Overview:
Lego Batman features the Dynamic Duo, Batman and Robin in a completely original storyline.  The game also features bonus hero Nightwing to help fight  criminals including The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, Two Face, Bane, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Killer Moth...and if you can believe many more.

Players are also able to explore the game and fight their way through  Gotham as the villains, experiencing the game from a completely different point of view with criminal objectives. Not all criminals are available in this mode.

During game play you get to fight on land, sea and in the air using a number of Batman, Robin and villain-controlled vehicles, including the rocket-powered Batmobile, Batboat, and Batwing.

Game Play:
I kind of worried as I sat down with my daughter's pink DS that I was breaking some rule of nature, a boy, Batman and a pink DS? But like Batman, I persevered and started up the game. This was my first experience with any of the Lego games on the DS, as I had played the others on the Xbox or Wii. The first thing that caught my eye was that the graphics are really good for a DS game. The opening screen is very much Batman, but as a LEGO man. One thing I liked right away was that you don't have to go through screen after screen of text to get to the action. Once you click "load" you are in the bat cave ready to start with Robin at your side. Much like the previous Lego adventures, this game is broken up into 3 "chapters" which each have there own seperate sub levels. The start of each sub chapter is done with a comic book style instead of text keeping with the DC Comic feel. It is auto play, but they provide a large "play" button that you can use to skip ahead. I found this a nice feature for those kids (or adults) who don't want to read a bunch of stuff that in the end might not affect game play one way or another.

The game play is smooth and challenging but not so difficult you get lost forever. The use of the touch screen to perform certain action make the flow even better. There seemed to be a lot less beating up bad guys than I have seen in previous LEGO games, but this game seems more about the quest than beating Lego people up. Although it was interesting that it seemed more difficult to defeat some of the general villains, likely because Batman and Robin don't have a lot of weapons, especially in the first few chapters.

I found LEGO Batman to be as good as any of the previous LEGO titles and perhaps better in some aspect. While the rating is E10+, like the other LEGO games I would personally find it perfectly acceptable for my 8yr old, and think he could easily manage the game play. On the downside co-op game play is only available if both people have the cartridge. While I understand why, it would be nice if there were a few built in mini-games that you could play with a friend who doesn't have the cartridge.

I would recommend this game to anyone who has enjoyed any of the previous LEGO games or adventure games. Batman fans will especially love the game play.