LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game/Gameplay

LEGO Star Wars is a one/two player level-based action-adventure game. That means that instead of wandering through an entire game world looking for challenges, you have a base area that leads to various levels. In this case, it's Dexter's Diner. There are four doors - one for Episode I, one for Episode II, one for Episode III, and one for the bonus level. At the start, you can only go through the first. Then, after beating the first level, you can go through the II and III doors. The bonus level is unlocked after you get all the superkit pieces. (Wondering what a superkit piece is? Scroll down.)

In each level, you start in one place, and try to get to another. Some also have objectives (or a boss).

There are also two game modes - Story and Free Play. Until you beat it, you can only play Story. Afterward, you can play Free Play. Free Play allows you to switch between characters using L and R, in Story, you're stuck with the characters involved. Story also has more cutscenes, Free Play cuts them out.

However, some levels - starfighter missions - can only be played in Story mode, and are almost like a completely different game (except for the graphics).

Characters
There are 56 playable characters in the game. You unlock them after playing as them in a level or buying them in Dexter's Diner. (they're up for sale after you beat them in-game) You normally play as two characters, but you may encounter friendly characters (friendly defined as characters you can switch with by pressing Y) in some levels.

Objects
There are many types of objects in the game, most of them destructible. Almost everything that's destructible explodes into a shower of money. (called studs) However, some objects harm you, such as mines.

Hints
The first time you have to use a certain technique, a little icon will appear at the bottom, along with text telling you what to do (for example, in Negotiations, when you meet TC-14, a hint will appear telling you to press Y to switch with her).

Enemies
There are many different enemies in the game, with different abilities. Most are playable. You can buy them in Dexter's Diner - go up to the bar and a screen will pop up. Hit "characters" to see the characters you can buy - you can buy an enemy as a playable character after beating it in a level.

Bosses
At the end of each Episode, you have to fight a boss battle. Bosses have much more hearts than normal enemies, and a cutscene occurs (and fighting tactics change) after they lose a certain amount of hearts. There are also mini-bosses in some levels.

Death
At some point of the game, you'll probably die, exploding into LEGO pieces. When you die, you respawn where you last were, temporarily invincible. You have infinite lives, but you lose money with each death.

Objective icons
Some levels have little icons at the top of the screen that give you objectives you must complete in order to move on in the level, with the face of an enemy you have to defeat or a person you have to rescue.

Minikit pieces
There are ten minikit pieces in each level. They're hidden items (some in plain sight, but those are rare) throughout each level. If you get all ten, you get a minikit, which is basically a LEGO model of something in Star Wars. When you complete one, you get 50,000 studs. For the locations of the minikit pieces, see minikit piece locations.

Superkit pieces
There are seventeen superkit pieces in the game. When you get all of them, they combine to make the superkit. The superkit is like minikits, except harder to get, and there's only one of it. When you get it, you also can access the bonus level. There's one piece for every level in the game. But it's not an item, you get a superkit piece if you get enough money in one play of a level. Every time you get money, a little bar appears at the top. Your goal is to get it to turn all gold. If you do, you get a superkit piece.