On top of that, they're an entertaining spectacle. Sure, the LEGO games aren't that simple in construction, but they can feel that way to play, incorporating modern ideas such as an inability to fully perish and seemingly infinite collectibles to keep players coming back time and again. In some ways it's a series that - despite regular flaws of fiddly controls or design - manages to bring back the simple fun most familiar in the retro era of gaming, when controllers only had a couple of buttons and a D-Pad. The basic move-set of running jumping, smashing everything in sight and looking for bouncing LEGO pieces to build into a useful item is as familiar as it is accomplished. When executed well it can be a treat, as it serves to be accessible and fun for gamers of various levels. The LEGO formula is well known, and that's no bad thing. OK, so that line is actually from The Lord of the Rings, but it applies perfectly to LEGO The Hobbit on Wii U. That's to the credit of TT Games and Warner Bros., but it's always a franchise at risk of spreading itself too thinly - as Bilbo Baggins would say, 'like butter scraped over too much bread'. The LEGO series of games is a sales phenomenon, now established to a degree that it seems no matter how many releases are churned out on a yearly basis the sales flow, and steady praise flows its way.
