The Lego games will keep coming! I got my wife a whole bunch of them for her birthday so expect more reviews, suckers! This is the newest one we’ve played so far, and compared to Marvel Super Heroes it runs better; our frame rate was noticeably better in levels even with both screens on. Its scale feels smaller though, and the character choices leave much to be desired; it feels like a lot of character were held back for DLC, which is sadly not available on Wii U.
The hub areas were nostalgically small, at least until the explorable Lantern worlds were unlocked, which was a nice surprise. These are Mario Galaxy-style planetoids with quests and things from DC characters. They added content but the planets themselves aren’t too exciting.
This is a problem I had with the game: while purporting to be “Lego Batman”, after the first three levels it is more of a Justice League-cum-Green Lantern game, and the Lantern realm is something I only have a passing familiarity with. For it to be such a significant part of the game was a little off-putting to a “cosmic DC” outsider. But that’s to be expected. The villainous characters also feel like a B-team, but there’s the inevitable team-up and plenty of disguises and magic emotional manipulation due to Lantern shenanigans to shake things up, adding interest to the main group.
My favourite parts of the game were the levels set on Earth cities that had been shrunk by Brainiac’s shrink-ray, with adorable mini Lego models of landmarks and objects; and the amusing level based on the 60’s TV series complete with visual sound effects and hammy Adam West narration.
Speaking of celebrity cameos, there are some really out-of-place appearances by Kevin Smith and Conan O’Brien that were a constant groaner. Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers as the Green Loontern was OK, but there was a bit much of him too. Stan Lee really worked in Marvel, and Adam West is good here, but they went overboard with these.
It was still great to play through this in co-op. Each new character unlock would either elicit memories and delight, or bemusement and a trip to Wikipedia. Vehicles as a concept are tacked on and unnecessary, and there’s the occasional glitch but much fewer outright crashes. The core concept is still strong and it’s not broke, so have at it.
Once again, my wife and I have played another Lego game. I’ll make this quick! I think the superhero genre is a great fit for these games; lots of brightly coloured weirdoes with different powers. Flight especially is a game-changer, breaking level design but also allowing the vast hub world first seen in Lego Batman 2. This game’s New York is much brighter than Gotham, to its benefit. The Wii U is a great platform too, allowing both players a full-width screen to play on; however, we did come to appreciate the improved frame-rate that comes with putting both players on the TV, and traded between two screens in the hub and split-screen in the levels.
The game does a reasonable job with showing a variety of locations in the Marvel universe (from what I know of it, anyway). And I do love having a cast of the Avengers, Spiderman, the X-Men, and the Fantastic 4 all together, as they should be. This also allows a good range of villains for a classic EVIL TEAM UP. I just wish, again, that they spent more time playtesting and fixing bugs. We had more softlocks and hard crashes than ever before. Apart from that though, one of the better Lego games, with lots of good ideas from the big hub to the bonus mini-levels, to good use of different character abilities. Not awkwardly splicing in dialogue from movies is good too.
I’ve reviewed so many Lego games now, I like to think myself something of a connoisseur of them. But it’s a type of game that my wife and I can really enjoy together. The Wii U is the best platform for playing them too, since it allows both players a full wide-screen view at once with the Gamepad.
This one is unique from other ones in a few ways. Firstly, it’s based on only one movie. Some of the superhero ones have a single story but it’s a new one for the game so they can design levels for it. What you notice about this is that they have to insert extra happenings in between scenes of the movie, to make up more of a playable experience. This is not a bad thing; one of the strengths of adaptations is fleshing out the source material in various ways. However the result is that the game is quite short compared to pretty much every other Lego game. There are several hub areas with things to do but nothing like the expanse of Middle-Earth or Gotham City. There’s a fine line between the game feeling focused or self-contained and feeling brief or lacking.
