​By Ryan Winslett

I wasn't sure what to expect of Batman: The Brave and the Bold going in. 

Developed by WayForward Technologies, the company is best known for its work on the handheld market with licensed games from Sabrina and The Scorpion King to SpongeBob and Shrek. 

In short, WayForward doesn't traditionally work on anything that catches the attention of this 27-year-old dude

While I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series, I've yet to jump on the Brave and the Bold bandwagon. 

If the newest cartoon dedicated to the Caped Crusader is as entertaining as WayForward's newest Wii title, however, I think they have found a new fan.

Our official review of Batman's new game begins right after the break!

The Brave and the Bold is about as straightforward as brawlers come with heroes marching across the screen, punching bad guys in the face, collecting coins and moving on to the next area. With a decent amount of variety in the combat, unlockables and a cleverly implemented story, though, the game sets itself apart as one of the better beat-em-up offerings to come along since the mid-90s, when the genre was king.

Controls are tight and give you plenty of options for how to handle the endless waves of villains thrown your way across the game's four worlds. Once you boot up the disc, Wildcat teaches you how to hit, chain together combos, juggle opponents in the air and even execute a few motion-controlled power moves.

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The game itself is broken into four episodes with the story progressing exactly as it would in the animated series. Each episode begins with Bats and company battling a random villain and, after handily dispatching said super foe, the "real" villain of the episode shows up and sets up the story. Episodes are broken into 10 levels with one being dedicated to a mini-boss and the last giving crime fighters the opportunity to pummel the villain they've been chasing for the past hour or so. To keep things authentic, episodes even feature opening credits, a splashscreen for the title and a story that provides a Saturday morning cartoon message like "don't jump to conclusions," "don't brag," and "it takes more than beating up criminals to be a hero."

Made for two players, Batman is always selectable with teammates ranging from Robin to the Green Lantern coming along for the ride. The story progresses with the occasional cutscene, but most of the tale comes from voice over banter taking place while you actually play the game. Despite a multitude of combat options, play has the potential to get a little repetitive after a while. Save some standard platforming and light puzzle solving, the vast majority of your time will be spent mashing the A button and whipping out a gadget to lay waste to thugs that are mostly re-skins of a few basic archetypes. Having goofy jokes, cheesy dialogue and story-progressing chitchat  taking place as I made my way through the levels kept things entertaining with genuinely clever writing.

As you break faces and random objects, a fountain of coins will pour onto the screen to be collected and spent on extra gadgets and upgrades or, in the event of the rare death, 100 coins will be deducted rather than losing a life. Each co-op character comes equipped with three extra gadgets or attacks with Batman having access to ten, ranging from the pointer-controlled Batarang to flashbangs and brass knuckles. The extra equipment adds to your options in a fight and are pretty fun to use.

​"Jump in Heroes" are another feature that help keep the combat fresh. Ranging from the Black Canary to Captain Marvel, players pick a JiH at the beginning of each level and, with the push of a button, call in their crime fighting friend to throw out a silly one-liner and clear the screen of riff-raff. Once you land 50 blows, each character can also unleash a Super Charged Attack, executed by shaking the Wii remote and Nunchuk at the same time and ending with a flashy multi-hit power move.

Secret areas and hidden objects are scattered across each level and fully upgrading all of those gadgets will require more than one playthrough, so there is some incentive to play the game more than once. For non-completionists, though, your time spent with the Dark Knight will be limited to about six or seven hours. This is actually a pretty good runtime for the game, helping keep the gameplay from becoming too repetitive, but when you're paying $40 for a title, it's something to consider.

Players will visit Gotham City, Wayne Manor, Science Island, London and even Planet Oa in their journeys with the background music, while forgettable, matching each setting well. The voice acting comes from the team responsible for the animated series and everyone does a terrific job, including a guest appearance by Adam-freaking-West as Proto-Bot.

While not the most challenging or creative game on the market, Batman: The Brave and the Bold manages to keep you interested from start to finish with some solid button mashing, as well as a story both kids and adults should have little trouble getting into. Alone or with a sidekick, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is simply a lot of fun.

The Official Verdict: 4 out of 5

This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.