly takes a player through the general formula of practically any video game: kill a few things, collect a few things, jump on a few platforms, solve a puzzle. The same formula can be found in almost any game,fromHalotoMario,but here, players are taught in a gradual and stress-free environment, where death only means that you lose some currency as opposed to progress, keeping the experience light-hearted and fun.
LEGO Is For Everyone
In recent years, LEGO has started to be embraced a bit more by the adult public, with sets like the Adidas Original Superstar and the Ultimate Collector Series of Star Wars LEGO finding mainstream appeal. Similarly, the hype surrounding the upcomingLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaseems to extend to adults of all ages, especially from those who played the original games growing up. And althoughThe Skywalker Sagais said to beheading in a new direction for the seriesgameplay-wise, hopefully, it still remembers its roots.
At the end of the day, theLEGOgames are designed primarily for kids, and should therefore be accessible for all ages and all skill levels, just like those original games were. So whileThe Skywalker Sagaseems to be adding more complex mechanics and a grander scale, the inherent level design of each stage should still retain the same level of accessibility that’salways been present inLEGOgames, and should provide new gamers with an experience that eases them gently into the world of gaming and teaches them general puzzle and platforming skills that they can use throughout their future gaming lives. After all, LEGO is for everyone.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagalaunches in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:The Free PS Plus Games for December 2021 Are a Win for Co-op Fans
