LEGO® Brawls debuted as an Apple Arcade exclusive title back in 2019, now almost three years after its initial release, the game is now available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One/Series X, Nintendo Switch and PC. Developed by Red Games Co. the game pits numerous LEGO minifigure characters against each other in various battle events. Although the game remains an Apple mobile exclusive, its availability on other platforms brings LEGO Brawls to a much larger audience. Here are my thoughts on the game.
Product Description
At the core of the game is the ability for players to build, customise and level up their ultimate LEGO Minifigure heroes with unique style, strategy, and personality. LEGO fans and brawlers can collect unlockable minifigures, power-ups and emotes from their favourite LEGO themes as they battle and build their way to the top of the global leader boards. Players around the world can team up and brawl 4v4, party with friends or play a battle royale-style game mode, or the fan-favourite “couch co-op” style Free-for-Brawl game mode where it’s “every-player-for-themselves”.
- Game Title: LEGO Brawls
- Publisher: Red Games Co/Bandai Namco
- Developer: Red Games Co
- RRP: £39.99/Free to play with an Apple Arcade Subscription
- Availability: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC & Apple Arcade Exclusive
LEGO Games have covered a wide range of genres with LEGO Brawls being the first title to dabble in the fighting game arena. It’s less Street Fighter and more Smash Bros. with a group of fighters battling on various platformer-like levels. Modes include Control the Point, where fighters are split into two teams and must capture and protect an area of the battle arena. Depending on the level played, the control point may switch location or one player could be lucky enough to gain control of a large-scale Power-up such as a dinosaur or mech. The team which fills their Vict-o-meter first wins.
Free for Brawl pits every fighter against each other. Limited lives result in fighters being eliminated until only one remain. This mode is played on special arenas with limited space, environmental hazards and limited power-ups. A similar mode also has players battle each other without elimination. This takes place on standard levels and the player with the most eliminations wins.
The final mode lets players collect items such as Monkie Kid Flower Fruit peaches or space crystals. The more items you hold the more points you gain and if you defeat over players, they will drop their hoard of items. All modes are played online and you can enable cross-platform play. Party mode lets you play with friends both online or locally. When playing online you’ll be given a code, this can be shared to let others join your brawl.
Great efforts have been made to delve into the LEGO Group’s long history of themes. Characters and locations from numerous themes are included in the game. Classic themes such as Pirates, Space and Castle join more recent offerings such as VIDIYO, NINJAGO and Monkie Kid. There’s also licensed content from Jurassic World.
But the biggest part of the game is the collection of minifigures you can use to battle. They range from characters from themes such as Monkie Kid, Hidden Side and VIDIYO bandmates along with many of the characters from the LEGO Minifigures line or you can get creative and create your own fighter from 100s of pieces. It’s like having a digital version of a LEGO Store Build-a-Minifigure tower.
There are also characters known as Champions. The way they appear would suggest you are going to battle them, but they merely unlock and become playable. It may seem odd that these characters are introduced differently from similar ones. But they have unique power-ups and the more you play with that character, you will master their special moves.
Parts to create characters are unlocked through play, with your stud count allowing you to unlock parts as you play. But you can also focus on a particular theme to unlock parts connected to that. Each theme has a series of unlockable elements including minifigures, weapons and powers. As you play you’ll work your way through unlocking them. This offers plenty of play value.
It may have started as a mobile game but it just about works as a console/PC game. However, I would say its pricing is a little high and due to its origin as a mobile, it may seem a little light on content. Thankfully this also means it doesn’t rely on purchasing season passes or microtransactions. It may not have the tournament-style progression of some fighting games, but it will be supported by seasonal content and regular community events, which will add extra things to collect. Unlocking stuff will take a long time, which could get a little boring. I’m surprised the game got a physical release and it seems like one of those titles which would only be available digitally. Yet, I appreciate any game, which lets you purchase it on a disc. Just not at the current RRP.
Thanks to Red Games Co. for providing access to the game for the purposes of review. Version reviewed PlayStation 5 (Digital). The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Red Games. Providing a product for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
