The date was April 1, 2005.
I was 10 years old, and Star Wars season was fast approaching. We were only a month and half out from the highly anticipated release of Revenge of the Sith, the final movie in the Skywalker saga (at least at the time). But before we could get to the movie, something even more important, something life-changing, was releasing tomorrow: LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game.
Words cannot describe how excited I was to play this game. As long as I’d been alive, there were two things I’d loved for as long as I can remember: LEGOs and Star Wars. And I was a day away from getting the game that would give me both.
That’s what I believed when I got home from school that day, at least. When I walked in the door, my mother was waiting for me to ask how my day was, as she did every day. Then she told me something shocking: “I bought you LEGO Star Wars today.”
That’s not true, I thought. That’s impossible! It came out tomorrow. I knew this. That’s when I realized what day it was: April 1. My mother was playing a cruel joke on me.
I brushed it off upon realizing this—and then something incredible happened. My mom handed me an actual copy of LEGO Star Wars for the PlayStation 2.
My jaw hit the floor. The impossible had happened.
My mom, unaware the game had yet to release, was shopping at Kmart earlier that day and stopped by the video game counter to ask if LEGO Star Wars was out yet. The person behind the counter, halfway through opening a shipping box, said they didn’t know.
Inside that box was the initial shipment of LEGO Star Wars, for release the next day. This kind cashier sold a copy to my mom on the spot, a day early, making me the proud owner of what I believe to this day is the first copy of LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game.
My mother is a saint. There are a million reasons I could tell you why she is the world’s best mother and then a million more.
But this might just be reason No. 1.
Celebrating 17 Years of LEGO Star Wars Memories
As I wrapped my initial playthrough of LEGO Star Wars, I wanted more. The game was so captivating, so thrilling, I immediately dreamed of playing a LEGO version of the original trilogy. If other people had the same reaction as me, surely we’d get our wish.
A year later, the prediction came true. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy was released in 2006, followed by LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga in 2007. And of course, I had to pick up a copy for myself.
Sure, I’d already played every level of the original a million times. But I never got to fight the Emperor as Jar Jar Binks! It was nirvana for me, and these game provided me with so much enjoyment that I could pick them up and replay them right now as if it were my first time in 2005.
But it’s 2022. And as we reach the 17th anniversary of that very first LEGO Star Wars game, we’re being blessed with a full, current-gen remake of the game that helped define my childhood.
I am a little worried. Can LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga recapture the magic of the original LEGO Star Wars? Have we drifted too far away from the co-op mode that made it so fun to play with my brothers and friends? The originals had a unique ability to faithfully recreate the biggest moments in Star Wars, while fully incorporating what it is about LEGOs that made them so fun. How could anything live up to this?
But my worries are nothing compared to my excitement. For the first time since April 2005, I am out of my mind excited for a LEGO and Star Wars game.
If you played the originals like I did, then I hope this game not only lives up to the hype, but also reminds you of all the fun you had playing the original games. And if this is your first ride on the LEGO Star Wars train, I hope this game brings you the fun and magic it did for me when it was first released 17 years ago. (Oh, and with all due respect to the voice actors, do yourself a favor and turn on Mumble Mode. You won’t regret it.)
May the Force be with you all as we build a new journey through our old favorite stories.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga releases on April 5, 2022 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
