LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy review

A textbook example of how to screw up a sure thing, the Nintendo DS version of LEGO Star Wars II is easily the 'must avoid' release of the year. Other systems get a stylistically pure and super fun title. Meanwhile, the DS is saddled with a buggy, incomplete letdown that wastes your money and good will, deeply tarnishing LucasArts' reputation.

It's impossible not to love the concept, which casts the entire Star Wars ensemble as LEGO figures. As you explore the simple but eerily accurate Original Trilogy locales, enemies explode into component blocks, and the Force can rebuild broken stuff, one block at a time.

The familiar saga is re-enacted with tongue firmly in cheek. So a Jedi Mind Trick spins a Stormtrooper's helmet on his head, and you can build a ridiculous mix and match character from all the blocks you collect. Fans and haters alike will giggle and blast their way into a sort of childlike nirvana.