With a younger target audience, Lego Batman’s immediate appeal comes from its visuals, but any fan will get a kick out of seeing their favourite characters recreated in the Lego style. There’s the obligatory Batman and Robin, but it also features bit-characters like Alfred the faithful butler and Commissioner Gordon. Of course there’s also a whole host of villains like The Joker, Catwoman and Mr Freeze in there too, complete with some who don’t often share the limelight, such as The Mad Hatter and Killer Moth.

Cut-scenes put these characters to good use, throwing away the dark and brooding storylines of the comics for some slapstick humour that, aided by the Lego style, generally works well. The real stars are undoubtedly the villains rather than Batman and Robin who end up feeling a bit two-dimensional in comparison. It’s clear that the developers had much more fun bringing some of the villains to life, with small touches like The Joker's mischievous giggle, Scarecrow’s scary face-pulling and Mad Hatter's oddly effeminate fighting style.

The game follows the standard formula from all the previous Lego games and if you’ve played any of the other titles then there’ll be no surprises here. The game is split into a number of stages, each one sub-divided into five levels focusing on the exploits of a different band of escaped inmates. Starting out in the Batcave, the player is later able to switch to Arkham Asylum and this time play the story from the villain’s point of view, adding to the length and entertainment value.

Each scrolling level puts the emphasis on exploration, with players required to use the rudimentary fighting system to fend off henchmen, whilst working their way through various puzzles. These usually involve constructing things out of Lego pieces to cross gaps or obstacles, creating switches to open doors, or assembling vehicles. In single-player there are two characters to swap between at any time and, aside from some instances, the A.I. does its usual, capable job of taking control of the spare mini-figure. Alternatively, local co-operative play is available if you have a friend and an extra controller.

Both Batman and Robin have access to their own individual suits. These include Batman’s fire-proof garb for passing through flames and a 'Sonic' suit which allows him to break glass obstacles. Robin’s include a scuba outfit with oversized flippers so he can dive underwater, and a magnet suit to climb metal surfaces. While they start off well, the selection is limited and some suits are barely used. Villains' costume-changes are purely cosmetic, but each character has certain abilities. Clayface and Bane have super-strength which allows them to move heavy obstacles, The Riddler can mind-control certain characters and Poison Ivy can cause plants to grow in order to reach inaccessible areas. With a greater number of characters on offer, villains are infinitely more fun to play as, even if some double up on abilities.

At least one level in every set of five is vehicle-based, with the characters tearing over land, sea or air. With vehicles such as the Batmobile, The Joker's Helicopter and Killer Croc’s Jetski, each of these levels puts a heavy emphasis on shooting down enemies or hitting targets. It’s to the developer’s credit thatthese are pitched at just the right length to break up the levels, without becoming too boring.

Initially, the player is locked into Story mode, which limits them to pre-set characters or vehicles for each level. It will be obvious as you progress that there are areas which can’t be reached with the abilities available and Free-play mode is opened once a level is completed. This allows it to be replayed with any unlocked character, using them to reach previously inaccessible areas to grab any remaining collectables. Generally, each one has 10 hidden mini-kit pieces, one of a numberof Lego blocks that unlock various abilities, and a hostage to rescue. There’s also the stud-meter, which needs to be filled by breaking open parts of the scenery and collecting the gold and silver studs inside. It’s certainly more than enough to keep the player occupied if they want to achieve 100% completion.

Unfortunately, the puzzles can make the game as painful as stepping barefoot on a Lego block in the dark, and given this game is supposed to be an easy-going romp for junior gamers, such faults are unforgivable. One boss battle with Mr Freeze doesn’t actually give any indication that you’re doing any damage. Others puzzles are down-right baffling, following a logic that would leave even The Riddler scratching his head. For example, scattered throughout the levels are little checkpoints, marked with symbols that correspond to a particular villain. Use the correct villain to interact with the hatch and the way forward is opened. Emblazoned on these for the most part is the `?`, which is clearly The Riddler’s logo - something which the game goes to lengths to teach the player from the very start. Except where, inextricably, and without any warning, it suddenly corresponds to The Scarecrow. What’s worse, this isn’t an optional puzzle and passing through it is required to progress in the main story, but because some of these checkpoints can only be accessed in Free Play mode, the player could be fooled into thinking they have to do something else - leaving them to go around in circles until they accidentally figure it out.

It’s a classic example of how Lego Batman seems trapped by the nuances of the Lego game series, constrained by a formula that ultimately does more to undermine it than support it. Devoid of any real film structure to follow like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, the developers have clearly floundered, and the end result isn’t as enjoyable as the previous titles. Nor is it radically different enough to warrant playing unless you’re a real die-hard Lego orBatman fan, or just desperate for some mindless entertainment.

While not necessarily a bad game, Lego Batman scrapes through under the definition of 'fun'. In the same year that The Dark Knight saw its release, the game will undoubtedly do well off the back of that film’s success. However it will truly live or die by how tolerant you find yourself of its reliance on repetition and slightly flawed logic.