LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii)

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Three years ago, when the original LEGO Star Wars was released, nobody imagined it would become a sensation among kids of all ages. How else can you explain why George Lucas didn't release the game through LucasArts, but instead let it come out via Eidos, which had the LEGO license?

Obviously, George is a guy who learns from his mistakes, since after the success, both creative and commercial, of LEGO Star Wars, it would be LucasArts that not only issued the sequels, but commissioned this game, which gives a similar treatment to Lucas' other great franchise, Indiana Jones.

Not surprisingly, little has changed in the series' basic gameplay in its transition from sci-fi to serial-inspired adventure. As in LSW, Lego Indiana Jones uses plastic interlocking blocks and slapstick humor to retell the movie's epic stories in a hysterically adorable way. Running though familiar scenes from the films, you run, jump and assemble piles of loose LEGOs to form ladders and other instruments of passage, all of which has to be done while you take on tons of bad guys who, when vanquished, collapse into the individual LEGO blocks used to make them.

Even with such basic similarities, though, there are a number of differences between this and past LEGO games, though most seem more dictated by the subject matter than by an inclination to evolve the form. There are now blocks and other things buried in the ground, and if your character has a shovel, which Indy doesn't, you can dig them out. Yes, this means you do have to play as someone other than Dr. Jones sometimes, since some buried treasures are needed to proceed. Also, since Indy doesn't have a jetpack or little jets in his legs like some Star Wars characters do, he instead uses his whip or hanging vines to swing around, which is as much fun as you remembering it being when you last played Pitfall.

Befitting the films, there are more environmental hazards to contend with than in LSW, including statues that shoot darts and spikes that shoot up from the ground. And snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? In fact, in some levels -- like the first one from "Raiders," for example -- you're more likely to be killed by a trap than by any bad guy, a welcome change from the heavily populated LSW. The game also adds the ability to pick up items and use them, such as chairs or the aforementioned ground-mounted spears, though it's often just easier to smack someone than it is to grab something and use it against them.

The game is not without its problems, though, even if most are of the nitpicky variety. Visually, it's not as crisp as the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions of the game, though this is more noticeable in the non-LEGO-made backgrounds than the characters. The controls on the Wii also work well, but more so when, for example, you use the Z button to whip or shovel than when you swing the Wii remote to do the same actions. Not that the remote doesn't work well as a whip or shovel, it's just easier to tap a button in these situations.

The game also still does this thing where, when you die or break something, it sends colored studs all over the place. It wouldn't be a problem if they all landed relatively close together, but they instead fly every which way, making it impossible to catch 'em all. It adds a bit of challenge, I suppose, but if I wanted to spend half my life running around like an idiot, I'd do drugs.