Somewhere along the line, LEGO games on portables got really small. Older LEGO adventures on DS and PSP at least tried to recreate the large-scale action and exploration of their console big brothers, but more recent installments (like LEGO Marvel Superheroes) have streamlined the gameplay to the point where the portables feel like they’re getting a plastic brick shaft. The LEGO Movie Videogame on PS Vita and 3DS is no exception: its stripped-down gameplay and focus on bite-sized levels and timed achievements make it feel like a rushed, lesser version of the console experience. Like the console version, The LEGO Movie Videogame for 3DS and Vita follows the storyline of the movie exactly, only this time the action is divvied up into 45 mini-levels. In theory, that makes a lot of sense on portable systems where you might not have 20 or 30 minutes to complete a single level and just want a quick burst of LEGO fun, but most levels go by so quickly that the desire to go back and replay them to explore further is ruined.
Some levels can be completed in a couple of minutes, such as those love-’em-or-hate-’em falling sequences in which you have to maneuver the lovable star, Emmet, to avoid obstacles while plummeting through as many bonus pick-ups as possible. Others, like driving and mine-cart railed sequences can be so infuriating to get through in the first place that only completionists will want to load them up again. The action on 3DS and Vita is also shown from an overhead isometric perspective as opposed to the console versions’ closer, over-the-shoulder viewpoint. So, yay - not only are you playing on a smaller screen, but everything looks smaller, too. Otherwise, the gameplay is the regular entertaining LEGO formula of exploration (though more limited), smashing your surroundings into collectible studs, punching bad guys, and solving puzzles using each character’s unique abilities. Emmet, for example, can fix machines with his wrench, and Wyldstyle is a Master Builder capable of assembling huge contraptions.
And then there are the timed objectives, like beating a number of bad guys in a set amount of time to earn bonuses. I get why they’re here - they add variety and give you an extra reason to go back and replay a mission - but they seem counterintuitive to the laid-back, toybox approach of LEGO games. Suddenly you’re being prodded to hurry up, or worse, race to an objective, when what you really want to do is explore and experiment with the colorful plastic world around you. What’s most irritating about this portable version, though, is that you can actually die. As in, the kind of death that forces you to restart the level and try, try, again. In the console version, like most LEGO games, you’ll lose some studs when your health is depleted, but you can always jump right back up and continue from where you fell to pieces (literally). But the Vita and 3DS editions greet you with a “restart level” screen that puts you back at the start. True, most of the levels aren’t terribly long to begin with, but the side effect is that the portable version is tougher.
Accidentally fall off a platform? Get whacked to bits by a tough boss? Since portable editions tend to skew towards younger players, the increased difficulty on 3DS and Vita seems strange. The LEGO Movie Videogame naturally looks best on Vita given its power and higher resolution, while the 3DS version is more pixilated and has a lower framerate. Otherwise, the two are virtually identical, including the annoying touch-screen controls that make you tap the screen repeatedly to make Emmet jackhammer something or swirl your finger around to assemble objects. Most of these are optional, though, and you can substitute button presses or the control stick/D-pad to do the same things. The LEGO Movie Videogame manages to ride the charm of its hilarious source material, yet still reeks of movie tie-in-itis. The 3DS and Vita versions’ bite-sized chunks of gameplay make the overall experience feel less like a grand LEGO adventure and more like a series of mini-games and puzzles crammed into where the story should be.
There’s still a lot of fun to be had in wanton destruction and problem-solving, but this trip into LEGO-land feels too rushed to be awesome.iPhone/iPad, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One Awaiting 2 more reviews Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings The LEGO Movie Videogame - Launch Trailer The LEGO Movie Videogame - Official Trailer In the last nine years of LEGO games, we've come to associate the iconic plastic building bricks with not just creativity, but also silly, lighthearted humor. The LEGO Movie Videogame attempts to bring the wonderful film's consistently joyful and entertaining story and heroes into the same gaming format we’ve seen from developer TT Games’ series. But while it delivers some amusing scenarios across diverse terrain, the premise feels overextended. Unlike many recent film-to-game adaptations that deviated from the source material to shake things up, The LEGO Movie Videogame unwisely decides to reenact the film's plot from start to finish.