Of course, this game is also different in that its source hasn’t been Lego-ised for the game. The source is Lego in every way. This means that scenes from the movie can be played directly as cutscenes, which works very well at making you feel like you’re playing the movie, and reminded me how good the movie itself is too. Newly recorded audio material for all the characters is also used over gameplay which is cool. The movie’s Lego-only aesthetic is embraced in the game too and well delivered on. The game isn’t quite as universal an IP mash-up as the movie is but there’s a fun range of characters of different types and origins. Near the end Gandalf shows up individually, and I think you can see the hints of Lego Dimensions there.
Despite its brief length, TLMV was one of my favourites yet. Part of this I think is due to its smaller scope, letting them polish it more instead of rushing out a gigantic buggy mess, although I will also chalk that up to this being developed by TT Fusion, who predominantly helms the handheld games which I view as more stable. Partly it’s also the bright, fun aesthetic of the world, it gives a happier mood than the pervasive dim gloom of Batman’s world or the Middle-Earth games. It’s also just easier to see when it’s light and colourful and there isn’t constant rain. Another part is it being based on a comedy movie where everything in the movie and the game is geared towards fun. Its biggest weakness is some levels seeming inconsequential due to being inserted in the movie’s events, as well as being over too quickly, but if you expect a smaller game you won’t be disappointed.
EDIT: Upon spending more time in Free Play, several bugs and glitches have come to light. So never mind what I said, it’s about on par with the other Lego games.
Whenever a new Yoshi game comes out, the only sensible question is “Is this a worthy successor to Yoshi’s Island?”. This time the answer is: yeah, probably.
It certainly feels like a Yoshi’s Island game. The mechanics in this game are either taken from YI, or seem to arise naturally as a consequence of everything being made out of crafted materials. It creates a mix of warm nostalgia and appreciation of clever new ideas. The game also looks amazing, with everything being knitted, felted, woven, or what have you, as well as incorporating buttons, knitting needles, etc.
It’s not all good news though. The health system is a more basic health point thing like Yoshi’s Story. I’ve seen a lot of baby backlash, ie. “I’m glad that annoying Baby Mario isn’t in this one.” That’s WRONG. The babies are great, they tie gameplay and story together in a meaningful way and provide motivation and a unique mechanics. That being said, the more streamlined system is more conducive to co-op and there’s circumstances where your partner acts something like a baby. The game is also devoid of story in that irritating Nintendo way; especially disappointing because its developmental predecessor Kirby’s Epic Yarn is entirely justified in-universe and coheres with the other Kirby games. This game hangs in an obscure plot void, its connection to other Yoshi or Mario games unclear.
Also the music is a very mixed bag. It frequently changes genre but it’s often boring. It sucks because Yoshi’s Island got so much right including story and music, but this game falls short of fulfilling every aspect despite its promise.
But enough fanboy whining. This is one of the most accomplished 2D platformers in the last few years, which is saying a lot when DKC Tropical Freeze and Rayman Legends are still current. Here’s one of my typical short praise lists: good controls, good level designs, amazing looks. To be more specific, it always feels like you’re doing something different in a level: you’ve got your normal left-to-right but also ascending, finding your way through a maze-like cavern, managing a Chomp Rock, not to mention the transformations. I found myself saying this a lot about different things in the game: it’s just like Yoshi’s Island (and that’s a good thing!).
And the game has Poochy! Always a plus (along with other things that caused me to spontaneously exclaim with excitement). You can even use him anytime with the badge system, but he’s not always useful depending on the level. And he doesn’t come to bosses with you. Boss battles are usually a highlight for Yoshi games; these are good, but the mid-bosses can be a little bit simplistic and I got irrationally angry over the re-use of said midbosses: you fight the same two 3 times each. It’s maddening that they would just drop the originality ball and let it roll under the fridge like that. Ok that analogy got away from me but the other bosses are quite good.
Since I played this totally in the company of my lovely wife, the co-op experience must be addressed. It’s great! The game is friendly and has concessions for new players, to the point where she remarked that this was the first ever platformer that she actually enjoyed. The co-op mechanics themselves are fair—as long as one player survives, they can revive the other as normal (and no life counter, thank goodness!) but you may find it quick to cut one player off when scrolled off screen. The amiibo implementation seems like a hack job, adding a simple clone into the co-op framework.
