10 Lego Video Games Everyone FORGOT
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VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
There are a TON of Lego games, so it's only natural that some have been forgotten. For this list, we're looking at the various Lego games that have been lost to time, whether that's because of its age, general launch, or how it's been overshadowed by the more successful Lego games of today. Our list includes “Lego Rock Raiders” (1999), “Legoland” (2000), “Lego Universe” (2010), and more!
Script written by Ty Richardson
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 Forgotten Lego Games. For this list, we’re looking at the various Lego games that have been lost to time, whether that’s because of its age, its general launch, or because of how it’s been overshadowed by the more successful Lego games of today. Have you played any of these titles? Let us know down in the comments.
One could argue that “Lego City Undercover” has been anything but forgotten. After all, this once Wii U exclusive game did eventually come to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch in 2017. However, it seems to have been forgotten by TT Games, Warner Bros, and even Lego themselves. “Lego City Undercover” was a surprisingly fantastic game given that it was based on a more generic Lego brand and offered a hilarious adventure with a focus on swapping costumes rather than characters in its core gameplay. The Wii U version alone sold just under two million copies. So, why didn’t TT Games and WB go for a sequel? Or even another game based on a different general lineup of Lego sets like the classic Space or Castle sets of the 1960’s.
If you’re a hardcore Lego fan, chances are you’ve already been to one of the Legolands across Europe, Asia, and North America. But wouldn’t it be cool to build your own iteration of the theme park? That’s where the PC comes in. “Legoland” cashed in on the popularity of “Roller Coaster Tycoon” by tasking players with creating their own Legoland parks. Unfortunately, it is commercially unavailable at the time of this recording, which is a real shame considering the vacancy of theme park management games. Sure, we’ve seen the likes of “Planet Coaster” fill the void, but for us Lego fans, it’d be nice if the young and old could visit or revisit this gem of a PC game.
The Lego brand has seen several racing games, most noticeably during the fifth and sixth generations of gaming with “Lego Racers” and its sequel. But what about the one that came shortly after? “Drome Racers” launched a year after “Lego Racers 2”, yet floundered in its critical performance on account of its generic presentation and lack of personality. Even though the GBA version scored higher than its console counterparts, including the supposedly enhanced GameCube version, it was not enough to save its developer Attention to Detail. Was “Drome Racers” rightfully left behind? We may never know the sales numbers, but the lack of resonance within Lego fans and the low review scores imply that previous Lego racing games found bigger success for a reason. Doesn’t help that the Lego name was nowhere to be seen on the box art, making “Drome Racers” blend in with other games on store shelves.
Launching the same year as “Drome Racers”, “Island Xtreme Stunts” faced similar troubles. It wasn’t a horrible game by any stretch of the imagination. Its real problem was how it changed “Lego Island’s” identity. Though it was presented to us as a sequel to “Lego Island 2”, it shifted focus from doing pizza deliveries, races, and the like to being a part of a movie set and performing stunts with various vehicles. Again, “Island Xtreme Stunts” was not a terrible game, yet we don’t usually think about this one when discussing “Lego Island”.
With the handful of occasions we’ve seen Lego dip their toes into sports, they haven’t given us a toy or game that was less than solid. Case in point, “Football Mania”, which was published by both Lego and Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance. Much like the ill-fated “Drome Racers”, “Football Mania” did not do well critically with outlets citing its generic soccer gameplay and lack of creativity with the Lego brand. Indeed, it would have been awesome to have a stadium builder or incorporate building into the gameplay as a Lego game should. Alas, this was for the kids who liked Lego and wanted a decent soccer game to kill time. Perhaps 2K can put out their own Lego soccer game or even a Lego basketball game in the near future.
Lego has tried a handful of times to break into online gaming. The toy brand has seen some success in mobile markets, but before these efforts, we had “Lego Universe”, an MMO where players designed their own minifigs and fought the Maelstrom in the name of their chosen faction. Alas, the Lego name was not enough to amass a sustainable playerbase. “Lego Universe” was only around from October 2010 to January 2012 before the plug was pulled by Lego themselves, admitting that the game simply wasn’t generating revenue. Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that the MMO scene was already being dominated by “World of Warcraft”, “EVE Online”, “EverQuest”, and “RuneScape” at that time. So, was there room for a Lego MMO? Not really.
