Stormtroopers and Lego bricks, an odd combination, but it works extremely well, and provides an enjoyable experience.
The games humor is something that makes it stand out, it tells a shortened version of the story, elaborating on many of the funny moments throughout the films and capturing many a smile during it's course.
The gameplay presented in Lego Star Wars II is something of a guilty pleasure, there is no difficulty to it at all, as when you die you simply respawn after losing a portion of your collected lego studs (currency) and to add to this, none of the levels have much difficulty even without infinite lives. This said, it doesn't detract from the game at all, because those looking for a challenge will find ample difficulty in figuring out where all of the minikits are hiding, each level contains ten of these, they are used to build ships for the flying missions.
In addition to this, each chapter has some bonus missions, and the ability to replay chapters multiple times with any characters you unlock. The game has a vast array of characters to unlock, ranging from greedo the bounty hunter, to the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi. You can even use parts of these characters to build custom characters. The games visuals do an excellent job of conveying the lighthearted mood of the game, and are an asset to the games humor and style. However there are some issues with widescreen displays, the image appears stretched and somewhat distorted. The core gameplay revolved around jumping and blasting your way through the levels, some of the different characters have unique abilities, for example bounty hunters can throw thermal detonators and blow up parts of the scenery, or Jedi can 'use the force' in order to proceed through a level, while blaster type characters have a grappling hook to get to higher areas. In addition to this, droids can open certain doors, but cannot build lego structures, whereas humanoids can build. Throughout the game you will be presented with piles of bricks which you must build something usefull with in order to proceed. For example, one part quite early on in the game has you blowing up trash bins in order to find enough parts to construct an AT-AT to blast your way through the rest of the level with.
While the gameplay may not be particularly deep, or challenging, it is a lot of fun, and very humorous, light hearted and enjoyable. While those looking for a challenge may still find one trying to get 100% of all the unlockables and items in the game. Those further still looking for challenge will be appeased by the game achievement points, as well as the regular "Finish this level" achievements, there is one for completing each level without dying, which can be quite tough, or very easy depending on which characters you use. While the game itself can be completed in only a few hours, you will spend a lot of time getting all the hidden bricks and items, and collecting enough money to buy all the unlockables from the cantina. To do all this can rack up an impressive amount of time spent playing the game.
Overall, Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy presents an impressively indulgent experience filled with humor and fun for all the family.