When I was a little kid, The A-Team was a very popular TV show.  But I wasn’t really into it as I was more interested in shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider.  One show had a cool orange car that jumped over ramps, and the other had a TALKING car!  The A-Team just had a van with a red stripe.  (yeah you know where my priorities were as a little boy) Plus, I feel ashamed to admit it, but as a little kid, I was kind of scared of Mr. T, who was the star of the show.  But there’s no denying that The A-Team was super popular.  Heck, even Mr. Bean slept on A-Team sheets in one of his comedy skits, and a few years ago they made a movie remake of The A-Team (I rented it once and feel asleep about an hour in, unfortunately).  Mr. T was also popular in his own right, even getting his own Saturday morning cartoon and breakfast cereal back then (yes, really).  And now you can relive the action of the TV show in LEGO form with The A-Team Fun Pack for LEGO Dimensions.  The game is available for nearly all current home game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.

LEGO Dimensions is essentially like Skylanders, except you build and play with LEGOs instead.  I even wrote a big article about it a year ago that you can read.  Anyway, The A-Team Fun Pack comes with a character and a vehicle.  You get B.A. Baracus, Mr. T’s character in the show.  And you also get his aforementioned van with the red stripe.  The game gives you instructions on how to build the van once the Mr. T LEGO man is on the pedestal.  Here’s a closer shot of the box they come in.

Mr. T (yeah I’m just going to call him that from now on) has various skills at his disposal as a playable character, like throwing explosives, pulling and breaking objects with his strength, and fixing broken devices.  I’m not sure what the van does, but as any other LEGO Dimensions vehicle, it can be upgraded if you so desire.  Here is a closer shot of the two figures all built and everything.

The Fun Packs don’t include a new level, but you can visit The A-Team hub and battle arena with Mr. T.  The A-Team hub is like the other hubs in LEGO Dimensions.  You can explore the L.A. airport, downtown L.A. and the surrounding mountains.  All the while the TV show theme song blares in the background.  In the hub world, you can use studs to build things as well as tackle missions to earn red and gold bricks, among other goodies.  Some of the missions will require other characters to finish, though.  The hub world also makes a lot of references to the show.  B.A. Baracus still HATES to fly, and the NPCs will make all sorts of puns about some of the show’s catchphrases, like “I love it when a plan comes together.”  Since I wasn’t into A-Team as much as a kid, there are probably other references that I didn’t catch.  While it doesn’t have as much content, and LEGO toys can be pricey, I still think A-Team fans will get a kick out of this anyway.  Too bad LEGO Dimensions doesn’t have Dukes of Hazzard, but at least it’ll have Knight Rider!  Can’t wait for that one!

Kid Factor:

LEGO Dimensions is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Cartoon Violence and Crude Humor. I can’t imagine too many kids today knowing about The A-Team, so I think this set was made for the parents in mind.  But I think that it would be fun to share with your kids the kinds of TV shows you liked at their age.  If you’re OK with your kids watching the show and movie, they’ll definitely be OK with this game, too.  While I would recommend most LEGO games to all ages, I think LEGO Dimensions is best for older kids.  One, the things you build are pretty complicated sometimes, so they would need to be experienced LEGO handlers.  And like other LEGO toys, the sets are pretty expensive so kids would need to know how to keep up with and take care of their toys, as the game is useless without them.  And plus using the pedestal is not very intuitive.  Also don’t forget the whole choking hazard thing with small LEGOs!

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television