It’s taken perhaps longer than expected for Warner Bros and TT Games to get in on the Skylanders and Disney Infinity craze, but late last year they finally got aboard the Toys to Life bandwagon with Lego Dimensions.  Every two months we will be greeted with waves of new packs, similar to how the Nintendo Amiibo’s are released, but none of the Lego Dimensions packs will be functional without purchasing the Starter Pack first.

At its launch during September 2015, the Starter Pack would have cost you around £99.99 (prices on various formats may vary), but now if you shop about, you should be able to pick it up for around the £70 region, which represents excellent value for money.  Included in the Starter Pack is the base game, the Gateway and Toy Pad, Batman, Wyldstyle, Gandalf mini-figures and the Batmobile (which has three variants).  It’s also worth noting that while the base game will be specific to a console, any additional packs you buy will work on any format.  So for example, you won’t have to worry about buying a Ghostbusters Level Pack for the Wii U, as it will work with the format of your choice.

Just like picking up any Lego set, the contents with the Starter Pack must be made by you, which will surely please any Lego fanatic.  In fact within the box, all the contents are packaged just like any other Lego set and as soon as you open up the box and starting building; this is where the fun begins, way before you’ve even started to play the game.  All in all, it probably took me around 25 minutes to build all the contents within the Starter Pack and it was as therapeutic as ever.

Other than having the joy of piecing together the contents of the Starter Pack and having the Gateway on display (which looks awesome by the way), the biggest joy of Lego Dimensions is the shear variety of mixed universes that is on offer.  The premise of the story is simple, Lord Vortech (voiced by Gary Oldman) from the planet Foundation Prime devises a sinister plan to merge all universes into one to be under his control.  By opening vortexes to access the worlds of Lego Dimensions, Lord Vortech must find the eleven Foundation Elements which have been scattered throughout the Lego multiverse and he enlists the help of some of the Lego universes most diabolical villains.  Obviously the likes of Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle aim to put a stop to Lord Vortech’s plan.

You begin your adventure by following the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City, which is of course the home to the Wizard of Oz.  From the get go, you have your first indication to the kind of diversity that Lego Dimensions has to offer, when Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle battle it out against the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying minion monkeys, before making your way to the town of Springfield, the home of The Simpsons.  This is just a small hint as to what Lego Dimensions has to offer, as there are many more universes to visit in your attempt to save the universe.

When I first watched that announcement trailer I was blown away by what I had seen, with the sets that come with the Starter Pack and the various packs that would be available to purchase individually, you could build whatever you wanted and by using the Gateway, it would then appear within the game!  Well, that’s not quite true, despite what that announcement trailer led you to believe.  Which while that seems a little disappointing, it’s almost impossible if you think about it and even if you could place anything that you have built to be used within the game, it might not be functional to the gameplay mechanics.

Lego sets aside, Lego Dimensions gameplay is the same as the Lego games that came before.  However, it does make some clever use of puzzle segments by utilising the Gateway, while retaining the addictive smash and grab Lego formula.  The quality of the visuals also pretty much remains the same, but with the varied locations that the game has on offer, it has one huge advantage on previous Lego titles in that respect and all universes are created with the utmost attention to detail with added signature love and care that only TT Games can deliver.  A prime example of this is when visiting Springfield.  I imagine with the iconic art-style that The Simpsons presents, this may have been one of the most challenging universes for TT Games to make the transition into the Lego world, but the developers have done a fantastic job in doing so and the same can be said for every other location and universe in the game.

With just the base game along with the Starter Pack contents, you have enough here to last you just as along as any standalone Lego game from the franchise, with its rich and vibrant universes of The Simpsons, Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, Dr Who and much more.  When playing through a level, just like any other Lego game, you will be able to complete it with the initial set of characters (or vehicles).  But there will be certain areas that will be out of reach to begin with.  In Lego Dimensions in most cases you will need to have purchased the required Lego sets with a particular character to access certain bonus areas, whereas in the standard Lego games, you will be able to access those areas by unlocking the characters and going back into Freeplay.  However, you can temporarily hire a Hero to access some bonus locations by spending your in-game studs, which offers some compromise at least.

Overall, Lego Dimensions is just about everything that you hoped it would be.  It’s a dream and just sheer joy having the combination of building Lego and then putting that (set) creation variant into the game.  Combine this with the easy to pick up and play gameplay, the signature Lego humour and its expansive universes, Lego Dimensions personifies what fun videogaming is all about, young or old.

You can read our reviews on previous waves for Lego Dimensions below:

• Wave 3: Featuring the Ghostbusters Level Pack
• Wave 4: Featuring the Midway Retro Level Pack

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