keep writing about the “Lego” games? Reviews, features, news stories. The fact is that they’re omnipresent. Not writing about them is like a sports writer not writing about the Yankees. For while you can’t yet buy a “Little Big Planet” or “Uncharted” game for your PS4, you can buy THREE Lego games—“Lego The Hobbit,” “Lego Marvel Super Heroes,” and “The Lego Movie Videogame”—and a fourth is coming soon in the form of “Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.” We already wrote about Lego games we’d like to see (and one has come to fruition since writing that piece) but what about how to choose the best of what’s already available. With over four dozen Lego games overall and 16 licensed Lego games in the console generation, it’s getting overwhelming. Which ones are the best? Let us count them down, in chronological order. Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (2005-PS2) The one that really started it all has held up remarkably well almost a decade later (yes, that makes me feel old too).
“Lego Star Wars” tapped a generation right in its nostalgic heart, blending both the way that so many people feel about their favorite childhood toys and their favorite childhood movies. Wait, we can use the toys of our youth to recreate our favorite flicks? Where do we sign up? And the merging of Lucas concepts like The Force and building with Legos proved addictive. It actually made a degree of sense, unlike so many other nostalgic mash-ups. “Lego Star Wars” was one of those rare games that instantly heralded a multi-year franchise. You played it for an hour and you knew that someone who deserved a raise had really opened a toy box that would keep giving for years. It all started here. And it’s still so incredibly playable, unlike many games of its era. Sadly, a few of its immediate predecessors focused too heavily on gadgets in their puzzle solving and remained in the shadow of this game and the “Original Trilogy” follow-up and so “Lego Batman” and “Lego Indiana Jones” were near-misses.
The series wouldn’t really connect creatively again until… Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4; As with many of the best “Lego” games, the success of this one is ably assisted by the depth of the world that inspired its creation. J.K Rowling crafted such a fascinating universe that one could argue she did most of the work in terms of making this game a success. Just as George Lucas’ universe made a natural fit with Lego, so did the world of the boy who lived, a kid who used magic to solve problems in much the same way Lego aficionados create with their favorite toys. And another element that often distinguishes a hit Lego game was in place here as well with the deep character roster provided by the Rowling books and films. It wasn’t just a movie tie-in, it was a new way to play within the universe and stories of your favorite fictional franchise. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (2011-PS3) Again, the depth of the universe helps and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” games offered the developers at Traveller’s Tales a chance to provide gamers with a wide array of gameplay.
What I dug about “PoTC” more than most critics was the way it expanded the universe of the games by focusing on collectibles in a new way. Lego games are always about smashing things and grabbing things and pirates do a lot of both. This game also really expanded on the idea that different playable characters would have different strengths, weaknesses, and powers, resulting in more replay value than many other Lego games. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (2011-PS3) It all comes back around. While I’m one of the people who likes to consider the “Star Wars” universe closed as of the ‘80s and mostly can’t stand anything that has come out since the original trilogy ended, this game was shockingly fun. The folks at TT found a way to bring some of the magic of those first movies and the original Lego game into the new Lucasverse in ways that the creators of “Attack of the Clones” and the awful “The Clone Wars” movie failed to do. Nah but the action-driven focus of the “Clone Wars” series made for a more action-packed Lego game than usual.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013-PS3/PS4) Arguably the best Lego game to date. Yeah, I said it. What I would call “Lego 2.0,” the new era of Lego games on the next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 started here and the folks at TT really delivered more so than in the too-straightforward “Lego Movie Videogame” and incomplete “Lego Hobbit.” And what “Lego Marvel” REALLY proves is that these games could exist without the source material of something like the “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” films to drive their storytelling. New stories, beloved characters, great puzzle design, and tons of action.We're sorry, but we could not fulfill your request for /2013/03/18/list-of-exclusive-minifigs-from-books-movies-video-games/ on this server. An invalid request was received from your browser. This may be caused by a malfunctioning proxy server or browser privacy software. Your technical support key is: ac44-9132-1756-6707 You can use this key to fix this problem yourself.
and be sure to provide the technical support key shown above.The browser version you are using is not recommended for this site.Please consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser by clicking one of the following links.: The Lego Movie completely omits several of the licensed characters that make appearances in the film itself, such as , and . Furthermore, is omitted despite its relevance to the plot, and one of the major plot points is completely glossed over - The Reveal that the entire story is really just a boy playing with his Lego is kept, but the subsequent reveal that Lord Business and his plot to freeze everything is based on his father's desire to stop his son from messing up his Lego kits is cut out of the story, removing all context for Lord Business' Heel�Face Turn.Home > Awesomeness > By Joe Warner on November 14, 2014 Back in the 1990s, LEGO was the struggling toy brick company that adults looked back on nostalgically, but couldn’t make a buck.
