LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (PSP)

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

Obviously, George is a guy who learns from his mistakes. After the success, both creative and commercial, of LEGO Star Wars, LucasArts not only issued the sequels, but commissioned LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, which gives 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 L.S.W., LEGO Indiana Jones uses plastic interlocking blocks and slapstick humor to retell the movies' epic stories in a hysterically adorable way. Navigating though the familiar scenes from the films, you run, jump, and assemble piles of loose LEGOs to form ladders and other instruments of passage. All of these things have to be done while you take on tons of bad guys who, when vanquished, collapse into the individual LEGO blocks of which they are made.

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. While you used to have to stand next to the other playable characters to switch to them, you can now just do it regardless of where on-screen they are. There are now blocks buried in the ground and if your character has a shovel, which Indy doesn't always have, you can dig them out. This means you do sometimes have to play as someone other than Dr. Jones since some buried treasures are needed to proceed. Also, since Indy doesn't have a jetpack or little jets in his legs, he instead uses his whip or hanging vines to swing around, which is as much fun as you remember from when you last played Pitfall.

Befitting the films, there are more environmental hazards to contend with than in L.S.W. including spikes that shoot up from the ground and statues that shoot darts. And snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? In fact, in some levels -- like the first one from "Raiders of the Lost Ark", for example -- you're more likely to be killed by a trap than by any bad guy, a welcome change from the heavily populated L.S.W. The designers have also added the ability to pick up and use items 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. Though, to be fair, the game's worst problems -- the really long load times and the tinny sound when not played with good headphones -- are more a failing of the PlayStation Portable than of the game itself. But LEGO Indiana Jones does, rather inexplicably, lack co-op multiplayer, so you're on your own against those snakes. This system version is also not the best-looking of the bunch, though it does at least rival the Wii version.