PS Vita LEGO BATMAN II [Z1][E]

The HD console version of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes turns heads. It has an open world to explore, the platforming problems of the past are gone, and it's beautiful. The PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS versions of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes do none of these things. While the console version has moved the series forward, the handheld version has stayed in the exact same place as older iterations. That's not a terrible thing, but it isn't terribly exciting.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes is a by-the-numbers LEGO game. Through 14 levels you'll smash everything in sight to collect studs (the game's form of currency) that you can spend on unlocking new characters and cheats. There are hidden red bricks, minikit pieces and music tracks to sniff out.

As always, this LEGO game is all about obsessively collecting. That's a good thing. There's always a carrot on the end of the stick whether it be the need to try out a new stud multiplier or to jump into a previously beaten level in Free Play mode to try and reach a previously unreachable item with a new character. This is what every LEGO game has been doing for years, and LEGO Batman 2 accomplishes it without issue. But it does so without flair. The colors are muted, the platforming is cumbersome, and it's no fun to fight.

The battles weren't really an issue as I played the story (if you die, you respawn right away), but the handheld version of the game adds Justice League missions. In five of the game's environments, you're exposed to waves of enemies. The characters you use switch off at predetermined points, but your total death count is what's deciding if you get a medal. The problem is that some enemies need to be taken out with ranged attacks -- Wonder Woman throwing her tiara or Green Arrow firing his bow -- and these moves aren't responsive. You can hold the screen or a button to target and shoot, but both processes are awkward and a bit slow. When I got killed, it was usually because I was trying to target the three airborne enemies or locked in an animation and taking a cheapshot.

Robin's my pumpkin.

The console version's story of Lex Luthor running for president and using nefarious means is shoehorned in here, but the videos are poorly compressed so they look fuzzy and the in-game action doesn't always match the cutscenes. See, putting on suits with special abilities is a big part of LEGO Batman 2. Only Explosive Suit Batman can get past certain objects and so on. However, cutscenes often feature Acrobat Suit Robin (a blue suit version of the Boy Wonder), but that suit isn't in the handheld version of the game. So, you end levels as regular Robin and suddenly he's dressed differently in the cutscene.