You have to admit that from a marketing point of view, the marriage between Lego and Rock Band would have any money hungry publisher gleefully rubbing their hands together with dollar signs in their eyes; oddly enough it’s a marriage that actually ends up being a funny and enjoyable game that is a welcome relief to that hardcore rockin’ out we’ve become so accustomed too.  

Hey I’m not a fan of pop music anymore than your next person with any taste, but I gotta say that there is something self indulgently fun when you decide to drum away to a Pink song with charming Lego band members acting the fool in the background.   Its family friendly, has a set-list that will offend no one under the age of 20 and has enough challenge left in to still keep us tired old cynical game snobs happy for more than day.  

Lego Rock Band relies upon the gameplay and arrangement that just about every music game offers these days.  All the usual instruments are supported, bass, guitar, drums and vocals.  You guys already know how it plays and how the instrument work, but the new addition of a super easy difficulty makes it easier for the little ones to get their own rock concerts happening without much fear of failure.  

One of the strongest parts of LEGO Rock Band is the considerable amount of customization in the career mode.   Because we’re dealing with LEGO here, you can swap and change pieces of the members of your band, your management staff and roadies.  There are plenty of items to buy such as furniture and accessories for your studio, like Indiana Jones, Batman and Star Wars, there is much to unlock when it comes to LEGO.   It doesn’t really change the way the game plays, or the outcomes of your band in any sense other than aesthetics, but its there to please those that are obsessive about collecting every little item.     

You’ll come across a few challenge songs along the way that will have your band following the theme of the song at hand, ghost busting for instance and if you’re going to progress, you’re going to have to beat them and its pretty much the only time that you’ll run the risk of failure.  It’s hilarious to see Iggy Pop, Blur, Queen and David Bowie show up in LEGO form and rock the Kasbah and their songs probably represent the best that LEGO Rock Band has to offer.  The setlist has its ups and downs, songs by Counting Crows and Good Charlotte all the get the thumbs down and don’t seem like they should really belong here but other songs from Queen, Blur, Ray Parker Jnr and Bon Jovi all fit in nicely with the family friendly themes.  Luckily on the set list everything is unlocked so you can just go into the song of your choice and rock away or create a set list with the songs you’ll like to play with your kids the most and you can avoid those other abominations instead.  You can also import your Rock Band DLC but if you want online play, forget it.  

LEGO Rock Band ends up being a good idea that rises above being just a cheap licensed gimmick.  It plays as you would expect, has a half decent set list and it’s good to see a few familiar faces scattered around the playground.   You can export the set list and play it on RB or RB2 which definitely saves you the hassle of swapping discs.  There are a few misses and a few more hits, but LEGO Rock Band could’ve been a lot worse than what it is. It’s a good idea that sticks to its promises and delivers very little more than that.  Your kids should really dig it.