Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #432 in Software
• Brand: Focus Multimedia Ltd
• Released on: 2003-09-04
• Platforms: Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows NT, Windows 2000

Amazon.co.uk Review
At first acquaintance, the basic "gaming environment" wherein LEGO Creator's players build their virtual bikes, choppers, cranes and so on, and direct their dinky, cutesy, usually pre-built minifigures, seems a little bit odd and unsettling--even bleak. Bleak enough to confirm the prejudices of parents and others who would consider computerised LEGO a travesty of the hands-on, real-world ethos of the original construction game.

However, after a while, the cleverness of this CD ROM comes to the fore. In the virtual LEGO Creator world you don't just build things and then take them apart; you can make them fly at the touch of a button, give them apposite or ludicrous sounds, change their colour with a single mouse-click, even blow them up (flamboyantly) using the special DESTRUCTA bricks.

You're then able to pilot your figures and vehicles through the very world you have created, guided by an integral LEGO Creator Wizard--who is a bit like a permanently untiring, mega-brainy parent. All in all then, a rather fine and intelligent toy, albeit not one for the very young, or very active, or very easily dismayed. -- Sean Thomas

From Children's Software Revue®
Children love creating with LEGOs because it's so easy to succeed- just put together a few pieces and you've got yourself a house. Grab a few mor e and you can make a skyscraper. The kids are in control and limited only by their imaginations. The title of this program implies the same scenario, but the reality is rather different. This program is actually more of a town programming kit, with which children position and then set into motion prefabri cated cars, buildings and LEGO people.

The first step to using this program is to master the navigation system that enables you to zoom around in virtual 3D space, much like a helicopter. Next , you select one of two modes. In the play mode, you merely watch a village in action as the people and cars move. But in the build mode, different block s, buildings, LEGO people and vehicles can be dragged onto a generous 3D building area and programmed. You can make your helicopter fly in a figure eight, adjusting for direction, altitude and speed. Placing cameras around the town lets you see things from overhead in the helicopter, or perhaps from atop a building, security camera-style. You can even put a stick of dynamite inside a moving car or building to cause a random, LEGO-scattering explosion. While parents and educators might question the moral and educational value of this, our testers loved it. Although it is possible to build things block-by-block, adjusting the view and getting the LEGOs to line up just right is a frustrating process. You'll want to make sure your computer can handle the robust system requirements- a computer equipped with a 3D accelerator card- as several test famili es brought the product back, unable to get it running. All in all, this is a clumsy but conceptually exciting program that provides children with a uniqu e spatial thinking opportunity.
Teaches: logic, spatial thinking, programming
Age Range: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue

Manufacturer's Description
LEGO Creator is different. So different, in fact, that people keep asking "What the Biker Bob is it?" Here's the official LEGO answer: LEGO Creator is pure, unlimited 3-D LEGO construction on a PC. Here are just some of the things you can do: build buildings; create bizarre vehicles; explore the inside of your creations; fly around in them; add realistic sound effects; construct entire worlds; and, best of all, blow everything to bits.

Customer Reviews

LEGO Creator
I guess the appeal of this game is a little why real lego has never really go out of fashion. No matter how many new fangled toys my children seem to have, no matter how flash and electronic they seem to be, soon or later I know I'll hear the familiar sound of the lego box being tipped up and out, as what seems like a million or so brightly coloured bricks go flying all over the room.

We originally had this software title when our computer was running Windows 98 and it provided hours of fun for the children and they spent hours building intricate and delicate virtual lego models, only to then take great delight in blowing them all up again. The bonus this time is that it's only the limit of the child's imagination that is the limit of the building, as they can never run out or bricks and have every possible combination of "special" bricks to complete that extraordinary building or vehicle. You can video the vehicles in motion also and then replay the effects to your heart's content.

When we upgraded to Windows XP this was one of the many games that were consigned to the car boot sale, as it didn't seem to work very well under the new Operating System. Recently though my son, obviously in a fit of nostalgia started pining for this game again, so I was most happy to see it re-issued and at a bargain price.

Happily this time it functions under XP as right as rain and now I can once again hear the clatter of the virtual lego bricks being thrown all over the place again. At least on the PC the clearing up take a lot less time!