July 9, 2007 - Okay -- show of hands -- who played the last LEGO Star Wars game on the DS? Quick -- look around, everyone. Do you see someone holding their hand up? That is an uber-geek. That game didn't pan out so well, and anyone crazy enough to buy it must really, really be into Star Wars.

It is with those beleaguered fans in mind that LucasArts and Traveller's Tales have set out to make LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the DS. No, it's not a rehash of the upcoming console version -- which is a rehash of the past two LEGO Star Wars games -- the DS version is built from the ground up with all the studs, LEGOs and stylus controls you can shake a lightsaber at.

Not familiar with this franchise? It's ok -- we understand why DS owners might not be down. Anyway, the LEGO Star Wars games put you into the plastic heads of a plethora of Star Wars characters as you play through the big battles and events that shaped this movie franchise.

From that general idea, one that all versions of the game share along with the franchise's six episodes, the DS starts to differ from its console brethren. There's going to be fewer missions (look for five for each episode) but way more minigames -- this thing is built around the minigame.

Between beating on bad guys and zipping to places via your grappling hook in the normal levels, minigames include Deflection (Luke plays defense with his lightsaber), Levitation (lift C-3PO to impress the Ewoks), Pitstop (be part of a pod racer's pit crew), Kamino (help Obi-Wan find a planet on a map), Grievious (race as the general while jumping over obstacles and collecting studs) Focus (train with Yoda), Evasion (navigate Obi-Wan past some meteors) and Activate (pick the blocks on the touch screen that match the ones on the top screen).

Whew.

Don't let our one-sentence descriptions fool you, there's a lot to these games. For instance, while you're picking up 3P0 for the Ewoks, you're not just holding the guy. To succeed in this game, you will need to guide your icon on the touch screen through a sea of falling Stormtrooper and Yoda heads. Collide with a white helmet, you take damage, and you look like an idiot in front of the teddy bear people. Collide with the green one's dome, and your time is extended.

When you're not in a minigame, the DS version plays like every other version of LEGO Star Wars -- you run from room to room as these little plastic toys and wail on your enemies to collect studs to unlock the game's secrets. Most of the action is controlled via the face buttons, but the touch screen will allow you to switch which character you are controlling as well as show you what enemies and objects can be manipulated via the Force.

While we were taking Qui-Gon Jinn and young Obi-Wan through their we-were-almost-gassed level, we stumbled upon a light fixture that could be searched by our Jedi. A green dot appeared on the touch screen to represent the lamp, and we just touched it to make the Force do its thing. The same thing happens with the droids and assorted bad guys that pop up -- green dot, press it and move your finger around the screen to fling the evildoers.

If you were disappointed in the last LEGO/DS outing or are just in the mood for some touch screen force powers, it would appear LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga has your number. Look for the title this November.