LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PC)

[GamerDad]

Michael Anderson's LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PC) article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3369

[GamerDad]

Nice job Mike - Like the lines about dropping in to help and playing it then sharing it too. I need to get the original Star Wars, show it to my girl, and then break out the game. Why am I so concerned about spoilers for a 6-year-old.

[txa1265]

Why am I so concerned about spoilers for a 6-year-old.

I think that you - and others of my friends on and off-line - have a disproportionate attachment to the purity of experience you want to provide your kids regarding Star Wars. I don't mean that in a negative way - you love the classics and believe strongly the new ones are mediocre to crappy, and don't want your kids image of Star Wars shaped by Jar Jar and baby Greedo.

I have more than one set of friends who are upset to no end because their kids like Episode I the best of all ... and Episode IV least because they find it boring.

My kids were similar - they loved Episode I and all three prequels better than the originals, but as they have gotten older there has been more intermixing of what they like and don't like ... my older son has preferred Empire for a while, but my younger son still is partial to young Anakin.

I think that it is interesting that so many kids born in the 'Prequel era' like the newer ones as much as the old ones. They lack the historical context, but also the historical bias. Does that mean that the new ones are better than they are judged, or or that the originals haven't held up to the passing of times, or perhaps that the sense of visual storytelling in the prequels matches their sensibilities better than the style of the originals ... ?

I dunno ... it is a cool game, and my boys loved how they remapped the keys so that yesterday after each had some time alone they went back in free play together and just destroyed everything ...

[GamerDad]

I meant I didn't want to spoil the Star Wars plot by showing Maggie the light-hearted and silly game before she sees the movie. But I guess you felt the need to theorize some more about Star Wars vs. the Prequels?

[txa1265]

Sorry, I misinterepreted what you were saying - and as I mentioned I've been hearing the other arguments plenty, more with the OT version of the game.

[GamerDad]

FWIW it won't bother me if my kids prefer Eps 1-3 - because I'm not insane (;-)). But I do believe 1-3 are all bad movies for a variety of reasons mostly to do with acting, scripting, and character arc. Eps 4-6 aren't perfect movies either, RoTJ is actually pretty bad, but they do feature consistent character arcs.

What happens to Amidala's character in 1-3 is, imo, lazy and stupid and Annakin's character arc is done in probably the least interesting way possible (out of a lot of cool options). I really don't want Maggie to see Amidala's character arc. I really don't. It's so lazy and insulting it makes me furious.

But yeah, you're right, kids respond better to the modern day FX. In terms of phenomenon and reach, however, Eps 1-3 have nothing on the original trilogy. The love your kids have for the new movies isn't universal, even among kids their age, like it pretty much was with the OT.

[txa1265]

I thought you just chastised me about getting back into this stuff

[GamerDad]

That's why I prefaced with FWIW.
And I chastised you for misunderstanding me in favor of your agenda.

[txa1265]

2nd try:

Why am I so concerned about spoilers for a 6-year-old.

I think that the two play off each other very nicely - but if she plays before watching she might ask why Leia doesn't just go around slapping more Stormtroopers...

[GamerDad]

My hope is that she'll be asking that anyway.

But then again, despite my best efforts (we watch the Superman Animated Series almost every night) my daughter did just choose "Cotton Candy Pink" as her bedroom color of choice. It makes my eyes bleed.

[Daniel]

I'm not sure why yet, but I'm pretty sure I liked the original LEGO Star Wars better than II. I can't quite put my finger on why yet. I liked the original trilogy better, is it just that I'm more sensitive to the liberties taken with the story? Is it just that it's mostly more of the same gameplay?

My son likes II better.

[txa1265]

I'm not sure why yet, but I'm pretty sure I liked the original LEGO Star Wars better than II. I can't quite put my finger on why yet. I liked the original trilogy better, is it just that I'm more sensitive to the liberties taken with the story? Is it just that it's mostly more of the same gameplay?

My son likes II better.

By the time I finished playing pretty much the same game 2 times (PC & PSP both to 100%) I had a feel - I think that the gameplay is somewhat enhanced in the new game, but the humor played better in the original. Overall I found a nice balance in the new one, yet the lacking lightsaber combat stood out more ... so yeah, there are some conflicting feelings ... but ultimately I like both!