LEGO Games That Perfectly Captured Their Source Material

It can be challenging to capture the essence of what makes so many franchises beloved by fans in the form of LEGO. At least, it would be, if the developers behind these many adaptions didn’t consistently show such great understanding of what makes these franchises tick and connect with their fans.

Personally, I’ve always known I can find some of my favourite belly laughs anytime I enter a LEGO world related to a franchise I love. With these LEGO games in particular, the worlds they craft out of bricks and light-hearted humour often manage to both poke a little fun at the source material and give it new life.

10 LEGO Lord Of The Rings

Voice Lines Direct From The Film Bring Middle Earth To Life

You wouldn’t think a LEGO game that uses voice lines directly from the films should work. Yet, in the case of this Middle Earth epic, it somehow comes across as a fresh take that weaves humour into Frodo and the Fellowship’s epic adventure. At the same time, it truly explores the scope of Middle Earth.

Fans of the Lord of the Rings series, like me, love to think about the intricacies of different locations. This is the rare game that gives us the chance to explore all of these locations at will, alongside a huge volume of Easter Eggs (like Peter Jackson throwing one of his Oscars at the Uruk-Hai). The huge suite of characters, including ones like Tom Bombadil that didn’t even appear in the films, is the cherry on top. It shows a beautiful understanding of the source material and makes this not only a great adaptation, but a hugely re-playable and enjoyable experience.

9 LEGO Jurassic World

A Cinematic Treasure Made A Rare Reality

Jurassic Park is a franchise that plenty of video games have attempted to tackle. Dinosaurs, island locales and the excitement of that beloved John Williams score make it easy to enchant gamers. A lot of other titles, though, have largely ignored the source materials' plot in lieu of just fitting dinosaurs into games as much as possible. Meanwhile, LEGO used its traditional mixture of comedy and genuine love for the series to let gamers explore this franchise at their own speed.

The list of characters isn’t quite as extensive as other LEGO games. Still, the level design showcases beautiful islands from across the first four films in the franchise. In focusing on the stories, this showed an understanding of the series unmatched by almost any other Jurassic Park or World game I’ve personally seen to date. Unfortunately, of course, there are plenty of movie tie-in games that aren't nearly so good.

8 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Keeping Things Fresh With The Sequel

The later Harry Potter books and films aren’t quite as cheery and light-hearted in their adventure as the earlier ones. Still, LEGO applied the same style when translating the iconic locations like Hogwarts castle into these brick-filled, beautifully designed worlds. What makes this sequel work is that it doesn't just give players access to the same magic as the first game. It moves on and up with Harry's own abilities, which allowed players to feel like we were going through our own final years at Hogwarts.

The earlier spells utilised in the first game faded back, which was a key part of giving players the satisfaction of a full second game that took place in many of the same areas as before. This could only have been achieved by real fans of the series, who have game-ified the entire franchise better than anyone to date. Even Hogwarts Legacy only took players through a single year in the castle (and long before Harry Potter's own time there), instead of receiving their full experience through many years as a student of witchcraft and wizardry.

7 LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

The Original Grand Compilation Of Space Adventure

Perhaps the most famous and most frequently revisited (definitely for me) of all LEGO licensed games are those based on Star Wars. Told across many versions, this particular release was (at one time) the coming together of all the previous games in one place. It gave fans unprecedented access to the galaxy far, far away in a way no game had managed before. What was great about this title was that it brought together generations of gamers, making a complete enough version of the whole franchise that my dad could play alongside me in a rare game that fit both of our interests.

The many varied block vehicles and creatures, the breadth of characters and the comical recreations of so many iconic moments helped make this a massive release. This collection of two previous games, among the earliest in the LEGO pantheon, showed an understanding of the love fans have for this franchise that most adaptations simply fail to capture. Though it has perhaps been forgotten in the wake of newer games, this remains one of the best individual examples of LEGO's prowess at engaging the love of fans for a franchise.

6 LEGO DC Super-Villains

Honouring An Incredible Rogues Gallery

Sometimes the best way to please a fandom is to give them as many playable characters as possible. As a huge DC Comics fan, there’s nothing more enticing than the choice of playing as the Joker, or Kite Man, or any of the other huge list of bizarre options included in this ode to DC’s infamous rogues galleries.

