What Franchise Should Get the Lego Treatment Next?

I wouldn’t call my affinity for Travellers’ Tales’ series of movie-based Lego games anything more than mild appreciation. Regardless, I still hold a level of respect towards the developer for its ability to transition silver screen masterpieces to mild-mannered, quirky video games. With successes like the three different iterations of the Star Wars franchise, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, and Lego Harry Potter (all years) under their belt, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander onto the various other series and franchises that Traveller’s Tales could transform into digital incarnations of their blocky forms. Of the many that popped into my head, the following were the two most notable titles that I had no problem fleshing out.

Traveller’s Tales Lego series depends on pushing forward through force and action segments with a healthy dose of puzzles thrown into the mix. What if the developer tweaked its methods a bit and made a game that relied just as much on survival tactics then as controlling the guy with the biggest gun. With a game based off of the Jurassic Park trilogy (or even the book series), the developer could take on a project that stretches beyond simply pressing a button repeatedly to destroy foes and takes into account the fact that these Lego games are being eaten up by a more adult crowd, as well.

Action segments throughout the game can be presented in the form of playing as either the park’s game warden, Robert Muldoon, or as The Lost World’s infamous game hunter, Roland Tembo. Throwing in a few levels that revert back to Lego’s staple action will help pace out the games remaining levels, whose focus lay solely on staying out of the way of some of the island’s prehistoric baddies. The opening level could pit gamers in the shoes (or hat) of Jurassic Park’s game warden as they accomplish and solve various puzzles to try and keep a ferocious velociraptor at bay within its crate. Later levels can pit a “Lego’d” Alan Grant escaping through the treetops, utilizing broken Lego pieces to slow down a pursuing Tyrannosaurs Rex. Due to the popularity of both the books and the movies, Traveller’s Tales could also pull scenarios from both and mesh them together, just as BlueSky Software did in their Sega Genesis adaptation.

If the constant flood of merchandise over 25 years after the films release is any indication, it’s that people still cheer for the boys in tan. In 2009, Terminal Reality released Ghostbusters: The Video Game which proved that even a franchise that sat stagnant for nearly two decades can be brought back to life. The Ghostbusters line of minimates action figures are a solid indication that New York City’s supernatural exterminators translate well into miniature block form, showing that Traveller’s Tales can easily pull the quartet into the developers constructible world.

A Ghostbusters Lego game can feasibly span across the first and second Ghostbusters movies while integrated some of the canon material from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series. Starting off in the basement of the New York City Public Library, players will get a feel for such equipment as the PKE meter – which could point out special Lego blocks – and Ecto goggles – which could help show hidden ghosts. This brief introduction to the basic controls would culminate in the trio’s faithful meeting with Eleanor Twitty, the Librarian ghost.

As the game progresses, players will be able to once again strap on their proton packs and rid New York City from the overly abundant paranormal presence. From Slimer to the Scoleri Brothers and even the zombie taxi driver from the first film, gamers will control their proton stream much like any other weapon in the Lego universe. Rather than having the enemies explode into a shower of Lego Studs, the ghosts will be weakened to a point where another player (or a computer AI) will need to toss out a trap for proper capturing.

Coming off of your Lego Batman 2 high, if you could have Traveller’s Tales listen to your pleas for a new Lego game based off of one of your beloved series, what name would you throw out there?