I feel like as with Tropical Freeze my high expectations for this game caused me to be overly nitpicky. But at least some of my criticisms are valid, or I think so anyway. Woolly World could have been even better than it was but for some fairly fundamental choices, but it’s still the best Yoshi game since Yoshi’s Island, which is all any Yoshi game could hope for.
Since this is a Lego game, let’s again look at the ways it differs from other Lego games. It’s much like Lord of the Rings, with a large overworld hub filled with quests. It’s a less fun hub than Batman 2 because it’s harder to get around without the power of flight, and it’s a bit buggier; objects will disappear when your co-op partner moves between areas.
The game seems optimised for single-player, and I’m not just talking about the frame rate. You have issues like the one I mentioned, and a glaring fault in the very first level where the second player invariably and irreparably gets stuck behind a door.
The Gamepad features are good, with a handy map for the overworld and even the ability to shunt one player’s screen down there. This is good because it gives both players widescreen, but the Gamepad user may feel a bit bad for having a lower-res screen. It also disconnects the two players, so it’s harder for each to know what the other is doing. Implementation of the map is also horrible, as every time you go in a cave or travel somewhere or you cough lightly, the Gamepad kicks you back to the feature select screen. I hate this. Leave the map on, please.
New aspects are the building minigame, stolen from the Lego Movie Game where it made more sense conceptually; and collecting loot, which is fine in theory but a bit unbalanced. We ended up with 999 stone and hundreds of gold fairly quickly, but were always low on copper.
The game suffers from poor visibility and some hard-to-use controls and mechanics. Quicktime events and frustrating contextual demands slow down the experience, especially when one person is left out. Chase sequences are as unfun as ever but quite short in this game. Also, wizards may seem cool but this game makes you hate them because their staff attack is so achingly slow to use.
There are so many faults in the implementation and feel of this game, but that doesn’t mean that the basic concepts aren’t still competent. It also doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, and my wife and I enjoyed it enough to get to 100%, which doesn’t always happen. The game itself has a sense of fun and silliness, with one extra giving you a banging techno song with soundbites of movie lines.
Finally, I remain baffled at the timing of its release. I would much rather they had waited until the release of the third film, and included that in the game. As it is, we’re left here with a game now completed but only telling two thirds of a story, and wondering whether they’ll release the rest as DLC or not bother, and if so whether it will even come to Wii U (apparently there’s character DLC, but we didn’t get that). This was a source of concern for me before we got it, and if and when the BOFA DLC issue comes up, I can see it causing me angst again. Just plain odd.
As part of Batman’s recent anniversary, all of the Batman games had a massive sale. What a great idea, except the only ones I can be bothered with are the Lego ones. Don’t tell me again how good Arkham is supposed to be, ain’t nobody got time for that. My wife and I once again teamed up for the co-op Lego experience, and meanwhile I played the handheld iteration on my iPhone.
First of all, the platforms. The Wii U seems like the best fit for Batman 2, because the Gamepad gives you the neato second screen. In this version, you can’t put the second player on the second screen, but you can have a character switcher in levels, a godsend in free play levels. In the hub meanwhile you have the most powerful tool, a map with location pinpointing.
I think this was the first Lego game to do the “massive hub” thing, and it’s really great! The amount of stuff to do makes up for the levels, which are generally short and few in number. You also get to traverse it really quickly if you want, with vehicles and flying heroes (mostly the latter), to then drop down anywhere and collect some stuff. The map really helps this process, just roaming around and finding things.
On the other hand, iOS once again seems the worst (but cheapest, hence me choosing it) platform for the game. You have the dodgy touchscreen controls, the massive file size on your device, and worst of all the microtransaction garbage. From what I’ve read, the iOS port has less stud multiplier bonuses, which I suspect is a cheap way to inflate the value of studs, and hence to encourage you outright buying things with real money rather than playing the game. It also throws up ads for its own DLC between levels. Blegh.
