The Star Wars universe has been recreated in more games than you can shake a lightsaber at. It’s no surprise that today’s incarnations have advanced leaps and bounds over the earliest title, Atari 2600’s “Battle of Hoth.” If you squinted hard enough that giant block of pixels you attacked with your smaller block of pixels might look something like an AT-AT. Luckily no squinting is required to enjoy LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and this time the “blocks” are an intended part of the LEGO branded charm. Charm is the keyword to this game and it’s oozing with it. Let’s face it, the combination of LEGO and Star Wars is a marriage made in nerd heaven.

TCS is not a 100% new offering since the majority of the content was previously released as two successful separate games on multiple platforms. If you have already played through both the previous releases TCS isn’t going to amount to much more than a pleasurable trip down memory lane but developer Traveller’s Tales has thrown in some additional levels, characters, graphical upgrades, and online play modes to make this more than just a simple reissue. The tongue-in-cheek re-imagining of the epic Star Wars saga shines in this all inclusive package.

For those of you not familiar with the previous releases, TCS is basically a platform style game that consists of jumping, breaking enemies with various weapons, and some creative puzzle solving. Normally the puzzles consist of pulling various levers, pushing items around, or building items out of LEGO piles. While making your way through each level you are constantly gathering LEGO “studs” which act as currency and allow you to purchase other playable characters and some in game bonus perks. If you happen to be playing as a Jedi or Sith character you also have force powers which allow you to manipulate your LEGO environment. In addition to character controlled action there are several levels that require you to pilot some of the more famous ships from the series including the millennium falcon and x-wing fighter. Both of these level types do suffer a bit from camera angles which aren’t always perfect but never annoying to the point of lessening your enjoyment of the game.

The Mos Eisley cantina serves as the main game hub. Here you can launch into any of the six movie based episodes, which are further divided into six chapters each. You can play the episodes in any order you choose however, you must progress through their chapters in order in story mode. While playing in story you’re in control of two or more Star Wars characters. Once completed in story mode that chapter is then unlocked for free play mode. Free play mode allows you to go back into each chapter using any of the characters you have unlocked. Since this game is aimed at a family audience the difficulty of the levels will never reach outlandish proportions. Once you complete the normal story mode you will gain access to some unlockable bounty hunter missions and super story timed challenge modes which greatly increases the replay value. As an added bonus can also create your own characters by mixing and matching parts from all available characters which you can then use in game. You want Jar Jar’s head on Princess Lea’s body? No problem! Sicko.

One of many factors that makes this game so much fun is the multiplayer accessibility. At any time your buddy sitting next to you on the couch can jump in and take control of any additional characters in your party. What’s that you say? You have no real life friends? You have no couch? No problem! If you are playing on Xbox Live get ready for some co-op action with any of your cyber buddies. The only negative aspect of this is that any progress made in story mode will only be saved to which ever player is hosting the current game.

The graphics in TCS have received a nice hi-def polish. The unmistakable LEGO look works beautifully. The rich environments shine and it will definitely take the average player a few trips through each level to take in all the atmosphere. One of the few gripes to be found in TCS is a screen tearing issue that’s noticeable in a few of the levels. This looks like something that should have been caught and corrected before shipping but since it wasn’t hopefully it can be patched in a future update. Complimenting the graphics is a selection of music tracks taking directly from the movies as well as many of the sound effects that should be easily recognizable by any Star Wars fan.

The bottom line is that even with the occasionally bothersome camera angles and the current graphical issues this game is a joy to play. If you are Star Wars fan who hasn’t picked up either of the previous titles then shame on you. TCS is amazingly satisfying playing solo (or heck even Lando) but it’s even more enjoyable playing alongside your online rebel scum friends. If the charming visuals, enjoyable game play, and witty twist to the Star Wars story doesn’t make you smile at least a time or two than it’s quite possible you have already been consumed by the dark side and should quickly contact your nearest Sith support hotline.