It sounds stupid, I know: A "Star Wars" game in which everything is made out of LEGO blocks. But the first "LEGO Star Wars," which came out last spring, turned out to be a surprise hit.

With good reason, too; it was an incredibly fun and clever game. "LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy" continues the quality of the first one with a retelling a Episodes IV through VI.

Playing as the main characters, you follow the (much abbreviated) storyline of the three movies, using light sabers and blasters to defeat Darth Vader and the Empire. You can use the Force to manipulate the environment to help you past an area or to uncover hidden "minikit" pieces, of which there are 10 to find on each level.

Once you've beaten a level, you can play through it again in free mode, which lets you choose which characters to play (including any you unlocked in the first game, if you have the game saved). This is a must if you want to find all the minikit pieces, as some of them can be accessed only by a character not available in the first play through.

The core gameplay is unchanged from the first game, which is a good thing because the first one was great. The biggest changes in this version are allowing everyone to build items out of scattered LEGO and the introduction of drivable vehicles.

The developers threw in adaptive difficulty levels; if you're doing poorly, the game automatically compensates to make it easier. Though, really, the game is never that hard.

There also has been an interesting balance shift. In the first game, the Jedis were the most powerful characters; they could use the Force and were stronger in battle. This time around, the blaster characters have been strengthened, and I found it easier to fight with them and use the Jedis purely for using the Force on items.

As with before, a second player can pop in and out of the game at will, which I think should be a requirement for any game. With no split-screen, though, players will find themselves unable to move once the characters are far enough apart, occasionally leading to death. It's not a big problem, and the camera's range has been widened, but it's still annoying.

In addition to the co-op mode, the sequel adds some multiplayer versus modes, including one in which you and another player race to collect a million "studs" (the currency in the game). Once you unlock them, you also can play bounty hunter missions.

"LEGO Star Wars II" will keep anyone busy for quite a while. In addition to the different game modes, there's a plethora of characters and cheats to buy with LEGO studs. (You'll need 1.2 million of them if you want to buy Emperor Palpatine, for example.) And if you have the Xbox 360 version, there are achievements to complete, too.

The first game wasn't perfect, and neither is this one. Among other things, I wish there was no friendly fire. With no lock-on targeting, it's too easy to kill whomever you're playing with.

Still, I dare anyone not to laugh at the game's humorous takes on the storyline or Chewbacca ripping off enemies' arms.

Perfect or not, "LEGO Star Wars II" is a blast.

"Star Fox Command" brings the "Star Fox" space combat series to the Nintendo DS.

It's a pretty standard "Star Fox" game; the story isn't that deep, but the gameplay is pretty fun. Using Fox McCloud and his friends, you must defeat a horde of invading aliens.

What's most interesting about "Star Fox Command" is its controls. I wasn't sure I would like using the stylus to control the ship, but it works out well. Whichever direction you push the stylus in, that's the direction your ship will go. Double-tapping gives the ship a speed boost, while scratching the stylus back and forth makes the ship do barrel rolls to avoid fire. Hitting any other button makes the ship fire.

In between battles, there's a small strategic element. Using the stylus, you can draw the ships' flight paths so they intersect the enemies. This then starts the battles.

In addition to the single-player game, players can go head-to-head either via the Internet or DS-to-DS.

While nothing pushes "Star Fox Command" to "must have" status - and it is pretty short longevity - it is a fun little game. The controls work well, and it probably would satisfy your cravings for space combat.

Reach Aimee Green at (402) 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.