The Dark Knight and his most-trusted allies attempt to stop the Joker’s latest nefarious plans in the buildable adventure Lego Dimensions: The Lego Batman Story Pack (Warner Bros. Interactive and TT Games, Rated E10+, reviewed on Nintendo Wii U, $44.99, 156 pieces).
For those unaware of the Lego Dimensions’ dynamic universe, youngsters construct mini-block figures, vehicles and set pieces available through character and story packs (starting at $9.99) that represent a wide range of pop-culture franchises.
Place completed pieces upon the glowing toy-pad portal (versions available for Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3) and they are magically sucked into a robust, third-person gaming environment filled with puzzles to solve, battles to fight and studs to collect by building and destroying items.
In the case of this latest story pack, it takes the narrative directly from the latest animated blockbuster “The Lego Batman Movie” and first requires building a 2-inch-tall version of Robin and Batgirl and placing them on logo-encrusted bases.
Robin comes in his traditional red-green-and-yellow suit complete with goggles, while Batgirl dons the purple-and-yellow costume made famous by Yvonne Craig in the 1960s live-action “Batman” television show.
The finer points such as attaching a brown ponytail to the back of Batgirl’s cowl, exquisite paint detail on each costume, and plastic canvas capes make Robin and Batgirl worthy of resting in a display case when not in the game.
Parents should be aware that the star of the story pack, the Batman figure, is part of the Lego Dimensions starter pack ($89.99) and is required to really appreciate the adventure.
Without spoiling too much, once the figures are on the portal, the game takes place in six chapters culled directly from the movie and offers hours of interaction.
The team eventually battles the Joker and cohorts Two-Face, Clayface, Poison Ivy and Catwoman along with major villains such as Sauron from “The Lord of the Rings,” Agent Smith from “The Matrix” films and King Kong while roaming around Gotham, the Fortress of Solitude, Arkham Asylum and even the Phantom Zone.
During the journey, the team gets help from the Justice League and players can add any other Lego Dimension mini-block figures they own into the game levels.
Each character has powers such as Batgirl sliding to attack minions, tossing Batarangs or using detective skills to follow trails. Robin has an acrobatic butt bash into bad guys and even gets to wear a Batman-junior-styled Nightwing costume to pole vault, glide and detect lasers during levels.
Throughout, the action is enhanced by laugh-out-loud animations (Batman loves playing rock guitar when idol) and plenty of clever, tongue-in-cheek dialogue both from the movie and the voiceover cast, who sound close to the film actors.
Batman: “Leave it to me. I’m going to make a Bat-battering ram.”
Batgirl: “You know ’bat’ is already in that word, right?”
The game play continues to stimulate brains for up to two players co-operatively through environmental puzzles and offers some stress-relieving fun through the bashing, shooting, blasting and exploding of near anything in an environment.
For example, Batman uses his Batarang to shoot a tree of bat-infested targets that each trigger part of John Williams’ opening fanfare for the 1978 “Superman” movie. The sequence of targets must get hit in the correct order to play a complete musical passage and open a massive door to gain access to the atomic cauldron.
The beauty of the Lego Dimensions concept is not only taking the time to build toys but also using blueprints revealed in the game to build new items — and even move the toys around spaces on the portal pad in a certain order to trigger new events.
For example, early on in the action, a youngster will be asked to build the Batcomputer after it falls apart onscreen. That entails putting together over 100 Lego blocks and connecting the set piece to the portal as a cool backdrop.
Details such as twisting computer screens as well as a rack housing a pair of Batgrapple guns and a Batarang will bring a smile to fans for sure.
Also, players will be asked to build the Batwing. Pull out more Lego pieces from the package and construct a 3-inch-long, mounted mini-model with rotating jets on the back with a translucent canopy.
Once placed in the portal and into the game, a character can fly around with the Batwing, use onboard missiles to cause major destruction or a use a cargo towline to drag items or tear down walls.
In addition to the primary story campaign, players can freely roam around Gotham City to complete other mini-adventures and puzzles and collect gold and red bricks that unlock more characters and items.
Up to four players (locally via split-screen) can also compete in a fight arena in the Batcave.
I’m still completely blown away by the interactivity and Lego Dimensions’ universe since its debut in 2015 and equally giddy about the company’s latest ode to the “Lego Batman Movie.”
Parents may grouse about the price points for all of the extra sets, but its hands-on building, brain-teasing exercises and salutes to pop culture make it worthy for any Caped Crusader or movie-lover in the family.
Note to parents: After not touching the Wii and Lego Dimensions for a few months, it was an excruciating wait to get the software downloaded and installed to actually get to play the game. It was no less than three hours of time using a fairly speedy broadband connection. I would highly suggest getting this done before Junior and his pals want to play the game or suffer the wrath of an impatient youth.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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