It's an irresistable idea. The story, characters, locations, and vehicles of the Star Wars trilogy (the new one), and the mechanics of a universe built out of Legos. Put the two together and you get Lego Star Wars, an unlikely yet surprisingly addictive video game that succeeds in almost every way.

You (and a partner, if you're so inclined) play as just about any character from Episodes I through III, through all of the major battle scenes of each film. The game is broken down into the three episodes, with several "chapters" (levels) to each. Most of them are third-person fighting levels, but each episode also comes with a level where you get to pilot a vehicle -- the Podrace, the Gunship battle, and the battle above Coruscant, respectively. Many objects are able to be manipulated by the Force, and most can be destroyed with lightsabers or blasters. The lack of character dialogue seems like an obvious oversight, but the cheeky humor displayed by character's actions and expessions will bring smiles to every face.

Because it's an all-ages title, you won't find anything too heavy here, content-wise. Even in the climactic battle of Revenge of the Sith, where Anakin and Obi-Wan must fight one another, the majority of the level consists of the two players rushing to escape the dangers of the volcanic world of Mustafar, before finally giving way to a half-hearted mano-a-mano fight at the very end. Instead, the emphasis is placed entirely on cooperative play, allowing up to two players to play through the game -- on the same screen (which is significant if you've ever played a split-screen game) -- side-by-side. Often puzzles or obstacles will block your path that only one player can overcome; thus, both players must learn to work together.

It's an irresistable idea. The story, characters, locations, and vehicles of the Star Wars trilogy (the new one), and the mechanics of a universe built out of Legos. Put the two together and you get Lego Star Wars, an unlikely yet surprisingly addictive video game that succeeds in almost every way.

You (and a partner, if you're so inclined) play as just about any character from Episodes I through III, through all of the major battle scenes of each film. The game is broken down into the three episodes, with several "chapters" (levels) to each. Most of them are third-person fighting levels, but each episode also comes with a level where you get to pilot a vehicle -- the Podrace, the Gunship battle, and the battle above Coruscant, respectively. Many objects are able to be manipulated by the Force, and most can be destroyed with lightsabers or blasters. The lack of character dialogue seems like an obvious oversight, but the cheeky humor displayed by character's actions and expessions will bring smiles to every face.

Because it's an all-ages title, you won't find anything too heavy here, content-wise. Even in the climactic battle of Revenge of the Sith, where Anakin and Obi-Wan must fight one another, the majority of the level consists of the two players rushing to escape the dangers of the volcanic world of Mustafar, before finally giving way to a half-hearted mano-a-mano fight at the very end. Instead, the emphasis is placed entirely on cooperative play, allowing up to two players to play through the game -- on the same screen (which is significant if you've ever played a split-screen game) -- side-by-side. Often puzzles or obstacles will block your path that only one player can overcome; thus, both players must learn to work together.

In a nice touch, every single playable Jedi -- including the Dark Jedi -- have their own styles of movement. You play them all exactly the same, but the results are very different. Mace Windu weilds his lightsaber with a powerful one-handed approach. Obi-Wan likes to twirl his saber and perform all kinds of acrobatics. Yoda spins furiously, striking with lightning-fast attacks. Kit Fisto is remarkably fluid in his movements. Yet there doesn't seem to be any correlation between the level of their abilities -- Yoda is no more powerful than young Obi-Wan, for example.

There are a few gripes... Each "chapter" begins with an opening crawl of text, just like the movies, and the option to skip these crawls is very inconsistent (some you can skip as the text crawl as it first begins; others you must wait through several paragraphs). And often a pre-rendered animatic sequence will start a level or interrupt the action in the middle of a level, and there is no option for skipping them. Regardless of how many times you've played through a level already, you must wait through the animatics each and every time they come up. We also experienced an odd glitch on the "Podrace" level, where we were forced to watch the "pod is destroyed" animatic over and over as a new area of the map was loaded, even though no one had wrecked. The camera is locked in a predetermined position throughout the game, and the player cannot rotate it, which can sometimes prove frustrating when trying to see an area to jump to.

The game's greatest attribute is its replayability. You wouldn't think that running around a screen as a tiny Lego figure would be all that exciting, but it's incredibly fun to play. Aside from the final level, even new gamers will find it easy to play, yet challenging enough to keep you coming back for more. And as you unlock new levels, you can go back and replay them as any character of your choosing. Most characters have weapons, and every character has a special ability. Jedi can use the Force. Young Anakin can crawl through tight spaces. R2-D2 and C-3PO can unlock doors that no one else can. Game maker Traveler's Tales cleverly threw in a number of secrets and bonuses, which if you find them all, unlock a mystery level at the end of the game.

Lego Star Wars is tremendous fun, for the casual gamer -- or for the kid in all of us.