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With so much credit given to LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game?s creative design and charmingly unique premise (and rightfully so), it?s easy to forget one of the coolest components to its success ? characters. Lots of them. More than 50 altogether. In fact, you may have found yourself playing through the game multiple times just to unlock everyone from favorites like Darth Maul and General Grievous to more obscure denizens of the Star Wars universe such as Luminara Unduli and a PK droid.

Coming this fall for multiple platforms*, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy further celebrates the characters of the Star Wars galaxy. In addition to providing another 50-plus humans, droids and exotic aliens to unlock, the game also places a greater emphasis on unique character actions. Also, console and Windows versions of LEGO Star Wars II allow you to import unlocked characters from the first game with a save file. It doesn?t take Yoda?s wisdom to realize that equates to more than 100 characters available for Free Play mode ? not to mention the millions more you can create yourself via the game?s unique customization system (look for further details on this feature in a future story).



Director Tom Stone of TT Games (parent company to developer Traveller?s Tales) leads a team whose love for both Star Wars and LEGO shines through in both titles. ?By including all of these characters, we want to give fans of the last game and fans of Star Wars the opportunity to see all of their best loved (as well as some lesser known!) characters in the iconic LEGO mini-figure style,? he says. ?We had also set ourselves a challenge after putting so many characters into the first game. Believe it or not, we?ve actually surpassed that number with LEGO Star Wars II!?

?And that?s before you add in the original 50-plus characters to make well over 100 available,? chimes in David Perkinson, producer at LucasArts. ?We?re actually closer to 60 for LEGO Star Wars II, even without a save file from the first game.?

But what good is having so many characters without them showing some, well?character? Thankfully, LEGO Star Wars II prevails by staying true to the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia with character-specific attacks. Chewbacca rips arms out of sockets, for instance, while Darth Vader Force chokes enemies to pieces, Jawas disable droids with their ionization guns, and bounty hunters like Boba Fett, Bossk and IG-88 unleash thermal detenators to clear groups of enemies or to break through scenery. You might even recognize new abilities for characters making a second appearance in a LEGO Star Wars game, like R2-D2, whose periscope allows him to see where he?s headed as he navigates the swamps of Dagobah.

?My favorite character-specific move has to be the Emperor?s Force lightning. I would hate to be on the receiving end of that,? comments Perkinson. ?I also love Obi-Wan?s Jedi mind trick and the humorous ways it stuns its victims. When he performs his mind trick, Jawas get stars over their heads while stormtroopers? heads actually turn completely around.?

With so many characters available in LEGO Star Wars II, the game presents endless replayability possibilities as you take the character of your choice through Free Play mode. ?You can make Darth Maul a hero of the Rebellion,? says Perkinson. ?Or you can have Grand Moff Tarkin take on the rancor at Jabba?s Palace. Or help General Grievous train with Yoda on Dagobah.?

?Grievous training with Yoda would certainly be interesting, although I doubt he?d have the patience!? jokes Stone. ?I?m looking forward to freaking out a young Anakin Skywalker and introducing him to his later self aboard the Death Star.?

NEXT MONTH: ?Episode IV: Your Favorite Moments, LEGO Style!?

*May the Force build with you with versions developed by Traveller's Tales on PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Sony PSP, Xbox video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube and Windows, as well as handheld versions developed by Amaze Entertainment for Nintendo DS and Nintendo Game Boy Advance.