This was perhaps the strangest genre for Lego to dip their toes into, more so than an MMO or online platform fighter. “Lego Rock Raiders” was a strategy game released for Windows PC and PlayStation. Build a squad of Rock Raiders to gather energy crystals and/or rescue lost Rock Raiders while fending off the various threats lurking in the caves. Much like “Football Mania”, this title doesn’t do much with the Lego IP outside of the name, but for a strategy game, it was a good welcome mat for kids who had not yet tried games in the genre. It’d be interesting to see Lego return to the Rock Raiders theme today, or at the very least a new strategy game that might implement the toys in a more creative light.
In the realm of handheld games, one might think of the licensed games that came out on the Nintendo DS or the GBA games that had console counterparts. But what about the ones that only made it to GBA like “Lego Knights’ Kingdom”? Well, for those who were into top-down action-adventure games like “Zelda”, it was a warm and familiar kind of game. Problem was that the Knights’ Kingdom line was not as popular as other Lego products like Bionicle that were aimed at older kids. And so, this title gathered dust faster than the toyline it was based on.
After the success of “Skylanders”, it seemed as though the “toys to life” train had no brakes as more and more companies came out with their own spin on the trend. Lego and TT Games were players in the trend as well with “Lego Dimensions”, which mashed together dozens and dozens IPs under one single roof. Players could build various characters, vehicles, and toys to aid them in their quest to bring down Lord Vortech. Despite the ambition and fun, “Lego Dimensions” would suffer a similar fate as “Lego Universe”; the revenue was not making up the costs of manufacturing the bricks, and parents were already getting their wallets singed by the other overpriced “toys to life” games. And so, “Lego Dimensions” died after a couple of years along with “Skylanders” and “Disney Infinity”.
Of any Lego product to ever exist, none has been dropped as hard as “Lego Life of George”. In case you don’t remember this mobile title, use Lego bricks to build simple structures in the shortest time possible. Only two sets were ever released, both sets containing one hundred forty-four Lego bricks. Sadly, there wasn’t much else besides building fast and challenging friends. “Lego Life of George” would be discontinued in 2013. The most success it found was a nomination for “Toy of the Year” from The Toy Association and won an award in the 2012 SXSW Interactive Awards.
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 Forgotten Lego Games. For this list, we’re looking at the various Lego games that have been lost to time, whether that’s because of its age, its general launch, or because of how it’s been overshadowed by the more successful Lego games of today. Have you played any of these titles? Let us know down in the comments.
“Lego City Undercover” (2013)
One could argue that “Lego City Undercover” has been anything but forgotten. After all, this once Wii U exclusive game did eventually come to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch in 2017. However, it seems to have been forgotten by TT Games, Warner Bros, and even Lego themselves. “Lego City Undercover” was a surprisingly fantastic game given that it was based on a more generic Lego brand and offered a hilarious adventure with a focus on swapping costumes rather than characters in its core gameplay. The Wii U version alone sold just under two million copies. So, why didn’t TT Games and WB go for a sequel? Or even another game based on a different general lineup of Lego sets like the classic Space or Castle sets of the 1960’s.
“Legoland” (2000)
If you’re a hardcore Lego fan, chances are you’ve already been to one of the Legolands across Europe, Asia, and North America. But wouldn’t it be cool to build your own iteration of the theme park? That’s where the PC comes in. “Legoland” cashed in on the popularity of “Roller Coaster Tycoon” by tasking players with creating their own Legoland parks. Unfortunately, it is commercially unavailable at the time of this recording, which is a real shame considering the vacancy of theme park management games. Sure, we’ve seen the likes of “Planet Coaster” fill the void, but for us Lego fans, it’d be nice if the young and old could visit or revisit this gem of a PC game.
“Drome Racers” (2002)
The Lego brand has seen several racing games, most noticeably during the fifth and sixth generations of gaming with “Lego Racers” and its sequel. But what about the one that came shortly after? “Drome Racers” launched a year after “Lego Racers 2”, yet floundered in its critical performance on account of its generic presentation and lack of personality. Even though the GBA version scored higher than its console counterparts, including the supposedly enhanced GameCube version, it was not enough to save its developer Attention to Detail. Was “Drome Racers” rightfully left behind? We may never know the sales numbers, but the lack of resonance within Lego fans and the low review scores imply that previous Lego racing games found bigger success for a reason. Doesn’t help that the Lego name was nowhere to be seen on the box art, making “Drome Racers” blend in with other games on store shelves.