Essentially, it's one lengthy, interactive spoiler, so don't play it before seeing the movie. Main character Emmet's transformation from dopey, upbeat everyman to the fabled carrier of the Piece of Resistance seems like an ideal premise for a game campaign, what with its colorful and distinctive settings (like the adorable, neon-tinged Cloud Cuckoo Land), great cast (including Batman himself), and constant array of gags and jokes. However, it ends up showing that one of the strengths of other LEGO games is the charm that comes from recreating a non-LEGO scene in amusing ways. This one is just retreading the same material, and there’s not much of it to draw from. Where the strong recent LEGO Marvel and DC games had decades of comics and scads of heroes and villains to work with, The LEGO Movie Videogame has but a single movie script – albeit a pretty excellent one. While the game maintains a generally amusing tone and includes some enjoyable peaks – such as commanding Uni-Kitty's startling alternate form, or bashing through levels as a massive, Transformers-esque robot pirate – trying to turn a succinct, 90-minute film into a seven-hour game campaign means it inevitably drags in spots.
Film clips interspersed between missions entertain, but a fair bit of the heart and humor from the film were left on the cutting room floor in editing, so it doesn't quite have the punch of the source material. And some levels are, frankly, boring. Like the construction site: sure, it follows the arc of the film, but that doesn't mean I need to spend 30 minutes performing virtual plastic manual labor simply to further the prescribed plot. Considering how the film rails against complacency, it's a bit ironic how content the game is to follow the same familiar instructions. TT Games' smash, bash, and solve LEGO game formula is very much intact in The LEGO Movie Videogame, though like all reliable game formats it’s no longer terribly fresh or exhilarating. Luckily, the stellar character roster casts a wide net, with the original characters from the movie flanked by exciting unlockable allies like Gandalf, Wonder Woman, and Superman. However, while it's more interesting to play as Batman or Green Lantern than a generic minifigure, the characters' abilities are most commonly used simply for clearing mundane chains of laborious roadblocks to forward progress.
It's thankfully less repetitive with a local split-screen pal in tow (there's no online co-op here), but the action still devolves into drudgery too frequently. Solutions for opening up a new area of a level or taking down a certain enemy couldn't be more obvious – a cracked panel means Emmet's drill must be used, or a sparkly wall section inevitably leads Wyldstyle or another female character to climb it – and if the visual cue isn't obvious enough, you're often told exactly what to do. Good for kids, sure, but without a strong entertainment franchise to keep older players hooked, it doesn’t provide quite the same all-ages fun this series is known for. There's appeal in exploring the film's colorful locales and commanding such diverse heroes, but having to constantly swap between four or five different characters at a time to complete simple tasks becomes mind numbing quickly. That's not a new complaint for the series, but this game left me with little else to think about. Among the minor new aspects, Emmet's building sequences – in which you flick the analog stick to select the piece that's missing from the design – are a good addition that fit his role well, plus a nice nod to LEGO enthusiasts (the virtual bricks in these scenes look super-realistic, too).
Conversely, Benny the Astronaut's hacking minigame joins the pantheon of dull hacking minigames, with this one taking the form of an undemanding riff on Pac-Man. Otherwise, The LEGO Movie Videogame holds no real surprises, either for fans of the film or the games. Across the PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 versions, the only real differences are minor variations in visual quality. It obviously looks nicer on PCs and the new-generation systems, though it’s not dramatic. I noticed some odd texture flickering in the far-off distance on PlayStation 4, while the PlayStation 3 version has brief spurts of slowdown and occasional visual glitches, and the Xbox 360 release was the fuzziest-looking of the bunch. The presence of off-TV play on the Wii U version will certainly be a boon to anyone with children. (Note that the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS versions are a completely different game.) The LEGO Movie Videogame extends a concise and hilarious film into a much longer and less consistent interactive experience that sometimes dips into boring territory.