I received a bunch of very interesting emails after my "Why I hate Lego SW2 for the DS" rant. Many of them were from people who worked on the game... and they agreed with me.
Many of the Amaze Entertainment team members let me know that the bugs in the game were known issues and that the company knowingly shipped the game with them still there.

The first production run of the game (the one you have) was pushed out the door early. This was in part to coincide with the release of the Star Wars DVDs Episode IV, V, VI. The good news is that a second production run of the game has been tested and should hit store shelves after the initial stock runs out. However the game is still not bug free, but MUCH cleaner. The Endor Battle level has been tweaked so it is now user friendly. Although if I remember correctly the wireless co-op mode is still crap.

The moles also tell me that the U.S. version is actually far better than the one that hit Europe.

The whole thing is being blamed not on Amaze, but Lucas Arts, who, according to my sources, rushed the game out the door. The bugs were reported, the developers were trying to fix, but Lucas Arts just wanted the game shipped, according to the moles.

If you recall, this is the same excuse used for that abortive ending in Knights of the Old Republic 2.

Now I just need to figure out how to locate the secret second run of the game and try to swap it for the cruddy version I have. Brian Crecente