Until 1999, when LEGO started to license the brick out of it. Then things started rocking, and 15 years later, LEGO has produced a dizzying array of licensed sets from a number of A-list pop culture properties including Star Wars (one of the first), Harry Potter, Batman, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Simpsons and even Back to the Future. The list goes on. This year saw the introduction of The LEGO Movie licensed sets, which was kind of like, whoa, dude, it’s like turning in on itself! But LEGO is not all about the licensed toys. There’s still the classic and long-running LEGO City, LEGO Space, LEGO Castle and LEGO Technic themes, as well as more recent popular themes like LEGO Architecture, LEGO Creator, LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Legends of Chima and the girl-friendly LEGO Friends. LEGO Pirates are also coming back in 2015 after a 6-year hiatus. There’s even LEGO Ideas (formerly known as CUUSOO) which is a program that produces fan-submitted ideas through a Kickstarter-like process.
That’s how the LEGO Minecraft and Back to the Future sets were born. We are truly now in the Golden Age of LEGO, and everything is awesome! Let’s take a look at 20 incredibly awesome official LEGO sets from the past 10 years. (Hey, we had to limit this somehow. Otherwise, this list would be huge!) Special thanks to Brickset for their awesome LEGO site and passionate users! Taken from this year’s big hit The LEGO Movie, Metal Beard’s Sea Cow is an over-the-top mishmash numbering over 2,700 pieces. It’s the largest set from the series and is already considered one of the best ships ever produced by LEGO. It also includes the all-important double-decker couch. Release year: 2014 | Price: $250 – Amazon Released in 2011, this Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars set contains over 3,000 pieces and is no longer in production. eBay is your only hope to find it now. Release year: 2011 | Price: varies (not in production) – eBay Born out of the LEGO CUUSOO site (now known as LEGO Ideas), the iconic BTTF DeLorean Time Machine is a fan-submitted design that became an official retail set.
Numbering 401 pieces, the set features the famous gull-wing doors, the flux capacitor, Marty McFly and his skateboard and of course Doc Brown. This is a great time to be a LEGO fan! Release year: 2013 | Price: $35 – Amazon A treat for movie buffs, this 2,196-piece Expert set is inspired by movie palaces of yesteryear. It’s part of the Modular Buildings series where you can piece together different sets to form a city block.Price: $150 – Amazon Indiana Jones and LEGOs: awesome! This fun 554-piece set recreates the iconic boulder scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark and contains a minifigure for Jock, Indy’s pilot as well as one for the unfortunate Satipo who famously implores Indy to “throw me the idol, I throw you the whip!” Yeah, that didn’t end well. Release year: 2007 | Price: varies (not in production) – eBay Since its release in late 2012 to coincide with the release of The Hobbit, the 652-piece Unexpected Gathering set has won praise from LEGO and Tolkien fans alike.
It’s as detailed as the movie scene it recreates is long. Which is to say, it’s very detailed. Release year: 2012 | Price: $63 – Amazon Containing nearly 3,000 pieces and priced over $300, the Sydney Opera Set is a faithful rendering of the landmark structure, aimed squarely at adult fans of LEGOs, aka AFOLs. Standing nearly a foot tall, the set doesn’t have minifigures and the instruction booklet contains text and illustrations about the history and construction of the opera house.Price: $320 – Amazon Just a year after it was introduced, the Ewok Village, with its near 2,000-piece count, is already in the firmament of greatest Star Wars LEGO sets ever made. Say what you will about the cinematic worthiness of Ewoks, but they make very entertaining toys. Price: $250 – Amazon With no specific instructions and over 1,200 white and transparent pieces, the Architecture Studio is aimed at the builder who likes to use their own inspiration to create memorable LEGO sets.
You get 73 different types of building bricks and a thick book that teaches you about architectural concepts. This is a long way from Star Wars LEGOs!Price: $160 – Walmart Containing 865 pieces and 8 minifigures, the classic Black Seas Barracuda set is so good that it got re-released in 2002, 13 years after it was first introduced, and thus makes it eligible to appear on our list! Release year: 2002 | Price: varies (not in production) – Amazon Marketplace Another Star Wars set, another Ultimate Collector Series toy, 2,500 pieces of pure awesome. Release year: 2010 | It has just recently gone out of production, but the 2064-piece Haunted House is destined to become a sought-after commodity among LEGO builders. It’s been praised for the attention to detail, creativity, unique minifigures and the way it opens like a dollhouse. Consisting of over 1,000 pieces, the Medieval Market Village is a tavern, blacksmith’s workshop and open market with various animal figures, including two cows and a rat.
For Castle fans, this is considered the best of the modern sets. Release year: 2009 | Price: varies (not in production) – Amazon Marketplace This set boasts a mind-blowing 5,195 pieces, giving it the second-highest piece count after the Taj Mahal (#3 on our list). It’s also the largest sized model (33″ x 22″ x 8.3″) and most expensive set ($500 retail) ever made commercially available by LEGO. Release year: 2007 | As featured last year right here on The Checkout, the Tower of Orthanc is a ridiculously awesome set featuring six floors containing over 2,300 pieces and Treebeard the Ent among many other delights. It’s an amazing-looking LEGO set.Price: $250 – Amazon With the highest piece count of any LEGO set ever at a jaw-dropping 5,922 bricks in all, the Taj Mahal had to be on this list. The amazingly detailed and realistic set is a challenge for even the most seasoned builders. Even if you’re not a fan of LEGOs or even toys, this is one you just have to see for yourself.