Lego Star Wars: The Video Game - Play Analysis

The Lego game franchise is ever evolving and expanding, but it all began (at least for this new age of console gaming) with Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (2005). Though it retained some aspects of play it had before, such as intertextuality, Lego’s translation from physical building blocks to video game created new aspects of play for children to engage in--elastic game complexity, competition/cooperation, and creative interpretation.

I played Lego Star Wars on an original Xbox, the console I grew up playing the game on. The very structure of the game encourages complex and varied interaction with both the game and your fellow players. The game appeals to a wide age range of players. Younger children can enjoy themselves by smashing blocks and bad guys and easily walking through the levels, while older children (and adults) can engage more deeply with the design as they explore to find secret rooms, strategically stay alive to conserve studs and achieve “True Jedi” status, and unlock the various achievements in each level as well as find all the easter eggs. The fact that none of the characters talk also makes the game accessible to all ages because it isn’t necessary to know how to read in order to understand the game. The game’s procedure is simple, find your way to the end of the level using the characters given you, but it has the potential to become more complex for older players.

Playing solo is fulfilling and successful, but the game is really designed to be played by two people. Here is where the Lego block concepts of construction/deconstruction are translated into cooperation/competition, as players need to work together to win the levels. The shared screen requires the two players to work as a team, as one player cannot run off solo to accomplish the goals on their own. As my sister joined me in play, we went through our bouts of arguing which way to explore, how to jump, destroying each other with light sabers, and working together to unlock secrets. Unlike most team games, friendly-fire is on and it is completely possible to destroy your partner again and again (to their annoyance). Players have to overcome their competitive tendencies and work together to push buttons, build/move Lego blocks, and defeat bosses.

The video game also retains the intertextuality that playing with Lego blocks often creates. During Free Play (an option available once the level is completed) the player is able to rotate through several characters, putting characters in situations that never occur in the original story. For example, you can play as Darth Maul and fight General Grievous, or have a battle droid save Naboo. In the main menu, you can also mix-and-match heads, bodies, legs, and weapons of all the characters and create your own player. This intertextual play (admittedly, only within the Star Wars canon) reflects the creativity and imagination of a child’s natural play. The game also incorporates a child’s interpretation of the iconic story of Star Wars: Episode I-III. Coming back to the no-dialogue game style, the story is distilled down to the narrative moments that strike children the most while viewing the films, and put a kid-friendly angle on them. Violence is translated into blocks coming apart (children accept popping off a Lego head) and bad guys become comical gags.

Within Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, children have the freedom to explore their virtual play space, destroying and creating, solving puzzles, and defeating hordes of droids, all while enjoying the narrative and aesthetics of the Star Wars franchise. Their play within the game builds their skills of cooperation, curiosity, and creativity as they play with others, manipulate their environments and unlock achievements, and use their imaginations to push the game to its limits.