As for comparing the two platforms, well as expected the handheld version has much simpler models and graphics, which is not always bad. In this case, all the lighting effects and rain and stuff on the console gives a final product which is overly dark and laggy. The smaller one avoids this problem with level elements that stand out more against the backgrounds, and a constant perspective rather than a dodgy player-controlled camera. Sure there’s less detail but I preferred the more basic look.
Of course, the camera is only in effect in the hub. An annoyance is the shift in controls and how the game plays between hub and levels, it makes it less seamless. More seamly, you could say. On the other hand, the handheld one has no hub at all, apart from the Batcave! Just levels, which as I said are short and few. There’s an arena mode to pad it out a bit but I feel the hub really is the whole of the game and without it, the small version really suffers in terms of content. It does make in-level collectibles more worthwhile as you get characters that way, but then you don’t get to play around with those characters as much, especially as everything is so expensive.
So I’d say the console version wins out, due to the fun we had dicking around Gotham City. The character choice is also worse in the console one (without DLC anyway, which is not actually present in the Wii U version), but I still enjoyed what was available. Hawk Girl, Martian Manhunter, and so on. Although it has the usual bugs and crashes, it’s still in that “old-style” Lego type thing where it’s not as integrated in the license’s world, so it feels more Lego-y, and it’s more wacky… I can’t really explain it but it made me feel nostalgic for Lego Star Wars in a way the LOTR and Harry Potter ones didn’t. So that’s Lego Batman 2, and we already have the Hobbit to go on with, so on to more Lego! Oh, also this is the first one we’ve bothered to get 100% for a while so that should tell you something.
Ah, my most anticipated game of the last six months. I think that was a problem, actually, as it turned out I’d hyped the thing beyond all reality. The game is fantastic, but little details disappointed me, which I think reflects poorly on my own attitude.
Being a hardcore member of the DKVine forums, home to the Internet’s biggest Donkey Kong Universe fans, we of course had been overanalysing every scrap we could find since the announcement at last E3. I eventually disengaged from watching every gameplay preview, because going so far in really would spoil it for me.
Reception has been overwhelmingly positive (I agree with it), and I’ve seen more than a few comments indicating that this game was toppling previously-held beliefs on which is the best, or second-best, DKC game. For me personally, among others, my list is now DKC2>DKCTF>DKC3>DKCR>DKC1.
Let me get the niggles out of the way first. The lag on the loading screens disproportionately annoyed me. The swimming controls are not as smooth as Rayman Legends (which they are based on). Bonus rooms are boring. The final boss was a little underwhelming and a little too reminiscent of a certain reptilian monarch, who once again is conspicuous by his absence. Aquatic Ambiance is remixed far too much. The setup and payoff generally aren’t as impactful as they should have been, although progression feels very good. Still too many rocket barrels. And finally, dramatic underuse of Animal Buddies (partially offset by multiple partner Kongs).
So Retro seemingly took on many of the complaints from DKCR, and attempted to address them. They whiffed a few points, but gave us more charismatic antagonists, ways to change up the gameplay with the partners and swimming, and really just ramped up the execution on graphics, presentation, environments, and music.
Let’s give music its own paragraph because it’s a big thing. David Wise is back in glorious form, with excellent tunes. Not always totally appropriate, but nicely varied. Also not enough DKC2 remixes, but the remixes and references to DKC3 GBA were very cool to my relatively recently educated ears. The guy is just great, and the unqueness of the styles he brings makes for a soundtrack like no other game. Getting jazz flute and heavy metal just a few levels apart is totally cool.
