I played this game a ton as a kid, yet I never played the original on Wii U. With an intent to play said game, I wanted to revisit this prequel first. With an aged-up lens, this game definitely shows its flaws. The world is sectioned off rather than truly open, which works for a handheld device but makes for less interesting gameplay, as missions can't be designed to have you leave the city area you began in. I had plans to 100% game, but as I began trying to find each of the collectibles in the first area, I realized how much of a slog that would be for nothing more than to finally say I played this game through to the absolute end. The main missions might be worth playing if you're a diehard LEGO game fan, but otherwise, the console version will likely suffice.

After not touching the game for almost ten years, I find the interactions with characters to be not on par with the Wii U version, the combat is incredibly basic easy and so are the puzzles, (except for the ones where it's very poorly telegraphed how you're meant to progress) and while the idea of running around in an open world on the 3DS sounds nice, you'll quickly change your mind because these loading screenings are beyond atrocious, sometimes taking upwards of like 2 minutes. All things considered, this game has no reason to be played in 2024, you should just play the much superior Wii U/Switch versions.

Hey hey hey skibidi, no digas toilet, no digas toilet.
Eres chikibay, eres Illo juan, eres la persona más Lux maxim que he visto en la vida.
¿Y sabes que? Incluso me atrevería a decir que estas en tu prime.
El prime esta cansado (je)
Pero...eso paso. Así que vamos con ibai a la velada del año, ¿vale?

Oh man. This game has potential, like it's not often you see a big map (even spliced) and lots of places to visit in a 3DS game, but sadly, when you compare it to Lego City Undercover (which got out at the same time on other consoles), it feels... cheap.
I mean, that's what can be a bit expected for a 3DS game, but even when you compare the main story and mechanics, which has is basically the same minus a GOOD chunk, it really feels like a fisher-price version.
Kinda sad, because with some touches it really could be better!

Barely deserves to be called a game, what with its complete lack of challenge, player options, fail states, or any form of decision-making at all—it’s more like a fidget toy with (obscenely long) loading screens. Other Lego games will do the bare minimum and throw in a “put these statues in the right orientation” puzzle; The Chase Begins will gesture at this idea, but make it impossible to put the statues in the wrong orientation. I couldn’t imagine playing this for its own sake (or heaven forbid, for a job), but I can’t deny its value as a not-too-distracting distraction, the sort of thing you can play with the TV going and not miss any of the show’s plot.