The Batman series is a very strange franchise if you think about it. Having just come from playing ‘Batman Arkham Asylum’ that, with want for a better word, is realistic. Playing ‘Batman Brave and the Bold’ is a bit of a shock. Based off the cartoon series of the same name it’s a very campy affair, miles away from the Dark Knight saga the new Christian Bale movies are based off. Not that it’s a bad thing; a lot of what goes on in the Batman universe is silly, ridiculous and are a lot of fun to mock. This game takes those elements and brings them to the forefront.

 

As mentioned the game is based off a cartoon and as such everything looks very, erm, cartoony. It’s bright and bold and the some of the cutscenes look good enough to appear on TV by themselves. Sure the developers’ WayFoward have cheated by just placing static images onto of backgrounds, switching them around when the emotions change much like a Fire Emblem game, for most of the cut scenes but thanks to the universally brilliant voice work you’ll still enjoy yourself. Also of note most of the characters are voiced by the same people that work on the show. The dialogue is very funny, very tongue in cheek and it makes the game a real pleasure. This isn’t a game that takes itself, or its characters, seriously

 

 

The game focuses very much on the fighting element of show, Batman and co work their way through 2D levels fighting off various foes with a light bit of platforming to help break up the button mashing. It reminds me of classic scrolling-beat-em-ups on the SNES and Megadrvie/Genesis just simpler. There is only one plain where you travel along so no worry about getting into the right position to punch somebody. That said there are plenty of nuances in the fighting, depending on the position of the analogue stick and the combination of buttons being pressed you can perform all kinds of moves including punching combos, thrusts, jump kicks, grabs, throws, heavy attacks and special attacks depending on item selected…more on those later.

 

While the star of the show is, and always will be, The Batman he’s joined by a different famous sidekick in each “episode”. There are four episodes each having their own separate plot, villains, enemies to beat-up and general style. We have Gotham; with the boy wonder Robin going up against Catman. Then Blue Beatle makes an appearance on Secret Island fighting super intelligent Apes and robots. Hawkman turns up exploring the London underground in a search for the Gentleman Ghost and Guy Gardener, one of the Green Lanterns, is on an epic trek through space hunting down Pink space starfish. It’s an interesting selection and, as I’m only a casual fan of the DC universe, all the additional characters are a bit confusing but it really does help break up the game.

 

 

Each sidekick has their own powers, they have all the basic moves of Batman plus everybody but Robin has a very handy double jump. That’s not the major difference though each character has a selection of gadgets or skills and it’s this that makes each character unique to play. Robin has the same basic equipment as Batman while the Blue Beetle has advanced weaponry like laser beams. Hawkman makes do with spears and maces while Guy Gardener uses his ring to create comical weapons like dropping a piano on somebody’s head or slapping them around with a massive green fist. Batman gets the most gadgets, well he is Batman after all, so in the end he becomes the most versatile character with flash bombs, explosives, swords, lock picks and even getting a jetpack near the end to give him that useful double-jump…poor Robin. Each gadget can be upgraded with coins collected in the levels giving improved attacks and new abilities. Oh and the game is completely co-op allowing a second player to jump in and control the second character in each level, each character then gets scored just so you know who really did all the hard work.

 

 

While the levels look very different, all the enemies have different skins and the characters and plot provide humorous scenarios you can’t but notice the gameplay has too much button-mashing and not enough variation in the gameplay. One side-scrolling shooter at the end isn’t enough to bring your attention away from the fact you’re beating up a same five guys again and again. The game is quite short around 5 hours, it’s really easy, very funny; so it’s perfect for the younger gamer but for the more mature… you could probably do better.