With plastic heads, stumpy arms and legs chunkier than Britneys, its hard to imagine any Batfan getting excited about their lissom heroes being reimagined as garish toy bricks. But as with the series Star Wars and Indiana Jones forebears, whatever muscle your childhood heroes lose in their Lego transformation is more than made up for in cheek, charm and charisma.
The latest entry in the only kiddy console series its OK to like, Lego Batman follows the same routine as its adorable label-mates, recasting a hallowed entertainment licence in Danish bricks and challenging players to piece together simple puzzles. Like other games in the series, the Dark Knights Lego debut allows two players to work co-operatively both on the same console and online but an ingenious new approach lets players retread levels as Batmans arch enemies, the roster of villains including cute recreations of the Penguin, Joker and Catwoman.
But whats most appealing about Lego Batman is the insolent personality that seeps from every scene, the coders taking every opportunity to lovingly parody the Batman legend, yet never poking fun at their inky source or risking alienating DC devotees.