Stackable Danish invention LEGO this month celebrated its 50th anniversary and avoided a buyout by Wal-Mart, or something like that. Over that half-century’s time, the brand that lets you exchange the heads of hapless yellow people has sustained interest across the world, adapting at every step to the day’s cultural changes. I can’t think of another toy that can boast the same, because I selectively block any thought of Barbie from my mind. Maybe it’s the intrinsic appeal to the human impulses creative and destructive, or maybe it’s because if you say LEGO several times in quick succession it starts to sound really funny, but people just love the colored plastic blocks and the articulation-challenged organisms that live amongst them.

What better way to express the qualities of LEGO than to build a virtual replica of a much-loved universe and have its fans inhabit it? That’s what Lego Star Wars sought to do. And it worked - so well, that the be-all, end-all compilation, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, came to be. Because I occasionally make contact with the outside world, I can vouch for the highly-prized Stupid-Fun factor of this game as played by two people. Pursuing the storylines of each movie in the franchise is purely optional to enjoyment of this game, but recommended, as goofing around in the single room of the Cantina bar for too long makes you look like you have a mental problem. If you ever wanted to see all six Star Wars films re-enacted by silent plastic people in about 10 minutes, and downplay the gravity of some of the most epic scenes with their utter cuteness, then this is the correct choice of pastime. LEGO MANIAAA!

Posted on February 9th, 2008 by katie