Sofa Sharers: Love for Lego

Ever a toy to help build a relationship, Lego has been a part of almost everyone’s lives at some point. It’s arguably the worldwide toy, and as such has a host of videogames that pay homage not only to the brilliant blocks, but also to a seemingly endless list of franchises, films and books. Lego games stem back to 1997; the wonderful Lego Island and Lego Loco are two games you probably loved but totally forgot. The Lego games of old often found a large following within the younger audience, but never made any waves outside of this demographic. In 2005 Lego Star Wars: The Video Game was released to great appraisal, and proved to be the first Lego game to find a mass appeal. The key to the game’s success was not only the widely-loved theme, but also the game’s connection to its Lego roots through brilliant integration of local co-op play.

You didn’t think I’d get through a whole Sofa Sharers intro without mentioning split-screen, did you? The countless number of Lego games that followed that initial smash hit have not only rejuvenated the Lego franchise as a whole, but created (or at least radically improved) a whole new business model based around videogames and physical toys. Part of what has made these titles such successful multiplayer games is their general appeal; fully-grown men looking to rekindle old memories, kids who just want to smash stuff up, and even (as you’ll discover later) tentative girlfriends whose anti-videogame radars lapse for a little at the sight of childhood toys. These games are some of the best split-screen experiences to be had anywhere, so it’s only fitting that we dedicate an entire edition of Sofa Sharers to our writer’s memories of their time with Lego videogames.

Ross D. Brown

The first Lego game I ever played was Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I played it on my own at first, but soon persuaded the missus to join in for a game. She’s more of a turn-based RPG fan than anything else, so she was a bit clumsy with it, which only added to our amusement.

It added an extra level of difficulty; having to take on the enemy and keep her alive, whilst simultaneously trying to avoid her wild blaster shots, or uncontrolled, button-mashing, lightsaber swings. I was killed far more times by her clumsiness than by any stormtrooper, droid or obstacle. It was chaotic stuff, and hilarious… for an hour or two.

That’s honestly how long it took me until I realised she wasn’t a clumsy gamer at all. She was a cold, calculated killer who had dedicated the entirety of the gaming session to making my life difficult and griefing me at every opportunity. While I was fighting to save the galaxy, she had turned to the Dark Side.

I’ve played a few Lego games since then. Lego Lord of the Rings, Lego Marvel Super Heroes and The Lego Movie Videogame. I’ve played them all alone.

Andrew Duncan

I first played Lego Star Wars when it came out on PS2, which was good. So I bought the sequel and played that too. However, I didn’t have fun in Lego Star Wars until my fiancée joined in. She had - and still has - no interest in Star Wars at all, but playing the Lego version makes me question her sanity.

It started out honestly enough, playing through level after level, flashing around lightsabers and accidentally shooting each other. Occasionally we’d both try to Force something, and once whilst I was playing as R2D2 too close to a bottomless gorge, she was Force-ing the plants near to me and R2D2 was pushed off of the cliff. And he dropped. And he screamed. And she burst out laughing. So I did it back, intentionally, with thrusters on to the middle of the crevice; instant death, instant mirth.

Sadly this had to end, otherwise we would be unable to attain True Jedi. But the mirth didn’t end. We were soon on a building in Free Play mode, safe from any drops of considerable height. As soon as Darth Vader leapt on a golf cart and went zooming around though, seeing his little head over the top of the steering wheel as she ran me over again and again was too much for her. Laughter on a scale not seen since R2D2-Suicide-Watch as she drove away from my revenge-seeking laser blasts.

Of course, these days I’m rarely allowed to play Lego games. I’m “too slow” or “keep missing studs”...  But I remember the old Lego Star Wars days fondly.

Ryan Davies

I’ve got a couple of key memories when it comes to Lego games. I’d played a lot of the earlier titles, like the original Star Wars games, alone on my PSP. They were fun, good for travelling and the themes never hurt. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I played a Lego game split-screen for the first time.

Most of what I can remember of that first session, however, is getting angry with the horrendous split-screen style of Lego The Lord of the Rings. That annoying twisting-monstrosity still lingers in games like Lego Marvel Super Heroes, I sure as hell can’t understand why. It makes me nauseous, for one thing, and it’s all too easy to lose track of where in the level you actually are, especially when the screen starts to merge. I get that the larger levels of the modern games mean you can’t employ the classic tethering mechanic, but is a normal vertical or horizontal split-screen so difficult to manage?

Feels good to get that off my chest. Now I can talk about the good stuff...actually, hang on, there was the time my friend’s Dad ‘caught’ us playing Lego LOTR and openly judged us for our choice of pastime. He’ll never understand. Playing a Lego game with a friend beside you is an endlessly appealing prospect, not so much because you get to play a video game together, but rather because it allows you to share a sense of childishness. Playing the Lego games with my friends has often left us giggling and babbling as though we’re eight years old again. The brands that the games explore appeal to that childish side within us all so effectively, that it’s difficult to play a game of split-screen Lego the same way you would with Call of Duty.

That’s today’s message, I think. Make Lego, not war.

 

That’s all for this week’s edition of Sofa Sharers, feel free to look through all past editions and look out for the next article in two weeks time. Let’s not let split-screen die, but help it rise from the ashes like a Phoenix!