Traveller's Tales' LEGO games have been enthralling audiences for years with fun-filled co-op titles. Star Wars fans have gotten their sci-fi fix through the countless LEGO Star Wars games, wannabe wizards have been able to spend their time in LEGO Harry Potter, superhero fans have been given loads of LEGO games based on Marvel or DC, and even Lord of the Rings fans have had something to check out. These titles have ranged in quality, but they all provide a decent amount of fun for those who want to explore a LEGO-fied world.
A series as expansive as this would typically have a remaster or two under its belt, but that is not the case for LEGO games. The series has been going strong since 2005, but there has never been a remastered title in all these years. The closest that Traveller's Tales has gotten to remastering its games is various ports like the LEGO Harry Potter Collection. The games remained relatively the same with a few fixes, but it fell short of being a complete remaster. It seems like the studio may have no interest in revisiting its vast library of titles, but that would be a waste.
The LEGO Franchise is Expansive
Traveller's Tales' LEGO games have been releasing almost every single year since 2005's LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game. In that time, the series has also explored LEGO-fied versions of Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, DC, Marvel, The Incredibles, and The LEGO Movie. It has grown immensely through all these titles, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is far removed from the first LEGO Star Wars. As of now, there are no signs the franchise will be stopping, and fans are excited to see what the future holds.
The LEGO series has spawned many iconic titles over the years, and some solid movie adaptations. Many people claim that games like LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga or The Skywalker Saga are the best ways to experience their groundbreaking sci-fi franchise, the LEGO Marvel games are often considered to be some of the best superhero adaptations, and LEGO Harry Potter is currently the only way to be a part of the entire Harry Potter series. It can be hard to pick a favorite LEGO game, but a lot of them have also not aged well.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga completely changed the classic LEGO formula, which makes some older ones feel kind of dated. The graphics, lack of voice acting, small hub worlds, and small character rosters do not help. While there is something special about experiencing these old titles and seeing how far the series has come, some of them deserve to shine on today's hardware.
Remasters Honor What Came Before
Traveller's Tales does not need to do full-on remakes of classic titles to bring them in-line with The Skywalker Saga, but smaller HD facelifts could go a long way. Applying higher-resolution graphics breathes new life into older games, and can also be far less work than building a whole new game. As more franchises utilize remasters, it would only make sense for Traveller's Tales to follow suit.
Remasters of old games are also useful to bridge the gap between entries. Before LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, there has been a LEGO game released every year. This created a large franchise, and it gave fans something to look forward to every year. Skywalker Saga proved to be a lot of work for the studio, and its development also shed light on the intensive crunch culture in the company. If Traveller's Tales wants to continue releasing a game every year, it should release remasters in place of new releases to try and even out.
Remasters tend to take less work than brand-new titles, and they could bridge the gap between LEGO games. Maybe Traveller's Tales is hard at work on a LEGO MCU title, but it will take a while before it is ready, so the studio could release HD remasters to fill its release schedule in the meantime. It would go a long way to honoring a franchise that has been a staple for years.