“Island Xtreme Stunts” (2002)
Launching the same year as “Drome Racers”, “Island Xtreme Stunts” faced similar troubles. It wasn’t a horrible game by any stretch of the imagination. Its real problem was how it changed “Lego Island’s” identity. Though it was presented to us as a sequel to “Lego Island 2”, it shifted focus from doing pizza deliveries, races, and the like to being a part of a movie set and performing stunts with various vehicles. Again, “Island Xtreme Stunts” was not a terrible game, yet we don’t usually think about this one when discussing “Lego Island”.
“Football Mania”, aka “Soccer Mania” (2002)
With the handful of occasions we’ve seen Lego dip their toes into sports, they haven’t given us a toy or game that was less than solid. Case in point, “Football Mania”, which was published by both Lego and Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance. Much like the ill-fated “Drome Racers”, “Football Mania” did not do well critically with outlets citing its generic soccer gameplay and lack of creativity with the Lego brand. Indeed, it would have been awesome to have a stadium builder or incorporate building into the gameplay as a Lego game should. Alas, this was for the kids who liked Lego and wanted a decent soccer game to kill time. Perhaps 2K can put out their own Lego soccer game or even a Lego basketball game in the near future.
“Lego Universe” (2010)
Lego has tried a handful of times to break into online gaming. The toy brand has seen some success in mobile markets, but before these efforts, we had “Lego Universe”, an MMO where players designed their own minifigs and fought the Maelstrom in the name of their chosen faction. Alas, the Lego name was not enough to amass a sustainable playerbase. “Lego Universe” was only around from October 2010 to January 2012 before the plug was pulled by Lego themselves, admitting that the game simply wasn’t generating revenue. Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that the MMO scene was already being dominated by “World of Warcraft”, “EVE Online”, “EverQuest”, and “RuneScape” at that time. So, was there room for a Lego MMO? Not really.
“Lego Rock Raiders” (1999)
This was perhaps the strangest genre for Lego to dip their toes into, more so than an MMO or online platform fighter. “Lego Rock Raiders” was a strategy game released for Windows PC and PlayStation. Build a squad of Rock Raiders to gather energy crystals and/or rescue lost Rock Raiders while fending off the various threats lurking in the caves. Much like “Football Mania”, this title doesn’t do much with the Lego IP outside of the name, but for a strategy game, it was a good welcome mat for kids who had not yet tried games in the genre. It’d be interesting to see Lego return to the Rock Raiders theme today, or at the very least a new strategy game that might implement the toys in a more creative light.
“Lego Knights’ Kingdom” (2004)
In the realm of handheld games, one might think of the licensed games that came out on the Nintendo DS or the GBA games that had console counterparts. But what about the ones that only made it to GBA like “Lego Knights’ Kingdom”? Well, for those who were into top-down action-adventure games like “Zelda”, it was a warm and familiar kind of game. Problem was that the Knights’ Kingdom line was not as popular as other Lego products like Bionicle that were aimed at older kids. And so, this title gathered dust faster than the toyline it was based on.
“Lego Dimensions” (2015)
After the success of “Skylanders”, it seemed as though the “toys to life” train had no brakes as more and more companies came out with their own spin on the trend. Lego and TT Games were players in the trend as well with “Lego Dimensions”, which mashed together dozens and dozens IPs under one single roof. Players could build various characters, vehicles, and toys to aid them in their quest to bring down Lord Vortech. Despite the ambition and fun, “Lego Dimensions” would suffer a similar fate as “Lego Universe”; the revenue was not making up the costs of manufacturing the bricks, and parents were already getting their wallets singed by the other overpriced “toys to life” games. And so, “Lego Dimensions” died after a couple of years along with “Skylanders” and “Disney Infinity”.
“Lego Life of George” (2011)
Of any Lego product to ever exist, none has been dropped as hard as “Lego Life of George”. In case you don’t remember this mobile title, use Lego bricks to build simple structures in the shortest time possible. Only two sets were ever released, both sets containing one hundred forty-four Lego bricks. Sadly, there wasn’t much else besides building fast and challenging friends. “Lego Life of George” would be discontinued in 2013. The most success it found was a nomination for “Toy of the Year” from The Toy Association and won an award in the 2012 SXSW Interactive Awards.
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