Apart from the new features I mentioned and the coup of securing Wise’s involvement, this is really heavily built off the foundation of Returns. All the mechanics are the same, with Miyamoto’s boneheaded blowing mechanic replaced with the more intuitive pulling, piggybacking on another button which also is used for the more extensively implemented throwing of objects, and of course swimming added. The physics, the collectibles, the feel are all the same and that’s fine, really. It’s just been toned up and polished. Maybe they should have shaken it up a little more, plus I wasn’t used to the heaviness and finality to your actions of this engine, as opposed to Rayman and Mairo Galaxy which I thought of as I was starting as they allowed you some recovery wiggle room. I got into the groove though.
Nintendo’s hyping up the difficulty of this game but I don’t see it. In Returns I used many more lives in co-op though, and this has been solo only for me, so similarly I quickly reached 99 lives and stayed there. I used more coins on the new items this time, though, which is good, but they’re not very good. Especially the one-use only items which are gone after use, but then you have to carry on as long as you have lives. Makes them feel less useful. The long loading times also discourage exiting and entering levels often.
Basically the game is just a much better version of Returns, with more imagination and ambition. It’s not perfectly tuned though. For example, it seems to me that Dixie is the most powerful partner and I used her heaps more than the others, but maybe that’s a choice thing—how much of a crutch do you want? Oh and of course the motion controls are no longer compulsory, as the button layout from Returns 3D is now an option on Gamepad or Pro Controller. I found it much better that way.
I feel a little conflicted about this game, because in certain ways Rayman Legends stole its thunder, being an excellently produced 2D platformer that was very fun and had it all together. But despite borrowing a couple of mechanics, they do go in different directions, and it very much has its own identity. Definitely an essential Wii U game, one of if not the best so far. And I’ve already expressed how wonderful it is compared to other DKC games (I really do love DKC3). If you like platformers and have a Wii U, you need this game.
Oh, one more thing. I wish the collectible counters would increment after they appear on screen, not before. See what I mean about my attitude?
Pikmin 3! Another good reason for the Wii U to exist. As any long-time readers will know, I started with the second one on Wii and went back for the first one. After finishing this one and enjoying the mission mode immensely, I went back for the missions of Pikmin 2 to see if they were as good. The comparison was a little painful, with slightly wonkier controls and greatly blurrier visuals. So although it wasn’t too evident as I played it from memory, a direct comparison in that way just shows what an improvement Pikmin 3 is.
First of all, it looks beautiful. I never used the first-person screenshot thing because it was dumb, but I’ve heard it makes textures and whatever look crummy. That’s ok, the game is meant to be played zoomed out. Everything looks so great, it looks real. You don’t have the Gamecube’s plasticky feel, and there’s sparklyness and it’s just nice to look at. The music gets annoying though, what with all the repetition. I needed auditory feedback on gameplay though, so I was stuck with that.
The plot is interesting, if a little short. It’s about the same length as the previous ones though so I guess it’s ok. The missions really lengthen your enjoyment though. I was worried when hearing about it that there wouldn’t be any amusing writing as there is for 2’s item descriptions. But there’s the new data files, and tons of incidental dialogue that wasn’t there previously, as well as interplay between characters. Previously, Olimar has either been alone or with an arguably autism spectrum/self-absorbed crew members (Louie and the President, repsectively). This time, we have three characters who have different opinions on each other and quirks, plus Olimar’s logs. Certain incidental dialogues did repeat unpleasantly often in either content or gist, though. Overall it’s a plus.
It’s always disappointing when a sequel cuts things from a previous installment instead of expanding on them. It’s the Nintendo way, but the systems here are streamlined and well executed, which is their intention behind those practices. The basic mechanics are tuned from previous games, so the basic play experience is better. It’s good to have control options, but the Gamepad option is garbage (I assume it’s similar to the original GCN controls?) so like a lot of people I opted for Wii remote with Gamepad on lap for a map and whatever else it does. It works well, and the Gamepad is used very well on this occasion. No more treasure, but fruit was satisfying to find and had different classes so you knew what to expect for carrying it.
