When I was a little kid, I mostly watched cartoons on TV.  But there were some live action shows that caught my interest.  One was The Dukes of Hazzard.  Mainly because it had cars that jumped over ramps and stuff.  I would get out my Pac-Man TV tray and play with my Dukes of Hazzard cars while the show was on (keep in mind I was like, five years old).  I wish they could’ve made a Dukes of Hazzard LEGO Dimensions set, but I think I may know why they didn’t (but we won’t get into that here).  Anyway, another show I liked as a kid was Knight Rider.  I don’t remember as much about the human characters in the show.  I know David Hasselhoff was in it, but I don’t know what he did (did he even have a job?).  But the most important part of the show to Little Cary was that it had a TALKING CAR!!!  Back then, all of us kids had Big Wheels and I remember when the Knight Rider Big Wheel came out and it has a brake mechanism that would make your Big Wheel spin out.  I was so jealous of the kids who had that, but not too jealous since I was still pretty happy with my Pac-Man Big Wheel.  Anyway, now you can relive the action of the TV show in LEGO form with the Knight Rider 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 while back that you can read.  Anyway, the Knight Rider Fun Pack comes with a character and a vehicle.  You get LEGO David Hasselhoff, er, excuse me, Michael Knight.  And you also get K.I.T.T., the talking car from the show.  The game gives you instructions on how to build K.I.T.T. once the David Hasselhoff LEGO man is on the pedestal.  Here’s a closer shot of the box they come in.

LEGO Hasselhoff can punch and kick, but he doesn’t really have any other special powers.  K.I.T.T. is a bit more useful.  He’s a vehicle you can drive, of course.  But you can also aim and shoot lasers while riding him (I could’ve sworn in the show he also shot machine guns, but not here).  And he talks.  I expected him to drive himself around when you’re not in him, but he doesn’t do that.  However, if you walk away from K.I.T.T., and then adjust the camera around, he’ll usually be right there!  Only problem is I wish he drove a little faster.  Like other vehicles in the game, you can upgrade him if you so desire.  Here’s a shot of the two characters built out of the box.  Wouldn’t it be cool if they could somehow put a red LED light on the front of LEGO K.I.T.T.?  I bet that would be really hard and expensive to do, but it’s cool to imagine anyway.

The Fun Packs don’t include a new level, but you can visit the Knight Rider hub and battle arena with Michael Knight.  The Knight Rider hub is like the other ones in LEGO Dimensions.  You can visit Las Vegas, the Knight Mansion, a junkyard, and a racetrack, as well as drive around the California hills and canyons.  All the while cheesy 80’s sounding action music plays 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.  There are plenty of roads to drive around and ramps with billboards to crash through, too!  While there isn’t as much content in this pack, and LEGO sets can be pricey, I think Knight Rider fans will enjoy this one anyway.

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 Knight Rider, 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, they’ll definitely be OK with this game, too (is there a way to watch Knight Rider now, like on Netflix or something?).  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, Television