Since 2005’s Lego Star Wars, TT Games repertoire of Lego-fied heroes has grown in leaps and bounds. From Star Wars, to Indiana Jones, to Batman, to Harry Potter, the biggest franchises in media are being reproduced in digital blocks, ready to be destroyed in search of studs. This year will see the release of a sequel to Lego Star Wars, based on the Clone Wars TV series, and a new franchise in Pirates of the Caribbean. We’re also expecting the announcement of Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 at any moment. What other franchises could be in the pipeline? Here’s just a few possibilities…
Lego: The Lord of the Rings
With production under way on Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit, attention is already returning to Middle-earth in the form of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North videogame, set to release this year. As we get closer to the release of the movies, we’ll definitely see at least a few tie-in titles, and what would be more perfect than Lego: The Lord of the Rings? The franchise would fit the Lego mould like a glove: a trio of films, filled with action, adventure, stunning locations and memorable characters. All the game would need was a satisfactory combat system (nothing too complex) to bring to life the great action, be it with sword, axe or bow.
Classic scenes such as Moria, Amon Hen, Helm’s Deep and Shelob’s Lair are just too perfect for levels in a Lego game. Collecting the roster of characters would be just as much fun as any of the other Lego games, and it’d be great to see Lego renditions of the assorted monsters of Middle-earth. The game would have to make fighting from horseback viable, and would have to handle hundreds of characters on screen at once. These are tiny hurdles next to the potential of such a game.
Lego: Naruto
Naruto, the Manga / Anime / every-other-media-ever-invented franchise is another wonderful fit for a Lego adaptation. With an incredibly vivid world and a huge cast of characters with different powers and abilities, it would be fascinating to see what TT Games could conjure up. The manga style would translate well to Lego, with the already expressive character designs matching perfectly to the mime story telling.
Importantly, there’s a lot of background story to draw from in a Lego: Naruto game, though of course an original storyline (as in Lego: Batman) would work as well.
Lego: Kingdoms
There have been plenty of Lego games over the years, though the only truly memorable ones have been the franchise efforts from TT Games. However, Lego’s own themes are ripe for videogame adaptation, and for this list I’ve chosen Kingdoms. The background itself is great: knights, dragons, castles, princesses and monsters. Kingdoms would translate well to a videogame, with the possibility of several genres. It would perfectly suit an action platformer in the same vein as TT Games Lego titles, for example, but, with a bit of expansion and creativity, would make a great RPG. For the ultimate Lego experience, however, how about a strategy game? Imagine creating your own knights, designing your own castle and defending it from the evil hordes.
Lego: Racers
Lego Racers was initially released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, with several ports over the following years, and a sequel in 2001. The concept of the game is fantastic: design your racer using the available Lego pieces, then race them. The execution, however, was less fantastic. The games themselves aren’t bad, they’re just not particularly inspiring.
Now we’re well into the next generation of games, surely it’s the time to revisit the concept and give it the game it deserves? Perhaps releasing such a game in the late 90’s / early 2000’s, the technology just wasn’t there. Today, the process of constructing your own racer could be much less frustrating and far more complex. Even better, how easy would it be to include a level editor for players to design their own tracks? In an age where customization is key in videogames, Lego Racers would be a perfect fit.
Lego: Marvel
Lego: Batman has already demonstrated the viability of a superhero based Lego game, and with the huge amount of Marvel characters on their way to the cinema right now, as well as the fact that Spider-Man already has a Lego counterpart, Marvel’s world may be an even better fit. With a (generally) more light-hearted and adventurous approach to superheroes, characters like the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America and the Incredible Hulk could make a fantastic transition to Lego form.
TT Games have an incredible ability to truly convey characterization through simple designs and animations, and Marvel’s characters are ideally suited to this. Not to mention just how many there are to be collected, especially with a huge assortment of different costumes. There’s a huge amount of back story to work from, with some great Villains to battle. Even an original story would work great.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Agree? Disagree? Even better, post some of your own ideas.
