Thursday, September 30, 2010

Brave and Bold, indeed

Oh, look, a video-game trailer...



I haven't been able to gauge what the general "fan-culture" reaction has been to "Batman: The Brave & The Bold" - currently wrapping up it's final season on Cartoon Network - but I dig it, and apparently it's big with the kids (as it ought to be.) If you haven't seen, the basic idea is HUGE helpings of Silver Age DC fan-service disguised as humorous, "all-ages" Batman cartoon. I won't say it's up to snuff with "Batman: The Animated Series," but the best of it ranks up there with the one-off "funny" episodes of "Justice League Unlimited" - think "This Little Piggy," same basic idea.
In a more general sense, think a more cleverly-scripted cousin to the Adam West "Batman," co-starring a big cross-section of DCU supporting-players and with a heavier emphasis on "get it past the censors" jokes for parents/older-audiences - for example, pay really close attention to the lyrics in this musical bit as the Birds of Prey rate the... "effectiveness" of their various male counterparts:



Unsurprisingly, you can thank Gail Simone [pause for fangirl squeal] for that one (which may or may not have aired in the U.S. yet)

Anyway, the GAME (Wii) is excellent, absolutely worth a buy (I'm told the DS version is good as well.) It's a side-scrolling 2D beat-em-up. The controls take a little getting used to, as it's built around a pretty deep combo-system for a kid-targeted Wii title, but overall pretty smooth once you get into it and looks like it'd be a lot of fun with two people. Developer was Wayforward Technologies, who've carved a niche for themselves as experts of retro-style side-scrollers with "Contra 4" and "A Boy & His Blob." Licensed youth-titles on the Wii are usually a red-flag for shovelware, but retrogamers and/or Silver Age superhero fans should absolutely give it a look.

7 comments:

Drake Sigar said...

Flash just got burned.

Leon' Bandeira said...

THIS is good Batman!
not that 'take me serious even if i'm wearing a silly costume' thing from the new Movies

JodeciDeion:TheWon said...

Yes the Wii game is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4APxsUE-oI

Sean Aaron said...

I picked this up at launch with some store credit I had laying about. It's not terribly challenging, but it is a lot of fun, looks great and has some brilliant dialogue bits running throughout.

Gameplay and writing is a lot better than Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions which I just finished recently.

I'm still on the fence about keeping Spider-Man, but Batman is staying on the shelf for sure!

Arturo said...

So much innuendo... I love it.
If my 10 year old self had been watching this clip with me, he would have no idea what's so funny.
Also, did the girls just imply that they would all like to get it on with Batman??
So awesome...

hazlenaut said...

If there anyone who has problems with it batmite has reply ready
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb9VSIT8lY8
Brave and the Bold made Aquaman likeable to me. The Superfriends version he was pathetic Justice League animated series made him intimidating but not easy to be remembered. In the brave and the bold version he is still a powerhouse but he is a bragging personality and his putting title for every heroic act. He has that joyful king attitude and I like it.
I wonder if we can use the batmecha or transform into the batchimera

Ezenwa Anyanwu said...

I got this game over the weekend. I love it. I'm sad that it's short, but I like its content, animation, and its delivery. It reminds me a lot of a game I bought: Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, only much more tolerable. I know it's easy, but it's fun to play a lot, like Muramasa: the demon blade. How's this for a compliment to the title: I also bought Ivy the Kiwi? for the Wii. Another solid title for puzzle fans. Simple, yet satisfying