Year: 2001
Platform: Game Boy Advance
Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Lego Software
Developer: Saffire Corporation
Notes: An exploration puzzle game where the hero Toa explores the island of Mata Nui. The Bionicle series is highly and infamously appropriative due to mis-using terms such as Tohunga, Whenua, Ruru, and Pohatu; and stories from Easter Island without consulting Māori or Pasifika peoples. The game also incorporates elements of faux-spiritualism and primivitism. Consequent threats of legal action and poor publicity resulted in Lego cancelling a sequel video game and re-branding the Bionicle Mata Nui series as the “Matoran” series, with “Tales of the Tohunga” being changed to “Quest for the Toa”. Still, Lego sneaks in cultural appropriation wherever it can.
Overall Rating: With plenty of other Lego/Bionicle games to play, why not play something less appropriative, instead?