In addition to Super Scribblenauts, WBIE was also showing off a couple of licensed games in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Scooby Doo! and the Spooky Swamp.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Wii & DS)
That’s right, after missing out on Arkham Asylum, last year’s breakout Batman hit, Wii and DS owners are finally getting some Batman love in the form of The Brave and the Bold, a 2D side-scrolling brawler.
As the title implies, the game is based on the television cartoon of the same name. The game, like the television series, sees Batman team up with all manner of superheroes in order to stop evil in its tracks. With over 60 characters making an appearance in the game, it’s a rare chance for some of the lesser known characters to make an appearance.
One such character is Catman, whose level it was that I played through in the demo. I played co-op with the man who was giving me the demo, he as Batman and I as Robin. The co-op is easy to get into, as simple as hitting A to join, while dropping a player requires only a pause of the game and a quick menu selection. One thing that you notice instantly is that they do a very good job of replicating the look of the show. The coloring and style of the characters and world around them very accurately apes that of the property on which the game is based.
Once I actually got around to hitting a button or two, I discovered pretty quickly that this game plays just like the brawlers of old; and that’s in now way an indictment. It’s funny that a game that has yet to release can still somehow feel so nostalgic and old-school. If you hit up on the stick while attacking then you’ll do an uppercut, while down will do a leg sweep, and hitting A and B at the same time will perform a grapple. Having spent an inordinate amount of time in arcades playing these kind of games, it all felt totally natural.
This feeling of nostalgia is only increased by the tone and writing of the game. It seems to be set squarely between Adam West’s Batman and the Animated Series Batman, which is to say it can get pretty campy while still keeping the serious and moody Batman character we all know and….well, know.
Of course, that’s not to say it feels stagnant. The game does a number of things to help it stand out, such as the addition of an assist button. Said button lets you briefly call in a friendly character who quickly attacks your foe and then leaves again. There are also super attacks, which you’re able to perform after 50 normal attacks. Each character has their own, and they all look pretty stylish. Each character also has their own attack item (Batarang for Batman and a staff for Robin, for example) which is separate from their normal punches and kicks. You’ll be able to perform light and heavy attacks with it as well.
Another really cool thing they’re doing with the game, and something that surprisingly few people are doing, is including DS connectivity. Provided you have the DS version of the game as well, a third player can join the fray and fly around dropping items to either help or (as is more likely in my circle of friends) impede the heroes progress.
While I mentioned earlier that it plays similarly to many old-school brawlers, there’s one key difference; it’s a whole lot easier. The difficulty, and just general tone of the game seem to be directed at a younger generation than I. This, of course, makes sense given the property it’s based on, as well as the aforementioned inspiration (no one would accuse Adam West of being too highbrow, certainly). So while it might not be directed at the older crowd who grew up reading Batman and watching him POW and BAM his way through bad guys, fans of the series will probably find enough fan service in here to enjoy it.
Scooby Doo! and the Spooky Swamp (Wii)
Speaking of games that I’m probably too old to enjoy as much as I probably should, I also took a look at the latest Scooby Doo game. Since the story’s often one of the most interesting parts of any Scooby Doo adventure I’ll do my best not to spoil, saying only that through a series of events the Mystery Inc gang ends up in a swamp that may or may not be spooky.
The gameplay itself is standard adventure game fare. I’m told that the developers felt that the combat was the weakest part of the previous games, and it was clearly not a focal point of the demo. I started off in the swamp and was almost instantly faced with a puzzle, a simple puzzle that involved launching barrels from a catapult.
At any given time you’ll have two of the Mystery Inc characters on-screen at once, and co-op is of the drop-in/drop-out variety. Each character is largely controlled the same though they all have their own “weapons”, such as Scooby’s sausage link whip.
After the puzzle I went through a short platforming section, which seemed to be a consequence free affair. Expecting instant death upon falling into the swamp I was surprised to see that was not the case. This game was clearly built for a young demographic, as the person demoing the game came right out and said.
Gameplay aside, this game definitely has the Scooby Doo vibe going on. One of the assets of having Warner Bros behind you is that you can more easily get the requisite voice talent; and they went all out here. All voices are done by the proper actors, which is good for a licensed game.
It’s definitely a Scooby Doo game, the mood, the jokes; it’s totally got the Scooby vibe going on. As far as gameplay’s concerned, it’s not super compelling, but should be more than serviceable for its target demographic.
