LEGO’s vast crossover potential has been capitalized upon numerous times to enter video game form, which can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.
Recommended VideosFrom completely new ideas to LEGO reenactments of popular movie franchises, there is not much that LEGO hasn’t touched since first entering the video game landscape in 1995 with LEGO Fun to Build on the Sega Pico.
Since then, we’ve seen racing games, open-world exploration, thousands of Minifigures, and hours upon hours of fun—but what games rank as the best LEGO entries of all time?
That’s a difficult task, and one that is certainly up to interpretation, but if you’re looking to dive into a new LEGO adventure, you can’t go wrong with these 10 choices.
LEGO Dimensions was the ultimate LEGO and video game crossover, utilizing the “toys to life” format with LEGO figures and constructs to build in the real world and a toy pad that recognized what was in play. At certain points in the game, you were instructed to build something different.
The Starter Pack, which contained everything you needed to get going, included Minifigures of Batman, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle from the LEGO movies, but the game could be expanded further with characters and environments from over 30 different franchises.
The result was a spectacular blend of crossovers, with everything from The Simpsons to Doctor Who, Back to the Future to Sonic the Hedgehog. It gave an indication of what a LEGO game would look like if you had every character you could ever want.
The downside, unfortunately, was the price. The Starter Pack costs up to $99.99, depending on your platform, with additional Level Packs retailing a $29.99 each and character packs at $14.99.
LEGO Worlds featured 3D procedurally generated worlds and, released before the LEGO crossover sets with Minecraft started to be released, was the answer to the question “What if a LEGO game was like Minecraft?”
The Sandbox game tasked players to collect objects spread across various maps and biomes, which resulted in studs, the in-game currency, being rewarded, which could then be used to purchase different vehicles, buildings, and more.
Initially released in Early Access, LEGO Worlds attracted plenty of praise for its creative freedom, though it lacked the crossovers with franchises we all know and love, which held it back from being the very best it could be.
The LEGO Harry Potter Collection combines the two previous LEGO Harry Potter games and covers all eight of the main Harry Potter films, providing a fully explorable Hogwarts Castle, Diagon Alley, and other locations.
With 40 levels in total, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-7 had everything you could want from the Wizarding World and brought the game to a new age of consoles on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
However, it did stop short of creating a fully, reimagined version of the original LEGO Harry Potter titles, though it has been teased that such a title is on its way.
While many of the best LEGO games take full advantage of crossovers with franchises, LEGO City Undercover instead featured a shiny new idea based on the city-themed toy line by LEGO, with police officer Chase McCain as the main character.
LEGO City Undercover was the first title featuring voice acting and the first time TT Games did not rely on a license, though the environment was based on multiple real locations. All in all, it provided a blank slate to work with—and the result was superb.
Originally released as an exclusive for Wii U, a remastered version was later brought to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, which also brought a two-player co-op that was lacking from the first version.
LEGO has often followed the script of popular movie franchises and, having already told their own story with the first LEGO game featuring the Marvel license, tapped into the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with LEGO Marvel’s Avengers.
The game followed the plots of the first two Avengers movies, as well as single levels based on the solo movies including the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, with a plethora of characters from the MCU, as well as some lesser-known characters from the comics.
While it fell shy of the bar set by LEGO Marvel Superheroes (more on that later), it benefitted from being able to utilize voice clips directly from the films and featured over 100 playable characters, as well as several locations to explore.
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes was released in 2012 and largely set the formula that would be followed for LEGO games for the next decade and beyond, with a vast open-world LEGO environment and a huge roster of characters.
The first TT LEGO game to feature full spoken dialogue, the voice actors list for LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes was top-notch, including Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Laura Bailey as Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Wonder Woman, and Troy Baker as Batman.
Its success spawned two follow-up games, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and LEGO DC Super-Villains, and, while it may have been surpassed by its successors and later titles from TT Games, the importance of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes cannot be overlooked.
Released to coincide with the theatrical release of Jurassic World, LEGO Jurassic World featured 20 levels, with five levels from each of the first four films in the Jurassic Park series, and provided variety with the ability to play as both human characters and dinosaurs.
Voice clips from the first few movies were used in the game, which also benefitted from many actors from Jurassic World providing fresh lines for the game—including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and even Jimmy Fallon.
Gameplay-wise, LEGO Jurassic World wasn’t too dissimilar from other titles and certainly didn’t break the mold, but the ability to play as LEGO dinosaurs was a great touch.
Playable villains were featured in previous LEGO games involving the DC and Marvel franchises but LEGO DC Super-Villains flipped the script on its head entirely, with the story orientating around the villains themselves.
The first title to include a customized character in the story, LEGO DC Super-Villains provided a fresh spin on the tried and tested LEGO game formula, while not diverting too far from its predecessors by retaining the usual gameplay gimmicks.
The depth of the game was particularly impressive, with fully explorable areas including Gotham City, Metropolis, and Arkham Asylum, while the voice acting cast was stellar, including Kevin Conroy reprising his role as Batman and Mark Hamill reprising his roles as The Joker and The Trickster.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was the ultimate game for LEGO Star Wars fans, adapting all nine movies from the Skywalker Saga series of films, as well as additional characters from other Star Wars films and TV series.
Players could choose where to start their adventure from the point of the beginning of any of the three trilogies, which resulted in a mammoth 45 levels, 380 characters, and many fully explorable planets to explore, including Naboo, Tatooine, Coruscant, and Kamino.
Many recognizable voices can also be found in the title, including Brian Blessed as Boss Noss, Anthony Daniels as C3-P0, Andy Secombe as Watto, and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian.
LEGO Marvel Superheroes was the perfect blend for the LEGO game format, capitalizing on the Marvel license to introduce a plethora of recognizable characters but not relying on movies themselves, instead providing a brand new story.
A fully explorable LEGO version of New York City came hidden with plenty of puzzles and unlockables, with over 180 characters to play as, and, unlike many other Marvel games we’ve seen, was not restricted by licenses and was one of few modern releases that included the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four.
Minifigures for recognizable characters like Captain America, Loki, Nick Fury, and Tony Stark were modeled on their MCU counterparts, while there was also a staggering list of voice actors including Adrian Pasdar, Clark Gregg, Danielle Nicolet, Laura Bailey, and Stan Lee himself.
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