Game Reviews

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes

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Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes

Few video game franchises can boast the evergreen status of TT Games's Lego series. The developer has successfully combined the likes of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Lords of the Rings with Denmark's most famous toy export, and despite using familiar gameplay conventions throughout the entire lineage, the enjoyment and entertainment levels haven't dipped in a decade.

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes doesn't buck the trend, despite its miniaturisation to iOS. It offers a home console experience with hours of gameplay, plenty of content to unlock, and 80 different DC Comics characters to play as.

The process of porting the DC Universe from home console to iOS has been pretty smooth, and the sharp 3D visuals combine effectively with impressive, fully voiced cinematic sequences to create a polished experience.

Block buster

The controls have naturally taken something of a hit and there are many moments of frustration caused by the interface not correctly understanding your input, but the gameplay rarely demands pinpoint precision so the jump from physical control to touchscreen isn't as jarring as you might expect.

Made up of puzzle-solving, platforming, teamwork, and a fair bit of fisticuffs, Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes's gameplay rarely lapses into dull moments. There's an additional layer of complexity offered by unique suits, which imbue our heroes with special abilities such as invisibility, X-Ray vision, and other powers which allow them to overcome various roadblocks.

Although Batman is the focus of the game, it's actually possible to play as several other famous DC superheroes, including Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.

Throughout the game you'll find yourself gated by certain objects which can only be interacted with by specific character types - it's perfectly possible to complete the entire game with Batman and Robin, but you'll be missing out on additional content.

Building bridges

This is where Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes's in-app purchasing mechanic comes into play. Unlocking content is perfectly possible through normal play, but you can use golden bricks - which serve as the game's premium currency - to speed things up a little.

If you want to access all 80 heroes and villains with the minimum of effort, you'll need to dig deep. You can also create your own unique mini-fig characters, should the selection of famous faces prove to be insufficient.

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes still offers an incredible amount of entertainment for its price. The cunning fusion of action and simple puzzle-solving works surprisingly well on the small screen, and the game displays a level of refinement which sets it above many similar titles on the App Store.

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes

Aside from some occasionally irksome controls, Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes proves that the tried-and-tested Lego formula can work on almost any device
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.