Teen Titans Updated Hands-On

We got to take an updated look at Teen Titans, the new beat-'em-up from Majesco starring those high-flying crime fighters from the cartoon series of the same name. The game will let you and up to three friends take control of the Titans--Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven--as you fight against all of the villains from the series, who have somehow been set loose on the unsuspecting citizenry. All five characters will be fighting at any given time, and you'll be able to switch between them at will, with the AI controlling any characters who aren't being played by humans.

In the level we got to see, arch villain Mumbo Jumbo was terrorizing the city, having unleashed an army of giant killer...bunnies. We had to fight through wave after wave of the livid lagomorphs using a mix of the Titans' melee and ranged attacks. You'll have two melee attacks and one projectile, and these can be charged up for more power (though this depletes a charge meter that will itself replenish as you fight). The characters have different attributes. Naturally, Cyborg is strong but slower, while Starfire has strong ranged attacks, and Robin is the most well rounded of the bunch. Each character will gain more powerful attacks as you progress through the game, and you'll also be able to pick up full-screen attacks as power-ups throughout each level.

We got to play a fairly interesting boss battle, too, in which a giant ooze monster comes up out of the floor in a massive room. The five heroes are required to circle around the boss, looking for and hurling explosive barrels at it whenever possible, while avoiding the many minions it spawns. As the fight wore on and the boss's health dropped, it began to cover the floor with a thick coating of ooze, which drastically slowed down our movement speed. After we reduced the boss's health enough, we had to maneuver all five characters into a specific configuration so they could all blast the giant brute at the same time and bring it down.

Throughout the game, in addition to the core beat-'em-up action, you'll find some other things to occupy you, as the designers have tried to inject the game with some variety. In one instance, Beast Boy transformed into a giant ape and had to hold a bus, and we had to protect him for a set amount of time. Another section of the game will feature a Frogger-style minigame, according to Majesco. There will also be an arena mode available for up to four players to battle it out, Smash Brothers-style. A total of 36 unlockable characters will be available here, including the five titans (with a number of alternate costumes), as well as many of the good and bad characters you'll meet throughout the game. Speaking of all those characters, all of the TV show's voice actors have made the leap here--18 actors in all provided voice work for the game.

The presentation in Teen Titans is right in line with that of the series, with the same exaggerated, slightly cutesy art style and so forth. With the included arena mode and the main single-player game consisting of 15 episodes (or levels), it looks like there should be plenty of meat for kids to chew on with Teen Titans. And from our experience, there's enough gameplay here to satisfy older gamers as well. Teen Titans is due to ship in February of 2006, and we'll bring you more before then.