The year 1999 made history with events such as the inauguration of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
At Lego, on the other hand, more gratifying things happened that still have an impact today: Just in time for the release of the movie "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace", the Danish plastic injection molding company, which had first reported losses in 1998, brought licensed products suitable for the Star Wars saga into the shops.
Not everyone understood this step at the time, because it seemed far removed from the harmless, imagination-challenging basic idea of Lego - and entering the licensing business could not prevent the company from sliding into a crisis lasting several years.
Without the connection to "Star Wars" and shortly afterwards "Harry Potter", the resurgence of Lego would probably not have been as impressive as it was.
There were six new "Star Wars" films between 1999 and 2019, around 700 sets are said to have been released in parallel, everything from lightsabers to the Death Star was turned into plastic particles.
In addition, the British company TT Games worked with the license issued by Lego in the field of video games, which toy manufacturers actually feared as competition.
Of the more than thirty games that TT Games has released since 2005 with a Lego look, five are about "Star Wars", all quite family-friendly and with their special humor, which is also characteristic of various Lego films and series.
Goosebumps already set in during the opening credits
But one real shake of power you can't evade is the recently released sixth game in the series: "Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga" retells the history of all the movies as lovingly as if George Lucas created them in 1977 Worlds and the minimalist design of the Danes, who launched the first Lego minifigures in 1978, have always been meant to go together.
Goosebumps already set in during the opening credits, which show the scrap collector Rey on the rock of Ahch-To to the music of John Williams, then other protagonists of the story and finally a silly class photo of them all together.
And this feeling of well-being does not disappear as we move around the planets and in the ships, in the bodies of the most diverse characters, with freedoms previously unthinkable in this game series.
We run, jump, fight and laugh at the many scattered gags.
We collect colored coins that reveal themselves once our character has smashed set structures like plants and boxes into their Lego pieces.
And whether we start the saga with the adventures of Anakin, Luke or Rey Skywalker, the space tale, playable solo or in co-op split-screen, slides along with verve and wit.
This gliding along is certainly also a weakness of the game: the narrative pace is sometimes too fast for the development to be understood without a nerd breathing down your neck.
What gets a lot of time in the cinema
But who encounters this slightly suggested sequence of great space opera moments without prior knowledge?
And isn't that exactly how you play with real Lego figures, limited to a few words and highlights?
"I'm your Vaaataaaa!" is said in the children's room with religious seriousness when Darth Vader meets Luke Skywalker.
And then down into the depths.
At the same time, the truncations and humor in TT Games' games are a matter of responsibility: "We don't want it to be scary, overwhelming or violent," explains production manager Jonathan Smith.
The game must do justice to the core brand of everyone involved, which has meant close coordination with Lucasfilm and Lego in the five-year production process of the Skywalker saga.
However, this process did not result in interactive mass merchandise: the game should actually be just as fair to children as it is to fan hearts.
For example, the scene from "The Force Awakens" (Episode VII), in which the aforementioned encounter between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from "The Empire Strikes Back" (Episode V) is reflected again: The aging Han Solo, who uses explosive devices in installed the Starkiller Base and dispatched some Stormtroopers - the weapon sound can be replaced with a "Pew Pew mode" - encounters the ill-tempered Kylo Ren, his son.
Things have a dark ending for Solo in the film.
But here, in his excitement, Ren slips the red lightsaber out of his hand and shatters - which is why the scene doesn't end with a horribly pierced, trembling in pain, pathetically rushing Han Solo.
Rather, Solo clumsily tries to repair it, the sword in his hands sawing through part of the ground on which he is standing.
Kylo Ren says, "Thank you," kicks his foot down, and before the eyes of his companion, Chewbacca, his solo falls out of the story as well.
Not even Mel Brooks could have come up with a more comical idea.
Thanks to such scenes, "Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga" becomes the perfect couch bliss for nostalgic parents and their offspring who are enthusiastic about lightsabers.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
is available for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One/Series, Playstation 4/5 and Windows PC and costs around 50 euros.