There are few things that go together as well as Lego and video games.

There’s a bit of a shortage of good-quality strategy games for the Nintendo DS. This is partly to do with the limitations of the platform, but also that it was never as commercially viable to try and make a complex strategy and tactics game that would have a limited customer base as a handheld when it could be executed far better on PC.

One game that stands at the front of DS strategy options is Lego Battles.

As you might expect from a game that features the famous building bricks, it’s well made, funny, and highly enjoyable to play.

So, what’s the gameplay like? It’s actually quite good, and gives an idea of how a more advanced game could have been made for DS and really been a winner.

The gameplay follows the standard practice of having units who can fight and buildings you need to construct to gain new features, with a limited amount of resource gathering.

There’s a story mode you can follow, which allows you to play as either the heroes or the villains in three different storylines: knights, pirates, and space. These are all joined together by cutscenes that have the usual style of Lego humour make all it even more enjoyable, and they’re also extremely well animated for a game doesn’t come from the security of a major movie franchise.

Buildings: To begin with you have the Base, which is some kind of a castle or fortress. Next you have a Barracks to build troops, a farm to supply them, and a Special Factory to build war machines and siege engines. As far as resource gathering goes, it’s pretty simple, as would be expected from a Lego game. The only thing you need to collect are Bricks; these can be gathered by building Mines over specific cracks in the ground, which gives you a steady supply of Bricks, or by cutting down trees and taking the Bricks either back to the Base, or to a Lumber Mill. And that’s it; there’s no worrying about buying in food or iron or any other resources: so long as you have a Mine or two, you’re good to go.

The other things you can build are Towers, which defend your base against enemies, and can be upgraded, and Walls to keep them out. Finally you can build Bridges at certain points across rivers to cross the water. All these buildings can be destroyed by your enemy, and there are limits to how many you can build.

Units: There’s nine types of Units on offer: four standard, four special, and one hero.

The standard types are the Builder, who is the only one who can harvest trees/Bricks and construct buildings, he can fight in a way, but it’s almost impossible for them to win in a battle, and he’s much more use as a builder. Next there are the three types of fighting units: Melee, who use axes and swords, and fight at close range; Ranged, who use bows and arrows and firearms and can shoot enemies at a distance; and finally, Mounted, which are cavalry units, faster and more powerful than the others.

There are also four types of Special Units, which are far more powerful than standard ones. Three of these take the forms of catapults, siege towers, and ships of the line or spaceships, depending on who you’re playing as. The fourth kind of special is the Transport, which is much less powerful, but can be used to carry other units over water and trees to reach your enemy.

Finally, there’s the Hero. Only one Hero can be built at a time, and they have the ability to mend damaged buildings and heal injured players, as well as use spells to inflict extra damage on your enemies, or else increase the damage caused by your own units. These Heroes take the form of the main characters in the storyline, such as the King or Captain Brickbeard.

In total you can have up to twenty standard units, four Specials and one Hero

Gameplay: For the actual gameplay itself, the easiest way to win is actually quite simple and follows a basic pattern of ‘Build a base; build some units, attack your enemy’, and as long as you’ve established a good supply of bricks and protected your base with towers, it’s the only real way you can win. In story mode there will be certain objectives along the lines of ‘Survive for so long’, or ‘Find this item’, but otherwise it’s pretty straightforward ‘destroy the enemy’ combat. There’s no complex micromanagement or diplomacy to worry about, and the only thing you can upgrade are your Towers.

While this is clearly a conscious decision, made to make it easy for young players, it is where the game falls short, as it’s very difficult to lose. The game does get a little harder as it progresses, with longer levels and harder maps, but it’s still all easy to complete.

That’s not to say Lego Battles isn’t entertaining, it really is, and it’s not just one of the best strategy games for DS, it’s one of the best games ever for DS, in any genre. If you’re looking for a hard-hitting strategy experience, though, you won’t find it here. Strategy and tactics play little part in winning, just so long as you have the biggest army, you’ll win eventually.

The game would benefit from some more difficulty levels, where you could ramp it up a bit, as the AI isn’t particularly intelligent. Often there’ll be clear gaps in your defences but the AI chooses to go head on into your Towers; occasionally they’ll stand totally still as rocks hurl down on them.

As I say, that doesn’t mean Lego Battles is boring, it’s highly enjoyable and entertaining, with plenty of replay value, and the classic Lego setting adds another level of fun, as your units explode in a shower of bricks when destroyed. The backgrounds are also well designed, using Lego elements to bring them colourfully to life, and there’s enough variety in them to keep it fresh across the six main storylines. You also get to fight at sea in the Pirates/Governor Broadside stories, keeping things interesting.

To sum it up, Lego Battles DS is a competent, fun way to get some strategy action on the Nintendo, with engaging gameplay and enough variety to keep you interested. But if you’re looking for something which is complex and high-adrenaline, involving politics, espionage, and tactics, then you won’t find much to your tastes here.