This leads to the juice mechanic, where your time limit is based on the fruit you find. I found the game was tuned way too easy, I quickly built up a good stock and stayed consistently very high (until it’s abruptly taken away at one point for some real tension). Otherwise though, a great idea, better than a hard 30 days or the vaguer Pikmin 2. It brings up the end-of-day schtick though. Juicing the fruits introduced a surprising amount of lag for what’s a simple white screen with some fluid effects. It’s what I’ve come to expect on the Wii U unfortunately. Anyway that bothered me, and it happens every day so you see it a lot.
As I’ve alluded to though, the missions are great fun and while they didn’t grab me in 2 (and were non-existent in 1), here I was hooked. Using the skills you’ve gained to clear out a small area quickly is a very different experience to the exploration and longer-term planning of the story mode, so both coexist peacefully. Boss rush mode can just go away though, the bosses weren’t much fun for me and doing them again was not something I was into. Plus, there was a cool co-op mode for missions (why doesn’t story have co-op?!). My wife surprisingly got really into it and we’ve been having tons of fun getting platinums, more often on the collect treasure as opposed to fight enemies. Micromanaging multiple captains is hard work for me, but having a human to communicate with we can get much more done. But seriously, give us a co-op story why not?!
I liked cutting white and purple Pikmin in favour of rock and flying, and the different abilities that were swapped or introduced, with new mechanics to learn for us veterans. But then, having white and purple come back in the missions was nice, like an old friend returning and it added more complexity which can be fun.
I don’t know what else to say. I was constantly impressed by the mix of cuteness and strategy gaming. It’s a true Nintendo game. Just a bit more content would have been nice. Buy the DLC missions, it’s worthwhile if you enjoy the mission structure (especially the second pack). I dunno, people say the Wii U has no games but here’s one. Although I have finished it now, but ooh Donkey Kong’s here. (Actually I’ve 100%ed that by now but you’ll see that review later). Anyways this is the best Pikmin game yet, very fun.
My backlog is so big at the moment. My wife and I polished off this game a few months ago, but I think that will help me summarise more to keep it shorter.
This review really cannot exist outside of my opinion to Rayman Origins, and comparisons constantly came up as I played. I actually recommend playing Origins first, as this game is a progression in so many ways. You feel that when you play the recreated Origins levels in Legends—which, by the way, do not render Origins invalid. First of all, I don’t think it’s all the levels, and second, they have put in Legends mechanics in Origins level designs (for the most part), giving them a different feel, especially when playing Legends as intended.
By that I mean that Murfy is integral to the Legends experience, and I just cannot picture playing the whole game solo. Having my wife on Gamepad while I flex my platforming muscles was a very well done mechanic, although the dynamic fell apart when she was forced into 2D mode at a boss battle or when doing a challenge level. So the ancillary bits, anything apart from the core platforming levels, didn’t work so well with that asymmetric co-op stuff (and hence our playing together). So it’s 2 games really, amazing skill gap co-op core and the awesome and varied single player fringe elements (namely bosses, challenges, music levels, and Moskito).
At least, that’s how we played it. For ages I booted it up daily for the Challenge mode, and it did a good job encouraging the quick daily trips. Competing against the 2 or 3 friends who were at around my skill level was a blast, and slowly racking up points and junk was satisfying. Once I got to the full 100% I’d had enough anyway, so I tied a happy ribbon in it.
To me, Rayman Origins was platforming perfection, so it was hard for me to admit that Legends is a better game. But as I hope I’ve communicated, it’s trying to stretch in a few different directions, making it less pure but arguably more fun. I love them both but the improvements to graphics, developed ideas, and more ambitious levels and designs make it a good sequel overall.
I have nitpicks of course: the music is very slightly less memorable overall despite some astounding tracks, the plot is a bit more nebulous, and the thing that rubbed me the wrong way the most was the main menu thing. You run around in a tent to select levels or modes. It’s good for keeping consistency between movement in levels and in this upper area, but the lack of a proper world map that you move around really hurts the feel of being in a world.
