A nostalgic look back at retro LEGO® computer games from the 90s

Children of today. They have no idea how good they have it. At least when it comes to LEGO® video games.

Let me explain it to you.

Imagine a child. His name is Billy. Billy's first experience with LEGO video games was LEGO Marvel Super Heroes. Billy is sitting comfortably on the couch. He can't believe his luck as he explores Manhattan as Iron Man or Hulk or Spiderman, with the thought in the back of his mind "I'm sure LEGO video games were easy to enjoy, hahahaha."

Well, don't be so sure about that, you imaginary kid we just imagined.

You sit on a stone throne that cost US a lot of blood, sweat and tears to build. We, who hundreds of years ago, in the late 90s, played thousands of hours of the original LEGO video games. A prehistoric era, when 'intuitive gameplay' sounded as strange as fidget spinners or baking competitions on television.

And you know what, Billy? We found it fantastic . We were more amazed by it than you could ever imagine, with its graphics and games that don't freeze all the time.

Join us to celebrate the 25th anniversary of LEGO Games and get to know three of the most iconic (and infamous) first LEGO video games.

LEGO Racers (1999)

Well, Billy. You might *think* you know what a good racing game looks like... Responsive controls, great graphics, realistic laws of physics, etc.

But you're so incredibly wrong that it's actually quite embarrassing.

Because the best racing game of all time had none of those things.

In LEGO Racers you have to compete against Legoland's 'greatest racing champion' – the Rocket Racer, who is so talented that he won't race against anyone until he has defeated six characters, including Floris the Bat Knight, Johnny Thunder and Gypsy Moth.

Does that make sense? You don't have to Billy, this is the Wild West of computer games from 1999, COME ON.

You could customize everything, whatever you would expect from a LEGO game. You could give your car any shape you wanted and decorate it with LEGO accessories. I know this doesn't mean much to you, Billy, since you're spending $5,000 from your parents on a bracelet to dangle from your virtual gun. But when we were young we couldn't believe our luck.

You wanted to give your character a robot head? Sure. A cowboy hat? No problem. A wooden leg? Actually just rude not to do that. You could even change the facial expression on your character's driver's license (!!!)

Hours of fun. Literally, hours passed before you even finished playing the game...

The races themselves were a mix of total chaos, maddening gameplay and the utter addiction that typified the LEGO games of this era. And then the boosts... They were truly legendary. The best of them allowed you to instantly teleport halfway down the track via a time portal. We would give anything to see that in real professional racing. Hop on, Science, time to roll up your sleeves!

LEGO Island (1997)

Where else to start than with the first LEGO computer game?

Most computer games until 1997 were those weird click-and-mic adventures that you didn't even realize were educational until you woke up ten years later drenched in sweat and feeling betrayed.

But LEGO Island... That was a 3D world that you experienced through the eyes of your character and where you could go ANYWHERE YOU WANT (or at least within the boundaries of a certain island). And there were FIVE characters to play as! Now that's luxury!

The exploration was fantastic – especially with the strange islanders you constantly encountered who seemed to only be there to provide you with comedy skits, which usually involved taking themselves apart. The pain must have been unbearable...

The “story” consisted of mini-games around the island – from tow truck driving to jet skiing – that were sometimes chaotically good and other times chaotically evil. But the undeniable highlight of the game was when you discovered that there was an actual plot too. There was a mini-game where you had to deliver pizzas to the captured 'Brickster', who... *looks at notes*... used the fumes from the pizzas to break open his cell.

And yes, Billy, we liked the game enough to blindly accept that.

A helicopter chase ensued where you shot pizzas at the Brickster to stop him from destroying the island. Yes, pizzas – the very thing that literally helped him escape. And now comes the best part.

If you failed, you really failed. There's a *really* terrifying, nightmare-inducing scene, where all those islanders you've come to know and love... CRYING IN DESPAIR as their life's work lay in ruins around them. The Brickster shouted above the wailing, “IT'S MINE, ALL MINE.”

10/10

LEGO LOCO (1998)

This train simulator is included here mainly because of the absolutely mind-boggling graphics in the introductory cutscene, featuring a creepy, evilly floating human hand (obviously) that seemed determined to harass minifigures trying to prevent a train crash.

Who would do something like that, Billy?

The gameplay could not quite live up to this great introduction - perhaps not entirely unexpectedly. The goal was to build villages, populate them and send postcards via trains. But after a while it basically boiled down to everyone just picking up increasingly annoyed minifigures and dropping them in places they didn't want to be.

So, Billy, to answer the earlier question – “Who would do something like that?” - to answer:

Well. We. We did that.

Want more gaming-related greatness? This year we celebrate 25 years of LEGO Games with great podcasts, fun facts and more...