When LEGO first became popular, nobody would have ever predicted that the brick building toy would end up becoming a major video game franchise, but here we are with tons of different franchises getting the brick treatment. The video games have morphed some of the biggest film franchises of all time into some of the funniest video games to play, making them accessible to a younger audience while still being tongue in cheek enough to appeal to older audiences.
With tons of collectibles and challenges, the LEGO video games have become a staple of the gaming community, and within this article, we shall rank the 10 best LEGO games so far.
10 LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Video Game
This was the first time that LEGO attempted to make a game based upon a Disney movie (the company didn’t own Star Wars at this stage), and it’s fair to say that they chose well with the action-packed pirate based movie.
The game allowed people to play the Pirates of the Caribbean movie plot, with the most iconic moments from the films being brought to life in LEGO form. Adding in water was a no doubt a challenge to create, but it is one that pays off very well here, with the underwater levels being a lot of fun, while battling upon the ships was also a hit, making this a fun game for any LEGO fan to play.
9 LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
There have been plenty of LEGO video games based upon the popular Star Wars franchise, with these games always going down well as this version obviously focuses upon The Force Awakens movie. This game sees the developers really step things up from previous Star Wars games, improving the firing system and making everything look more polished while major names such as Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill adding their voices doesn’t hurt matters.
However, the real highlight of this game is that there are levels here that take place in between Return of the Jedi and Episode VII, which is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else, giving people a real reason to purchase the game.
8 LEGO Dimensions
Lego Dimensions was a game that had huge positives and negatives, which is why it makes this list of the top 10 LEGO games but fails to climb too high. On one hand, this was incredibly creative, but on the other hand, it did seem like a money-grabbing scheme.
LEGO joined in on the craze of bringing toys to the video game world with different figures needing to be purchased, allowing people to access their world and levels, with 30 franchises coming together, allowing for some crazy collaborations from Gremlins to Marvel. In that sense, the game was incredibly creative and fun, but when each pack costs between $30-50, it can certainly be very costly for people to really get into the game, which is why it wasn’t as popular as it perhaps could have been.
7 LEGO Jurrasic World
While LEGO Jurrasic World may not be as action-based as some of the other games on this list, there really is something extremely fun about seeing dinosaurs roaming the earth in a world made of LEGO. This game doesn’t just focus on Jurrasic World though, as the title might make you think, with the game actually exploring all three of the Jurrasic Park movies as well, opening the game up to have wider variety.
The game keeps the charm and humor that LEGO games are well known for but doesn’t shy away from trying to make things feel scary when needed, and you can even play as Steven Spielberg, which instantly makes it a hit!
6 LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
This was one of the original LEGO video games with this being the first of the IP library to be made outside of the Star Wars franchise, and while it didn’t quite hit that level, this was still a whole lot of fun.
The adventure movies are made for fun games such as this, with mega-fans of the franchise getting to wield the famous whip in LEGO form, with Indiana Jones’ personality working well with the LEGO humor. While the franchise is tailored more to an adult audience than some of LEGO’s other games, it’s still a family-friendly game that allows you to explore all of the movies and the incredible worlds within them.
5 LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
This game was actually the sequel for LEGO as they focused on the prequels before tackling the classics, with this version focusing strictly on Episodes IV-VI, which it does perfectly.
The game follows on from the brilliant success of the first, with a fantastic mix of comedic cut-scenes and fantastic action, with improved camera angles really helping when you need to use the force to move different objects. With a variety of puzzles and tons of characters to unlock, this is a really fun LEGO game that any fan of Star Wars should have played by now, and if you haven’t, then go back and get a copy.
4 LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Batman has been a staple of the LEGO video games, which is one of the reasons the character plays such a big part in The LEGO Movie, eventually getting his own spin-off film. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is the pick of the bunch though, despite the fact that it did have a few critical complaints. However, with a huge roster of characters and an interesting storyline, this game was a lot of fun.
It may have had “Batman” in the title, but it felt more like a Justice League game with tons of characters sharing the story with the Dark Knight.
3 LEGO Marvel’s Avengers
It really isn’t a surprise to learn that LEGO jumped on board the Marvel hype with The Avengers franchise, creating a game that follows the plot of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This combines the stories from the original Avengers and Avengers: Age Of Ultron, as well as levels from the movies that are sandwiched in between the two blockbuster movies, with some incredible characters being available to play. Seeing your favorite superhero in LEGO form, being able to play as Iron Man or Thor is a whole lot of fun and with side missions around the world, the game does a great job at providing plenty of detail and trying to make it unique.
2 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Another incredibly popular franchise that the LEGO video games have adapted is Harry Potter, with two games being created that split the different years, but it is the first, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 that is the stronger of the two.
Seeing such iconic characters in LEGO form was fun enough, but when you add in the fact that there was an unbelievable 167 playable characters, the ability to craft LEGO potions, or cast spells, then it really took things to the next level. This game is actually one of the strongest Harry Potter video games, providing one of the largest open-world maps for fans to explore their favorite sets and moments, which had people playing for hours on end.
1 LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
Was there any doubt about which game would end up topping this list? Without the success of LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game the franchise wouldn’t have developed to the point that it would end up reaching.
While the game was actually released before Episode III: Revenge of the Sith hit the movie theatres, it was a slight risk, but it was one that gamers looked past (with a spoiler warning) as it became one of the best-selling PS2 games of the year. The game had a huge roster of 59 playable characters and was tons of fun, using the force to move around and destroy different brick objects or engaging in a LEGO lightsaber battle simply worked, making it a major hit amongst people.
