If Lego: Star Wars wasn't Star Wars, we'd have a new king of the Lego castle in Lego: Batman!
User Rating: 10 | LEGO Batman: The Videogame PS2
Lego: Batman is so good it even challenges the fabled Lego: Star Wars games for block building supremacy! This game is just as good as the Star Wars entries and much better than the Indiana Jones game. This game has everything that has come in the previous three Lego games plus so much more. Let's start at the beginning. These Lego games put you in a universe (in this case Batman's universe) where everything is made of Lego. You work your way through the levels of the game building, destroying, and rebuilding objects made out of Lego, as well as defeating your enemies. There are lots of puzzles to solve and the cut scenes always take cracks at the lighter side of the super hero biz. This game is unique in the fact that you can play from both sides of the coin, so to speak. First, there are 15 levels within 3 separate chapters that you have to complete for the "Hero" (aka Batman, Robin and the rest of the good guys) side of the game. The unique part is that, as you beat each of these levels, a corresponding playable level becomes available for you to play for the "Villain" (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, etc.) side of things! All in all this makes for 30 levels of Lego: Batman goodness! As for the levels themselves, they are normally pretty lengthy (in time, not distance) and there is usually one vehicle level per chapter (vehicle levels are a lot of fun). The Batcave or Arkham Asylum is where you start off your game each time, depending on who you are playing with at the time. These locations allow you to access the levels you want to play, to view any of your Minikits or Hero/Villain kits, purchase bonus characters and extras, and is also where you access the bonus levels you will unlock along the way. As you make your way through each level there are certain items you have to collect in order to fully complete the game. These items include: Lego studs, a small number of suits for Batman & Robin, 1 Power Brick per level, 10 Minikit Canisters per level, 1 hostage per level (except on vehicle levels) and you also must gain Super Hero/Villain status on the level. The Lego studs are strewn throughout the levels. They are either sitting out in the open, or you find them by destroying or building items, and by defeating your enemies. You must collect as much of these as possible as they are used to purchase all of the extra items in the game. The suits you find early in the game and there are probably about 8 of them in total, give or take a couple. These suits give Batman & Robin each special abilities, such as flying, being able to breathe underwater, manipulating electrical panels, among many others. These suits are needed in order to progress throughout the game and once you have found one suit you have access to it forever afterwards. The Power Brick is usually the most well hidden item in the game and involves solving some manner of big puzzle. The Power Bricks from the Hero levels each unlock an additional suit upgrade specific to the different suits you have unlocked for Batman & Robin. These upgrades are somewhat frivolous. They include things like more batarang targets, freeze batarang, etc. The Power Bricks from the Villain levels unlock much more useful items! They unlock different extras you can purchase, the best ones being the score (Lego stud) multipliers, and the Minikit and Power Brick detectors. The Minikit Canisters each contain one piece of a Lego Minikit that, when you have found all 10 canisters in any one level, combine to form a little Lego masterpiece! These Minikits can be viewed either in the Batcave (on the Hero side) or in Arkham Asylum (on the Villain side). Once during each level you will find a couple of the Joker's goons holding a generic Lego character and laying the beats on them. These people are the hostages as mentioned above. Take care of these goons and free the hostage and once you free all 25 and complete the game in it's entirety, you will be able to unlock a secret character. Lastly, on each level you must collect a certain amount of Lego studs to earn either your Super Hero or Super Villain status. When you earn this status you unlock a piece of the Hero and Villain kits. These kits are viewed in the same area as the Minikits only once they are completed, they unlock a secret bonus level! The bonus level for Hero is Wayne Manor, and the bonus level for Villain is Arkham Asylum. There is nothing special about these levels, they are just a little something extra. You must complete them though in order to earn a 100% complete rating on the game. On your first run through each level you have to go through on Story Mode. Here you only have access to two pre-determined characters that you can switch between, and their ability to find all of these hidden items will be limited. Only when you go back and replay the level on Freeplay, with access to all of your unlocked characters (with their various myriad abilities), extras, upgrades, etc. will you be able to grab all of these items. After you beat a level you can use your collected Lego studs to purchase any extras you are able to uncover during the level. After each level there are also usually some extra characters/vehicles that you can unlock for future use in the game as well. As for gameplay, it just keeps getting better! There were absolutely no camera issues in this game at all, both characters and vehicles respond just as you think they should, and the graphics are good as usual. The challenge in beating this game isn't making it through each level and getting to the end, it's going back once you have beaten the game and finding/unlocking every single thing you can find! If you do that you will be playing this game for weeks and weeks. This game is sure to entertain any Batman fan, and for anybody who enjoys the Lego franchise of games definitely has to get this one. I can't wait to see what franchise they decide to covert to Lego form next!
