The game's certainly brief, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts. I'd recommend waiting for a price drop.
Hardcore comic geeks will be happy to know that some of the lesser known comic book characters take front stage here. Don't expect to be fighting crime with The Flash or Robin here. The most well known sidekick you have is the Green Lantern. Other lesser known sidekicks include Blue Beetle, Plastic Man, and Red Tornado. Comic fanatics finally get to play as their favorite unknown characters, and those who are less into the DC universe get to meet some of the new characters. The characters are actually quite memorable. While I do know a thing or two about comics, I didn't know all of the characters, so it was nice to meet a few.
In the technical field, Brave and the Bold outshines a lot of DS games. The game has a great art style. I've learned not to expect true beauty in a DS game, but this one looks pretty good. Environments are clean and colorful and character designs look nice. The dialogue is pretty amusing as well. I've only watched the show on a few occasions, so I'm not sure how the show actually is, but the dialogue on the game is filled with one-liners and bad puns reminiscent of old school Batman. It all feels like a throwback, as well as fan service to the hardcore Batgeeks.
The gameplay is great. Beating up baddies feels clean. You get to play as either Batman or one of the sidekicks. These sidekicks have a lot of abilities needed to complete each level, making switching between characters a necessity. At first, playing as the other characters is a lot easier than playing as Batman. Batman has limited powers that don't offer much to really help you. As you complete levels, you can upgrade Batman's abilities. A lot of his abilities are very helpful, such as health regeneration. Still, I found playing as the other characters easier for a majority of the game, mainly because each level is designed for that character, boss battles included.
Speaking of boss battles, this game features some fantastic boss battles. For a 2-D Beat 'Em Up, I was really impressed. Boss battles require strategy, and they're all really unique. Sure, they may not compete with Arkham Asylum, but they're pretty entertaining, especially for a handheld game. Best boss battles on a handheld award goes to... The Brave and the Bold.
Unfortunately, the game has one major flaw: its length. You can complete every major level in the game in about 2 hours. The levels do offer collectibles, but after a couple levels, you earn an "item finder" which seeks out everything for you. You are offered challenged, but they're all very short. There are 3 types of challenged. One requires you to beat a handful of enemies with a specific character, one requires you to go through a specially designed level for a specific character, and another puts you against every boss in a level. Sadly, these are fairly easy. The only one that really offers any trouble is the boss battles, simply because your upgrades don't transfer over. You can unlock every upgrade by beating the game once. Competing everything shouldn't take more than 4-5 hours. This is where value becomes an issue. I bought this for $25, and I hardly thing that amount of time is worth the price.
The game is certainly fun. I have almost no complaints with the actual gameplay and technical aspects. The major game-breaker is the length. Once this badboy is a bit cheaper, there is no reason why you should buy it. As I said though, The Brave and the Bold is still a lot of fun though. If you can rent it, I highly recommend it, because it's worth a rental.