Going into Lego Batman, having played the Star Wars and Indy Lego games from Traveller's Tales, I figured that I would enjoy this one about the same, figuring it would be more of the same. For the most part, that's probably accurate. If you've played Lego Star Wars, or Lego Indy, then you already have a general understanding of what Lego Batman offers up for gameplay, however, this is also easily my favorite Lego title from TT so far.

Why? Well, aside from the license at use here, and the fact I'm a big comic nerd, this feels like the most polished title put out with the Lego license so far, in part because it was primarily developed for current gen hardware (instead of the PS2 centric releases for the previous licenses). Also, the teamwork aspect that's been present in other games really feels integral this time out, and not just with the Batman and Robin set-up, but even with the various villain groupings you'll get. The real collecting and unlocking aspect doesn't even come into play until you start to purchase new characters from the in-game store, and go thru the levels in Free Play mode (unlocked after beating a stage), which allows you to switch out characters on the fly by using the left or right buttons on the controller.

I was wondering, going into this, what identity of Batman Traveller's Tales was going to go with? Were we going to get some type of mix of current day Batman, or Christian Bale Batman, or even an Adam West take on the iconic character? I was pretty surprised (and pleased) to see that they went with an Animated Series take for the most part, with just about every character design seemingly taken from the old Batman: TAS / Batman and Robin stable. Right when the game opens up, prior to the title screen, there's a little nod to the style of the opening for Batman: TAS, with not just the music, but with Batman tossing out his batarang to disarm two goons, and leaping in for the final strike. That stuff is lifted almost right out of the old opening, and it's a solid way of letting you know what version of Batman you're going to be in store for here.

As the game begins, you'll be taking on the initial role of Batman and Robin, taking on three different stories, each revolving around one main villain (Riddler, Penguin, Joker), who in turn team up with a variety of foes from Batman's rogue gallery. Just about everyone major shows up, but there are some noticeable absentees (No Hush, Red Hood, etc.), however, since they all seem to be taken from the Animated Series stable anyways, it makes sense not to have the more recent comic villains. I was surprised to see Killer Moth included, but if you're looking for Scarecrow, Clayface, Bane, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face, you can be assured they're all here.

Each story consists of five different levels, most of which are associated with locations in Gotham (Bank, Zoo, etc.), and each level, at least for the heroes, has a boss fight accompanying it. The boss fights themselves are a lot of fun, and none of them consist of simply beating up the boss with your fists. Instead, there is usually some type of device, trap, or other set-up you need to puzzle out to help you either reach the enemy or disarm them, and it helps to make each battle a bit more memorable. The standard enemies are a bit too simple, and easy to defeat with basic melee attacks (other characters can have ranged attacks too), so for the most part the fun in the levels comes from using various suits with different uses that Batman and Robin gain to allow them access to new areas or to help solve puzzles to get from point A to point B.

Eventually you'll be able to access the hub of Arkham Asylum, which in turn lets you use the villains and play thru their levels as well. The set-up here is nearly identical to the hero side, and each of the three big villains still play the main part for each story. However, each level will pair you up with a different secondary villain, and each villain has their own particular ability, instead of relying on different suits. For instance, Riddler has an ability that lets him take control of the minds of other characters, often using this to trick characters into unlocking doors or throwing switches. Bane is super strong, which allows him to pick up large objects and toss them out of the way, while nimble characters like Catwoman or Harley Quinn can use a double jump to gain access to otherwise unreachable locations.

Also worth noting, a lot Danny Elfman's music created for the Burton Batman films is used here (as it was in TAS), with the initial theme that's instantly familiar. There are also a few other memorable music nods, like the theme that typically plays with Joker and Harley, and a few other cool little nods to the cartoon. I will say that the main Elfman theme does seem to play a bit too much, especially as you near the end of the of all the different stories, but for the most part the soundtrack is a lot of fun.

The plots for all of the stories are pretty simple, and oftentimes comical, with little nods to different character traits for the fans that are going to be familiar with this stuff. I'm sure a great deal of appeal is lost to players that don't care much about Batman, and as a platformer Lego Batman isn't the best out there, to be sure. However, being a fan of Batman, and the Animated Series especially, there's a lot to love with what Traveller's Tales has done with the license. I can imagine quite a few people are feeling like the Lego game idea is getting stale, but this is easily their most refined effort to date, and well worth checking out whether you haven't played one of them before, or if you enjoyed the previous two.