Pitching DC’s villains as anti-heroes, forced to save their Earth against invading villains from another planet, was a great idea. It drew upon lore from DC Comics, giving a way to showcase as many beloved villains as possible. This created one of the least predictable and most enjoyable LEGO game experiences so far. Honouring the comics is a surefire way to any DC fan’s heart, including my own. Through levels like Darkseid of the Moon, this game managed to give some of the best boss battles in LEGO history. It also used hugely exciting concepts that DC fans don't often get to see in adaptations, like the anti-life equation.

5 LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

A Rare Chance To Handle The Whip

Personally, this was my very first LEGO game, and it remains one of my favourite Nintendo DS games to this day. The adventurous style, easy differentiation of abilities from whips to shovels, and the stylized characters showcased many of the common themes that LEGO titles remain known for now. The Original Adventures was a game that inspired fans with a rare chance to play as one of their favourite film characters, jumping between cars filled with soldiers and chopping down enemies on bridges, adventuring across the world with Indy and his sidekicks.

The three beloved films were translated flawlessly to this unique style of adaptation. It came through the music, the parodying of scenes, and the deep exploration of the worlds Indy and his friends adventured through, prompting excitement over the character for a whole new generation.

4 LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes

Bringing A Huge Universe Of Heroes To Life

Comic book worlds are ripe for LEGO adaptations. In DC Comics, there are so many constant crossovers between characters that it feels wrong to fans when a game is made about just one of them. Thus, with the second LEGO Batman game, they decided to showcase the expansive world beyond just this character. To that end, they included over 60 characters from the DC Universe, pleasing comic fans to no end.

From Alfred to Zatanna, the length and breadth of this world was explored in a story that included the full Justice League. It featured a team-up between Lex Luthor and the Joker, and many villain appearances besides. Capturing a comic-book world through the LEGO medium was so successful there would later be a LEGO Batman Movie, showcasing a similar world with many of the same characters popping up.

3 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

The Ultimate Childhood Dream Come True

Although the sequel was excellently executed, the first LEGO Harry Potter game captured the feel of Hogwarts remarkably. The innocence of the early stories in this world, and the huge cast of characters brought along, made fans of the series feel right at home. Since I was a child, dressed as Harry Potter and standing outside a bookstore at midnight, I’ve dreamed of wandering at will around Hogwarts. The lessons where spells could be learned and the charming adventures perfectly encapsulated what made every player want to get their Hogwarts letter as a child.

There was also a great volume of content, with so many characters to buy and collectibles to find in secret areas around the castle and in other locations. LEGO Harry Potter is still easily one of the most successfully immersive games set in the Wizarding World ever.

2 LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

A Huge World, A Galaxy Of Adventure

Modern LEGO games have adapted into something larger and grander to fit a modern gaming audience. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is by far the most LEGO in one game, and the more open style has pleased fans immensely. That’s because this finally allows players to experience Star Wars on a scale hitherto unseen across almost all of gaming, across 24 different planets from the series.

The sixth entry in the LEGO Star Wars sub-series of games, The Skywalker Saga contains over 400 characters, an astonishing number. Getting to have this kind of choice, and flit around with more to discover than in any LEGO game yet to exist, leaves us Star Wars fans agape at the opportunity this game presents, especially when compared with the much smaller scale of most games associated with the franchise. To finally contain all of this in a single game, and with the newer style, more open than a LEGO game has ever been, shows the dedication to the legendary franchise like no other.

1 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

The Ultimate Fan Dream Of Uniting The Universe

A massive Marvel game being released in 2013, the year after the first MCU Avengers film, was a masterstroke from the LEGO team. The MCU hype was at an all-time high. A story that featured Marvel heroes collecting “cosmic bricks” (which were the pieces of the Silver Surfer’s board) made for an exhilarating adventure, separate adventure from the MCU itself, which thrilled us all.

Not only that, but there was a wide spread of Marvel Comics characters. This included many whose film rights weren’t available to Marvel Studios at the time, allowing for an experience fans were craving. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes remains one of the best LEGO games ever, and the grandest assembling of Marvel characters across almost any property so far. It also becomes more relevant with age, as some elements of the story and the character collisions could gel with what we're likely to see in the upcoming Avengers films.