8-, 4- Year-Old Review Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

My two boys, ages 4 and 8, are both big Lego fans and big Star Wars fans. My 8-year-old is very good at video games, but this is the first one the 4-year-old got to play. This game is rated E for everyone and though you do battle the characters turn back into Lego bricks and there is no blood. The Complete Saga combines all six Star Wars movies into one video game. This game is available for Wii, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS, and PS3.

My boys love this game because they can be their favorite Star Wars characters. They also love that they are made of Lego bricks and they can virtually build things with Lego bricks. This game is challenging enough for my eight year old, but my four year old also enjoys playing by himself. He doesn't understand all of the logic in the game but he is able to complete levels by himself. After you complete a level there is what is called a free play mode where you can further explore the level and play without worrying about what items you need.

As a parent I like this game because it is filled with logic and the players have to use team work to solve problems. Each character has a set of abilities and you need to determine which character is best for each scene. Sometimes both players, or one player and the game's player, must work together to complete a task. There are times when the two characters must split up and do separate tasks to get to the next area for play.

Players must use some logic to find all the necessary objects to complete a level. In some cases they have to find all of the pieces to build an object or vehicle to move on in the game. Sometimes they have to complete a sets of tasks in order to complete the level.

I also like that the kids have to learn to save up their coins to purchase characters. The better the character, the more expensive they are. Of course my four year old is just starting to learn that his brother has better characters and that he must save up for them. I truly believe this has helped my eight year old learn to save in real life as well.

The Complete Saga allows each player to have their own profile. This lets each boy save their own progress and then there's no fighting about one of them ruining the other's game or progress. Each boy can decide how to spend their coins and they don't argue about buying a cheaper character or to save up for a more expensive character.

One thing I don't like about the game is that both characters have to be on the same screen. One character can actually pull the other one along. As you can imagine this can cause a lot of fights between brothers. This was fixed in a later Lego video game, Lego Indiana Jones 2.

Overall, this is an excellent game for all ages. It provides enough skill to challenge an older child and just plain fun for younger children and adults. The graphics are sound effects are wonderful.