Overall though, this is an essential game, probably my best of the year. Certainly the Wii U version is the one to get, seeing that the others are hack jobs for a game designed around the Gamepad. As with Origins, a joy to play and experience, every side of it: music, art, game design. I particularly cherish the fact that it so involved my wife, who is at an obvious skill and enthusiasm handicap for this genre, and that we could share it so much. I fear that there will be no follow-up considering how much the clueless Ubisoft suits jerked around Michel Ancel and co. But I feel happy having got this much. You may recall that it was the main primary motivator for my Wii U purchase, and although late it was well worthwhile.
In more recent news, the demoes for both of these games came out for both of these platforms on the same day. I downloaded and tried all of them. There’s a theme here because these particular games do not represent my usual forte. My oeuvre, if you will.
I never got Sonic, I find the classic games frustrating and the movement system is just wrong to me. The 3D games, according to popular opinion, I should just not bother with for the most part. But for me, free is the right price and I gave the demoes a spin. Get it? Because he spins.
Yeah, they didn’t win me over. Basically it’s like Mario Galaxy but all slippery and confusing. I did find that the 3DS version agreed with me much more than the Wii U one did, I mainly chalk that up to a much better presented demo that actually taught you mechanics and showed off different things you would be doing in the game. Also the more general trend of big console games being overdeveloped and valuing style over substance. This was represented subtly here, really the two were pretty similar.
But yeah I have tried a few Sonic games and they never clicked with me. This one blunders all over the line between smooth and fiddly, difficult platforming and the feeling of not being in control. I think that’s my general assessment of Sonic really, and I can’t go any more in-depth on this one just from a demo. So thumbs down.
As for Lego Marvel, well it’s a Lego game. I’m intimately familiar with them by this point, but it’s the Marvel side that I’m not big on. I’ve really only been exposed to the “cinematic universe” and all those other cinematic universes that they don’t have the rights to. Come to think of it, I’ve probably seen more Marvel movies than DC, but that’s probably because DC movies that aren’t Batman have been notoriously bad. But, I have more DC experience what with Sandman, borrowing some Batman comics from the library, watching the Justice League cartoon (and the Teen Titans one… one of them anyway). I’m not super invested in either of them though.
Anyways this is just another Lego game really, and if you’re not interested in the paerticular IP attached then you should just play Lego Star Wars again or something. It is the newest and hence shiniest one, and I guess it could have some new ideas? I don’t know, I just saw old ideas really. I’ve said before that I have more faith in TT Fusion (the handheld division) than TT to make a stable and interesting game, and for the second time I’m siding with the smaller iteration of the two games.
The 3DS has more new ideas with the rewards system and the super moves, although that seemed quite useless. But the sub-chapters thing with just one character at a time seems nice and less fiddly, with the little quest things inspiring quick replays. Sure it may be less ambitious and impressive than the console one, but I dunno I guess I’m once again feeling that I prefer the tighter experience than the bloated one with a million lighting shaders or whatever and the crashing.
Realistically though, if my wife was interested at all, the console one would be the only way to go with its big screen co-op mode. At least until the miniature version eventually goes on sale in the iOS App Store. So yeah it is just another Lego game, and I’ve played lots and have a few more to play still (just iPhone ones). In fact I’m doing Harry Potter 2 handheld now and it’s fairly alright. Ah, demoes. They don’t come often enough.
Since this is a Lego game, let’s again look at the ways it differs from other Lego games. It’s much like Lord of the Rings, with a large overworld hub filled with quests. It’s a less fun hub than Batman 2 because it’s harder to get around without the power of flight, and it’s a bit buggier; objects will disappear when your co-op partner moves between areas.
As part of Batman’s recent anniversary, all of the Batman games had a massive sale. What a great idea, except the only ones I can be bothered with are the Lego ones. Don’t tell me again how good Arkham is supposed to be, ain’t nobody got time for that. My wife and I once again teamed up for the co-op Lego experience, and meanwhile I played the handheld iteration on my iPhone.
